Meanwhile, Ryan regained enough composure to whip out his warm lightning around all of us, to tie the group together as the impact grew closer.

"You got us, Alix?" my girl winced, gripping me tighter as she tried to restore her energy. The man nodded with determination. 

Bringing his hands close together, the water rippled and contorted to mimic their shape. He raised them, and the construct followed his movements, stretching out to grab us. As we were engulfed by his cold grasp, our descent slowed, till we stopped and came to a rest on a thin, icy platform. (I'm certain that Alix named the move, but I was more focused on protecting Riley at the time so couldn't read his lips.)

"One at the 3, two at 7 O'clock. Polx... Permission to redeem myself?" Ryan grunted, furiously.

"It wasn't your fault. But go wild," Naomi replied, while catching her breath.

"I've got the loner," I said, "keep them safe, Alix!"

Forming two golden cutlasses, I ran right and lept towards an armoured figure flying towards us. They formed a smoky white path from their outstretched, silver hand - forcing me to dodge the cold laser. Before my thick red boots cracked the ice, I launched back up again and this time deflected their bolt. Closing in - I focused my energy down my blades to blunt them - and struck the metal man. One across their mechanical face, one across their plated, white stomach. The impact disrupted their flight, allowing me to grapple them to the now refrozen floor below us and a thick club helped me knock my foe unconscious - providing time for Alix to trap them.

Suddenly, the back of my head grew warm and I turned to see a bandanna-clad enemy fall to the ground, as their fire blast hit a yellow shield inches from my face. 

"Thanks, babe!" I exhaled, before dragging the downed fools back towards her. 

While Naomi exhaustedly closed her grimoire, me and Ryan returned to the group and (after bumping fists) asked Riley if they recognised our attackers.

"No, but if you look at their tatoos, they match some of my death threats."

After fiddling through a messy cabinet (that they summoned from their house), they found a file containing a few dozen letters - most of them containing the same symbol: an angular red snake spiralling round a white dagger.