Anselle's eyes flicked between the group, wanting on any one of them to speak up, to add their own thoughts to his. He - wasn't
sure his idea was right, but he was all ears for anything else. Anything that made
sense. His stare went to Barry, his brow bunching at the idea of enemies - what enemies - being behind it.
"Do you, uh, have a lot of enemies?" Anselle asked, honestly. Who had enemies? That was - childish, right? Yeah, he really didn't like that idea. Had they been among enemies the whole time? Was it Courtney? That would explain a lot.
Anselle shook his head, leaving those particular thoughts behind as Emiko spoke up, sounding more sure of herself than he did. He nodded at her, an uneasy expression on his face. He...really didn't feel good, he was getting nervous and
he - breathe. They'd be fine,
he'd be fine. He pushed himself away from the wall, walking closer to the group, a warming smile coming to his face.
"Y-yep! We're still together an-and-" Anselle's head snapped towards the entrance of the alley, Dinah's silhouette tense.
Anselle licked at his lips, trying to mouth a what before - uh oh. At the mouth of the alley, stood three huge figures that hadn't been there before. He overheard RJ talking
at the silenced Zatanna, catching an orange glow from the corner of his eye. RJ recited - something. It was odd enough to look at the boy, and judging by the look on RJ's face, he was just as confused as Anselle was. He kept his gaze ahead, to Dinah, to the men beyond her. Anselle's stomach roiled with tension, nearly tasting bile as Dinah started talking - warning them.
Bane. Again, he'd never heard of a Bane, he'd never heard of night vision
anything, he'd never heard of cocktails or power fists. The situation was getting more and more unfamiliar as the figures built an imposing wall of muscle at the alley's end. Were - were they going to have to fight?
Anselle crept away from the group as Dinah explained her plan, closer to the blonde in case of sudden...rowdiness. Anselle stuck out a hand, a stressed grimace he forced into a smile, slowly reaching for Dinah's shoulder. He bit his lip at one of the towering men's demand of their valuables, Harley answering from behind, the girl looking ready and
eager to get at the man. Even Pamela beside her was on her guard. Anselle let out a nervous laugh.
"You wouldn't be up for a trade, would you?"
They weren't. One of them mentioned Bane as their - brother? God, these his
brothers? Oh, and then they came running. Now, maybe it was just his perspective, but the sight of that much swollen muscle with the intent to
fight them was frightening. Anselle winced, a scared yelp forced out of him. Behind him, RJ called for him by his nickname and asked for some light. Anselle's features cringed in confusion, then understanding.
Oh. Oh,
obviously.
Anselle's hands balled into fists, violet emerging from his skin, shining through his clothes as violet turned to a brilliant,
blinding light. The alley was positively
alight, as if day had came back in an instant. And in an instant, it was over, light receding back into Anselle.
The thugs that had neared him - hadn't paused in their charge of him, yet they were off balance; clumsy, and, oh, maybe blinded. They ran at him, and Anselle hopped to the side with only a small squeak. They - kept going. Wow, they really couldn't see. The two of them crashed into each other with a solid
thud. Frustrated, unseeing, the two separated with a shove, the strange gloves they were whirling at the motion. One of them scrubbed at his eyes, the other throwing a reckless punch at the air.
"Goddamnit, can't- I can't fuc-"
"Excuse you, language!" Anselle shouted, hands immediately slapping over his own mouth.
Oops. The bully brothers both turned to the sound of his voice, crowding in on him, blinking heavily and squinting at him. Matching grins came to their faces, pulling up their heavy hands and clanking them together, the sound echoed in Anselle's ears.
"Puny one, ain'tcha?" One of them said, scraggly stubble across a scared chin, dark hair cut to his just as scared scalp.
Anselle's face burned, pulling his shoulders tight, raising his hands as he prepared to - do
this. "And you're big, what's your point?!" That got a laugh out of both of them, Anselle watching them as they reached for him. Anselle jumped back, or tried to. The taller of the two grabbed him by the collar, flannel fraying under the strength of his grip. The other brought back his fist, so-called power fist grinding as he readied what was going to be quite the punch.
"Hold 'im, still, bro," he said, knuckles cracking under his rough flex.
"Think we found a brand new punching bag."
He changed his mind, he didn't want to get punched anymore.
"No! I'm not a punching bag!" Whatever that was, it didn't sound pleasant. Anselle's hands found the metal glove keeping around his collar, the b-
brute lifting him with ease, though his collar suffered another seam for it.
"Let go! Let go!" Anselle struggled, body flashing, the brutes squinting to avoid another blinding.
The eager-to-punch-him one gave a mean chuckle at the sight of him, Anselle's legs swinging wildly underneath him, not even able to kick at his captor from the man's
damn long arms. A sharp whirling caught his attention, Anselle's eyes snapping towards the other brother, his fist flying right at his exposed side. Anselle closed his eyes and braced himself for the shot at his ribs.
It hit with a thud, a sharp crack of metal on flesh, what should've been bone shattering was merely
light. Violet burst around the thug's gloved hand, Anselle's face still in a cringe, but unharmed. He let out a breath he'd been holding all at once, the stare he set on the bolder of the thug's was one that was glowing. Anselle balled his own fists, hands clasped around his captor's own power fist.
"Alright, let go!" Anselle
squeezed, and the metal
bent under his grip. The thug let out a shout, pain forcing his hand open, Anselle dropping to his fist and all but bouncing away from the thugs.
"Sorry about your hand, but you guys are too rough!" Anselle said, facing the two again, both of them looking as furious as ever.
"And-" Anselle held his collar, fabric frayed to shreds.
"My shirt, you beast." And like beasts, the two yelled and charged him, Anselle steeling himself and readying for the hit.
Metal fists poised to strike, Anselle followed the brother's gloves, reaching up to grab them and hold them there. Anselle's arms shook for a moment, his grip unsteady, and then he pushed back, the muscles in the brute's arms trembling at the the sudden show of strength.
"The hell? Hey, hey!" The taller one tried to free his hand, Anselle's grip on his glove close to vice-like, even as the brute yanked away.
"Let go!"
"Kid's gotta be some kinda super! He's- breaking my hand!" The other groaned, face showing his pain as Anselle continued to crush the glove, pressure ramping up every second.
Anselle scoffed at the idea.
"I could, but broken bones suck, so-" Anselle began to glow, light flooding from his skin as he took a step back, dragging the brutes with him, thrusting his hands forward as a visible swell of force
exploded from Anselle's hands, the brutes sent skidding back from the hit.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll just do that."