Elementals: A New Era: Book One

Chapter Fourteen

"No!" Mason called, as his form became realized. A bird, its wingspan wider than streets below, mixed of red and yellow feathers that seemed ablaze. Sharp talons that glowed with an ever burning heat. Long flowing feathers from his back that ran through every color of the rainbow. A fiery aura that caused the Air around him to shimmer.
"I will not be your beacon." He flew low along the ground, passing over Mari and Quinn.
"I will not be your Fire of Destruction." He flew over Braxton, Jinx, and King
"I will be a symbol of Hope." He passed over Dustin and Voltier.
"Hope that one day we can live in peace." He flew over Matt and Mikaido.
"Hope that those that came before us will not have died in vain." Mason flew over The Agency, where Tsubaki and Asher had been laid to rest beside each other in the small courtyard at its center. Around them were stones with the names of their fallen comrades, some had their respective bodies buried beneath, others were empty of bodies, but none were truly empty. Each one held within the memory of everything that was lost, everything that was sacrificed, and everything they had fought for.
"Hope that the sun will rise on all of us again!" Mason flew back above them all, extending his wings to enshroud the sun as it was quickly hidden behind dark thunder clouds and the sky began to open up. "I am the Flames of Hope!"
The small embers fell and landed on Andrew, he grunted a moment as his wound began to heal and the bullet clinked to the ground. He stood and looked at Luke.
"Get them."
Luke nodded and activated his Armor before leaping at Neo and the Metal man. The Armor was suddenly suspended in mid Air, its limbs outstretched.
"How fortunate for me," the Metal man said. "You're covered form head to toe in something I can control. Something I can bend." The Armor contorted in a way that looked painful. "Something I can break." With a closing of his fist, the Armor crumpled into a thick cube of Metal.
"Luke!" Andrew called.

*****

Quinn's back burned as she shielded Mari from an explosive attack from the Tiger, she screamed in pain as she collapsed onto the soft fur of the downed Bear. The rain pelted them both as the Rogues surrounded them, snarling and preparing Elemental attacks. Quinn turned and faced them, bringing his fists up and coating them in Earth, looking at the Rogues through blood matted hair.
Something flew overhead and suddenly she felt her body become bathed in a soft heat that healed her bruises and gashes, the wound in her head healed and the blood disappeared from her vision. Mari stirred beneath her and rose before roaring. The two of them locked eyes and smiled, knowing they were both ready for round two. But it wasn't needed. The rain suddenly stopped falling around them, holding suspended in mid Air.

*****

Voltier cringed as more and more rain drops pelted his fur and caused his Powers to spark himself, Dustin lay nearby beneath the paws of the large Lion, about to be devoured by the powerful Fire Elemental. Voltier wanted to help, he knew he had to, but he was currently preoccupied fighting a strange Earth Elemental that had hidden itself beneath the ground, only appearing momentarily to chomp down on one of his legs. A screeching came from above them and suddenly Voltier felt himself being wrapped in a warm blanket of heat, the bites in his legs healed and he felt his Source filling. Nearby he watched as Dustin screamed and rose, exhaling sharply and creating several Ice Spines out of his back to skewer the Lion and forcing it off him. Dustin stood and clenched his Ice arm before slamming it down and freezing the rain coated ground as the Mole creature tried to burst through the ground. The two Rogues were quickly killed, but more and more appeared down the street, the two of them were ready for round two. But it wasn't needed. The rain suddenly stopped falling around them, holding suspended in mid Air.

*****

Braxton gasped awake as small embers floated down from above, shimmering against the gray clouded sky. He looked down and saw the embers envelope him, encompassing him in a warm healing aura. His wounds closed, his bones flexed back into place and he felt his Energy reserves restoring.
"What is this?" The Gorilla asked, looking up at the flames that fell around them.
"Doesn't matter," the other creature spoke. "They're rising. Put them down again."
Braxton watched as Jinx rose with him, both of them getting to their feet and facing the primates, they had to be ready for this fight to continue.
A whirring sound suddenly entered Braxton's ears, he turned back to see King standing behind him, his eyes closed, his body vibrating as the whirring came from within him.
An explosion tore him back to his foes, the Gorilla had leapt upwards and was now descending towards them with Flame coated fists. Before Brax could react, a wall of Water exploded out of the ground as King stood beside him.
"King... you..." Braxton couldnt form the words as King stared at the Gorilla that landed on the wall and tried to smash through it. Before his Fire had immediately evaporated the Water, but something had changed and now it was like a see through Metal.
The whirring sound continued as King stared adamantly at the Gorilla, who roared back at him. The sound stopped and Brax thought he could see a small smile form on King's lips as he spoke a single word.
"Overdrive."
King launched upwards into the sky, and with his ascension, the rain halted, each drop suspended, frozen in Time. Braxton waved his paw through the droplets that hung, they burst but continued to float. A loud splash exploded to his right, followed by two more as large raindrops impacted the ground. From the drops rose three Wolf figures, one larger than the others, one normal sized and more Wolf like, the last one had Dragon-like wings.
The normal Wolf lunged forwards and charged at the Gorilla, it jumped at the creature and was met with a fist, exploding it into smaller droplets that splashed on the ground. Another Wolf, seemingly identical, rose in its place. The Gorilla looked down at it before raising its fists and threatening to slam them down. A loud thud could be heard as the beast's fists impacted a strange shimmer in the Air.
Brax looked at Jinx, his mouth agape. "Was that...?"
Before he could finish his sentence, the Wolf motioned its head and slammed the shimmering wall of Air into the Gorilla before creating another wall beneath it and flicking its head upwards. The Gorilla was flung skyward before the Wolf met him and slammed another wall of Air into it, sending it crashing back down to the earth with a thunderous crack.
The other primate saw all of this happen and immediately jumped into action, creating two Swords of Light and- Before it could move, it was met with the Drago-wolfs muzzle touching its own, its vision suddenly became hot as the Wolf exploded a Fireball directly in its face, sending it sprawling backwards.
"What is this?" Jinx asked as they watched the Wolf's use both Fire and Air to take down the rogues.
"King's Overdrive," Braxton explained. "That was Tsubaki and Asher."
He watched as more and more drops of Water formed Elementals that he knew and loved. A Jackal that could control Light. A Bear that lumbered forwards with Darkness streaming off it. A Wolf with Ice growing along her back. Another Wolf, this one with devil horns that spewed blue Fire. Deep booming footsteps came from behind and leapt over him, a large Hyena/Wolf hybrid charged forwards, followed by two Foxes, one of Ice and the other of Fire. A Wolf that wore goggles and controlled Water, one that Blinked about the battlefield. And finally, a big Cat that bumped into him before sitting on its haunches and putting its tail in its mouth.
"Sky..." he felt tears roll down his face as the ones he'd loved, and lost, charged forwards into battle.
"Braxton!" He heard a voice call from high above. He turned to see Avalanche landing next to him, the two of them rubbing heads and kissing. "Are you okay?"
Brax wiped a tear from his eyes. "I'm good, just... shocked by this."
"What is all this?"
"King..." Brax turned back to see the Wolf standing with two Water Constructs, the three of them rubbing heads. "Avalanche, Jinx, join the others. We're winning this fight. I'll be right behind you."
The two Ice Elementals nodded before running off, leaving Brax the chance to walk over to King, who was in tears. The Constructs smiled at him. While King's usual Constructs were blank faces and emotionless, these ones were imbued with the memories and feelings of those they embodied. The larger one dispersed, leaving King alone with the regular sized Wolf, the Tsubaki Construct. He reached out his paw and words of Water formed within the rain, he smiled at King as the two of them hugged, the younger Wolf continuing to cry. Brax reached out and placed his paw against the Water, freezing it solid and creating a chain around it. Tsubaki nodded at him and smiled before racing after Asher and going deeper into the city. King turned and wiped a tear in his eye.
"I haven't seen my dad in years," the Wolf spoke. "I never got to say goodbye."
Braxton walked over to him and placed the chain around his neck, admiring the words "We're Proud Of You" that now hung frozen around the Wolf's neck. "You have this now. You're no longer shackled by not getting to say goodbye," Brax looked at the broken chain that had been flung from King's neck when he had died.
King had kept the chain and thick Metal collar attached to him since the day he'd escaped his captors, keeping it as a constant reminder that he'd failed to save anyone. He remembered back, living with his father while his mother lived with Tsubaki, his father and brother. One day he had been captured by Humans, tortured and experimented on, chained up in a cell for days on end, only taken out to be a test dummy for the Humans and their vile experiments. He shook the thoughts from his mind. That wasn't King, that was Taichi. Taichi is dead. King is alive and ready to change things.

*****

Andrew watched as the crumpled up Metal fell to the rooftop with a loud thud, he wanted to yell and scream, he wanted to cry, he wanted to... but he couldn't, he could only stand there confused.
The Metal man laughed. "I always knew he was a failure. He deserved everything he got."
The rain suddenly stopped falling around them, holding suspended in mid Air. A figure leapt upwards from around the back of the building and aimed a single charged fist at the Metal mans back, he dived without making a sound and landed a single punch to the man's back. An explosion tore out the front of the man as Luke forced all of the Power he had stored out of his fist. The man was flung forwards but caught himself, flipping in mid Air and kicked off towards Luke. The boy ducked beneath the man's punch and used his Powers to flip the man onto his back, Luke climbed on top of him and increased the Gravity affected him, forcing the man to the bottom floor of the skyscraper in an instant.
"Luke?" Andrew gasped as he saw his friend standing there, wiping blood from his nose. "How..?"
"Controlling the Gravity around my suit while also using it to hold myself against the building AND pulling the rest of it into my fist for that one attack, it hurts," Luke explained.
"So will this!" The man screamed as he launched up through the hole in the roof and fired several Metal darts at Luke. The boy grabbed the darts with his Powers but found they were being pushed by the man, he had to push back against them and that took the majority of his remaining Power.
"That's it, kill-" Neo began. His words were cut off the man, his own son, turned and slashed a Sword downwards, leaving a deep gash the length of his body. Neo coughed up blood as he fell to the ground.
"I don't need your help."
"Dad!" Mason stumbled forwards, his new form still strange to him.
"Fuck this," the Metal man thrust his hands downwards and the building began to shake.
"We've gotta get off the roof!" Andrew called as the building began to sway.
Luke ducked beneath the darts and shifted his Powers to grab Andrew, Mason, and Neo as the Metal man flew off. The building began to fall and kick up dust and debris. Luke carried the four of them to the ground as Mason wrapped his wings around Neo and began to heal him. A shining Light came from Mason as his form shifted back to his Human self and Neo stirred awake.
"What happened?" Mason asked, looking at his hands. The rain suddenly continued to fall.
"Did I win?" Neo asked, looking up at his son.
Suddenly, dozens of Water Constructs appeared around them, snarling at Neo and threatening to pounce.
"Whoa whoa," Andrew held up his hands and told them to back down.
"Sorry, dad," Mason began. "Looks like your little coup failed."
"You're under arrest, Neo," Andrew walked over to them, looking at Mason with remorse and sadness. The man nodded and stood, backing away from his dad as Andrew knelt down and placed handcuffs on the older man. "You'll spend the rest of your life behind bars."
As the sound of explosions died down around them, more of the team appeared around several corners. Quinn rode on Mari as the two of them examined the destroyed building and looked at the Water Constructs. Dustin made an umbrella to keep Voltier from being hurt by the rain that constantly fell around them. And Jinx and Avalanche came bounding around a corner, followed by King and Braxton.
"What's the next plan?" Jinx asked.
"The Rogues are gone," Braxton rubbed King's head.
"And Neo is defeated," Luke added.
"Then we should save the Undercity," Matt spoke as he walked around the corner alone.
"Matt!" Quinn and Dustin ran to their friends' side. The three of them hugged.
"Where's Mikaido?" Dustin asked.
"Gone."
"Hey guys," Luke smiled as he made his way over to them, everyone else looked on as the three of them exchanged a nod and hugged him.
"Team!" A voice called from high above them, everyone looked up at Zero who was looking down at them smiling. "We've won this fight. But now we have to repair the city, and repair our reputation. The first step is helping the Undercity. With Dustin, Quinn, and Matt's help, I want us to all work together to bring those lost in Darkness into the Light." Zero saw that several camera drones had flown towards him and were recording him. "This is my promise to this city. And to the Undercity. We will work together to help bring our civilizations together, and form one place where anyone and everyone can live happily and peacefully. My name is Zero, I'm the leader of D.A.R.E. and this is my promise to you."