(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 87

The fight dragged on. He began to grow tired, sloppy. The Edge Walkers were beginning to get the better of him. He had laceration across his back and chest, as well as down his arms and his cheek. Still, he refused to let himself fall, especially since he was the only one who could defend the group until help arrived. After halving another Edge Walker, he spun to cover his back. Before he had time to react, he felt his shoulder get impaled by long jagged claws. Michael cried out in pain as the claws dug deeper and deeper. Grabbing the Edge Walker's arm, he snapped it in half with his uninjured hand and thrust the claws into the monster's midsection.

Gasping for air, Michael fell to a knee. Rage filled him as he watched the Edge Walkers crowd around the group. He couldn't believe it. After all that he'd done, after he helped raise Keiko, after he drew closer to his group, despite his nature, he'd failed to protect them. More importantly, he'd failed to protect Dre and Keiko, the reason why he's even alive today. And with Dre gone, Aggaron would rule undisputed, and both the Earth and Amity will fall into an era of despair.

"Dammit, Michael," he growled to himself. "Get to your feet. They're depending on you." He strained to get back up to his feet, though no matter how hard he tried, his body refused to cooperate. Tears began to well in his eyes. He couldn't even save the people he cared the most for in his life. He'd never felt so useless.

There was a loud crash where his partners were. He head snapped over to them, seeing a ball of rock shielding them. The Edge Walkers clawed at the shield, desperately trying to break the shell open. But it didn't make any sense; Rose was the only Nature elemental on the team, and she was unconscious. If it wasn't here, then who could it be?

The shield exploded, sending the Edge Walkers flying in different directions. Michael stood in awe at what he saw. A lone figure stood above the group, his silver hair dancing in the wind with his red, almost glowing eyes peering at Michael. Dre stood tall, though there was something different about him, besides the change in hair and eye color. It was as if Tryphosa herself had possessed him. He loosened his ponytail, only to tie it again at the apex of his head. "Are you okay?" he asked in Dre's voice.

Michael could only look in disbelief, until he crashed on the floor.

~~~~~

"Hello? You okay, human boy?"

Michael blinked his eyes open, staring at a woman with pink hair. She held her hands over his body, healing him with her water. "You would've bit the big one out there, if the Kurai Elites hadn't come. Sheesh, even your leader is down. What happened in there?"

"I-I don't know. We got attacked by a group of Edge Walkers. It was... unreal. My team was incapacitated by what I would suppose is the sound waves emitted by them. It had to only affect Amians, because I didn't feel any of the side effects-" His eyes suddenly widened. "Where's my team?" he demanded.

"Whoa, whoa. Easy, human boy," the pink-haired woman said, holding her hands up in surrender. "They're being attended to by the medical team over there." She pointed toward the entrance of the Edge Walker's Forest, where his group was sitting on the ground while Amians in white cloaks covered them with water and fira. A line of Kurai Elites stood in between them and the forest, protecting them from any Edge Walkers that were unfortunate enough to crawl out. Michael began tearing up as he saw Keiko looking at one of the medics, nodding to whatever he was saying.

Thank God, she's okay.

"So, how're you holding up, kid?" the woman asked.

"Like crap."

The woman laughed. "I'm not surprised. You got pretty mangled in there. We've done the best we could with your injuries, but your arm will have to heal naturally."

"That explains the sling," Michael said, looking at his injured arm being held stationary by cloth. He shrugged with his good arm. "No biggie. Can I go to my group now?"

"Sure, kid," she said, helping him to his feet.

Stumbling a bit, Michael walked towards his group, who gave him a warm welcome once they saw him arrive. They looked unharmed, for the most part. There were only a few cuts and dirt on their uniforms. Keiko ignored the medic as she rushed towards Michael, wrapping her arms around him. "Arm! Arm!" he cried out in pain.

"Oops. Sorry, Michael," she said, embarrassed.

"Dude, are you okay? You look rough," Dre said.

"I'll live. What happened to you in there? You shielded the group with a nature shield. When you looked at me, you had silver hair and glowing, red eyes. Well, redder than usual."

"Are you serious?" Dre asked, as the group looked at him. "Oh, man. That was Hiro. He must have taken control of me after I blacked out."

"You mean the King of Elements?" Keiko whispered. "He can do that?"

"Yeah. Well, I guess he can now. He couldn't at first, because I didn't defeat him in my dreams. I wish I knew how to make it happen."

"Don't worry," Kim said, patting his arm. "You'll find out soon. I believe in you."

"Keep saying that, and I may be persuaded to take on a god," Dre said with a smile.

"Hey guys," Sakura said as she joined the group. "I'm really sorry about how things turned out. That wasn't supposed to happen."

"What happened, anyways?" Megumi asked. "I mean, first we get attacked by some freaky type of Edge Walker, then you threaten someone on your radio."

"We have a pair of Sirens helping us take down the renegades. They've also become close friends of ours. One of them, Garnet, was supposed to help out here by releasing a reasonable amount of Edge Walkers, but she got attacked and was knocked unconscious by a renegade before she sabotaged your exam."

"Is she alright?" Rose asked.

"Yes, yes," Sakura reassured. "Chris took her back home after he picked up on the conversation. Jeremy and Alisha contacted the Kurai Elites, while Joel and Loyalty went inside to find us. Now, they're inside clearing out the forest."

"So, what happens now?" Michael asked.

"The rest of the Apprentices were sent home. Most likely, the school's going to be closed down for a while, until we can clear out the forest. Once the school opens back up, then you can retake the exam."

"Retake?" Keiko questioned, perplexed. "But didn't you say that if we can get out, we'd pass?"

"What?" Sakura asked with a blank expression.

"Hey, yeah. You totally did," Megumi said. "I'll take my diploma now."

"No, but-"

"You did say that," Rose said. "You don't want to send a bad message out to your group, would you?"

Sakura sighed. "I suppose so. I mean, Michael isn't going to be able to fight until that arm gets better anyways."

"Don't worry about me. I'm good- I mean, oh God, the pain," Michael said, overdramatically. "It's all painful and stuff."

"Okay, that'll be enough of that, Dre," Sakura said, looking at Michael with a droll stare.

"But, I didn't say anything." Dre asked as the group gave him a dry look. "What?"

"At any rate," Sakura began, "the school's closed down, so I'd go back home and recuperate. The Emblem of Valor tournament is coming up, so you'll need as much rest as you can get before it happens."

"Shoot, you don'thave to tell me twice," Megumi said, almost immediately before she swallowed apiece of candy and vanished. The team followed.