She was unsteady on her feet, but he could see the mechanics in her
mostly human eye focus in on him. "Helen," he said again, "you have
to pull yourself together. I'm getting you ... OOF!"
Her right fist slammed into his stomach a moment before her left
caught him across the jaw. He staggered back and she came after him,
fists raised and ready. He glared at her and bent the light around
him to become invisible.
She paused, and he knew she was switching spectrums to try and find
him. Before she could, he backhanded her into an array of computers
and monitors, turning them into so much junk. "We don't have time for
this. I'm here to get you out."
"I KNOW you are, HERO!" she growled at him as she lifted herself out
of the rubble. "And likely killing my countrymen to do it!"
Novaman couldn't guarantee that no one had died in his assault. For
all he knew, the sea-dragons had been manned by human pilots. But
this ... well, it was war. His country was under attack by
Strysiavania, and he had volunteered along with the rest of First
Line, the Upholders, and a number of independent costumed heroes to
fight back. Lightning Shard himself had officially suspended First
Line's "Respect for Life" policy in regards to this conflict. "Your
captors, you mean. The ones who did this to you."
"Just because I no longer agree with my king does not mean I no longer
love my country."
"So I have heard," said Novaman, floating back to a more comfortable
distance. "Speaking out against him ... leading a coup in his very
throne room."
"That's not what happened," she said defensively. "I was attacked, I ..."
"You were attacked because you spoke out, and you defended your right
to speak. To Strys, that WAS a coup."
He could see the hesitation on her face. "I'm not trying to make you
come back with me," said Novaman as he kept floating back towards the
hole he had left when he ripped the door off its hinges. "What
they've done to you here is unforgivable, and I couldn't let it
continue."
"Not even to your enemy?"
"You're not MY enemy. You're Strys' enemy."
"That does not make us friends!"
"I'm just trying to give you a chance to do ... whatever it is you want to do."
They stared at each other in silence ...
... until a giant metal hand reached through the hole behind Novaman
snatched him out of the air, and pulled him outside.