All American Rejects (Users #3) by Stacy, Jennifer Buck Page A

mouth to throw a, no doubt, devastating scream at the young man, but Barber proved to be the quicker of the two. Barber threw a flurry of combinations, going this time for the body, and forcing Stella back on her heels. Barber fell over her, punching out three times before they even hit the ground, all three punches sending a spike deep into the flesh of her shoulder.
    The distraction cost Carter a punch to the face. He put his arms up defensively in an attempt to block the next punch, but none came. A wave of energy fell over him and Alaric both, but Alaric took the brunt of Evan's wave of mental energy, sending Alaric spinning through the air.
    Carter turned to thank Evan only to find his companion taking a fireball to the face. He ignited fires on both hands, despite knowing that his powers would have no effect on Luke. Carter threw down a circle of fire around Luke to buy Evan some sorely needed time to recover, and for himself to get to his feet. He knew that that his fire would have no effect on Luke, but being impervious to fire wouldn't protect Luke from a fist fight.
    "You really think that was going to work?" Luke laughed aloud as he stepped through the fire unharmed.
    "Seemed to work fine too me," Carter said as he landed a punch on the unsuspecting Luke's jaw. Carter knew very little about Luke, but he guessed that Luke was not as well trained in hand to hand combat as he was. His suspicion was confirmed as Carter blasted him once, twice, and a third time with an uppercut that knocked Luke out flat on his back.
    A scream tore through the silence, only this was no normal scream; it was Stella. Her scream was no doubt a desperate attempt to dislodge the raging Barber from atop her and it worked. Barber was thrown through the air and landed on his side, gripping his blood filled ears.
    "Help him!" Carter told Evan. "We've got this. We're beating them."
    But his words rang false. They had knocked the All Americas down, but not out. Alaric, Luke, and Stella were getting back to their feet even as he spoke the words. Barber on the other hand just moaned and rolled back and forth in the grass. The young man was out of the fight, and it didn't appear he was going to get back up anytime soon.
    Evan stood over Barber's prone body protectively. Ryker was still going back and forth with the All American's Changer, Michael. That left Carter to face off against Alaric, Luke, and Stella all on his own.
    "Just give up," Alaric said. "You're outnumbered and outgunned. Your powers don't stand a chance against ours."
    "We'll see about that." Carter kicked off his shoes and ignited his body from head to toe in flames. He wasted no time in blasting the fire from the soles of his feet to take to the air. He hovered a couple of feet above the ground with fire dancing all around him. "Let's do this."
    Carter unleashed a fiery hell on the All Americans. He threw fireball after fireball on them, sending the three of them scattering. Alaric darted left, then right, then left again as Carter popped off three shots at him. Each time he dodged, Alaric closed the gap between Carter and himself. Alaric leapt into the air with his fist leading the way, but Carter was ready for him, and he simply flew to the side to avoid Alaric's head on attack. But it wasn't Alaric he should have been worried about. Stella was badly wounded, but had managed to get in position off the side of Carter. Worse still, she had lined herself up perfectly, so Evan and Ryker were also in the line of fire.
    She screamed like a banshee. Carter took the brunt of the sound wave and was sent tumbling end over end through the air. Evan was next in line and he didn't fair much better than Carter. He was sent head over heels onto the ground next to Barber. The wave hit Ryker from behind and blew him forward right into the waiting fist of Michael.
    The wave of sound was so powerful it blew the fire on Carter's body out, and he fell with a thud onto the grassy yard. The fall knocked