Gladio's reaction was almost as surprising as the blast as he was patted down. Between the two events, he got mildly disoriented. However, it wasn't too hard to bounce back when he was in the large man's arms.

"No! No, Gladdy, I'm okay." He squirmed with a giggle. "I didn't know that thing was a gun!"

One of the aggressors spotted this scene and advanced on them. The large man's weapon was down and the small one had all of his attention. Charging, he raised his blade.

Prompto's gaze shifted from Gladio's face to movement behind him. He quickly twisted and grabbed the Shield's sword. He barely got it out of the wall and up before the enemy was slashing out. Instead the alien was impaled on the sword, though the momentum was enough to make the marksman stumble back. "By the six! How do you fight with this thing?"