(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 76

Megumi pressed on as both Dre and Ian separated. Her spear strapped to her back, she ran with her Micro-Uzi cradled in both hands. Her eyes shifted from one side of the street to the other, watching for any sign of movement. Crouching behind a parked car, she looked at her mini-map. So far there were no signs of the enemy team. Realization crossed her mind. "Oh yeah. I forgot about the sensors." She reached into her bag strapped to her back and pulled out a metal, cylindrical object and screwed it on the barrel of her gun. With the sensors able to pick up loud noises, she figured that she needed to be silent, along with her gun.

She moved again, this time walking cautiously to the next parked car on the other side of the street. Peeking out of the corner of the car, she managed to see a slim figure duck behind the car closest to her. She was a ways down, though, so Megumi figured the best option would be to sneak towards her on the other side of the car.

After shimmying down to the other side of the car, she peaked out from the side of the car. Almost instantly, she ducked back behind the car as a silvery something almost hit her in between her eyes. She looked back behind her as a throwing knife was stuck in the tree behind her. Cursing to herself, she looked at her mini-map again. Two red dots slowly marched towards her location. Damn. The last thing she wanted was to have to fight against two opponents at the same time, especially with that Nightblaze guy watching. She shot a firaball into the air, making sure that there was something bright enough for the rest of her team to se. Though, now that she thought about it, Michael didn't say what they should do if they see it.

She hugged her Uzi close to her chest. Chances of her surviving this were slim, but she knew that as long as there was a chance, no matter how slim, she had to take it. Exhaling, she spun out from behind the car. The gun vibrated vigorously as she opened fire on both of the targets. The woman on the right held a hand in front of her while the one on the left rose her hand high above her, quickly bringing up a cement wall in front of her. The bullets ricocheted off of the wall and the barely visible shield the woman on her left had conjured. That one, at least, had to be Katherine.

Megumi scowled as she stopped firing. That would explain why most Amians didn't use firearms. Her opponents' shields dropped. "I should've guessed that was you, Megumi," Katherine called. "In fact, I was hoping that it was. Ayeka, you go to their base. I can handle this one."

"Are you sure about that?" Megumi called back before Ayeka could. "Don't forget, this type of business is in my genes."

"Let's just let our weapons do the talking, sweetie."

Megumi slowly placed her gun in her holster on her side as Ayeka cautiously passed her. Their eyes connected for a second as she passed before Ayeka began running towards home base. Once she passed, Megumi turned her attention to Katherine. She slid her left foot behind her, crouching slightly as she grabbed her scarab near it's opening with her left hand; her right hand hovered above the katana's handle. Megumi slid the spear from her back, positioning her hands in the way that her mother had shown her. She marginally bent her knees as she held the spear in a slight diagonal line. Her heart pounded in her chest as they began creeping towards each other, eyes locked. She wished that she could get lost in those eyes. Before she could think any deeper on their relationship, she shook the thoughts out of her head. The last thing that she needed was to be distracted by Katherine's body. Instead, she pushed forward.

She thrust the point of the spear forward, grazing Katherine's midsection as she hopped out of the way. In one quick motion, Megumi brought her lead hand back, using the momentum to launch the backend of the spear at Katherine's elbow. Spinning as the spear connected, she slashed with the knife edge of the spear; it bounced off of an invisible shield, sending the blunt end into her ribs. Pain jolted through her chest, making her drop the spear. Wincing once she heard the weapon clatter on the ground, she vaulted backwards, feeling the wind from Katherine's swing, and sent a volley of fireballs careening towards her. Katherine gasped as she flipped out of the way. As her feet planted on the ground, Katherine sent a barrage of chi shots at Megumi, who fell to the ground and rolled towards her spear. Using her feet to propel the spear up, she began spinning it in front of her, using it to deflect the chi throughout the neighborhood, destroying houses on either side of them. Megumi had hoped that none of her friends would be hit by a stray shot.

Katherine must have been thinking the same thing, since she stopped firing immediately.

Without hesitating, they both rushed towards each other, bellowing before their weapons clashed. Sparks flew from both the spear and the katana. They seemed to be at a stalemate as they both glared in each other's eyes, teeth bared. Megumi had a death grip on her spear as she tried to figure out how to get out of this situation. She could feel that Katherine began to gain a little leverage; she had to put an end to this before Katherine could outmuscle her.

Megumi drove her knee into Katherine's sternum, forcing the wind out of her. They were both knocked off balance and tumbled on the ground. Both worked themselves to their feet, their weapons on opposite sides of each other. Katherine's katana was beside Megumi, and Megumi's staff was beside Katherine. Both rushed to pick up each other's weapon.

It was strange holding a katana. The only blades that she ever wielded, besides kitchen knives, were her mother's short sword and her father's zweihander, though she could barely pick the zweihander. This felt too heavy for her to fight effectively, especially with the long handle. Nevertheless, she tried her best to mimic Kathrine's stance. She couldn't let Katherine see her through her confusion.

A chilling mist began to flow at Megumi and Katherine's ankles, quickly rising up to their knees. She gasped as she remembered where she'd seen this from. Raheem and Marcus, as well as Samuel. And now, the third generation of the Wolf family was using the same technique.

At the wrong freaking time!

"Ian! Wait!" Megumi called out, to Katherine's confusion, but it was too late. A section of the mist rose up behind her, taking the shape of Ian. He wore the same outfit she occasionally saw Ichi wear: a mesh undershirt with a sleeveless, silver jacket and a pair of shinobi pants. Katherine turned just in time to see him grab the back of her head, making ice form at his touch. The ice quickly flowed down her body before she shattered. "You bastard, I was just starting to have fun."

"Hm?" He looked down at the remains of Katherine before she disappeared. "Ohh. I saw the alarm and... yeah. That explains why you're holding a katana."

"The other girl ran towards the base. Do you think we should follow?"

"I don't know. I think that Keiko can handle her. We should probably try to get to their base. Wait-" Ian looked around cluelessly. "Where's Dre?"