The attackers aren't too much of a problem, by themselves - he can handle himself against even the more ferocious ones, and the ones that are more sluggish and clumsy fall easily enough. It's the sheer number of them that's the real problem, the relentless way they circle him and attack in waves. It's obvious that they're not really thinking any more, not clearly anyway, driven by some feral instinct rather than logic, but they're still behaving smartly. They're still human enough to know what they're doing, maybe, or maybe it's just a pack-predator instinct, to keep him fighting until he's exhausted, until he's worn down enough to fall.
It might even be working. He's well trained, he has enough stamina to fight gangs and ninja and supervillains all night long, but not in closely-timed waves. It's testing him, and even though he manages to make some progress back towards the exit, it's painfully slow, bought through bitter combat. This is a war of attrition, and without help, he's going to lose.
He doesn't have a chance to hit his comm and call for back up, but some arrives anyway. He's tense and coiled and ready to fight the pack of six when - someone snarls, and charges into one of his attackers, and he's left stunned for a long moment because what the hell? He's glad of the respite, but still on edge, ready to defend himself, but - he recognises that fighting style. That training. It's not as sharp as it should be, not as focused, but it's there, and it makes his heart feel tight in his chest.
He recognises that face, except not quite - is it the pollen clouding his head, making him see tiny differences? And... not so tiny differences, as he catches sight of that unmissable scar.
He spins and strikes down another pollen victim who had been trying to take advantage of his distraction to attack him from behind - he's not so worn down that he'd miss the sounds of that, not yet. There's no time to work this out, no time to really watch Jason(?) work, but he can't help asking, muffled through the mask and distinctly incredulous - ]
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The attackers aren't too much of a problem, by themselves - he can handle himself against even the more ferocious ones, and the ones that are more sluggish and clumsy fall easily enough. It's the sheer number of them that's the real problem, the relentless way they circle him and attack in waves. It's obvious that they're not really thinking any more, not clearly anyway, driven by some feral instinct rather than logic, but they're still behaving smartly. They're still human enough to know what they're doing, maybe, or maybe it's just a pack-predator instinct, to keep him fighting until he's exhausted, until he's worn down enough to fall.
It might even be working. He's well trained, he has enough stamina to fight gangs and ninja and supervillains all night long, but not in closely-timed waves. It's testing him, and even though he manages to make some progress back towards the exit, it's painfully slow, bought through bitter combat. This is a war of attrition, and without help, he's going to lose.
He doesn't have a chance to hit his comm and call for back up, but some arrives anyway. He's tense and coiled and ready to fight the pack of six when - someone snarls, and charges into one of his attackers, and he's left stunned for a long moment because what the hell? He's glad of the respite, but still on edge, ready to defend himself, but - he recognises that fighting style. That training. It's not as sharp as it should be, not as focused, but it's there, and it makes his heart feel tight in his chest.
He recognises that face, except not quite - is it the pollen clouding his head, making him see tiny differences? And... not so tiny differences, as he catches sight of that unmissable scar.
He spins and strikes down another pollen victim who had been trying to take advantage of his distraction to attack him from behind - he's not so worn down that he'd miss the sounds of that, not yet. There's no time to work this out, no time to really watch Jason(?) work, but he can't help asking, muffled through the mask and distinctly incredulous - ]
Jason?