Hobby talk and...

"Mumble mumble."

"What?" Zac asked, a small grin on his face, taking enjoyment from her not wanting to say it.

"Mumble mumble..." she said only a little louder.

"Didn't quite catch that Blackfire." he held up a hand to his ear to show off his dilemma.

He found it kinda cute if a little weird that she was being this... hesitant about telling him what some of her hobbies where. She didn't need to at all, heck he half expected her to bite his head off but she seemed to both want to, and not want to. But when she grabbed his head and brought him close, hissing into his ear, well. That was the Blackfire he knew off. Though what she told him wasn't what he expected.

"I. LIKE. Working with my hands OKAY." she hissed before moving his head away from hers.

"You said something about that when you were reprogramming Carm but..." he patted his ear a bit to make sure he had his hearing back.

"It's more than just fixing up machines and devices." Blackfire grumbled as she leaned back, checking to make sure Layla was still resting before continuing, "At first I admit it was done when I found myself on the run often and had to take care of myself. But even when I could just lean back and 'relax' as I am always working towards, I found my hands would be..."

"Fidgety?"

"That." she went to snap her finger but looked down at the kid in her lap again, "Is a very good way of putting it minion."

"It's weird. Here I am trying to fight tooth and nail with every little underhanded trick in the book so that I don't need to lift a finger for the rest of my life..., and yet I still like to tinker or craft little things. So go ahead and mock..."

"I mean Lex probably doesn't plan on how to beat Superman all the time." he gave a shrug as he made himself comfy, "And if the archenemy to one of the greatest heroes can take a day off, I think you're allowed to have some sort of hobby. Heck Joker probably takes a weekend to just watch cartoons or something but I don't know too much about that beyond some old cartoons myself."

"Your world seems to have our lives as stories and you didn't read any of it..., humph." she turned her head up a bit, "I'm not sure I should be grateful or insulted."

"I wasn't much of a comic guy..., and got a part time job early on in High-school and didn't have a lot of free time for stuff like that. And what time I did have off went into hanging out with my sweet heart at the time."

"OH, so what were your hobbies then Mr. Hard Worker?" She brushed up against him a bit, "Tell me it's something juicy I can use to tease you with..."

"Photography."

"Excuse me?" her mouth hung open at the answer.

"Yeah." he brought out his mobile device and handled it to her, "Take a look."

She sneered a bit at handling the old beat-up device but begrudgingly started flipping through it. Most the photos were poor quality, the camera not being up to par with even the most basic of common models. But the subject matter was... interesting. Besides images of his daughter at whatever happy moments they could share together; Zac had a collection of wide-open plains, brilliant sunsets and even a handful of perfectly timed storm shots. But the most common landscape shots he had were that of star filled nights.

"When working construction, I found out early to document a lot of stuff so even when I was just an average worker, I took photos to prove I wasn't bullshiting." he gave a weak chuckle as some old memory, "And when I started to truck around well, I did the same thing. But also had a lot better material to take photos of. But it's just like hobby, nothing serious."

"Have you ever sold any of these?" she asked, flipping through more sky shots.

"Handful but they were like chump change. What can you do." he gave another shrug, "I needed extra cash at those times and didn't really have room to negotiate, so I just took what was offered."

"If you had a better device maybe you'd have something to argue with." She handed it back to him, "But I suppose you need something to do before you go nuts out on the long empty road."

"Some people pick up drawing, I tried that a bit but not really good at it. Others pick up pets to help them out. Heck, I know one guy that took to writing songs." he smiled at the thoughts of his diner buddy stories, "Everyone needs a little something."

"Drawings? Do you have any pictures of those?" She asked leaning back over.

He started to scroll through his photos again when a hand came over and started to mindlessly scroll. Blackfire had moved even closer to him, snuggled up like a loving date or wife. He was going to say something, given that they were in public and Layla was there but she spoke something into his ear.

"Keep scrolling. Pretend to be trying to show me something."

He did while trying to not seem like he was worried. Blackfire shifted in place a bit more to look at his mobile better, and slowly got Layla to wake up, trying to make it seem like she was trying to show the girl something.

"Pretty sure we have some... friends that are looking to follow us."

She motioned with her head just a bit before turning her attention back to the device. Zac flicked his eyes over the side as best he could without making it apparent, he was doing so. It was a pair of big lizard like aliens that kinda reminded him of that bastard at the bar... along another alien that looked like a snake on legs. Thinner than the other lizards and with a far longer tail. That was a... Klarn, he believed; Blackfire had told him about the punks at the park but he hadn't seen them himself only a second-hand description.

"Really, is this a common thing? Get your big brother to fight your battles each time you lose?" he muttered.

"They ARE a pack-based race so... yes. They tend to go back and get stronger and stronger pack members up until the problem is solved or they run out of members." she told him, an edge on her voice, "Agh, I wasn't expecting them to be in league with Syndicate goons."

"We need to go; even if you could kick their butts, Layla's here.".

Layla was starting to pick up on something was wrong and tried her best to not show it but her smile was a bit too wide and her eyes were flickering around. Blackfire just gave her a reassuring pat on the head and gave her the mobile to distract herself with.

"I know I KNOW you don't need to remind me." she said, giving the girl a hug which she returned, looking like the 'perfect' mother figure to anyone looking at the trio, "Ugh..., we'll have to go out a back way."

"Back way...., hmm. Think I might have a solution to that."

====

"So, you want me to let you out the back?"

The pair had doubled back to the shark like alien that Zac had talked to early. Given that she seemed to work here to some degree, it was the best thing he could think of. Worst case they could maybe just get a bit of info on what to do.

"Yeah... otherwise we might cause more problems than you guys want." he offered with a small bow, "I don't want to like make a ruckus over some guys being bent out of shape."

"Hmmm. Think I can..., gimme a moment."

She turned away and brought a device up to her head. Zac couldn’t really tell what was being said. But it wasn't the... heated discussion he had expected an employee to have with higher ups about taking them into some back way out. Eventually the call ended and she gave the trio a thumbs up. With a grin that showed off too many teeth... probably untended.

"I got the go ahead. Come on." she said as she took off on a 'not fast enough to worry people but not slow enough to be counted as walking' pace.

She led the group towards a side door that had no doubt had Employees Only on the front, which Blackfire confirmed. Better be safe than sorry. The hallways here were a bit wider than the ones in the 'viewing' area of the place. Their guide, who was named Senai, explained that back in the day this is where they'd drive some of the bigger vehicles through to transport material. But this upper area wasn't used anymore, so most the machines they passed were turned off or stripped down to their essentials.

That didn't stop Layla from asking about every little thing that piqued her interest. Blackfire grumbled as she carried the girl but agreed with Zac when he brought up that it was helping to distract her from the worry that was starting to build up around them. Eventually they passed by long window that opened into a room with several machines inside with series of pipes and tubes around it.

"And this…, was at one point one of the main reservoirs. See those machines in there kid?" Senai asked, pointing a finger at them, "That's where they used to pump all the water out of if a sections own reserves were getting low."

"Wait they keep reserves? Not like centralized..." Zac started to ask

"Nah. See Each section has their own water supply and reclaiming facility now acting as backups or the like. They're all fed by a main reservoir though, which is several floors below us. What do they do with water where you're from?" Senai asked without looking back.

That made a bit of sense. Maybe it was something closer to water towers or something. It'd be more cost effective to have smaller holding areas for water than pumping it all to and from one place all the time.

"So, they don't use this for anything?" Blackfire spoke up as they walked, "Odd, this is a lot of space that's going to waste."

"There's talks of turning it into more storage and the like but there's a couple different groups that are like debating just how to use it so eh..." she gave a shrug.

"Seems like some things don't change regardless of where you go."

"Aint that the truth? All the big companies are always fighting to get some more property inside the station. God, I can't even count them all." Senai started listing names, counting them on her fingers. "There's TempesTechnologies, Redstar, Vertex Industries, Lucent Solutions...,

"Wait..." Blackfire grabbed the large shark by the arm, rather hard too. Hard enough to get the Shark alien to stop moving, "What did you just say? The one before Lucent...,"

"Vertex? Yeah, they're a big conglomerate that has a lot of roots into all sorts of things. Heck, they operated this site for a while before they had to sell off shares to other groups..., why?"

"That was the name on several crates when I took down the gang..." Blackfire gave the larger alien a push to keep walking, "So either they were stealing from Vertex or..."

"They know." Zac finished as he slammed his belt arm, turning into his armored form.

Just in time as several shots flew towards them from where they came from. Blackfire dodged and shielded Layla while Zac blocked for Senai. The shots left burnt holes in the metal flooring. But if it was heat weapons they were packing this time, Zac had them beat. Whatever his suit was seemed to have a hammer space or pocket dimension to store his blade in.

"Starlight Burst – Leo!"

With a swing of his blade, he sent out a wave of energy that super-heated their weapons into slag. That didn't stop them though as they pulled out secondary weapons and kept firing. But they weren't shaking their hands/appendages as much. It seemed like their combat armor this time was the real deal rather than cobbled together ganger armor. Pretty fancy and shiny too, so it was probably going to be harder to chew through them this time. Blackfire probably wouldn't have a problem though.

A part of his mind told him it was hard to do repeated waves like that so he shifted to the defense, blunting their shots with his body and weapon.

"You good?!?" He called over his shoulder.

"OF COURSE I'm good!" Blackfire growled back as she turned and brought up a hand.

A series of purple energy blasts erupted from her hand, knocking thugs backwards and destroying more of their war gear. Zac took this time to slam his weapon into the steel floor below them and pull upwards, causing a length of the floor to rise upward in a make shift barrier. That would have to hold them back for now as the group ran down the hallway.

He expected Blackfire to be all gung-ho, 'get back there and smite them', and if they were alone, she probably would be. But given Layla was with them she seemed to understand that running was a better idea.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were gonna make trouble." Senai gasped out as she ran, "What did you do to tick them off?"

"..., Not entirely sure to be honest. She broke up a gang, I punched out a lot of goons, and we both broke a lot of their stuff but..., this seems pretty ****." Zac answered as he moved.

It was pretty overkill for what they were facing. If they'd been doing this for like a couple months now, sure, but this? Then again..., maybe they wanted something else besides ****? Did some enemy Blackfire had put them up to this? Or maybe they were interested in what the pair could do, and sought to control them or sell it off? Too many questions, not enough time.

A door ahead slammed open and a few more figures emerged, wearing similar higher-grade armor. However, unlike those behind them, this group seemed to have melee weapons. He had to dodge a swing from what looked to be a tesla coil only as a club before bringing his own weapon against the foe. A heavy-duty shield, complete with added hard light barrier blocked the swing... only for a few seconds. While the shield itself only cracked a bit, the sheer **** of the hit still sent the attacker flying backwards.

Zac wasn't new to being a brawl but it was mainly the drunken bar fight or cocky ass on the road. This was an actual melee. He was glad whatever knowledge the armor gave him was working to make up the difference in skill. His body moved easily, using his blade to block weapon swings or smash shields. Those he could he simply gave them a sharp kick or straight punch across the face.

Blackfire for her part just.... smashed? That was the best way to describe her fighting style. She flew into goons, knocking them aside and if any one put up resistance, she just punched straight through their shield. One time she grabbed the poor sucker on the other side and tossed him like a rag doll, all while wearing the broken shield like an overly large bracelet. And while Layla wasn't comfortable in Blackfire's grip, she was able to move the young human around to make sure she could get a swing in or block for the human.

"Remember me?"

That and a growl were all that Zac got as a warning before some large shape came out from the side of his vision. He brought his blade up to block it, the impact echoing throughout the hallway. There was just one thing wrong though; unlike the other attacks, he was being pushed back by this one. He shifted and shoved forward with his blade to push whatever hit him away while at the same time jumping backwards to get some distance between whatever just hit him.

It was the lizard gangster from the bar that had caused all the problems thus far. Only clad in way more effective looking armor, looking more like heavy duty station security gear than what he had before. Just meant he would have to punch harder but that wasn't the actual problem. It was his weapon.

He'd gone and somehow found an equality sized weapon to fight Zac with; it was a monster of double-sided axe... maybe a halberd? Honestly looked a bit like a club that had sharp rock attached to it. It was giving off a sickly green glow and several tubes were attached to the lizard's gauntlets. Was that so he could hold it or was it just doping him up?

"Not so tough when I'm ready for you, huh bot boy... or well I suppose that's not what you are..." he spat to the side and moved his weapon into a pre swing stance, "Well, egg heads can figure out what you are unless the boss wants you stuffed and mounted. Me I just want wanna see you bleed."

"Shit-" *Ch-chunk* "Starry BLOW; BLADE!"

Zac barely had time to power up his weapon before the next swing came. The **** still made the ground below him give way a bit as he held his weapon up to block the overhead swing. That was a little close but the counter should just melt through whatever fancy weapon that...

"Hijack, Impact!!"

Where'd this rock come from?

A large slab of rock suddenly slammed into his blade, adding its **** to the axe's own hit. The sudden combination was too much for him to hold back and the strange rock slammed into blade, pushing the flat of the blade hard against his chest. Even if it was about the size of a door, the rock felt incredibly heavy... or maybe dense was the word. He was tossed away from the sheer **** before he processed what just happened, his sword almost falling out of his hand.

Mind reeling, his body reacted faster, rolling out of the way before the next slam could catch him. The attack rent the floor with a large gouge which showed off the pipes and circuits under it.

"Okay the... hell was that..." he grunted as he flexed his muscles a bit. Nothing seemed broken but that was the first blow that had... hurt him in this suit.

"What? You think you're the only one that has some firepower?" Tarde grunted as he placed the head of the axe onto the floor, "I'm gonna enjoy tearing you out of that can."

"Hijack, Impact!"

That damn rock came flying out of nowhere again, as if shot from some sort of invisible cannon fired it at Zac. On a chance he activated his own ability to send a wave of super-heated energy at it, hoping to melt the rock before it got to him. But nothing happened; if anything, it was like the rock absorbed the heat and added it to its own body as when it hit Zac, he could feel the heat burning into him.

This hit was enough to knock him off his feet and was carried into the 'window'. He tried to collect himself before another slam pressed him hard against the plastic material behind him, which finally gave up. He was sent tumbling into the empty reservoir with Torde climbing through after him.

"Pin the bitch down, I got this one." he said to a few of his men.

"I'm gonna enjoy...., SHI-" Blackfire started before clamping her mouth down hard.

For one, she didn't want to scream that with Layla with her for some reason and for two..., well a couple grenades had landed next to her. She grabbed their shark like guide and flew for cover, getting out of the way before the explosions hit. This was aggravating; by herself she could have just easily smashed them to pieces but if they were taking this big a step to fight them, she HAD to protect the girl...., and probably Senai too. Leaving her behind or even seeing her die would probably scar Layla a lot....,

"I'm not used to this 'protective' gig!" she thought as she flipped midair to spin, letting out a kick that sent another goon flying into others.

"Someone get the number of that bus?"

Thinking about it a bit more, felt like he got hit with his own big rig. Geeze what was that old scrap heap doing...., thinking about it; did Cupid take it and turn it into a space ship? He hadn't really thought much about it given everything else that was happening. He'd have to check a few things when he got back and...

"DAD!"

Zac snapped his eyes open and saw the smooth metal in front of his face. He had to get up and...no wait roll! He rolled to the side on reflex, avoiding another swing of that axe/rock combo. That last double hit must have shook something loose in his head, he had to get his focus back together. He got to a kneeling position and was greet to the sight of the lizard kicking his blade away before turning on him. In the viewing window he could see Blackfire still fighting, he was certain they couldn't take her down, but she had to fight to protect two people. The thugs didn't have the handicap.

"Really? This is all you got in you?" Torde hefted his axe again and swung in a horizontal motion, forcing Zac to block with his arms. Again, that stone appeared in tandem with the swing, this time coating the blades of the ax itself, which slammed into him, sending him backwards. Torde laughed. "After everything you did last time? This is all you got?"

"Gimmie a sec." *SLAM, SLAM SLAM* "STARLIGHT BREAKER!!! LEO!!!"

Redish gold energy formed around his leg as he got up. He took a step or two before breaking into a charge, leaping into the air. Torde triggered his own weapon's ability. This time though, that rock didn't appear, only a mound of soft earth appeared right before the gangster. Zac found out just how soft it was when he sank into it with his kick. But it was... weird; this dirt felt... 'sticky' for lack of a better word. It wrapped around him and trapped him into itself, pulling at him like he was stuck in mud. The aura around his leg was easily snuffed out without any air.

"What..."

Zac heard another activation, and...., well he couldn't see it from his position but Torde had gripped his axe with both hands and went into a 'putter' stance, smashing the dirt mound that held the human away. Like a pro golf sending a long drive; Zac sailed through the air till he smashed into some of remaining pumps in the middle of the room. The dirt crumbled away as Zac shook his head, pulling at some of the pipes and cables he was covered in.

This wasn't working; whatever this guy had picked up seemed like it was countering him. Maybe he should see about tagging out with Blackfire, or just try to distract him for them to make a break for it. Melting the floor might work if he got his sword...

Whatever was going to happen he had to do it fast.