Bryce had reached his girlfriend, and wrapped his arms around her.

Huh, that was quick. I guess he’s experienced at getting where he wants through the crowd at this point.

Still holding her, he turned to see us approaching.  I was in the lead, and Minor close behind me.

Maybe he just wanted to say goodbye?

He looked the other way, past the glowing perimeter of Skidmark’s arena, and I followed his gaze to where a middle-aged woman with bleached blond hair and a taller black man with a scar on his lips stood.

Friends of yours?

A.k.a. bodyguards?

I recognized them from Sierra’s description.  They were the same people who had attacked the church.

Oh yeah!

We collectively backed out of the way, but Bryce had other intentions.  The boy wrenched out of Jaw’s grip and threw his shoulder into the small of Senegal’s back.

Hm. Not bad. I guess they taught you (or caused you to teach yourself) how to fight to some extent.

The man was only barely able to keep from stumbling forward into the charging Merchants, but with his attention elsewhere, Bryce managed to slip past.

We got a fugitive over here!

I joined Minor and Brooks in giving chase, and though Minor was bigger and stronger, I had the advantage of a slight build.

Ah, yeah, that would make it a little bit easier to navigate this mess.

I’m not sure whether it’s worth the effort, really, but I guess this might be the only chance they’d get to get him out of here.

I ducked between the people and followed Bryce into the thick of the ‘audience’.

This should be interesting.

We moved as a group, Lisa’s soldiers in a tight circle around us with Bryce, Lisa, the rescued girl and me in the center.

The rescued girl has been markedly silent since we first saw Bryce. It’s been like she wasn’t there.

We made our way toward the nearest exit, but our way was barred by an unfolding brawl between two groups a good distance from the main spectacle.  Rivals?

Well, that’s inconvenient.

Enemies seeing an opportunity to exact vengeance for some past event?

Perhaps.

The girl who’d been on the bench with Bryce ran for the thick of the melee surrounding the ring.  She was shouting, almost screeching, “Thomas!  Mom!”

Huh?

Oh… she might be getting help for Bryce. Shit.

Bryce struggled in an attempt to go after her, but Jaw held him firm.

I almost missed what happened next.  A woman from the group fighting in front of us ran, and a band of young men charged after her, which brought them just in front of us.

Yeeah, this isn’t good.

“We should go,” Lisa said.  She turned to Jaw and ordered, “Bring the boy.”

I guess it’s up to Taylor to point out that they really don’t want the Merchants to get five more capes.

Also, bringing Bryce back against his will… Nice reversal.

Jaw grabbed Bryce by the shirt and hauled him to his feet.  He pointed at the girl who had been sitting next to Bryce, “And her?”

Ask the girl and Bryce, I guess.

Not that I think they’re going to do that.

“Leave her.” Lisa called out, raising her voice to be heard over the screams and cheering.  She said something else, but I couldn’t make it out.

Yeah, seems reasonable enough. We don’t need her.

The crack of a gun being fired went off somewhere.

Ah, right, weapons allowed. I wonder how many Merchants are dying to their peers tonight.

Instead of stopping the crowd, it seemed to provoke them, pushing those who hadn’t been participating into action, like runners who’d been waiting for a starter’s pistol.

…fair enough.

It was as though the Merchants felt more secure with their hands around people’s throats than they did trying to get away.

That… sounds like classic bully mentality. Applying it to the Merchants seems pretty accurate.

I realize now that it might be a bit weird to be surprised about people not voluntarily entering the fray under these conditions, but I mean… surely someone outside the arena wants those superpowers, believes Skidmark is telling the truth, and has faith that they can win?

This act started a chain reaction.  The audience turned on the man who’d launched the chunk of rubble, clustering around him, punching and kicking him, and shoving him to the ground.

I guess they see interfering with the brawl in much the same way they saw interfering with the peep show.

Others were inspired by his idea, and did much the same thing, using Skidmark’s power to pelt the people in the arena.

Oh jeez, now it’s split. Those who want to pelt the people in the arena with rubble, and those who want to beat up the other group.

You know, it actually surprises me that we have yet to see someone outside either deliberately launching themselves into the arena or getting shoved in.

One man helped by a kid who might have been his son upended a trash can on the glowing ground to send rotted food and other rubbish flying into the ring.

Ew. At least the food is less painful than the concrete.

Others moved to stop them or shove anyone who got close enough onto the colored ground.  The violence was escalating and it didn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.

All of a sudden it’s a brawl even outside the arena.

At the corner nearest to us, a woman got smashed in the nose.  The spray of blood landed in the area of Skidmark’s power and shot straight back into the melee.

“Here, you can have this back.”

Inspired by this sight, a man who stood outside the ring grabbed a piece of rubble and threw it down at the edge of the ring.

Ouch, that’s gonna hurt.

I missed “who stood outside the ring” for a moment and thought this was a clever competitor, but on fully reading the sentence, it’s just a jerk.

The chunk of concrete flew into the massed people, striking a man who was crouching and trying to avoid the worst of the fighting.

Oof.