Welcome To The Club!

Adrian stands to his feet and tosses the now empty vial of Overdrive to the ground. Gale emerges from the cloud of smoke and as he does Adrian can see a teal glow coming off his body. When Gale turns to meet him, he also sees an aura coming off of him, one that wasn’t there before. He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head with a confused gaze.

“What in the…?” He trails off, his eyes scanning the area, seeing the empty vial as well as Chante. He looks in his cold eyes, staring at nothing, then grins. “Ah, I get it now! Welcome to the club…”

Evelyn attempts to punch Gale but he simply blocks with his forearm. He quickly swings around to her back and grabs a handful of her hair. He knees her in the spine and grabs her ankle, lifting her above his head.

“I’m done playing with you, go away.” He orders and begins to pull at each end, wanting to rip her half.

Adrian doesn’t hesitate and charges in to save his friend. He’s shocked by his own speed, in front of his opponent in milliseconds, but swinging regardless. His bat crashes into Gale’s stomach and the force of the blow sends him into the nearby wall. Evelyn drops to the ground and looks up at her friend, watching a few locks of his hair change to a bright teal.

“Adrian? What’s going on with you?” She asks,

“Save it for later…” Adrian replies,

He watches as Gale slowly emerges from the rubble, grinning ear to ear, rubbing the area he was hit. “Hey! That actually hurt! Sick!” He looks at Chante’s corpse, “Ah if only I could’ve thanked you for the new toy, doc, appreciate it.”

He dashes at Adrian and once again he shocks himself by the new strength flowing through him. His eyes are able to keep up with Gale’s insane speed and he deflects his attack away with his bat.

“Glad that one didn’t kill ya… I wanna knock you through the wall a couple more times before I break your neck.” Adrian says with a wild smirk,

“Pft!” Gale tries to hold in a laugh but fails, “Man, I’m starting to like you more and more! Let’s have some fun…”

Gale and Adrian both rush at each other at the same time. Adrian goes for a swing that Gale ducks under, countering with a jab that Adrian blocks. He tries again with an overhead swing but Gale clashes with a drop kick, his foot pressing his bat into the floor. Gale throws a straight right that sends Adrian reeling back, his bat now out of his hands. Gale rolls it in between his ankles and kicks it up into his hand. He looks it over before grinning at Adrian. Gale then goes to jab Adrian in the face with his own weapon but Adrian catches it under his armpit, spinning his body around and landing a reverse elbow on the back of Gale’s head. Freeing his weapon, Adrian attempts another overhead swing, this one cracking Gale in the back and sending him into the ground. Gale pushes off the ground with all four of his limbs, rising horizontally for a moment, then swinging his body around to hit Adrian with a kick across his chin. Gale lands and hits him again with a swift uppercut to his body. He then pounces on his opponent, wrapping his thighs around his head, throwing them to the ground. He locks his legs around his neck and squeezes, going for a triangle choke. Adrian grasps at his legs and tries to rip them free. After getting nowhere with that action, he starts to slowly get to his feet then crashes back down slamming Gale into the floor. Gale however keeps his legs locked, not letting up.

“Ooo, I like this! Let’s see who gives out first!” Gale says, watching as Adrian raises and slams him again, “Come on, you want my plate don’t ya! Work for it!” He slaps his reddening face a few times,

Adrian stuffs his bat into Gale’s neck and slams him again. His bat threatens to crush Gale’s neck and he releases his grip in response. Adrian darts away from him in an instant and takes in the much needed air. Gale springs to his feet and follows him. Adrian meets him with a swing that Gale backhands away, leaving him wide open. Gale karate chops Adrian’s right shoulder, hearing an audible “crack” noise from his collar bone. His arm goes limp and Adrian is given no choice but to drop his bat.

“Aw man, you broke so soon?” Gale says with a frown,

Adrian raises his left hand into a fist, “No… Not yet…”

Gale watches him for a moment before turning his head to Evelyn, “Aye, you, the gal on wheels. Can you walk? Or- uhm… Roll?”

Evelyn raises her eyebrow at the question, “You damn near broke my back, asshat! What do you think?!”

“Hey! You’re fighting me!” Adrian barks,

“Hm, yeah, we are. But… Killing you now seems like a waste.” Gale replies,

“What…?” Adrian said,

“I haven’t had this much fun in ages! Since boot camp honestly! So what’s the harm in letting you live for now? I mean, I already did what I came here to do, you know?”

Adrian ignores him and throws a left hook. Gale ducks under it and swings around to Adrian’s back. He wraps his arm around his neck and put his in a headlock.

“I get it… You’re the type to only stop when the other guy’s down.” Gale whispers in his ear, “Me too! We’ll call it one to zilch for now. Come find me when you’re ready for round two.”

Adrian attempts to reply but his vision fades faster than he can form the words. Gale rifles through his pockets and takes the three plates of his allies. Then he lets go of Adrian and lets him drop, dusting his hands on each other.

“Well that was fun!” He said, turning on his heel to leave,

“Wait!! Tell me how to get rid of the burn!” Evelyn yells to him,

“What?! No way! You guys lost! Don’t be a sore loser.”

“No… Please…” She tries to get up but fails,

Gale rolls his eyes, “Jeez, you two are really stubborn, you know that? How about this? I’ll tell you how to keep my new toy alive while I’m gone! Win, win!”

“What are you talking about…?”

“I’m getting there, relax! He’s gonna need a dose of Overdrive from now on. At least once a month, or he’ll feel weak. Well, weaker than he already is!” He laughs at his own joke, “He’ll keep getting weaker until he eventually kicks the bucket!”

“I-I don’t understand… He’s a breather, are you trying to give him the burn?!”

“No, no, not that crud from the storm. The real stuff, got it?”

Evelyn takes out the vial she had gotten from the assassin upstairs and shows it to him, “Like this?”

“Yup! That’s the stuff! Welp, you got it taken care of then! Later!” With that, Gale is gone in a flash, the sound of the statue moving back being the only sound left in the room.

…

Evelyn kicks open the door to their airship. With Adrian on her shoulder, she limps into the living area, face planting on the floor.

“Ow, ow, ow…” She whines,

With a pained grunt she gets back up and slowly drags Adrian into his room. They had only been in their ship for a few days, but he had managed to trash his room in that short time, clothes strung throughout the space. She lays him in his bed and rolls away, coming back with a first aid kit.

“Alright, bud, let's get you fixed up. Then it’ll be me next.” She said,

There is no response from her friend, his chest slowly rising and falling, the silence making Evelyn frown.

“We’ll be alright… We always are…”