Van Terra

Chapter Seventy-Three ~ Self Care Is...

Chapter Seventy-Three ~ Self Care Is Dropping Out Of School To Become A Supervillain

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Jasper stumbled off the motorcycle and over to the cage, not bothering to remove her helmet. "Is everyone okay?"

"Behind you—" Holly started.

Jasper ducked, narrowly avoiding the carnival worker's fist. The woman threw another blow before Jasper could recover. It landed on her stomach. Jasper staggered back but kept upright.

Two more of Ringmaster's workers approached on each side. Jasper lifted her dagger. "Who wants to get stabbed first?"

"Looks like you already did." The closest woman nodded at the small knife still in the back of Jasper's shoulder.

"Better than bleeding out." Jasper lunged. The woman dodged and threw a kick. Jasper hopped over her leg and stabbed the dagger into her stomach. While the woman dropped to the ground, the other four workers swarmed.

Jasper jumped at the last second to flip over the two to her left. As she moved through the air, she drew throwing stars and sent them spinning into shoulders. The pain wasn't enough to deter them. The closest hit Jasper with a roundhouse as she landed, knocking her into the dirt.

The other yanked the star from her shoulder and threw it back at Jasper. Jasper rolled to dodge, jumped up, and landed a blow to the woman's jaw. "What did I say about bleeding out?" she exclaimed as the worker hit the ground and grabbed her shoulder in an attempt to stop blood from pouring out.

Another worker drew a blaster and aimed. "Okay, that's enough."

"I agree." Jasper kicked the blaster from his grasp and slammed her foot into his ribs. She ducked to avoid the blast from the next guy's weapon, and the laser struck the guy getting back up. Jasper snatched up the blaster she'd knocked to the ground.

The man fired again, and she fired a heartbeat later. The beams collided with each other and exploded in a shower of red sparks. While the man shielded his eyes, Jasper drew a knife and drove it into his chest.

Jasper hurried to the cage. "Everyone okay?"

"We're fine," Thea said. "You're the one with a knife in your shoulder."

"Oh. Right." Jasper yanked it free. "Jax?"

Jax reached through the bars and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Be careful, it'll still be easy to reopen for a while," he said once the glow faded.

"In that case, it's definitely going to get reopened. But thanks." Jasper assessed the cage.

"I'm not sure we can get out of here without Ringmaster's powers," Thea said.

Jasper's face lit up. When no one reacted, she remembered her helmet was still on. "I have an idea. There is someone else here with Ringmaster's power."

"If we had enough heat, maybe a blowtorch—" Holly began.

"No, no, this will work." Jasper backed up. "I'm going to find Jaymes and convince him to help us."

"I can't imagine how you plan to do that," Thea said. "But you better figure it out quick, because he's behind you."

Jasper spun around. Jaymes was coming her way. At first, she thought he was following the racers, but no, his eyes were on her. The platform carried him close to the ground before dissolving. A blast of silver energy fired from his palm.

Jasper narrowly dodged. As she straightened up, she shouted, "Wait!"

A silver staff appeared in Jaymes' hand. He stepped forward and swung. The staff smacked into the side of Jasper's helmet.