Team Crafted: Second Generation

Skylar

"Well, well, well." The Shadow smirked. "Figured you'd come running after your little boyfriend gave you the all-clear." 

I gritted my teeth. "He is not my boyfriend." 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night. Not that you'll be sleeping much for a while."

I couldn't think of a good retort, so I went with Old Reliable. 

"Let us go." 

It laughed. "Not a chance, kid. You brats have caused quite a lot of trouble for Darklox as it is. He'll be happy with me for getting rid of you." 

It looked over at Macey. "One down, seven to go." 

"What did you do to her?" Tyler's voice suddenly rang out, sounding angrier than I'd heard it before. 

The Shadow sighed, and turned to Tyler. "Looks like Ariel got her voice back."

"Let me go! What did you do to my sister?" Tyler demanded, glaring at the Shadow. 

"Oh, nothing." The Shadow grinned. "She's just drowning in her mind." 

Tyler looked taken aback for a second. "What?"

"Oh, come on, kid. Don't tell me you forgot where you are." The Shadow said. "I can mess with your head however I want in here. I made her think she's drowning."

"So she's fine." I said. "You've done nothing." 

"I'd say she's far from fine." It said. "She thinks she's drowning, and pretty soon enough, the rest of her will think she's drowning, too." 

It turned back to Tyler. "You've got about twenty minutes to save her, but given your current situation, I don't think that will be happening. You get to watch your brat of a sister die today, isn't that fun?" 

"You sick-" 

"I'd keep your mouth shut if I were you, kid. I can do the same to you, don't test me." 

Tyler played the smart card for once, and shut up. 

"You won't get away with this." I said. "Our friends will come soon enough." 

"Ooh, I don't think they will." It said, turning to me. "Why get three when you can have the whole set?"

Suddenly, the others appeared in the room, all stuck fast against the wall, and the room was filled with shouting. 

"Let me go!"

"Is that Macey?"

"What's going on?" 

"KEEP YOUR MOUTHS SHUT!" The Shadow yelled, glaring around the room, and everyone fell silent. 

"Now I can see why no one wants to be a teacher." It muttered. "I'd despise having to look after you brats."

"Well, you've got us here, isn't that your new job?" Shane shot back, and a bit my tongue to keep from screaming at him. He'd get us killed if he wasn't more careful. 

"Watch your cheek, kid." It glared at him. "And no, I won't be. Once he receives word that I've captured you, the Crystal will be here soon enough to take care of you." 

I looked across the room to see Tyler staring right at me. 

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he quickly nodded his head down at his chest. 

"Who's the Crystal?" Shane asked. 

I didn't understand, and I guess it showed on my face, because he mouthed a word at me. 

"Only the most powerful out of all of us. Well, except for Darklox, of course. He'll be the one to make sure you don't go causing any more trouble."

Amulet. 

I finally got it. I nodded my head at him, and he smiled. He closed his eyes, looking like he was focusing. 

"What, so you're saying you aren't powerful?" I said, getting the Shadow's attention. I had to keep his attention away from Tyler, at least for a little bit. 

"Excuse me?"

"Well, from what it sounds like, this Crystal guy is the real deal, and you're just..." I thought for a second. "Second-rate." 

"Oh, trust me, girl. I have more power than you've ever dreamt of." 

I didn't notice anything different in the room, and I forced myself not to look at Tyler. 

"Prove it." I said. "Do something right now. Or does holding eight kids in place take up too much?" 

"Don't test me, kid." 

"Oh, I'll test you. I'm not afraid of you in the slightest." I said, mentally kicking myself for how stupid I was being. "I bet you can't do anything special." 

Suddenly, a flash of purple light nearly blinded me from across the room, and Tyler stood, free from whatever was holding us, the sword in his hand. 

The Shadow whipped around, staring at the sword in Tyler's hand. 

"You." It said. "You have the amulet." 

"Really?" Tyler said, a grin on his face. "What makes you think that?" 

Without another word, he slashed at the Shadow, and it exploded into black sand. 

Instantly, the rest of us fell from the wall onto the stone ground. 

Quinn looked up, a grin on her face. "That was great, Tyler!" 

"Nice going, man." Shane said, brushing himself off, a smile on his face. 

"Yeah, yeah, there's no time for congratulations." He said. "We have to get Macey out of here." 

"What do you mean?" Jenna asked. 

"He means she'll die in..." I thought for a second. "About seventeen minutes if we don't get her out of here, now." 

"Are you kidding?" Cameron said. "We can never hope to get her out in time if that's the case. It took us approximately thirty minutes to even get here!"

"We have to try!" Tyler yelled. "I'm not going to let my sister die!"

"I'll take her." Alyssa said. "I've been saving fuel in my jetpack just in case, and Darklox didn't seem to think that needed to be taken away. Sucks for him. I can go faster with it, I should be able to get her out."

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" I said. "Go on, get her out!"

Alyssa nodded, picked up Macey, and switched on her jetpack, zooming back through the hall Tyler and I had gone through. 

"We better get out of here too, I don't want to know how long it'll be before someone else comes to fix that Shadow's mistake." Quinn said. 

"A big ego." Shane nodded. "Terrible flaw to have."

"Oh, you're one to talk." Jenna said, playfully shoving his shoulder. "Let's go." 

We ran after Alyssa and Macey through the hall, and I was right next to Tyler. 

"How'd you do it?" I asked between breaths, as the sword disappeared from Tyler's hand as we ran. 

"Still don't know." He replied. "All I could think about was saving my sister." 

"Maybe that's it." I said. "Maybe it'll only show up when you're desperate." 

"Yeah, maybe." He said. "But that's what I'm worried about." 

"What?"

"What does the amulet think is desperate?" He said. "What if I think I need it, but the amulet doesn't?" 

"I don't know." I replied. 

He sighed, staring ahead as we ran. "I just hope that it decided in time to save her."