As Sean's fist careened ominiously towards his visage, something throbbed insistently within Nadeau's back-pocket. Sean, mid punch, sensed the tension build on his arm, his fist slogging through the air towards his fellow man's face as though the two objects were opposingly magnetised, before snugly embedding itself into Achille's cheek with all the terrifying velocity of a particularly apathetic garden snail.
"Curious."Nadeau gargled, struggling to manuver his molars around the lip of Sean's knuckles, their tendons flaring as he fought to connect the blow: "The field bubble appears to be a trifle underpowered, if you just hold it there an instant, friend I…"
A distortion of the light, and Nadeau temporarily vanished, as everything in his immediate surroundings, glasses, bar, alcohol, onions, stools, customers, and cutlery were jerked protestingly into the air, and, ululating wildly, were thrown onto the nearest surface solid enough to halt their respective trajectories. As for Sean himself, the man swiftly found himself jammed arse-first into a previously closed barrel of rum, the counter shunted on top of him for good measure. Only Grengar remained implacable, swaying mildly.
"My Satan, I've killed the man!"Achille panicked, rapidly digging him him out of the rubble, frantically wondering what damming impact such an eventuality could incur on his insurance. When it became clear that there was nothing actually wrong with the man (except for a mild sway in his step), the grin returned.
"Apologies friend, whilst the graviton shield sown into my back pocket is certainly effacious, it's results have a tendency to vary… quite drastically. Just a mild warning not to throw anything in my immediate vicinity in future…"He japed, dragging Sean back to his feet;"…Or indeed any fast movements within 0.5 square foot. Nothing personal, but I do happen to be the recipient of a copious quantity of death threats; it's proving quite unsettling."
He observed the surrounding havoc with an aura of indifference.
"Assumedly I should be paying for this, oui? Name the value, friend. Apologies, but since my little incident with Mr Daerune over there failed to bear fruit, I still required some other form of creative field test. No permanent damage done, I'm sure."
THE SYNDIC LEAGUES
(A co-operative of Rheinland's Shipping Unions, retired from a life of piracy.)