It always takes more concentration, and more effort to use two disparate powers at once, especially powers that are newer to him, those that heâs using on pure instinct of his own power, the innate ability for the basics, instead of something more refined, like those heâs possessed for years. But heâs confident in his ability to do so, nonetheless. Luckily, thereâs only a finite amount of glass to shatter and turn to snow around them, and even as it stops raining down on them, Grizzly charges forward, and, with the expertise of only someone whoâs been trained for years could manage, disarms one of Rouletteâs guns, sliding it back towards him, before doing the same with the other. Itâs a familiar gesture, but thereâs no time to pinpoint exactly why it seems familiar. He simply kicks the guns into the nearest room, but keeps his focus on manipulating the probability.Â
Luckily, the silent battle of odds seems to be more than enough to keep Roulette from being any real danger to Grizzly, considering his own powers, and he starts his own advance as he watches him take care of the old gangster easily enough with his super strength, the two well-placed punches enough to knock his lanky frame to the floor, unconscious. And before Mimic can even voice the concern, Grizzly takes care of it, hitting him with the stun ammunition, making certain heâs dealt with for now.Â
Grizzlyâs praise does bring a hint of a smile to his face, always a nice surprise when someone appreciates what he can do, instead of fears it. âOf course. And impressive punching, quite the hint,â he hums, finally coming to Grizzly, looking down at Roulette. The sudden sound of thunder nearby, though, makes him look up, immediately recognizing just what it means.
Thereâs a second of temptation, to just continue on without mentioning it, but itâs not fair for Grizzly to go in blind when itâs likely Mimic will need a bit of extra help in this fight, that it might end up targeted considering who theyâll be facing. He follows beside Grizzly as they approach the cafeteria,Â
âBefore we go in, you should know something. It sounds like weâre going to face Tempest,â he explains quietly, trying to keep his guard up nonetheless, even if it is important that Grizzly know what theyâre potentially walking into. âI killed them. It wasnât my intention, but thatâs how things ended, in my selfishness. I have a strong feeling that, even in their undead form, they wonât be very pleased to see meâŠbut I suppose none of the live villains we might find will be, either.â
He finishes as they make it to the doors to the cafeteria, one of which has been blown off of its hinges somehow, giving a better view of whatâs going on inside. If the heavy rain blowing out into the hallway wasnât enough along with the claps of thunder, the near tornado like gusts of wind tossing chairs and tables around the cafeteria are plenty. And there in the middle of the chaos is Tempest, facing down Geo Girl, who seems to be keeping up as best she can in the fight, but has clearly taken damage already. In the very back corner of the cafeteria against the wall, near another set of doors, he can just make out another figure but he canât tell exactly who it is.Â
As if answering his question, thereâs another flash of lightning, and he can see the familiar blunt haircut, and suddenly heâs significantly more concerned than he was, Catalyst apparently somehow ending up keeping the building upright from the ground floor, instead of the basement. It doesnât make sense, but thereâs not time to dwell on it, they need to help.
âSheâs not meant to be hereâŠâ he mutters, frowning, before looking back to Grizzly. âSomething must have gone wrong, if Catalyst is here, instead of downstairs. I can help her keep things steady, if you can help Geo Girl take care of Tempest. I can stop them for a moment, but I have a suspicion their dislike of me might be strong enough to fight even Dulce et Decorumâs authority.â
Mimic gives Grizzly a nod, before stepping into the door way, raising an arm to keep the rain from his face, before commanding, shouting over the wind, âStop the storm, Tempest.â
He listens to what Mimic tells him with focused intent, taking it in â and doesnât ask questions, because there isnât time for either of them to stand around and have story time when theyâre in a collapsing building with a zombie creating a hurricane in the room next to them. He just files it away, takes note and plans accordingly, giving a nod to show Mimic he understands. Heâs sure thereâs a story there, but if he decides he cares when all of this is done, he can ask Mimic when there arenât any lives on the line. He can keep Tempest away from Mimic and let Mimic do what he needs to do, regardless of the finer details.Â
   âGot it,â he replies, as he looks inside, sees the chaos theyâre about to walk into. He watches for a moment as Geo Girl gets hit with a flying chair and stands her ground, barely flinching at the impact. Heâs heard about her: superhuman strength, impenetrable skin. It looks like sheâs been weathering this storm for quite some time, holding strong against Tempestâs attacks, but the wind is keeping her at bay, stopping her from getting close enough to fight back, to do anything other than keep herself standing.Â
Mimic might only be able to give them a moment, to get close enough to stop Tempest, but theyâll make the most they can out of it.
He watches as Mimic steps forward, shouts the command, watches the effect take hold of Tempest, their already dead eyes losing focus for a moment, their arms dropping as the wind slows to a stop, as the rain stops falling. And then, the second it seems safe, he charges in, towards them, shouting in Geo Girlâs direction as he goes.
   âThis wonât last! Close distance while you can,â he barks at her, and her eyes go wide for a split second in confusion and surprise, before she nods, pushes aside some of the detritus of the cafeteria and begins moving in the same directions as him, across the wide room and towards Tempest.Â
Grizzly reaches them a moment before Geo Girl does, using the momentum heâs built up to knock them to the ground. He wishes he knew how their powers worked, whether there was something they needed to do physically to summon them or if theyâd still be able to use them restrained. The best he can hope for is to stun them before theyâre able to regain focus. But for being undead, theyâre quick to identify the threat he possesses, and shift their focus immediately to the gun in his hand, shifting out of the way underneath him as he fires at them and instead his the floor beneath them.
And Mimicâs hold on them doesnât last longâor maybe the order wasnât specific enough, because the storm doesnât restart, but a bolt of lightning hits the ground next to them. Itâs a small mercy that it doesnât hit him, or Geo Girl, as neither of them seems to be electricity-proof, but the flash of light is bright enough to disorient him, and the boom of thunder on his right is loud enough to hurt. As he finds himself scrambling back away from the source of the light and the noise, he realizes that the noise of the chaos around him is muffled, distorted, hard to hear, his right ear ringing with a painful high-pitched noise that, with his left ear already long deaf, leaves him unable to hear anything going on around him.Â
The first thing he notices, with the second flash of lightning, this one further from him but closer to Geo Girl, who is lying on the ground a few feet away, is that in the shock of it heâs dropped his stun gun. The second thing he notices is that Geo Girl doesnât seem to be moving. And his brain is moving slower than it should, but it still only takes him a moment to realize that Geo Girl has been in here for who knows how long, costume and hair and everything soaked through from the torrential rain. And the floor is wet. And the lightning struck close enough to her that even if she didnât get hit directly, it still shocked her.
Another bolt of lightning, this one closer to her. And, okay, fuck the gun, heâll have to come back for it, he needs to get the kid out of the way now.Â
He pushes himself to his feet, pushes past the unstable feeling of being off balance that the ringing in his ear is still causing, and rushes to her, putting himself between Tempest and her. Sheâs still breathing, which is good, and as he reaches for her she stirs, eyes opening.
    âYouâve got to get up,â he says, even though he can only hear the sound of his own voice through the vibrations the act sends through his own head. And she says something he canât hear, but it seems like her words are probably slurred, because he canât quite read her lips either. âI canât hear you, but youâve got to get up.â
He grabs her under the arms, helps her to her feet as quickly as he can. Gives her a quick once over for damage, and her impenetrable skin seems to have done the job: she seems disoriented, a little unsteady on her feet, but not terribly injured. Shaken more than anything. She could probably stay and help, but he wants to give her the opportunity to get out of here if she doesnât feel up for it.
   âThe hall between here and the entrance is clear,â he says, and itâs weird, not to hear the sound of his own voice as he talks. The ringing in his right ear has stopped, replaced with a cotton-stuffed feeling that he imagines canât be good. If some zombie fuck makes him lose his hearing completely, heâs doing to be fucking pissed about it.Â
She says something else he canât hear, shakes her head.Â
   âStill canât hear you,â he says, just as another bolt of lightning hits, this one mercifully further away from the two of them. âBut if youâre saying you want to stay and help, we need to get that gun and stun the shit out of them before they can do any more damage.âÂ