Elementals: A New Era: Book One

Chapter Nine

A sharp crunch came from Matt's chest as he found himself being grasped by the large armored man's hand against the wall. He kicked and used his hands to try and break free of the man's grip. Another swift punch connected with his abdomen, forcing the air to leave his lungs.
"You failed me, Matt," Neo paced behind the man as he spoke. "The Mayor should be dead right now, instead we have Mikaido fulfilling his mission, and you bringing home this... stray," Neo gestured as an explosion echoed from the pits. "Part of me hopes he survives so we can use him, he seems Powerful, but the other part of me wants him to die so you'll know you brought someone here who is weaker than you. Then I'll kill you just to send a message."
"You didn't have-" Matt gasped for breath. "Issues when Mikaido brought me down here."
"Mikaido was useful. So far you haven't done anything to prove your worth to me or the Undercity."
"I'm a... a Fire Elemental."
Neo thought for a moment. "Drop him. You're on your last warning though."
The man dropped him but continued to stand over him as he sputtered and gasped for breath. Matt wiped his nose and stood, Neo had made his way over to the window and looked out over the Undercity towards the pits.
"Shall we watch? See if your friend makes it?"

*****

Dustin ducked beneath another strange blast that made the very Air ripple, he knew he couldn't fail here, not with Neo watching. He wouldn't be beaten again, he wouldn't be humiliated again, no one would hurt him and put him down like that puta Fire Elemental had the day before. He used the lower stature to slide his fingertips across the sand and send a barrage of Ice Spikes at the boy that hovered slightly above the ground ahead of him. The Air shimmered around the boy for a moment before blasting the Ice Spikes away, Dustin growled and charged forwards, picking the Ice out of the Air as he ran. He leapt at the boy and brought the Spikes down upon him, he crashed into a barrier as the boy looked up at him. The ground began to shake as Dustin was held suspended, a large Earthen Fist burst out of the sand and threatened to smash into the boy's legs. Dustin found himself being flipped around and felt the fist impact his back before he was flung backwards. He skidded along the soft sand before righting himself and standing as a girl his age rose from the ground. Her blonde hair was cut short, the left side longer and concealing one eye.
"Quinn," he called. "We gotta end this with one attack. Together."
"I'm with you, Dustin," Quinn called as she began to pull the sand towards her.
Dustin imagined the very Air around them cooling as he breathed in and out. He brought the cold Energy into his right fist as Quinn did the same with her left. The two of them screamed as they punched forwards, the two Elemental Energies intertwining, an Earthen Blast coated in Ice that screamed through the Air towards the boy.
Dustin blinked as the sound of the crowd rushed back into his ears, replacing a ringing sound that had drowned everything out moments before. He was on his back, a pounding headache as the soft sand shifted beneath him. He tried to sit up but something within him wasn't responding to his commands. Dustin thought back, trying to remember how he'd gotten here, what had happened after their combined attack, and why Quinn was lying on her side.
He found the memory, everything had happened in a flash. The attack was about to hit when something pierced through the Earthen Fist, something that had started the size of a needle but had quickly expanded, decimating the attack. A sharp pain had entered his right arm, he'd looked at it to see the same pinpoint attack piercing him just above the elbow. It had also expanded, tearing the arm off entirely and forcing him to the ground. The sound had come next. A horrendous boom that left everyone holding their ears.
Now Dustin lay as the boy landed on the opposite end of the pits, the crowd cheering for him. Dustin tried to sit up, he fell onto his right side as his mind couldn't comprehend not having an arm.
"Dustin," Quinn called. "Dont."
He began to scream, his anger rising as he forced his Powers to activate. He looked deep within himself and found a new trigger, a new tap to turn. He flicked it open and felt a rush of Energy to where his arm once was. The blood that gushed from it began to freeze over, cauterizing it with frost burn before a hand exploded out of the Ice, it balled a fist and pushed Dustin up and onto his feet. He flexed his hand for a moment before leaping at the boy.
The crowd cheered, they wanted blood, they wanted to see someone die.
Dustin brought the Ice Fist around and found himself connecting with another barrier, this time he felt it wrap him and force him back down to the ground before holding him there.
"I don't want to hurt you," the boy spoke.
"This isn't... over until..." Dustin struggled to speak as his entire body felt like it was being crushed. "One of us dies."
"Enough!" Neo called from high above them. The crowd booed him as the Viscount scoffed.
"You can't just stop this fight, Neo. The people want to see death," The Viscount spoke between mouthfuls of food.
"There won't be any death of my Vanguard. Quinn, Dustin, Luke, my office. Mikaido, come too."
Luke felt awkward standing beside three kids his age, all in tattered clothing and all seemingly needing baths, he felt clean and out of place. Dustin wore a denim jacket with its sleeves torn off, and a green undershirt. His brown shorts looked like pants that were torn just above the knees. His shoes were tattered and the soles were pulling away from the shoe. Quinn wore a strange over the shoulder shirt that kept her left shoulder exposed, she wore torn up jeans and sandals. The four of them stood in a line in front of Neo, he paced in his purple suit awaiting the final member. As soon as the door opened and Mikaido walked through, Luke felt a sharp pain enter his chest, the two of them locked eyes and Luke felt everything explode into an unbearable heat. Did Mikaido recognize him? What if he did, were they about to fight? Would he make it out alive if they did? Luke put his hands in his pockets and avoided the boy's gaze, everything suddenly feeling okay as his fingers wrapped around the small plastic cube. He pulled it out and held it behind his back, using his Powers to fiddle with it, shift it, break it apart and put it back together again. Matt noticed Luke playing with something behind his back as Mikaido walked past them and took a place beside Matt.
"Now then," everyone's attention was brought to Neo as he stood in front of them. "After that incredible display of Power by Luke, he'll be joining you all in my Vanguard. Quinn and Dustin, you already know what's expected of you."
"Si," Dustin nodded.
"Mikaido, Luke, Matt, you'll be joining the Vanguard with these two, together the five of you will be a formidable team. From now until the mission is over, the five of you will spend every second together, working together, learning about each other, learning your Powers, everything. This mission needs to go smoothly, do you understand?"
"What is the mission?" Quinn asked.
Neo leaned down on the table and opened up a map that displayed an overview of a train. "In a few days, Sunday, the five of you will be assaulting this train to steal the components of TF Juice, before it gets to Clifftop Station."
"Who's the one bringing it in?" Matt asked. "And what are they gonna use it for?"
"We have no idea," Neo smiled. "We just need it to be ours."
"Expected resistance?" Dustin asked, folding his arms.
"Again, we aren't sure. Not knowing who this belongs to just leaves us in the dark."
"So how are we doing this then?" Luke spoke up, trying to gain more information.
"The five of you will enter through the back of the train. Dustin and Quinn will be up front, using Ice and Earth to block whatever is coming at you, bullets, Elements, whatever. Matt and Mikaido will be our swords, using Fire and Lightning to kill anyone that gets in the way. And Luke will use his Powers to make sure no one gets flung from the train. Understood?"
"No EEP's with us?" Dustin inquired.
"I can't risk it, we need all the Juice we can spare for the inevitable attack topside," Neo stood and shook his head. "It will be the five of you, and that's it. That's why I need you all to be in full sync with each other. Speaking of TF Juice and learning about each other, one of our depots was just attacked while the fight was going on. Get over there and see what's going on. Dismissed."
Mikaido began to lead the team out of the room and into the courtyard.
"The depot is about five clicks that way," Quinn pointed. "Take us about fifty minutes of walking, unless we have another way to get there."
Luke smiled and slapped his hand on the soft sand, suddenly the five of them began to rise slightly off the ground.
"Puta," Dustin cursed under his breath.
"What the heck is this?" Quinn asked as they all wildly flailed their limbs about.
"I made you all light as Air," Luke replied, staying upright as the others bodies began to twist and turn with the lack of Gravity. "It's easy, just lean forwards and you'll move forwards." Luke demonstrated the technique as he floated in the direction he faced. Matt and Quinn were quick to right themselves and give him the thumbs up, while Mikaido silently managed to fix his posture, all the while staring at Luke. Dustin swore as he finally managed to get the hang of it. Before long, the five of them were flying over the Undercity at lightning speed.
"So why did the depot get attacked?" Luke asked as they flew. "I thought all of the Undercity was united?"
"Nah my guy," Quinn replied. "Down here we split into four parts, and even then there's smaller groups within that. We just live in the Viscounts area, he makes all the food for the Undercity."
"And eats most of it," Dustin added.
"The other districts look after other things, one does clothing, another does building, but they all seem to hate each other," Quinn continued.
"And Neo?" Luke asked.
"He's just an over excited zealot," Matt replied. "He thinks he can save-"
"No he will save us," Mikaido interrupted. "He's the only one brave enough to try and fight the topsiders. And we should be helping him if we want out of here."
"Have you tried talking to anyone up top?" Luke asked.
The group suddenly stopped and faced him, Quinn and Dustin looked confused, while Mikaido wore a look of anger, Matt seemed concerned.
"We don't need to talk to them," Mikaido floated over to him. "They're the reason we're down here. They're the reason we can't get enough food to feed everyone. That we can't get new clothes. That we can't even see the fucking sun. We have no idea what time it is down here. We don't know when it's day or night. When it's winter or summer. We don't even know if it's raining up there. And they want to keep it that way. We're fighting for our freedom here. And if you won't fight alongside us..." Mikaido sparked his hands to life and looked at him with pure anger and passion.
"No I will," Luke watched as Mikaido turned to resume flying. "I just... innocents will die if this all goes through."
"No one up there is innocent," Mikaido finished as the group resumed their flight.
As they continued towards the depot, Matt hung back and tried reassuring Luke that everything was okay, the boy was scared. These people were corrupted, they wanted to kill. He couldn't think about it right now, he had to complete this mission to show his loyalty.
Dustin and Quinn dove into a roll as they came on a hill that overlooked the large metal structure, Mikaido landed beside them, followed by Matt and Luke. As they peered over the hill, they spotted a number of adult males and females dancing around a fire, swaying back and forth and unaware of them.
"Fuck, it's Juicers," Quinn swore.
"Juicers?" Luke asked.
"TF Juice is a drug," Dustin started. "Most of the time it's administered through a syringe, the easiest way to get to the Source and activate it. But Juicers will cook it, boil it and release the chemicals before inhaling it. Still gives them Powers, but also a wicked high, that's all they live for, if they live at all after it's done.
"So if they have Powers..." Something wrapped around Luke as he lay on the hill, he looked down and saw a pair of Earthen hands around his chest. Before he could speak, he found himself being pulled through the Earth and flung out the other side. Luke managed to right himself as he flew through the Air, coming to a roll and cushioning his landing. He gulped as the dancing had stopped, the only sound came from the crackling Fire as half a dozen blank faces stared down at him.
"Heh, hi," he said weakly before all hell broke loose. The other kids leapt over the hill and began raining Elemental attacks down upon the drug users, an explosion of Fire caused Luke to shield his head with his hands as dirt was flung in all directions. A pair of hands pulled him up and he came face to face with a shriveled and skinny male with very few teeth and glazed over gray eyes. The man smiled and leant forwards to bite him, Luke managed to find his Source and send a bone shattering blast into the man's torso, flinging the lifeless body backwards and dropping him. A sudden increase in brightness told him to duck, he managed to avoid the slash of Blade of Light. He found himself on his hands and knees, he kicked outwards and sent a blast behind him, hearing something shatter as a female dropped beside him. The woman screamed and began to hiss as she crawled towards him, Light streaming from her pores. Luke pushed himself away with his Powers but found the woman chasing after him. She appeared in front of him in a flash of Light and brought her sword down. A sudden drop in temperature and something had made its way between them, a clanging sound came from the person in front of him as Light met Ice.
"You... saved me?" Luke looked up as Dustin held the Blade in his Ice arm.
"We're a team now," Dustin replied. "We gotta look out for one another."
A blast of Lightning came from their right as Mikaido forced the woman off of them and made his way to their side.
"We can't kill them," he spoke. "Somethings wrong. Look."
Luke and Dustin followed his gaze and watched as both adults they'd attacked were rising once more, their bodies contoriting and fixing themselves.
"No muerte," Dustin spoke. "Seems the Juice gives them immortality too."
A strange hissing sound came from behind them, Luke turned to see Matt and Quinn fighting the other four Juicers, burning them and crushing them as they went. One of the Juicers seemed to be excreting a strange Dark mist, it wrapped itself around each of their feet before expanding outwards and blinding them all.
"What the fuck?" Mikaido called.
"I have a plan," Matt's voice came from the Darkness. "Luke, pull Quinn to you guys."
Without thinking, Luke managed to find the Forces acting on Quinn and pulled her to the three of them, now they stood back to back, trying to figure out where the attack would come from.
"Quinn, put a blanket of Earth over you all. Dustin, lower the temperature within the cloak."
Both kids followed the orders, Luke ducked down as the Earth shifted around them and enveloped them. He heard Dustin exhale and the Air around them cooled.
"Sun's Prominence!" Matt's voice was muffled as a sudden and extreme heat rose all around them. Small holes within the cloak shone a bright Light. Everything died down slowly, Quinn pulling the cloak away and revealing an area of scorched Earth around them, black soil coated the ground as Matt swayed nearby, the Juicers nowhere to be seen.
"What the fuck was that?" Mikaido asked.
"Sol Dios," Dustin whispered.
"Heh, very Powerful... one off attack," Matt began to collapse. Luke reached out and shifted the Forces to keep the boy afloat as they ran towards him.
"That was awesome," Luke spoke, looking around at the destruction. Surprisingly the depot was unharmed.
Matt gave a small thumbs up and removed his goggles.
"We don't have any healers on the team, you idiot," Mikaido walked over and helped Matt to his feet. "You can't just do that whenever you want."
"But it was cool," Matt replied jokingly. The kids laughed as they began to walk back to Neo. Luke turned and looked around, everything seemed so much bigger than he'd imagined, he was learning about everything here and it made him question if everything he was doing was correct.