One man stepped forward from the group, a baseball cap on his head, and raised his hands.
Lucy felt the sphere pulse as energy flowed off of him. His pale eyes took in the group, and she knew he was the true threat. "Be careful. He's the telepath that brought down the plane. He's very powerful."
The man's eyebrow twitched. "Perceptive."
Morrison didn't waiver, and Lucy found herself finally impressed by the man. "Don't even think about it. As soon as I feel this gun budge, I'll pull the trigger."
Lucy pushed through the wind assault to face the man directly. "What's your name?"
He looked almost amused as he answered. "Robert. And you?"
"I'm Lucy," she said, then gestured to her brother. "This is Luke. We're paranormals too. There's no need to attack us. We're not your enemies. But I can assure you, Agent Morrison will pull the trigger if you use your power. Are you willing to risk Beleth's life?"
Robert hesitated, then waved his hand. The room tensed in anticipation, and beads of sweat dripped down Morrison's face, but his hand held steady. Lucy prepped for the onslaught of power, but instead, the other soldiers lowered their weapons.
The room let out a collective sigh. At least, those on the receiving end of the weapons and power.
Lucy looked over to Beleth, relieved that his life had been worth something to these men. A glint of black, something shiny like oil, caught her eye. The transformation happened so fast. One second, his tattooed hand rested by his side, the next, it extended into some kind of blade.
"No!" Lucy tried to dive toward Beleth, to stop him, but the cabin pressure did not allow for a fast response. At least not for her.
Beleth had no problem navigating the space. No problem using his sword-hand thing to slice through the air, and into flesh and blood and bone. No problem slicing Agent Morrison's gun hand clean off.
Time moved in slow motion as Morrison stood, stunned, not seeming to realize his hand had been amputated. He looked down, his face paling, and clutched his wrist. Bright red blood poured from the space where his hand used to live, and he slumped to the floor.
Lucy couldn't make sense of what she was seeing. Breaking out of Rent-A-Kid had resulted in plenty of bloodshed, but this... this looked almost fake. So much blood, so bright and sticky, like the stuff they use for movies.
Beleth, unfazed, walked to Robert, his black sword changing back into a hand. "What's our location?"
Robert handed him a gun. "We're near the base, Sir."
Lucy couldn't believe they could have a conversation like a man wasn't bleeding to death in the corner. She pushed through the cabin, ignoring the threatening glares of the soldiers, and reached for Morrison. She pulled off her belt and tied it around his wrist. He didn't speak, but stared at her with eyes that were losing their spark.
A soldier raised his gun and aimed it at Lucy.
Luke screamed. "No!"
Beleth put his hand up. "Not those two," he said, pointing to Luke and Lucy. "Kill the rest."
The sound of bullets filled the small space. Lucy screamed. Luke stood very still, channeling his power. The sphere pulsed stronger.
And the bullets stopped in mid-air.
The soldiers ceased fire and Beleth turned his attention to Luke. "Interesting."
Luke seized the moment. "Why kill them? Just leave. You have what you came for. There's no need for more bloodshed."
Beleth commanded that stillness as he stared at Luke. "Someday you will understand. One can never leave a cancer to spread." He flicked his wrist and the soldiers open fired on the IPI agents and crew, carefully avoiding Luke and Lucy.
Luke threw up another shield, and the bullets once again stopped mid-air, even as more joined them.
The pow-pow-pow of a hundred bullets deafened Lucy's ears. More and more bullets cluttered the air, stopping at Luke's shield point, but Lucy could tell Luke's energy was draining. The bullets shook, wavered, pushed forward as if fighting against the shield. Luke wouldn't win the fight for long, she knew.
With another flick of Beleth's fingers, the shooting stopped as suddenly as it had started. He addressed Luke. "Join us. If you come peacefully, we'll let the crew live."
Agent Morrison stirred under Lucy's hands. His eyes sharpened to focus. "No! Luke, Lucy, don't go with them."
Before Lucy could register the movement, Beleth raised his gun and shot Morrison in the head, silencing him. Lucy choked back a sob. "No. What did you do?"
Beleth spoke as if she hadn't said anything, as if he hadn't just killed a man. "What is your answer?"
Seriously? He thinks we'll go with him now?
Luke had the same idea. "We're not going anywhere with you scumbags. Ever."
Beleth sighed without any melodrama, then nodded once. Robert lifted his hand. The sphere thrummed again and Luke flew through the air and was pushed into the airplane wall. His limbs spread apart and Lucy could hear cracking.