He didn't even wait for her to finish, the vein in his temple flashing orange with irritation, the back of his hand meeting her cheek with enough force to send her into a short cartwheel, flopping down onto the road, chin crunching into gravel.<br/><br/>"You picked a bad day to get some nerve" The N-Bots padded forward, the short batons that were in place of a right hand twirling occasionally, feet spreading and shoulders hunching as they circled her. One brought his baton down on the road, the ensuing burst of orange lightning breaking it into chips and dust. Jarno only watched, his eyes flashing menacingly.<br/><br/>"She's become more of an annoyance then a distraction... kill her" The N-Bots perked and a small green light on their temples clicked on, a recognition of the order, and they began to beat her. They could have killed her quickly, but it was in their programming to make a scene of this, to suppress the humans with fear... Jarno found no reason to instruct them otherwise.<br/><br/>Suddenly, one of the N-Bots jerked back with a sound like a baseball bat hitting a hollow tin at the speed of sound, it's head exploding into a wash of sparks and metal bits, stumbling back and padding at it's ruined neck in confusion. As it turned and knocked itself over by running chest first into the van, another two fell, small red pellets of thrumming energy ripping into their metal bodies, slamming into their chests and sending them down, a smoking hole left with twisting gears and sparking wires.<br/><br/>The ambush happened so fast. Jarno, exclaiming with a snarl, cried out for the N-Bots to protect the van. They immediately forgot their victim, lights flipping on green. Grabbing a blackened car frame like it was made of plywood, he slammed it down in front of, the lasers splashing against it and the N-Bots crowding around it, motes of orange light pooling on their batons and bursting towards the builds blindly.<br/><br/>The creatures that had followed them zipped and darted along the walls, still unseen, but green gobs of acid fired towards the general direction of the ambushes, melting away the stone and mortar with each.<br/><br/>In the confusion, Jarno didn't realize how lucky of a shot they got in... there were several scorches on his large chest, still smoking and ignored, but one laser had seared through his belt... and the lockbox on it had clattered to the ground. Something about it would dull the noise and confusion to Ariana, and draw her attention...