The moment he saw the grenade on the ground, Charles suddenly felt as if time was slowing to a crawl. He watched as the black metal chunk swelled with the explosion, watched his own clothes twist and blacken. In that instant, the only thing he could do was shut his eyes tight.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The explosions roared without end, and the powerful shockwave threw Charles violently backward.
THUD! He slammed hard into a tree, then dropped with a trail of black smoke onto the damp earth.
Gunshots rang out—it was Audric. Having turned into a bat to slip his handcuffs, he had pulled out a handgun and was squeezing the trigger again and again in 399's direction.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! A neat row of transparent, square shields sprang up before 399, blocking the incoming bullets.
Its lantern-sized eyes swept over Audric, and seven or eight anchors plummeted from the sky, smashing down toward him.
