"Family Means No One's Left Behind"~ A Greenflame and Children Story

Chapter Thirty: A Turn for the Worst

Third Person's Point of View~
The kids discussed more about the plan and what each of them were going to do. And once they finished discussing, the sun was beginning to rise. "Okay, so now that we all know what we're going to do, let's strike," Kabaz said. Everyone nodded and ran out of the factory. Once they arrived, the eight of them were on top of a building that was pretty far from the Borg Tower where Overlord and Haru were, but not too far so that they wouldn't be able to see if anything goes wrong. "Here, take this just in case of anything," Mia said as she handed Kabaz a smoke bomb. "Thanks Mia. Now you guys be careful." Kabaz responded as he and the others were beginning to head to the tower. "You guys be careful too," Lari said. They nodded and leaped from rooftop to rooftop.

Kabaz's Point of View~
I could see the Stone warriors crowded around the entrance of the tower, a perfect place to surrender. I turned around back to the others and whispered, "Okay, I see a bunch of them. Remember, no matter what, do not think about anything that relates to the plan. Just think about something completely different." They nodded and we went down to confront the warriors. We all held our hands up to surrender as we approached them. The Stone warriors immediately took notice and drew their weapons. "Hey! We surrender! You guys win!" I shouted, hoping they'd take my word. They lowered their weapons and looked at each other. They conversated in a foreign language until a large Stone warrior with four arms approached us. I looked up at him and saw how big and bulky his armor was. "Ha! You surrender, huh? The Masters will be pleased to have more power added to their collection. Secure them and bring them to the Masters!" The big warrior cackled. And with that, a group of warriors surrounded us and held us down as they tied our hands behind our backs with steel wire. Once they finished, they led us into the building, keeping their weapons drawn and close to us. So I was right, they did take our parents' powers and possibly the others' too! I thought. We walked through hallways and up staircases until we finally arrived at the destination. Wait a minute, this is the same room that our parents were chained up in! That immediate thought brought back images of them chained up by their wrists and ankles, eyes bloodshot, bruises and scrapes all over their bodies, and dried blood on their faces and clothes. But before I could think of anything else, the door was opened and I saw the Overlord, Haru, and our parents who had all turned their attention to us. Haru smirked as he slowly approached us. "So, you were finally caught?" He asked. "We...we actually...surrendered. You were right, we can't stop you. It's useless to try and fight anymore." I said with a fake sense of remorse. I hung my head low, trying to make it seem like I did have a sense of remorse and shame. Haru chuckled and cupped my chin and it caught me by surprise. Now, the two of us were looking at each other directly in the eye. "Hm, well, where are the other four?" Haru asked. My eyes widened in shock. I didn't think he would care. I had to come up with something that he would believe. "Well? Where are they?" Haru asked again. That's when the idea popped into my head. It was pretty morbid, but I was desperate. And so, I directed my eyes to my dads and Skylor who were looking at us in distress. I put a sad and sorry expression on my face and said softly, "They didn't make it. They're...they're dead." Dad and Skylor had a horrified expression on their faces while Kai was in disbelief. "They're dead, huh? How? Tell me, I wanna know. Tell me how they died." Haru demanded. I let out a shaky and heavy sigh. "Lari...Lari and Mia...they were crushed by falling debris. And Sonia and Kano...they died of hypothermia. There, you have your answer. You happy, you bastard?" I said coldly. Haru only smirked and chuckled. It was obvious that he didn't care, even if they really were dead, he only smile and laugh at our mourning. Dads and Skylor were now in tears. It made me feel sick to my stomach to see them cry over four deaths, one being the youngest son of Kai and Lloyd, that weren't even real, especially after everything they've been through. "Y'know, I knew they'd be first to die. I mean, three of them were just normal humans. No elemental powers or special abilities. And the fourth one, the Master of Wind, he was just weak." Haru said. What he said made me furious inside, but I tried not to think about it or let him see my anger. Instead, I kept my eyes directed at our sobbing parents. "It's true. He was weak, pathetic, and stupid. He was just like the previous Masters of Wind. They were all weak and stupid. Even the element itself was weak and pathetic. Wind, it truly is useless compared to other elements. You could also say that about your brother. He was nothing, but weak, pathetic, and stupid. It's good that he's gone." He spat in my face, trying to get under my skin. But I managed to keep my cool even though I would've gone crazy with anger and possibly set the building on fire. "My brother is not weak or stupid. And now, he's in a better place where he won't ever be treated like dirt again." I said sternly. "Well, now that that's out of the way, shall we begin the process?" Overlord asked. Haru nodded and the two began chanting some sort of spell to extract our powers. For a moment, I felt like I was punched extremely hard in the gut and I gasped as I collapsed to my knees. So this is what dads and the other elemental masters felt when they all had their powers taken from them! I thought. But I have no time to lose, I have to distract them so Sker can touch either of them and we can get the heck out of here. "Now!!" I yelled with a sudden wave of energy washing over me. That's when Sker disappeared in a puff of smoke and was out of sight while the rest of us used Spinjitzu to snap the wire and free our wrists. "Gah! What?!" Overlord yelled, stumbling back. "Grr, it was a set-up! Wait, where's the red-haired one?!" Haru cried out. We stopped our Spinjitzu and looked at the two beings. Stone warriors began to charge at us, but May kept them back with her energy while Akidah and I kept Overlord and Haru distracted. We threw balls of fire at the two, but they were put out with water that Haru shot out of the palms of his hands while Overlord shot black and purple orbs of dark magic at us. They must've taken aunt Nya's powers too! I thought. Dads and Skylor were screaming their lungs out, but I couldn't lose my focus because of my emotions. I had to do everything I could so that this plan works.

After a moment of fighting, Overlord and Haru had brought us to a corner, forgetting the fact that Sker was still nowhere to be seen. "You brats! You're lucky that we're not killing you right at this very spot!" Haru snarled. I held the smoke bomb in my hand with a firm grasp. I cocked my head to the side and smirked. "Y'know, I'd thought you'd be smarter about this, but fortunately, I was wrong. Now, Sker!!" I mocked, then shouted. Haru had an expression of anger and confusion on his face before turning around to see Sker appear in a cloud of smoke with a loaded crossbow in his hand. Overlord and Haru charged at him, but Sker repeatedly faded in and out through the shadows, catching them off guard. And from experience, whenever he would do that, it would anyone furious. "Aah! You vile abomination! Come out and fight like a true warrior!" Overlord yelled. "Okay, if you say so," Sker said while still being nowhere to be seen. Then, Sker appeared and swiftly shot two arrows at the Overlord, pinning him to the wall by the shoulders. This only made Haru even more angry than before. He lashed out, using his powers and shooting all over. We ducked and dodged his orbs. Then suddenly, Sker appeared behind him and grabbed his shoulder. Haru cocked his head over to look at him and his eyes widened. Sker smirked in a slyish way and said, "Gotcha." And as quickly as he appeared, Sker faded out and was now by our side. "Let's get outta here!" Akidah shouted. I nodded and threw the smoke bomb and the four of us dashed out of the room. We ran down halls until we came to a dead end. "The window! We can use Airjitzu to make it down safely!" May pointed out. The rest of nodded and May kicked the window until most of the glass shards were gone so we wouldn't get cut. Sker was the first to jump, then Akidah, then May, and I was the last one to jump. We used Airjitzu til we were back on the ground and then, ran as fast as we could back to the building where the others were.

Once we made it back to the rooftop, the others were overjoyed to see us unharmed. "Did you absorb his powers?" Lari asked. "Yep. Now, let's put 'em to the test!" Sker said, walking up to the edge of the roof. Now, I have to say that whenever Sker was younger and his mom was going to teach him a new element, he was always super pumped and excited for it. So, now as a fifteen-year-old, he still kinda has that enthusiasm for testing out a  new power, even if it is the power of a being of pure evil. Sker was at the edge of the roof and held his left hand out. I was able to understand and know what he did doing based on his facial expressions. From being taught this by Kai, when we were still training to harness our elemental powers, he said that we have to let go of our other thoughts and focus on things or feelings that resembled our powers. And Sker's face resembled anger and hatred. After a moment, Sker was nearly out of breath and was a panting mess. Suddenly, there was a big 'boom' and it caused the ground to shake a bit. "Woah! Maybe we should get outta here, look!" Kano shouted as he pointed towards the tower. We all looked towards the tower and saw black clouds with purple lightning flashing and striking. The clouds were getting bigger and trailing up the sides of the tower. There was wailing and screeching coming from the clouds. "Uh, yeah! C'mon, let's go!" Lari shouted. Everyone began to run and leap towards the rooftops in the opposite direction. I was about to follow behind them when I saw Sker just standing still. "Sker!! C'mon!" I shouted. Sker stood there for a brief moment before turning around and facing me. But when I saw him, it made my stomach jump. Sker's eyes were wide open and the color was instead of a light green, it was a striking shade of purple. He had his left hand held out and there was an orb of black and purple power. But the expression on his face stood out the most. It was an expression of pure fear and regret. "Sker," I said faintly. And just a second after I said his name, Sker collapsed and fell backwards. "Sker!" I yelled. The others must've heard me because I saw them turn around and start hustling back. Once they all came back and took a glance at him, everyone gasped. "What happened to him?!" May yelled. "I-I don't know! He just suddenly collapsed!" I stammered. Akidah looked terrified as she stared at him. "L-look!" She stuttered as she pointed to Sker's neck. We all turned our attention to his neck it was horrifying. Sker's veins were extremely visible that you could see them pulsating. And the color changed too. His veins were purple. My eyes widened in horror. I quickly rolled up his left arm sleeve and the veins there were the same as on his neck, throbbing and purple. Akidah and Sonia screamed while everyone else looked petrified. "Sker!!" Akidah screamed. Mia came over and knelt down. She checked his pulse and his breathing before telling us, "He's alive, but he's unconscious." Everyone was still terrified of the situation. "We have to get out of here, now! We can't stay here!" I shouted as I picked up Sker and threw him over my shoulder. Everyone stood up and nodded. Then we all started running back to the factory.