Underneath all of the fear and panic, there was a small voice cheering Josh on, one that was utterly impressed with the fact that he had knocked someone out cold -- and an angel, no less. He’d boast about it later, maybe even going so far as to tell his mom about the accomplishment (while leaving out certain life-threatening details, of course). But right now, with the adrenaline surging through his veins, chasing the electricity he had generated. The only thing on his mind was React. Move. Survive. He hadn’t felt the sharp edge of the sword bite into his palm. The cut was deep, deep enough that he’d already started to form a significant puddle of blood at his feet. Even when the girl made note of his wound and his eyes looked down at the raised edges along the bleeding fissure, the pain still didn’t fully register.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said with a stale laugh. “Just a scratch.” Josh was idly thinking about how many stitches it would take to close the cut up when his companion started ripping her dress to give him a makeshift bandage. His mind had started to lull in its state of shock and it took him a moment to stop thinking about how she’d ruined her clothes to focus in on her question. “Think I’m going to have to,” he responded, a beat longer than was safe at the moment. Gripping the fabric with his thumb, Josh began to wrap his hand tightly. He cursed under his breath when the pain finally registered and his brain started to chug back toward its normal speed.
“Yeah? You’re not so bad yourself, Red, even if it was all an accident.” ...And had been the direct cause for their attack in the first place. Josh didn’t say that bit out loud, nor did he hold it against the girl. If there was a time for power flare-ups, the midst of a battle between heaven and hell was the perfect place for it. “Do you think we--” Josh’s words dropped dead in his mouth when he looked over at his companion, only to see her being lifted into the air by the same angel he thought was still down for the count. He lunged toward her, thinking that if he caught her legs, he might be able to use his extra weight to pull her from the angel’s grip. Unfortunately, he hadn’t timed his action with her defense and the second he moved toward her, he was caught in the face by a flailing limb.
“Mother Fu--” Josh grabbed his jaw and tried to shake the dazed feeling out of his head. He didn’t give up though. His balled fist was already charging, but he would need concentration and time to do anything significant with the energy -- both of which would be hard to come by. “Just shoot you fire, Red,” he shouted up toward the girl. “Don’t think about it, just let it go.” Surely with her wild aim she’d manage to hit something on the angel.