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Tarin asked if Lee thought this had to do with that mystic. The ancient mystic who seemed to have an almost anti-spirit shield. The ancient mystic who had 'lobotomized' a spirit who had managed to get closer to her.

The ancient Egyptian mystic who was trying to bring her king back.

"Part of me really hopes it doesn't," Lee said after a few moments. "If she thinks that she can somehow bring back an ancient king, she must already be very powerful. But for someone not from here and now to manage to get this kind of mayhem going…"

Lee sighed and shook her head. "On the other hand, if it isn't related to that, we could have two major issues going on in the city."

Neither of those options sounded good to Lee. Though as she thought about it a bit more, Lee realized that the first option might actually be better. At least they knew something about it, and they knew someone who hopefully knew even more by now.

Then Lee had another thought that just about sent her into a panic, unlike anything else so far that day. "How widespread do you think this is?" Lee asked Tarin as she reached into the pocket in her skirt to pull out her phone.

Without waiting for Tarin's answer, Lee was already tapping away on her phone.

It was lucky that she had had the panic door installed. And that she had remembered about it 15 years later. Because other than closing and opening the door a few times to make sure they knew what to do if it was needed, the panic door had never actually been used.

"I wonder what got this all started," Lee mused. "It seems too big to be something that started randomly in front of the restaurant."

Had some of the things that she had done on the way to the shop been risky? Yes, yes they were. But they had been less risky than not doing them. If she hadn't hung back slightly, metal man would have caught up with them before they got into the shop, Lee was sure. And if she hadn't planned on facing him, Lee wouldn't have had the crowbar in hand to hit him with. The vibration of hitting him with the crowbar had hurt as it was, Lee didn't want to imagine what punching him would have felt like.

Huh. The way she'd punched the guy in the shop, she had broken her hand when she did the same with Tony. And while she had used the crowbar on metal man, Lee had hit him hard with it and the metal on metal had reverberated up her arms into her shoulders. Enough that it had hurt at the time, but she had still been able to punch speed guy.

And her arms and hand all felt fine now.

Huh. That was probably something to think about. Later.

"Just you being an absolute badass in a skirt and heels. I could hardly look away to run…”

Despite everything that had just happened, Lee couldn't help the slight blush that covered her cheeks. "You could hardly look away?"

Tarin simply stood still for a moment. Lee could only guess in mostly shock over what they had been through since they had left the restaurant. It was far from a normal situation, and Tarin had put so much effort into staying out of anything that could even be considered a 'situation' that all of this had to be a shock to him.

Unfortunately, Lee had been in much worse situations.

But then Tarin was moving closer and reaching for her hand carefully. Asking her how bad it was. Lee let him take it, let him look it over. But it felt fine.

Lee tried flexing her hand, and it still really felt alright.

"It feels alright, actually," Lee said after a moment. "But that might be the adrenaline."

"And I'm guessing you didn't notice it while living here for 6 years because panic doors aren't supposed to be obvious? I've never had to actually use it before, but I'm glad I had it installed."

Metal man had landed hard across the street and didn't look to be moving very fast. That was good, very good. The person that he had knocked over in his landing wasn't moving very quickly either. That Lee wasn't so sure whether it was good or not. Lee just told herself that anyone not adding to the chaos and mayhem on the streets wouldn't have been just standing there; they would have been running or already hiding.

The person that was standing beside the two figures sprawled on the ground was moving much more easily. And as he looked around to see what had just caused the flying man, Lee saw his eyes fall on her.

Time to go. Lee turned and ran, not seeing Tarin any more. Lee could only hope that meant that he was already in the shop, hopefully already moving into the back.

Crowbar still in her right hand just in case, Lee was almost at the door to the shop when she felt someone approaching her very quickly from behind.

She was so close. In front of the windows. Almost to the door. But the person was practically right behind her now. Turning, Lee was getting ready to swing with the crowbar again, single handed this time, when she felt it being pulled out of her hand instead. So instead she swung out with her left, connecting solidly enough that the man stumbled and fell back.

Not even waiting, Lee turned again, pulling the door to the shop open and rushing inside. "In back! Now!" Lee cried out.

Thankfully, when she made it inside, Tarin did move to the back of the shop without comment or argument. Unfortunately, as Lee was making her way there behind him, she felt the man rushing up behind her again.

There was nothing else for it, Lee needed to get enough space between them that she had time to get into the back of the shop without him being right behind her. Lee could only hope that she wouldn't hurt herself too badly in the process because a trip to the mansion did not sound feasible any time soon.

Lee turned to face the man once more, only waiting another half second until he was within her reach, before she swung out hard with her right fist.

And just like Tony had, this man flew backward when she punched him. Unlike Tony, however, this man flew even further at least 30 feet, through the window. Only stopping when he hit a car on the side of the road.

Before he had even slumped to the ground, Lee was turning, rushing into the back of the shop where Tarin was. And hitting the camouflaged button she had never needed to use in a real situation before that day.

The gears and motors were definitely a lot creakier sounding than Lee remembered, but still the panic door slammed shut behind her.

The man was struggling to start with. But that was also why Lee had dropped (not just placed, but dropped) her knee into the small of his back and yanked his wrist so high toward his shoulder blades.

And the siphoning. Oh yes, the siphoning. As his energy was leaving him, causing his fighting to quickly become far less effective, Lee was getting stronger. Those first seconds, before she knew that she had the strength to restrain the person she was dealing with, were always worrisome.

It didn't take long for the man to pass out, less than two minutes. But that was almost a minute longer than Lee was expecting with how much she was siphoning.

Finally (after what felt like an eternity to Lee since she was trying to get him to pass out), Lee felt the man go limp under her. And while Lee brought her siphoning back down to normal, she didn't get up or let go of the man's arm. He'd taken longer to pass out than she had expected. It was possible he would wake up sooner, too.

"Please tell me someone's called the cops or something," Lee said as she looked up at the couple of staff still visible behind the counter. Rather than the people behind her who thought that filming was a better use of their phones.

The group they were approaching, that they would have to pass in order to continue to the shop, had ended up being much closer to them on the sidewalk than Lee had thought they would. Or hoped that they would.

Then she heard someone speak. And…they were probably talking to her and Tarin. But Lee didn't acknowledge the speaker. She just kept moving, her eyes trying to watch everywhere.

More crashing sounds, and as Lee looked back she saw an e bike crashing into a car near the further group. Great, strength mutations on both sides.

As Lee's eyes were turning back to the path ahead, she saw a pair of eyes on her and Tarin. A pair of eyes only about 15 feet away, on the edge of the group closest to them.

A pair of eyes belonging to a mutant who appeared to be made of metal. "Faster," Lee urged Tarin as she quickened her pace, eyes forward as she focused on her siphoning even more.

And before they had gone five feet, she felt someone in the direction of the group not getting further away as she moved. "Faster," Lee said a little more urgently. At least they were almost at the corner. Reach the corner and they would be on the street the shop was on.

Turn the corner, and hopefully there would be no one threatening there. Which would hopefully mean there would only be metal man to deal with.

40 feet to the corner.