I was just shovelling the money into some discarded bags when Emma stuck her head into the room.

"Skidmark and Squealer just pulled up. We need to go, now!"

Cursing, I threw the last of the money into the bag. We weren't ready for this, Skidmark wasn't a threat but who knew what Squealer had with her. Tinkers were dangerous and I wasn't ready to try my powers against Tinker-tech weapons.

I'd just left the office when the far wall exploded and Squealers latest creation burst into the building, looking like something from an old post-apocalyptic movie.

It looked like it had once been an old pickup before Squealer got her hands on it. The whole thing had been raised to make way for the monster-truck sized wheels. Armour had been welded across the chassis and a pair of large machine guns were mounted to the roof. The engine was so loud I could feel it in my chest, - How did we not hear it coming?



I was still staring open mouthed when it spun on the spot and the roof mounted guns swiveled to aim at us. A hatch opened on the roof and a dark skinned man in a "wife-beater" vest and a mask that covered the top of his head, climbed up.

"You motherfucking cum-guzzlers think you can mess with me!?" He shouted, "Squealer! Fuck these bitches up!"

The guns fired and Emma dived for cover in the manager's office and I moved to cover her. The first round hit me in the back, the pain was incredible and I staggered forwards. Straightening up, I tried to tank the other shots only for Emma to tackle me to the ground.

Rolling us over, I put myself over her as more rounds tore through the thin walls. A few more hit me but they hurt less each time.

The gunfire stopped and I risked getting to my knees and crawling to the door, Emma moved gingerly to behind me . A large cannon had risen out of the trucks bed and was taking aim at the office.

Fuck!

Jumping up, I charged the far wall. The old brickwork gave way with the first blow and Emma and I dived through the hole just before the cannon fired.

"Run!" I shouted over the noise as the warehouse exploded behind us. I shoved a bag of cash into Emma's hands. "The rooftops!"

There was a fire escape on the nearest building, Emma ran on ahead and in three neat jumps vanished over the top. Jumping, I used the biggest blast I dared to propel myself upwards. The landing wasn't graceful but it gave me a bit more charge.

There was a small wall that ran round the rooftop and we ducked behind it to see if we were being followed.

"T-tay," Emma gasped between breaths, "Are you... Okay?"

My back was aching and I'm sure I was bleeding but it wasn't anything that wouldn't heal given time. "I'll be fine. Do you think they'll give up?"

Squealers truck smashed through the warehouse wall, the roof mounted guns already spinning to point at us.

"Nope!"

With a roar, the truck raced for the building we were hiding on. its speed making it rise up on its rear wheels. There was a crunch as the truck started to drive up the wall. -Fucking Tinkers!-

Emma cursed as it tore its way up the building, crushing the fire escape as it rose.

Turning, we both ran for the far edge. behind us, there was a crash as the truck cleared the roof and opened fire.

Emma and I split up, running in different directions. Reaching the edge of the roof first, Emma jumped, creating and dispelling copies to shield her from gun fire. Blasting myself into the air, I felt more bullets slam into my back. They still hurt but they were doing less damage.

My landing on the next roof was rough, the gun fire putting me off balance forced me to roll to a stop. Diving behind a raised section, I tried to catch my breath. I'd lost sight of Emma but I could still hear gunfire so she had to be close.

Putting the bag of cash I'd been carrying down, I carefully leaned sideways.

The truck was spinning on the spot, turning like a tank. The roof mounted weapons were focused on a dark shape I assumed was Emma. The roof she'd landed on had little cover and she was being forced to create copy after copy.

Boosted stamina or not, she couldn't keep that up. Leaving the cash and climbing to my feet, I moved towards the far edge of the roof. This wasn't a good plan and acting recklessly had gotten mixed success so far.

I charged forwards, jumping at the last second and using a blast to propel me forwards. I could feel the heat as my hair burst into flames, -This ends now!-

I landed on the roof just as the truck was spinning to face me and I used small blasts from my feet to dance from one side to the next. I ignored the few shots that did connect, to focused on what I was doing to feel the pain.

Calling up all the fire I could, I drove my hand into the side of truck. The heat and concussive force buckled the armour on the side and force the whole thing sideways. I almost laughed when a small hatch opened and a set of hidden flamethrowers tried to torch me.

I Ducked under the truck, sinking my hand into a beam and started punching wildly at the undercarriage. Above, there was a clatter as Emma landed on the truck roof. She drove a metal pole she'd grabbed into the joints around the guns and pushed down, tearing the gun loose from its fitting.

Inside the truck, there was more cursing as I managed to put a blast through the metal. The trucks wheels screamed as Squealer floored it. I wasn't strong enough to stop it and was dragged halfway across the roof before I let go.

As they tore past, I took a shoot at one of the wheels, causing it to burst and the truck to skid. It hit the low wall that circled the roof with a crunch. Blasting forwards, I hit the truck with everything I could, rocking it sideways. The wall gave way and the truck went over the edge.

The noise the truck made when it hit the floor was horrifying, a loud metallic popping noise, like the worst auto-accident i'd ever heard. Rushing forwards, for one terrifying moment I was afraid we'd killed them.

Leaning over the remain of the wall, I could faintly hear cursing and door, buckled and warped was blasted off the side of the truck. Skidmark climbed out and fell to his knees where he was promptly sick, behind him Squealer pulled herself out of the wreck. One of her arms was hurt but she turned to look up at as and started screaming insults so I assumed she'd be okay.

Breathing a little easier, I could hear sirens in the distance.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Emma suggested and I nodded in agreement. We stopped only briefly to grab the bag I'd dropped. Between the pair of us, we'd managed to save both bags so I'd call tonight a win.