Stanley watched as the ice melted around the man. Due to the census, people weren’t leaving their homes at all, and even those that had already given the information didn’t want to walk out to watch the fight.
Therefore, Stanley was alone during the fight.
He sat there taking in deep breaths and couldn’t help but reflect on the fight. If at the last moment, he hadn’t jumped and hit the man on the head, he would’ve most certainly lost.
And losing most likely didn’t just mean a few injuries in this battle. He could have died by freezing over. .𝒄𝒐𝒎
Not only that, but he could also have died had he not had multiple opportunities that took away his attention from the feeling that brought on his trauma. Had he been given enough time to get attacked by his own memories, he would have lost then as well.
‘I need to keep a handle on it,’ he thought. ‘I need to learn to ignore it.’
He heard some footsteps and turned to see two of the trainees that had come to help him.
“Brother, are you alright? Are you hurt?” one of the trainees asked. He was a 2nd-year trainee that could light up his palm simply by clapping.
The other one was Freddy who had sent Stanley into the fight.
“Holy…” he cried out when he saw the amount of ice around the man. “Did you freeze him?”
Stanley shook his head. “His ability,” he answered. “He can cover himself in freeze to defend. I barely won.”
Freddy looked around the roadway and from the amount of ice on the ground could tell how far the battle had spread.
“Why are you guys late?” Stanley asked. “I could’ve died.”
“We needed to help brother Garry and the other brother tied up the two. Honestly, we had thought that this man had already run away, so we didn’t imagine this was a priority, sorry,” the young man said.
“This truly could’ve been bad. Sorry,” Freddy said as well. “Although, I probably couldn’t have helped you even if I came. My powers aren’t that helpful during battles.”
“Huh? How is your power not helpful?” Stanley asked. “Can’t you teleport?”
“Not myself,” Freddy said. “If I could, that would be awesome, but as it stands I can only teleport people around me, and that too one at a time.”
“I see,” Stanley said. “Is that why your test results are so poor?”
Freddy felt embarrassed and didn’t say anything.
“The two brothers have already taken care of the other two,” the 2nd year trainee said. “We should take him back too.”
“How do we do that?” Stanley asked. “If he wakes up, he will freeze you just by coming into contact with you. He can even activate his powers simply by not talking.”
“Let me drag him,” the young man said. “My palms are hot and won’t freeze over unlike the two of you.”
Stanley nodded. “Can you melt the ice around his leg? I will help you carry him,” he said.
“Forget about that,” Freddy said. “I can take care of the transport.”
He knelt down and touched the man on his back. The next moment, the man vanished, appearing halfway up the street. “Let’s go,” Freddy said.
Stanley was a little surprised as to how exactly it looked when someone else was teleported away. Freddy had kept his skills hidden during training, so it was only now that he was getting to see it all.
The unconscious man had to be teleported multiple times to bring together back to the seniors. Seeing the frozen body, both Gary and the other man were surprised.
Stanley quickly notified them of his powers, which caused the seniors to be cautious.
“No wonder,” the other senior said. “I clearly remember tying his hands with ropes. He must have frozen them and broken out of it.”
“What do we do about him then? We will be in trouble if he uses his powers again,” Stanley said.
“Hmm, we might have to call old man Sam,” Garry said.
“We don’t have any other choice,” the other senior said.
They turned toward the other 2nd year and asked him to run back to the Defenders headquarters and call for the old man Sam.
The young man nodded and ran away.
The group took the time to bring the other people they had captured from the 3rd row of houses and gathered them all together.
“What exactly were they doing?” Garry asked the other man. “How did a fight break out?”
“These bastards were threatening a poor old couple and living in their home. Not only were they not paying any rent, but they were also forcing the old couple to pay them instead.”
“If not for us looking through the house, we wouldn’t have found them at all,” the man said.
“Bastards!” Garry grumbled as well.
Stanley and the rest went around the houses to tell the people that there was nothing to worry about, but they still had to keep hiding just in case.
A while later, the trainee ran back, and with him came an old man that panted as he walked towards them.
The man was in his 60s and had a hard time walking up the road to get to where they were. Not only was it hard because he was old, but he was also completely covered from head to toe in ropes that were wrapped around him.
The multicolored ropes fully covered his skin and added a lot of weight which made it impossible for him to walk easily on plain ground, let alone an incline.
“You little shits,” the man cursed as soon as he appeared. “Couldn’t you just bring them down? Why did you have to make me walk here?”
“Old man Sam,” Garry and the rest reacted. “You’re here. Please tied these people up.”
“Why are we bringing an old man here?” one of the younger trainees asked. The other first-year trainees were confused as well.
“Do you not know about old man Sam?” Freddy asked them. “He is one of the most important assets of the Defenders because of his powers.”
“What powers?” one of the trainees asked curiously.
“Anyone that is wrapped by his ropes loses their power temporarily.”