As the boy clicked his fingers together, a small spark ignited from the tip of his index finger, a spark that turned into a thin, blue flame. He pressed the flame against the soft metal and began tracing around its edge, hoping to not trigger an alarm.
"Come on, Matt, let's hurry it up," a boy spoke behind him, causing him to falter a moment, his concentration broken.
The boy, Matt, turned and pulled up his goggles as he looked up at the boy that had interrupted him. The young boy was no older than thirteen, short dark hair with striking blue eyes, he stood with an annoyed and uncomfortable pose, as if he was uneasy. His usual attire consisted of a red t-shirt and black cargo shorts with a blue Lightning pattern on them.
"I'm trying my best, Mikaido. Just gimme a sec," Matt replied, as he pulled the goggles from his scruffy black hair down over his eyes. He reignited the tip of his finger and attempted to continue burning through the Metal of the machine that jutted out of the wall. As he pushed his finger into the jagged cut he had already made, something clicked and the small room they were in suddenly blared a siren and they were bathed in a deep red light.
"Shit, you triggered an alarm, Matthew," Mikaido jumped as the alarm blared.
"It's not my fault," Matthew stood and took his goggles off again.
"I don't care, grab the ATM and let's gas it," Mikaido ordered one of the others around them.
Jaylin watched as a larger man with a short blonde ponytail grabbed the machine by the cuts he had made before tearing the entire contraption from its home in the wall.
Jaylin ran to the glass door and reignited his finger once more.
"There's no time for subtlety, blow it to hell," Mikaido ordered. "They're on our tail."
Matthew grunted before stepping back and looking deep inside himself for a familiar trigger. Smaller uses of his Powers, like the blowtorch finger, could be used without much thought, but something larger and more destructive, like a Fireball, required him to reach the deepest parts of himself to find a trigger. It was more of a safety measure so he didn't just explode everything while he slept. He found the dial deep within him and turned it, he felt the rush of Energy as it flowed around his body and ended in his fist. He made a punching motion and watched as a Fireball shot from his fist and exploded the glass door. The four of them bolted through the hole as sounds could be heard above them.
*****
As the white and red Husky bounded across the rooftops, he kept his snout on a swivel, reaching high into the Air and keeping it low to the ground. He could sense the use of Energy nearby, and the path of destruction below in the streets definitely led this way. The sound of Water splashing around him caused him to take focus off picking up the scent and onto the annoying Wolf that slid around him.
"Have you found them yet, Zero?" The red and blue Wolf asked, his chain dragging along the ground as he used his Water to skate around.
"No, King. And I won't be able to if you don't leave me alone," Zero replied, once more closing his eyes and sensing the space around him. He managed to pick up their scent once more and began to bound in their direction, causing King to change to his direction and chase after him.
A second sound of running came from beside Zero as he ran along the pebble-covered rooftops, leaping from one to the next, these were half as loud as his though. Zero came to a halt as he neared a gap he knew he couldn't jump, the footsteps beside him did not slow down though and a grunt could be heard as he watched a Human leap from the rooftop. The boy had short dark blonde hair that was tossed to one side, he wore a deep blue sports shirt and matching blue shorts.
"Luke!" Zero called to the boy as he watched his friend plummet to the bust streets below.
The boy flipped in midair, his screaming turned to shouts of pure joy as he extended his legs and kicked off the Air, launching himself up and over the edge of the roof, coming into a roll and standing without a pause. Be raised his arms and cheered in excitement.
"Whooo! Did you see that, Zero?!" He called from across the street.
"Fuck you're gonna give me a heart attack one day," Zero sighed as he shook his head.
"Language, mister," a voice entered the small earpiece Zero wore. The voice belonged to an Operator that swiveled in his chair back at The Agency, the man was large with short black facial hair and glasses, he wore a simple dark green t-shirt and black shorts.
"Oh shove it, Andrew," Zero replied, which got a snicker out of the Operator. "You're not my supervisor."
Zero wagged his tail and went into a run, leaping from the building and into the street below, he knew that he could never make the gap but that's why he had his team. Luke ran to the edge of the roof to try and grab Zero, but sighed and smiled as he saw an Earthen pillar extending from the building which Zero had landed on.
"Get on my level," a large Brown Bear spoke as she appeared from the stoned rooftop.
"Nice catch, Mari," Luke high fived the Bear as she lifted Zero the rest of the way up the building.
"Andrew may not be your supervisor, but I am," this time a female voice entered their ears. One that made Zero cringe and Luke burst out laughing.
"Oh hey, mum," Zero spoke shyly.
"Don't forget what you're there to do, Zero. These guys have been on a rampage for weeks now and we wanna bring them in alive. Do you understand, team?"
"Yes ma'am," the four of them replied before they turned and continued the chase. The four of them came to the corner of the building, looking down at a five way intersection. Alarms blared from down below as some of the roads were torn up and damaged, the damage seemed contained to the streets surrounding a tall building opposite them. Police tape had been erected with several white and blue cars surrounding the building, a small contingent of men and women in blue uniforms were holding curious civilians back.
Zero looked at Luke and nodded, the boy knowing what they were about to do as he nodded back. The four of them leapt from their perch, Luke reaching within him and finding the small lamp that triggered his Powers, he pulled the string and found his descent slowing as he neared the ground. Zero landed softly beside him while Mari seamlessly dove into the ground and used the momentum to kick off and guide through the ground. King exploded in a puddle of Water as he impacted the ground, quickly reforming himself and giving Zero a smile. The three of them walked towards the building, one of the officers noticed their approach and pulled up the tape before nodding at them.
The local emergency responder sector was well aware of Zero of his team, although small they were a big presence in the city they called home. The Agency had quickly rebuilt after the battle with Vision and worked with every aspect of the city to ensure that the Elementals were well integrated into the city. While there were still Humans who hated the Elementals and what they did, they were few and far between. Now people looked up to and admired Zero and his team for what they did, for how they handled the situations that others could not.
"Are they still inside?" Zero asked as he walked past the officer, an older man with graying hair.
"Take a listen," the man replied.
Zero stopped and tuned out the sound of the sirens, from inside the building came crashing and yelling. He looked at King and Luke before the three of them stepped into the large hole that had been blown outwards. The ground inside was cracked and splintered, red carpets that lead up a grand staircase were torn up. A chandelier hung above them, swaying as the building rumbled. The left side was some sort of reception area, a long desk sat indented with an office space behind it. The staircase ran up the center of the room, while the right side led around behind the stairs with another exit out to the streets.
The commotion was coming from the left side where a large boulder sat nestled in the front desk, yelling came from behind it.
"Will you just calm down?" A male voice called.
An ear piercing roar echoed in response, the boulder suddenly exploded outwards and sent debris everywhere. Zero could sense Power usage within the cloud of debris but his vision was obscured, something pierced through the cloud and threatened to stab him. A large yellow horn jutted out from a thick, angular head. Zero had little time to react as the horn headed straight for him, something brown burst out of the ground and forced the beast to the side, kicking up more and more dust.
"Luke, send it flying!" Zero called as he began to breathe in the dirt. His vision was suddenly cleared as the dust rushed upwards, he looked up to see the dirty and dust resting against the ceiling, and Luke using both hands to keep it held there. He looked to the left to see Mari wrestling with what looked like a large rhinoceros, both using Earth to try through each other off. A human male stepped from out of the rubble, his clothes and body covered in dirt.
"Sorry about him, he's sort of lost control," the man spoke as he looked upon them, waving dismissively. "Oh shit, you're D.A.R.E. Fuck, Marinth, we gotta run!"
The Rhino roared and created a pillar of Earth from its skin to push Mari off, she went into a roll and skidded along the ground, snarling and standing on two legs. She went in for another charge when the Rhino, Marinth, pushed past her and charged at the Human. He smiled and reached up to grab onto the beast, instead it reared on its hind legs and roared once more, using its Powers to pull the ground beneath him and cause him to fall. Chains of Water wrapped around the Rhino before it could slam down on the Human, King held the beast back but was struggling.
"Mari! Get him out of there," Zero called as he ran at Marinth. He watched as the Earth beneath the Human began to pull him towards them, Zero jumped over the man and saw King's chains break, the Wolf being forced backwards. The Husky expanded his field, making sure none of his team were caught in its reach. He watched as Marinths eyes flicked from a deep red color to a more natural brown, the beast landed and shook its head with a chuff.
"What...?" The beast spoke in a deep voice.
"I have you Locked Down," Zero explained. "No Power can be used within my field."
"Where are we?"
"Regal Hotel, you crashed through the city and made your way here. But you're fine now, right?"
"I don't..."
Zero pulled his field back slightly to let his team close in, he signaled for Luke to contact The Agency. He looked back at Marinth and lurched back slightly as the Rhino tried to skewer him. A quick flick of his field outwards brought the Rhino back to his senses.
"What is going on?" Zero asked as an Agency truck pulled up to transport the beast.
*****
As the van pulled into the back alley entrance, Jaylin opened the door and exited, slamming it shut as he walked into a dim garage with large boxes scattered around.
"Jaylin, don't fucking walk away," Mikaido called as he got out of the van. "Marco, put that down and rip it open, I wanna see our haul."
The larger man pulled the ATM from the back of the van and placed it on the ground before ripping its back plate off with his bare hands. A small box sat between them and the money, Marco pulled it out and smashed it on the side of a concrete block, notes of all denominations fluttered out.
"Hey boss," the female called from a nearby couch that faced a barrel of Fire. "Sounds like we dodged a bullet here."
She pointed to a nearby radio. "The D.A.R.E Elementals have once again thwarted a dangerous criminal that had broken into the Regal Hotel, we'll bring you more details as we learn more."
"That was just around the corner," she said.
"We wouldn't have needed to dodge anything, if someone had just done their fucking job," Mikaido called to Jaylin, who had gone to lay down on a mattress.
"You're the asshole that-" Jay muttered under his breath until he felt a swift kick in his back.
"What was that?" Mikaido reached down and hauled Jaylin up before slamming him against the brick wall. Mikaido held him up by one hand, the other came around and threatened to scratch him as Marco and the female stood off to the side.
"I know you're still new here, but don't forget your place. Or you'll end up like them," he gestured to their teammates, both of whom wore denim vests with their arms torn off, exposing deep burns up and down their limbs. "You're lucky we actually got a haul here, tomorrow we'll go for something different."
He let go of Jaylin before slamming a fist into his gut, causing him to crumple and splutter before walking to examine the money. Jaylin wiped his mouth, his fist was balled and he just wanted to fight back. But he had nothing else, so he had to just put up with it.
*****
"So what's the deal with big and ugly?" King asked as he walked into the Command Centre.
"We're not sure yet," Stacey replied, turning to greet them.
"The Human talking at all?" Zero asked.
"Not until he sees his friend," Andrew replied. "And we can't even let that happen because the second he was out of your field, Zer, he went crazy again. Had to sedate him to keep him calm.
"What's on your mind, Zero?" Stacey asked, seeing her son with a concerned look on his face.
"I just... this isn't the first time we've had rogue Elementals attack this week, I know it's in our name, but we haven't had this kind of repeating attack in years. I'm just worried something might be going on."
"I'm sure it's nothing," Stacey replied. "How about we call it a night? You all must be exhausted."
"Speaking of that, would it be okay if I stayed tonight, Stace?" Luke asked.
"But you've got school tomorrow, I think it would be best if you went home tonight. We'll see you after school, okay?"
"Oh... yeah that's fine." Luke turned to walk out of the room with his hands in his pockets, he sighed and left the Elementals for the night.
