–What in the ever-loving Hurricane...

Giant's hiss echoed Mirror's own thoughts as they stopped in their tracks, staring mutely at the vortex. It wasn't possible. Maelstrom couldn't be that hung up on a long-dead witch.

Mirror strained to get a closer look, Menace and Giant hiding under a table. Maelstrom couldn't be serious. He couldn't be ignoring the absolute chaos around him. He couldn't be that focused on revenge–

A sudden shout snapped her out of her thoughts.

–...she's alive, and you know it! Hand her over!

Oh my stars. He actually thought Hurricane was alive.

In a split second, her eyes met Giant's, then Menace's, heavy with unspoken words.

That man is crazy. We need to get out of here.

Giant was the first to snap out of his shock. He mumbled something Mirror realized were the gibberish words they were told would make their magic stronger. A small pebble then flew with deadly accuracy, knocking a nearby soldier unconscious.

"Did he just use the words on their own?" Mirror wondered, still crouching under the table. There was no space for a ritual under it, and getting out to perform one would be too dangerous. But how did he know that the words themselves could do something useful?

–Yes! It worked! Oh, man, I was so worried we'd be stuck here forever...

Oh – he didn't know. Made more sense, Mirror supposed.

She turned, catching Menace's ever-so-slightly raised brows. It looked like the ice witch hadn't heard of this type of magic either. "Did Giant just invent something new?"

–Alright- Menace whispered under her breath, Mirror barely hearing it over the screaming outside.- Now we find Sunbeam.

The three kept their hands linked as they slowly slithered out, Giant knocking every soldier who noticed them unconscious. Bit by bit, they made their way away from the spinning chaos of furniture, and toward the left exit. Menace soon took the lead, as she knew the way to Sunbeam's training grounds.

Mirror was already schooling herself – she knew she'd have to use the sucking-oxygen-out-of-people's-lungs thing, and it wouldn't be pretty. At least they were the Emperor's soldiers – part of the whole reason she was in this mess in the first place. "If they'd allowed me to go to the festival with my mom like a normal kid, I wouldn't have–"

–Menace! About time. Come on, let's beat up these idiots.– Sunbeam grinned, summoning her flames.

Mirror let out a breath as the three settled into their usual fighting stances – the red-haired witch was alive, and for once her murderous enthusiasm wasn't directed at them. If Mirror didn't know better, she'd say Sunbeam was happy to see them.

"Yeah, right," she thought with a mental snort. "Sunbeam's probably just glad she has backup."

The four soldiers she'd been fighting before seemed a little battered – a few burns here and there, one of them was clutching his arm – but she knew they'd have overpowered Sunbeam in no time. Their clothes were fireproof, after all, even if magical fire did burn hotter than normal.

Mirror ran through her ritual, making sure she said all the foreign words this time. "Alright, Mirror, when you snap your fingers, don't hesitate. They're your enemies," she told herself.

"Step to the right, watch Menace freeze a bullet seconds from hitting you, keep your speed up, don't think about the near-death experience you just had," she thought – then she snapped her fingers, immediately feeling the awareness rush in.

One. Her head whipped around, gaze locking on the soldiers' apparent leader. Two. She remembered her training, hand shooting to her side. Three. She focused on all the air currents in the hallway. She could feel air rushing in and out of the soldier she'd chosen. Air she could control.

Four. That soldier isn't a person. He can and will kill Mirror without a second thought. The oxygen in this blood, the air he needs to stay alive, Mirror will just have to deprive him of that.

Don't kill, just incapacitate.

Five.

A chill crawled up her spine – from what, Mirror didn't know – as the soldier collapsed to the ground. The warm air from his lungs surrounded her, coming even faster than in all of the mannequin drills. You want to wait until he's breathing in. Remember, the carbon dioxide kills, not the lack of oxygen.

She shook her head, taking in the battle around her. "I can't believe I did that – I did that. I did it."

Menace had successfully frozen one of the soldiers' feet – but the ice was quickly melting. This really wasn't a battle for ice manipulation – what with Sunbeam's fire and the dry training grounds they were fighting in.

Giant wasn't having much better luck. His "pebble" attacks were quickly blocked by a metal shield one of the soldiers carried, and his bigger earth walls really weren't much use in an indoors battle.

Sunbeam hadn't dialed down her flames either – and although the chimney wasn't blocked this time, the room temperature was quickly rising, making Menace's ice even less effective.

Mirror really seemed like the only one with a good matchup. With Menace and Giant covering her, she could easily knock another soldier unconscious – but did she want to?

She wasn't really sure.

Well, it couldn't hurt to make the most of her remaining minutes. She used air to boost her movements, dodging attack after attack. Her reflexes had never been great, but she had a suspicion magic also served to improve those. She also boosted Giant's pebbles, and Sunbeam's fire, whenever she could.

The rhythm of battle soon overtook her, and she realized, surprised, that this wasn't so bad. Fighting side by side with her troupemates – well, more than that. What was the word?

Friends.

Author's Note: what brings people together more than fighting for their lives?
(trick question, nothing brings people together more than fighting for their lives)
i can't write action scenes to save my life but hey I actually wrote something so that's good I guess
Also, Mirror's power is  f r e a k y  in this one

we hit 16k- holy frick-

-a very amazed Min