It took a long moment for Justice's words to fully sink in, not because Rory didn't understand them... but because he was coming to terms with the full depth of them. His breath caught in his throat as he mentally played back everything he'd thought and felt ever since meeting Justice, flashes of embarrassment and anger surging through him as the implications hit home. What he'd just revealed was voyeurism that bordered on mind reading! Suddenly he understood Justice's commentary on himself and others in an entirely new, and entirely uncomfortable, light, and shuddered at it.
Just how deep could his senses go? Was it just moment-to-moment on the surface... or did it run deeper, the ability to read the emotional fingerprint of a person's soul?
...What else did he know, or have insight enough to guess at?
Through sheer will, Rory tamped down on that mental line of questioning. It wouldn't help. He decided he would take a slow, deep breath, focus himself, and--
When the attack came, there was no clear warning. One moment he was focused on how best to keep Justice from reading him like a book, the next a dark blur of movement aimed at his feet erupted in an explosive burst. Had he been fully battle-focused his Aura would've handled the impact much better, but with his attention scattered it ended up taking the full blast and knocking him several feet to the side. On the upside, getting hit by the blast did clear his head and get him focused... so, that was something, at least. The shield fighter's tactical mindset was quickly in full swing -- as vambraces activated and unfolded he was already sinking into a defensive crouch, one hand switching his goggles to voice control as he tried to track what little movement he could make out through the fog. "Damnit!" Whatever was coming at them could see better than they could in this fog and was too far away for his view modes to make out. What was even attacking them? He didn't know of any varieties of Grimm that incorporated thrown explosives -- it seemed far more likely their attacker was human, Faunus, or something else. Not daring to look away, he asked the obvious question. "Justice?"
Battle Stats:
▫ Passive Effect: Aura Specialist
(defensive Aura focus reduces incoming damage by 1.5%)
▫ AMBUSH! was a surprise strike! Aura Specialist nullified -- full damage received +knockback.
▫ Hit received @ 30% Aura damage
▫ Aura Status: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▢▢▢ (60%)