As Mikey's mother fought, Amber and Gwen gave her support; however, the number of people was too high to hope they didn't have to fight one on one against some of the thugs.
In fact, the two girls were suddenly attacked by a man wielding daggers who aimed at Gwen's throat in the midst of chaos.
"Be careful!" Amber shouted, and Gwen created her armor just in time to block the attack.
"Fufufufu, it looks like we have some tough cookies here, uh?" the man said while licking his daggers.
Amber and Gwen immediately went into stance. Unfortunately, Erik's girlfriend couldn't use her corrosive gas, as she would kill her allies if she did so.
That was the downside of her brain crystal power and why she trained so much with daggers. Gwen didn't have this disadvantage, but her power wasn't as destructive as his best friend's.
The two young women stood their ground against the man, Justin, who was wielding his sharp, shimmering mana daggers as if they were his kids. Amber held her weapons, one in each hand, and observed the man.
"The two kittens want to play! Fufufufu, let's go then!"
Gwen took a step forward to engage Justin in combat. "I'll tank; you take care of him!" Gwen shouted.
However, as the fight began, the two girls quickly realized that Justin was faster than both of them, as he dodged an attack made by Amber with ease.
He countered with a quick jab of his own, but Gwen chimed in and protected her friend with her mana armor, parrying the blow.
Amber attempted another strike by circling behind the thug, but he quickly got out of range, his mana dagger flashing dangerously close to Amber's throat during the process.
Gwen chased the man and swung her arm, unleashing a flurry of punches that the dagger-wielding thug avoided easily. However, Amber seized the opportunity and lunged at Justin with her daggers and aimed at his side.
The man sidestepped her attack and delivered a swift kick to her midsection, sending her tumbling to the ground.
"Amber!" Gwen shouted again and rushed forward to defend her fallen friend, her mana armor glowing brighter as she braced herself for the thug's next move.
The man was relentless, his mana dagger flashing as he darted around the two women, playing with his two daggers.
All around them, the room was filled with the sound of clashing blades and the occasional roar of someone exerting him or herself.
The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood and the acrid smell of sweat. The combatants moved quickly and gracefully, their weapons flashing in the club's light.
Amidst the chaos, people fought fiercely with their abilities, conjuring up gusts of wind, throwing balls of fire, and creating mana shields to protect themselves. The walls shook with the impact of blows, and furniture was smashed to pieces; at the same time, the fire Erik and his friend started began affecting the other rooms.
***
In another part of the room, Mikey's mother, Sarah, was fighting against five people.
She stood with her back against the wall, ready to defend herself against the five attackers who had cornered her.
She raised her hands, summoning her flesh-eating mana bugs, and prepared for the fight.
As the thugs approached, Sarah kept her eyes on them, ready to dodge any attacks.
The first man lunged at her, swinging his sword, but the woman was quick on her feet, sidestepping his attack and kicking him in the stomach. As he stumbled back, she sent a swarm of bugs at him. The bugs crawled out of her palms, swarming over him and the other men and trying to bite them with their razor-sharp mandibles.
The men swatted at the bugs, trying to brush them off, but they kept coming, devouring flesh and drawing blood.
The one on the ground was instead relentlessly attacked by the creatures, who were devouring his flesh and causing him to cry out in pain.
Sarah's agility and strength took aback the other four men, and the brutality of her brain crystal power deeply terrified them, but they quickly regained their composure and charged at her.
She dodged their swings, punches, and kicks, weaving in and out of their attacks with precision. The woman countered with mighty blows, using her fists and feet to strike at their weak points.
"Is this everything you can do?" She asked with arrogance to the five men.
"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you, bitch. We managed to kidnap you once; we will be able to kill you now!" One of them replied.
"There were more people then!" Sarah replied with a smirk.
The five men attacked again, but Sarah was determined to protect herself and her son, so she fought with all her strength. She conjured more bugs, sending them flying at the men and forcing them to back away.
She could hear Mikey's grunts in the distance and knew she had to keep fighting. Her son was aiding the battlefield with Aaron and a girl she didn't know a lot since they managed to create distractions and problems for Matthew's men.
The thugs were getting frustrated, and they started coordinating their attacks, trying to trap the woman against the wall.
But Mikey's mother was too quick for them; she conjured a massive swarm of bugs, sending them flying at the men incredibly fast. They became so focused on defending themselves against the bugs that they didn't notice that the woman briefly helped Amber and Gwen with their fights.
However, they quickly got a hold of themselves and charged at the woman.
The men advanced, weapons in hand, ready to pounce. One of the attackers swung his blade at the woman from her side; she deflected the weapon with a kick, leaving the thugs to wonder how the hell she was able to do that; however, the woman was almost reached by an attack from behind. Fighting 5v1 was not simple.
She used her bugs to protect herself from the attack, and at the same time, she punched another one of the assailants and kept the others at bay with the bugs.
Another attack quickly came, which Sarah deftly dodged. Then a myriad of other ones, but she weaved and darted out of the way.
Though she saw an opening again, she struck out with a quick jab, landing a blow to the face of the closest attacker.
The remaining ones attacked from all sides, but their wounds and the blood loss they incurred severely impaired them, and she managed to evade their attacks again.
Unfortunately for them, they all had weapon-conjuring powers, so they were at a disadvantage against the woman, as she was not only skilled melee but could also attack from a distance.
However, they chased her, coming at her with renewed aggression; their attacks became sluggish, but the rage behind them increased with each attempt.
Sarah quickly found herself under a barrage of attacks. She deflected as many as she could, but some landed, leaving her with cuts and bruises.
As she fought, the woman kept a watchful eye out for her son. But with so many people in close quarters, she knew that she had to be careful and focus on the fight.
She continued to defend herself, using a combination of blocking and evading to minimize the damage while chipping away at her enemy's flesh with her bugs.
***
Martha, Mikey, and Aaron stood side by side, ready to defend the others from the thugs closing in.
They could use their power in that confined place, but it wasn't easy, and since they were physically the weakest of the bunch, they could only support their friends.
However, together, they were the real deal. Martha summoned her thorned mana vines, which coiled around some of the attackers, trapping them in place.
The thugs didn't particularly struggle against the vines, but those brief seconds the woman gained gave the parents and the other students time to land some hits.
At the same time, Mikey, who was standing next to Martha, summoned his flesh-eating bugs. The creatures swarmed around the thugs, biting and chewing on their flesh.
This saved Anderson a couple of times and even helped his father with his current fight, as the man kept five people at bay.
The thugs tried to swat the bugs away, but the creatures were quick and elusive. The bugs severely impaired their vision and constantly chipped away at their faces with their bites.
That was the best Mikey could do since the thugs were too strong for him at the moment. Standing next to Mikey, Aaron used his corrosive slime to impair the thugs' movements. He hurled globs of slime at their feet, sometimes causing them to slip and burning their flesh.
The thugs struggled to keep their footing, giving the hostages time to fight back. This also led to some severe injuries.
The problem was that the slime corrosion could be offset by using mana, as the thugs were able to use the same technique the Crystal Cross Gang's assassins and the others used when walking through Amber's fog.
It was similar to having the same mana armor every thaid had, but it was much weaker.
However, that was enough to contrast most of Aaron's slime's corrosive properties.
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