Dani guessed weren’t healthy to touch. Cleaners crouched behind this barrier, spray bottles, pressure hoses, and soap dispensers readied like a firing squad.
The four Ascendants who’d brought them to the Recycling Center stood in front. They were battered, their formerly spotless suits now torn and stained, their faces bruised, and one sported a bloody nose. However, they looked determined as their bright auras cast the hall into stark relief. The janitors Dani had sent running had joined with ten other Cleaners, all of whom wielded the usual array of tools. She got the impression of a mob with torches and pitchforks preparing to storm the castle—though in this case, the roles were somewhat reversed.
“Impressive,” Sydney said. “I’ll never fault this company its efficiency. But all in vain, as I said before.”
He knelt and punched the floor. Cracks raced out from his fist and, before any Cleaners could react, four of them dropped through pits that opened beneath them. Their yells cut off with clatters, bangs, and groans.
The path of Corruption, however, diverted around where the Ascendants stood.
Ben put a hand out before Dani could move by him. “Get back. Let Sydney and me handle this, eh?”
“Like h—” she started to say.
“Zip it,” he said. “You’re strong, but you ain’t trained for this. I don’t want any deaths on your conscience.” With that, he stalked forward, attention locked on his coworkers.
“He’s right,” Sydney said. “Let us keep you an unsullied flower for now, shall we?”
Dani snarled as the mage left her behind as well. She hated to admit that Ben might be right. While her power didn’t threaten to take over her mind and body anymore, she didn’t know how far she could trust it. The very nature of natural disasters, minor or large scale, assumed plenty of violence and chaos would be involved. So she fumed as the men engaged the line.
Ben waded in first. His motions were stiff and guarded, but he kept his back straight, trying to defy his aged body. He swatted the mop at anyone who came within range. The Cleaners behind the barrier loosed a variety of missiles. He slapped some aside, while others were absorbed into the mop brush. One janitor threw a giant soap bubble his way. When the mop handle popped it, the resulting shockwave knocked him back a few feet.
While he kept the remaining Cleaners occupied, Sydney raised his hands and advanced on the Ascendants. Their auras mingled and expanded into a field that walled off their section of the hall.
The entropy mage set his palms against this glowing field and leaned against it. The light dimmed where he touched, but didn’t vanish. A high-pitched whine started up, and Dani imagined it came from the air molecules trapped between the opposing powers. Sydney pushed closer to the suits, erasing their auras an inch at a time.
A pair of Cleaners slipped around the sign barrier and flanked Ben without him noticing. One man held a plunger like a battle mace, while the other, a tall, thin woman, readied a broom.
Dani looked around for something to distract them with. She spotted the cart Ben had brought with them. Grabbing the handle, she jumped behind it and raced down the hall like a manic child in a supermarket.
“Hey!” she called.
The man spun her way and raised the plunger. Dani let the cart go, and it rammed into his hips. He shouted as he twisted down. An audible pop came from his knee and ankle. Dani winced, but couldn’t hide a satisfied smile.
The woman shoved the cart back past her prone companion. Dani easily sidestepped it and cocked an eyebrow as it rattled away behind her.
“Copycat.”
The man propped up on one arm, still holding the plunger. He glared at her even as his face twitched in pain. Then he suctioned the plunger to the floor. When he pulled up, it tore a head-sized portion of tile and concrete up with it. He lifted the chunk and flung it and the plunger her way.
Dani threw herself to the side. The concrete block crunched into the elevator doors behind her. Pebbles sprayed everywhere.
“Dani,” Ben shouted as he intercepted a soap-water javelin. “I toldja to stay back.”
“They started it!”
The woman swung her broom over her head. Air whipped up until she stood in the center of a small whirlwind. When she snapped the broom out in front of her, the whirlwind launched Dani’s way.
Disregarding Ben’s order, Dani reached for her power for the first time since being shoved