Shot in the Dark

Nine let out a simple sigh. This guy was a pathetic excuse for a hero, "Not even gonna try and see if he can be saved, how cruel of you. I wonder if his last thoughts right now are of where you are and why you aren't coming to save him." She teased, hoping to throw him off a bit, and just barely recovering from the elbow strike. Her danger sense was ringing like crazy, but thankfully he wasn't too hard to read on his own. She wasn't sure how many more strikes she could dodge though. In the meantime, however, she'd have to rely on other tactics rather than just Vigil. She was way to close to get a good shot in as her previous attempt just showed.

She attempted to sidestep the man, following through with her dodge and pulling her rifle with her. In the same motion, there would be a glint of silver as a knife was pulled from its sheath on her chest gear. She would move it across in a sweeping motion up his chest and try to drag the tip along the man's face, not enough for a serious wound, but hopefully enough to cause him to flinch back. What she needed at this moment was space, to get him away from her so she could focus on a getaway. Her job was done, she didn't need to be here anymore, let alone fight some stupid empowered.

...she also needed to invest into some better gear if she was going to keep fighting fiends like this.

Cebra stopped his momentum in an instant and leaned back to dodge the incoming blade, his calculations were off by only a fraction as the blade caught his chin with a nasty cut but not much reaction. He was starting to get frustrated at this cat and mouse game along with her smart mouth, to use a common cliche it was time to use his full power or at least more of it than he was. His perception of time slowed down seeing things move now in slow motion, S.E.M ran every calculation it could in the environment planning the best attack.

His speed was no different than before but his agility and precision allowed him to avoid the line of sight of a shooter as he slowly walked toward her aware of even the slightest shift in her movement. "Here's something to think about. If he's alive then me going back does nothing, there are plenty of people to care for that good man. But stopping you would at least give us someone to interrogate. If he's dead, which dont fuck me around I know he is you bitch... Then I bring you in and find out who you're working for. Like I said before, dead or alive you're coming with me." Cebra wasn't so foolish as she seemed to think, he was a machine and had an inherent logic to his thinking.

He had enough of her shit talk and raised his fists combatively. He would use his knowledge of Muay Thai and Kalaripayattu, he would get in close as he could and throw tow jabs followed by sudden and quick elbow to her face. If it missed she might get a good idea of what her body was in for by the hole his elbow would make in the wall. If it hit he'd follow that with a knee that would easily push her through the wall.

His movements, although fast, were predictable. Even without her danger sense his attacks weren’t anywhere near a pro-level, at least to her eyes. They reminded her of fighting other fresh bloods back in her village, attacks filled with anger and rage. He said he was a machine, but his attacks said otherwise…at least in her opinion. Still…

Her eyes glanced over to the chunk of the wall that was carved out by his elbow. His strength alone would be problematic. Two or three good, solid hits would be all that this guy needed to put her out of commission. She couldn’t be careless and get hit so easily. So, as the man’s fists came in, she followed through with them and in quick display of acrobatics slipped through the space between his arms, ending up behind the man.

Her goal was the same, though. She needed to get away, not engage this machine in a fight. Weapons were pointless as he had so aptly displayed, at least when he was expecting them. She was just human, her options against this guy were limited, so…she needed to catch him off his guard again. Behind him, even with the limited time, may be the best chance to do so. She would have to act quickly if this escape plan was to work.

She turned and darted away from the man, putting a good few feet between them. She wasn’t headed towards any edge of the roof, but instead the hole she had made with her rifle previously. She came to skidding stop as she arrived, her hand behind her back, and then pulling it back. Was that…did she seriously have grenade in hand? Yep. She sure did.

“Better act quickly, that’ll detonate an entire floor or two with the same energy as my rifle. Bit of a delay on it, you may just be able to stop it if you act quickly enough, you Not-Hero.” She smirked at her, beginning to step back again, this time, towards the edge. Hopefully he’d take the bait. She really needed to get out of here. Humans weren’t meant to fight superhumans, and while she was a step above human, she was still a step below superhuman. She didn’t stand a stance against him, she just had to rely on tricks for now. If that didn’t work, she’d have to try Plan B, hoping he had some morals.

Cebra was caught in a rough place and with only seconds to think, well for most. A few seconds in S.E.M. was significantly longer and Cebra conceived of every possibility to both prevent the grenade from collapsing the ceiling and preventing the assassins escape. She was rather agile but inevitably he'd calculate the precise approach and kill her... But for those people below that would die. It was time to cut losses, the most efficient way to get rid of that thing was the rebar laying against the wall. He let her go and as quick as he could in the span of a second grabbed the rebar like a spear and hurled it at the grenade as he dove to get the right angle. The rebar struck under the grenade on a diagonal course and caused it to fly upwards and just outside a window smashing the glass. The explosion wasn't quite what Cebra expected, rather low yield for what she was boasting. The building shook slightly and debris flew but everything inside was safe. Cebra really couldn't believe the psychopaths that lived in this world sometimes.

When he looked back to where she was it was already too late, she appeared to be gone. He looked outside the window for any sign of her. Cebra huffed in frustration "Great, something else to add to the list... Better hope you dont run into me again," He heard some commotion coming from the hallway, no doubt some security detail was catching up. Cebra had no more vested interest in staying and answering questions. He'd failed pretty bad and nothing more to be gained by staying, time to vanish. Cebra melted into the ink black of the shadows cast by street lamps and slunk away, sore from losing and overwhelmed with questions and problems.