Kari's POV
There was another short, awkward silence that ensued. Suddenly Bren dropped down next to me, making me jump. Before I could react, the snow golem girl from before landed next to him, sheathing her (surprisingly not yet melted) xiphos sword neatly.

"Bren!?" I exclaimed the same time as the creeper hybrid. Except, he said something else.

"Winter!?" She rolled her eyes.

"Those sunglasses messing up your sight? Duh, it's me."

"Uh, what are you doing with her?" I looked at him quizzically.

"We sorta ran into each other."

"Us too. Just... Literally. Don't ask." I slid my own weapon into its sheath, flinging another attacker easily with a casual flick of the wrist without even looking.

"Okay... Got a plan to get outta here?" He asked, knocking someone aside with a flickering ball of fire that ignited in one hand. The armour was also fireproof, preventing death, but it scorched it blackish grey. I grinned,

"Yep. I need some help busting this gate open though." I indicated towards the iron, obsidian reinforced bars between us and safety. He looked skeptically at the massive lock chaining the gates tightly shut.

"It looks pretty sturdy..."

"Here, you idiot." I showed him the weak spots and did jazz hands sarcastically. He shoved me with a small grin, but looked at it thoughtfully with a more serious demeanour.

"Huh... Well, I think I can loosen it a bit, but it's also obsidian's based, so I can't really melt it..."

"I believe we are able to assist?" I turned to see the creeper hybrid, who was smirking confidently. "I mean, busting through stuff is sorta my thing and all..." He casually stabbed someone hard enough for them to stumble backwards despite the protection of their armour. I hesitated, looking from him to his companion, who was watching me with crossed arms and an unimpressed expression as if judging me. She didn't seem concerned by the chaos around us, which I have to admit is impressive.

"Well..." I paused. "I suppose... We're all glitches here..."

"She's pretty good." Bren said lazily. "For a snow golem hybrid anyway."

"Bit rich coming from a nether being," she replied snidely. "But thanks. You're not too shabby yourself."

"Right." I turned back to the gate.

"Hinges, correct?" The creeper hybrid checked.

"Yeah, uh..." I didn't know his name, and I was thinking of finishing the sentence off with dude or bro, but he cut in.

"Name's Calypso, by the way." He knocked someone else over with the hilt of his weapon as his female counterpart unleashed a mini blizzard that swept a whole group of guards off their feet. I flung aside another two (who were dashing towards us with axes and spears raised over their heads) with ease, enjoying the sound of thin wooden walls splintering. Wooden houses; cheap, easy to build and aesthetically pleasing to look at. But not much protection when a fully armoured man crashes into them.

"Kari." We shook hands briefly before he broke away, adjusting his sunglasses businesslike, cracking his knuckles aggressively.

"Great! I recommend you stand back." He advised. Seeing what had happened to the other aether soldier before, I took his advice to heart and moved several metres away. Bren and the snow golem hybrid joined me next to the column of carved stone nearby, which seemed to be purely ornamental.

"This is Kari," Bren was introducing, indicating towards the girl beside him. "Kari, Winter. Winter, Kari." Winter had finished judging me, it seemed, and grudgingly decided to accost me.

"Glitch, huh? Saw you throw those guards. Not too bad."

"Uh, thanks?" Our short conversation was interrupted as the sound of TNT lighting up hissed and an explosion ensued. Flying bits of debris almost took my left arm off, and I ducked just in time to avoid a plank that flung towards me and smacked against the column with a loud crunching sound. Calypso was breathing hard as if he sd just ran a marathon, and wiped his forehead with a green jacket sleeve.

"Phew! Haven't exploded twice in a row in a while," he admitted, stepping aside. "Let's just say, the human way is more my forte." The gate was still surprisingly attached to its frame and very much intact, but the hinges protested as I shook them experimentally.

"Allow me." Winter bowed mockingly, stepping up to the gate.

"No offence, but snowballs aren't gonna break a gate," Bren called after her, spotting a group of aether soldiers moving towards us.

"I wasn't planning on using snow. More like ice." At her command, frost began creeping around the crevices of the hinges with a crackling sound. Soon it was encased in a thin layer of ice that began forcing it to crack with the quick freezing. "Cause it expands when it freezes, y'know." She smiled in satisfaction as one of the gate doors slipped, weakened. The useless hinge fell to the ground, the ice melting. "Ta-da!"

"Great!" I was actually impressed. My darkish emerald eyes lit up like neon green lanterns as I yanked the obstruction as hard as I could with telekinesis. Gripping it with my green energy, I pulled as hard as I could, but it was still too secure. "But it's not enough. Someone blast it!"

"On it." Bren saluted, fireballs igniting and blossoming upwards in each hand. I could tell by the determination flickering in his eyes that this would be big. A moment later, they made contact with the gate and exploded on impact. It made enough damage to not only dent it but  to loosen it almost completely from its frame. I shook it violently with a wave of my hand, and wrenched it clear off before hurling it aside with as much force as I could muster. A sword struck the ground next to me, and I leapt aside just in time to miss the next blow.

"Hey, you guys have any plans for today?" Calypso asked in undertone, backing away. I followed, one hand on the hilt of my sword.

"No, not really." I replied, curious on where this was going.

"Don't really wanna rush into things, but I think we make a pretty great team. Maybe we could...?" He paused, hinting an alliance. "You can meet the rest of the gang, and I reckon we'll both be stronger."

"Uh..." I glanced at Bren, who shrugged. Well, I suppose the advantage of numbers would be nice. And we can trust a fellow glitch, right? "Alright." I agreed.

"Woah, we're just letting them join our little group?" Winter interjected, annoyed. "Without even considering the threats?"

"Relax. It's not like glitches have have fought glitches yet. Not counting those traitorous hunter douchebags," he muttered. "Anyway, we overpower them. I can guarantee this weapon's really sharp, and you don't want to find out exactly how lethal it can be." He stroked the blade of his khopesh affectionately, slanting neon green eyes at us underneath his black shades. "Not that you will." He finished brightly. I acknowledged the threat passively, and Bren seemed relaxed as well. As long as they aren't a threat to us, we have no intention of hurting them.

"Uh, can we finish this conversation later?" I cut in as a spear landed right next to me like a javelin, wobbling violently from the impact. "Because there seems to be very angry aether guards after us."
~~~
Author's Note
Boredom inspired this chapter. I just want to clear something up here, in case you had the wrong idea. I have absolutely NO clue to where this is supposed to be going here. Hopefully I can get enough content to fill up at least twenty chapters. Hopefully... How the heck to you guys come up with such awesome ideas!? Yeah, don't you have the most brilliant author?
-iVesper