Alex ran through the crowds, dodging through people and using the Path of Step when he had a clear moment to gain distance. Occasionally, he would look behind him to ensure the captain kept up with him. He didn''t want to get too far ahead since he was the distraction.


    "Come back, kid!" Captain Grayson yelled at him. "You talked a big game, so come and show me you have it!"


    Alex threw a copper doler out into the dirt streets in front of him and opened his gate. Electricity shot through him from his heart and through his limbs. He took a second coin out of his pocket as he pointed his hand to the coin he was approaching.


    "Coin Vault," he said, sending a blast of magnetic force into the coin and throwing himself up with a twisting motion from the ground.


    He cleared the heads of the people near the coin and took a moment in the turn to aim his second coin back at the captain.


    "Rail Shot!"


    He flicked the coin from his finger at the captain, and it shot out from him with the force from the magnetism that made up his curse. For the third time, what should have been a sure hit turned into a miss, as the captain twisted at the last second to avoid Alex''s coin projectile.


    Alex fell back to the ground and rolled, knocking at least a few people over before he could make it back on his feet and continue running down the street. The pain of the hits and the roll was a dull sensation that was being overpowered by an odd feeling in his heart.


    It was almost like heartburn, and he had to wonder what was in the noodles to cause it. Spiking shots of pain kept pulsing through his chest every few seconds. It wasn''t enough to stop him, but it was distracting, to say the least.


    "Step."


    Alex had a fraction of a second to duck the arm that came for his head from the side. He threw his shoulders back and caught himself on his hands backward in an awkward position. Above him, the captain''s arm cut through the air like a scythe. Alex dropped and rolled away before gaining his footing again.


    "Step."


    Crash. Crack. Thump.


    Alex disappeared, heading toward the nearest alley. As he ran past it, he knocked over the first set of boxes piled in the alley and didn''t look back. The captain had the Path of Step so he could keep up with Alex, and Alex had guessed his second one already, making things much more tricky.


    The Path of Will was a passive technique that attuned users to the world around them. Captain Grayson could track Alex for a good distance without even having a line of sight and see any simple attacks before they hit. Captain Grayson was a bad matchup for Alex unless the captain was distracted or careless.


    Alex only had to hope that he also didn''t possess a curse.


    "That''s not going to work!" the captain yelled out behind Alex.


    Alex looked back as he ran and saw the captain vault over the pile of boxes like it was nothing. Alex hoped that his plan was working because if it wasn''t, there was a good chance he wouldn''t get away. He needed to improvise to gain just a little more time.


    He reached out with his senses, even as his heart burned in his chest. Metal objects lit up around him, and as he ran by them, he pulled on their magnetic fields. Small objects like pipes, loose nails, and strips of metal roofing began to gather around Alex as he ran, forming a small junk barrier between him and the captain who tailed him. He knew the man noticed, but the captain remained in pursuit. Alex could hear him utter a few curses as he took a corner.


    A dead end opened up in front of him, and Alex ran for it. He had a couple of options, but his plan was to distract and delay, not win. He skidded to a stop at the stone wall that ended the alley, his gathered metal floating above him as he turned to face the captain.


    "A curse that lets you control metal, then." The captain stopped across from him, a fair distance away. "Don''t think I''m some inexperienced pup. I''m not running in to get crushed by that!"


    "Is that what you see happening?" Alex asked, heaving in and out while clutching at his chest. "I''m just getting started, gramps."


    Alex took in a deep breath and pushed his arms forward. The various bits and pieces of metal shot out all at once, forming a barrage of crap that cut across the air toward the captain. Alex smiled, but pain spiked through his heart again as he coughed through the name of the technique.


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    "Scrap Storm."


    He stumbled forward, catching himself on his hands before he pushed himself up enough to see the results of the move. Metal shot through the alley, and he saw the captain reach up and pull his hat over his eyes with one hand.


    Ting. Scrrp. Slam. Ding.


    Piece by piece, as if in slow motion, he dodged through each piece of scrap, and they cut across the air behind him before hitting the ground. Alex fought to catch his breath as the pain in his chest kept going. Again, he had to ask himself what had been in those noodles.


    "Some power you got there, kid," the captain said as he walked forward. "Seems you''re having a little bit of trouble with it, though. What''s wrong with you?"


    "Just a little winded," Alex said, standing up.


    This hadn''t been part of his plan, and it was showing. He would have to buy as much time as he could with what he had. The good news was that the scrap behind the captain was still in play, and he didn''t know if the captain knew that.


    "Step."


    They said it together and met in between the distance that separated them. Alex threw a punch that the captain sidestepped, and a hand caught Alex in the gut. Alex grunted but released a gasp of his backup plan with the remaining air.


    "Return Trip."


    Whirr. Thump.


    "Argh!"


    A pipe flew through the air toward Alex and caught the captain on the shoulder. The captain''s eyes widened a moment before it happened, so the man had seen it coming. However, because he was committed to his punch, he didn''t have the time to dodge. Alex staggered to the side, and both he and Captain Grayson caught themselves on the alley walls.


    "Nice trick." The captain spat as he stood again and raised both fists. "You''re better than you look, kid."


    "And you hit hard for an old man," Alex said, pushing himself up from the wall on unsteady feet. "I''ve only ever fought one person who knew the Path of Will."


    "Yeah, it''s hard to learn," Captain Grayson said, cracking his knuckles together. "Really handy for keeping out of trouble, though. If you knew it, you wouldn''t have picked a fight with me."


    "Maybe," Alex said, shaking his head to clear it. "Sometimes, we have to do stupid stuff to make our way in this world."


    "I would consider letting you go." Captain Grayson smiled. "You''d be a lot of paperwork. But you had to go and hit my men with those coins. I can''t let you get away with that, kid."


    "I went into this expecting it," Alex said, clutching at his chest. "But we don''t know how this fight will end."


    "Step."


    "Might."


    Alex ducked the leg that sailed through the air above him and slammed his body forward. He wrapped his arms around the captain and spun on his heel to face the captain back toward all the metal he had thrown earlier. His chest screamed out at him, and Alex had a second to recognize where the problem was coming from before he pushed past it anyway.


    "Scrap Pincushion!"


    Whirr. Thump. Crack. Slam.


    The pieces of metal shot through the air from the ground directly at Alex. However, Captain Grayson''s body was conveniently in the way, thanks to his quick use of the Path of Might. Pipes, nails, and bits of scrap metal crashed into the man while others sailed past. Grayson grunted as a few landed good hits before Alex was knocked aside with a quick elbow to his head.


    Alex let go as the strength fled from his arms, and he spun from the elbow hit to his face. The captain fell onto the ground at the same moment, catching himself on his knees as Alex caught himself against the alley''s wall. His head swam, and the pain from his heart and his head combined.


    "Just a little longer," Alex whispered, blinking his eyes to help clear out his shaking vision.


    "That hurt, kid." Grayson coughed, pushing himself up on one knee.


    His face had a few bruises and cuts now, and his left arm wasn''t moving like it should. Alex had gotten a few good hits in with that attack. Now, he just needed the second part of his plan to come in—a little longer.


    "Your mistake was trying to take me alone," Grayson said, taking in a deep breath and flexing his good arm. "If you had a crew, you might have been strong enough to take me down. But, since you got cocky and came at me alone, you''re going to be in a cage by the end of tonight."


    "Hah." Alex laughed, reaching into his pocket and taking out another copper doler. "How about this? I''ll bet you this coin that I don''t end up in a cage by the end of tonight. You''re not going to take me out."


    "What makes you say that?" Grayson shook his head. "Like it or not, kid. You''re not strong enough to take me down. I''ve seen what you can do, and you look like you''re halfway into the grave already. If you keep pushing yourself, you''re going to die alone."


    "You see, that''s the problem," Alex said, dropping the coin to the ground as he looked up to the rooftops above them. "I''m not alone."


    Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.


    Several small black objects fell across the ground from above, all over the alley. Alex smiled. Of course, Erin was part of the plan, and she was precisely where he needed her to be. He closed his eyes and pushed as hard as he could against the coin.


    "Coin Vault."


    "Thorn Garden!"


    The captain already had a rough fight, and adding a second fighter was pushing him past his limits. Alex saw the shock on the man''s face as he began to react, dodging left and right as vines shot up from the ground and across his body. They twined and wrapped through the alley, catching hold of anything that they could find purchase on and constricting around them.


    Alex was already shooting up in the air and out of the vines'' reach. He reached without looking toward the nearest rooftop, and a hand caught his. With a pull, Erin took him from his magnetic trajectory, and he fell onto the rooftop shingles.


    "Grah!" Erin yelled as the both of them hit the ground.


    They both rolled across the roof for a moment until they stopped. Alex closed his eyes and his gate immediately, and the pain in his heart lessened to nothing. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the stars twinkling above him in Zanhai''s sky. He took in a deep, steadying breath as his body began to recover.


    "Let''s go!" Erin came over and blocked his view of the stars, reaching down with her hand to help him stand.


    Alex took her hand and stood up. The world was still swimming around him, and a dull pain still throbbed across his heart, but he could stand. He could run. They crossed the rooftops together as Captain Grayson fought to free himself from the vines below.


    With a few caveats, everything had gone according to plan.