TW: VIOLENCE, FIGHTING, BRIEF KNIVES
The utter AUDACITY this man has! To think! These 24 hours have been exceptionally rough on all of us! I mean, I almost killed my girlfriend for that matter!
"Why are you working with Amáya?!" Jacob demanded. The males in the room began to take defensive positions, moving slowly in case he was armed.
"Oh, you all are so naive. And stupid for that matter."
"What did we do to deserve this? What did the world do?" Ember challenged.
"You know how horrible their army is, Maverick! Why would you do that?!" Cam added.
"Well, they offered me something I can't refuse. Money and power."
"You selfish, low-lying-"
"Pipe it, sugar. I have an army waiting down the hall ready for you if you decide to resist." He turned his attention away from Bryn and regained his sly, yet frustrated manner. "I was hired for this job three years ago, when you buffoons decided to take matters into your own hands, and celebrate oh-so-early with your lavish ball. You spent the government's money heavily, and then decided not to perform well when you could've made America look untouchable. I was the one who was ready to sell you like parts for the government to experiment on, looking at every chromosome in your freakish DNA. However, your old director still saw some good in you. So we sent you away, to Indonesia, with the empty promises of 'we'll call you when we need you'. In reality, you were supposed to be there indefinitely, virtually never leaving that island again. We had provisions being set up, to scare you away from ever leaving the island, and turns out, you found one."
"Wait- does that mean you never intended to separate the groups? You wanted to trap us?" I demanded angrily.
"Actually, we were going to separate you. You all are too powerful on your own."
"You're right. We are," Jacob sneered. In a move that surprised everyone, he began to pull air from the room, making the rest of us panic for a second. I (and the rest of the team) activated our oxygen supplements from our SmartMask, and readied our elements for battle.
I don't want to kill anyone.
Maverick fell to his knees, gasping for air, but somehow still managing to keep a sly smirk on his face.
"I wouldn't... Joubert."
"Or what?"
The oxygen levels were severely decreasing. Ember started blocking the vents, doorways, and windows with vines from a small, previously deceased plant that was on the windowsill.
"Or Andie dies too."
Jacob immediately let go of the oxygen, and Drew took this rush of air back in to fuel his inferno. Ember's plant wall stood unmoving, and Bryn removed all light from the room, leaving only Drew's flame. What is this, a '50s interrogation?
"Where is she?!" Drew shouted. "Answer me!"
"Behind the door," He said, aloof. This angered me, and I assume the rest of the team as well.
CAMRYN MERCIER: Relax, Drew. You and the rest of the boys are going to find Andie, but he can't know you all left. We'll keep him hostage and you sneak out.
On that call, Bryn released her energy back into the room, causing a blinding light. Cam quickly moved all of the furniture to the edge of the room, behind them. In turn, I delivered a flood, allowing Noel to freeze the top, by Maverick's neck (who was still on the ground kneeling). Running nimbly across the ice, we squeezed through Ember's plant wall, bent only by her will. Just before the light went back to equilibrium, I saw Bryn pull it down dramatically, and I allowed my waters to recede. We heard the chilling laugh of Maverick, and ran as far down the hall as possible.
"So, any ideas where to start?" I asked, half joking. My brown curls kept falling into my face as we ran at a matched speed. I guess group PT does pay off.
"There. In the right wing. There's growing darkness. It's the only way," Jacob whispered.
"Um, Jacob, maybe it's growing darkness because the last light in the hall can only reach so far," Sam suggested.
We heard Andie scream.
Drew picked up the pace.
"Stop," Ben murmured.
We immediately stopped in our tracks, before a door labeled 745. The only light coming was the growing electricity sparks behind the door.
Those are Andie's sparks. I can tell by the sheer willpower she uses to make them so extreme.
Drew lunged for the handle, but was stopped by Sam's gravity. Drew stood struggling against the force, and eventually stopped.
"We need a plan." Sam said.
"Well, I'll tell you what Sher-"
"Connor, make another Sherlock joke. I'll kill you."
"Seriously, guys," Ben snapped. He takes the fun out of everything. "We can't let Amáya, or anyone, get away. Someone needs to alert the authorities."
CAMRYN MERCIER: I already did.
I forgot we turned on mics.
After telling us the plan, Jacob wanted the go ahead from the girls.
"Ladies, how are you doing with Maverick?"
EMBER MARTINI: Almost done wrapping him in vines. Noel will be freezing the plants, and then Bryn will leave him in the dark. After I put my suit back on, we will join you.
"Aw, my little Emmie is all grown up and torturing people."
EMBER MARTINI: Connor, if you don't die I'll kill you.
Man. So many death threats today. I love being popular.
"Here we go," Drew muttered. White fire erupted from his body, contorting the door to nothing but ash, and Jacob's wind catalyzed the fire, causing the tall, now blue flames to lick at the ceiling. Immediately after the door was burned down, I flooded the room, as Sam trapped everyone in the gravitational field, pinning them to the ceiling. Ben manipulated the magnetics, causing all metal weapons to be defenestrated.
"We have you now, Amáya."
"Do you?"
"I mean, you and your army are trapped onto the ceiling with boiling hot water below you," I shot back. Shoutout to Drew for heating up my water.
"True, but I have one of yours."
"Stop playing with Andie like she's some sort of pawn in your giant game of death! It's rude! And I love her! So STOP!" Drew stomped his foot, and more bubbles began to rise. If he's not careful, he'll vaporize the flood.
"Do you want her back, my sweet pet? Because I thought, now that Andie was out of the way, that you could be mine."
The mere thought of that made me cringe. And she wasn't even talking to me.
"Why would I ever want to do that? Why are you destroying the world for me?" Drew screamed, and the heat began to rise.
"Because I love you! I don't want to destroy the world, my father does! All I wanted to destroy was the team!"
"Where's Andie?!" Sam yelled, trying to get the conversation back on track.
"Right behind you."
We scrambled around, trying to keep our set up in balance, and saw her. Not in her mission suit, but an outfit constructed of metal. Her face was bruised, and she looked mad. Andie's hands were moving slightly, but moving. She was making a storm.
"My jellybean," Drew breathed. "What have they done to you?"
"Don't call me that. I told you we're done, and that I'm not part of this team."
"Ayo, we're going to need some back-" In the middle of my message to the girls, I was hit with something hard. I fell back into my heated flood, which only made it worse. I was gasping to breathe, wondering what happened, since I didn't have anything physically on me. The burns from the water were starting to sting, and were again pulsed by something.
She hit me with electricity.
Water conducts electricity.
I immediately receded my flood, and Ben pinned Andie against the concrete walls- her suit, which was designed to conduct electricity, was being used against her.
"BACKUP! BACKUP NOW!" Sam shouted into his mask, still holding the Cuban military up against the ceiling.
"You see, here's the thing. I love Drew, and Andie was in the way of that. And so were the rest of you. While you were gone, I've been picking up magic from our old Aztec roots, determined to finish what Yaotl started. So, I've been talking to Andie through her circuits for weeks, feeding her lies about you guys. Guess what! It worked. And the best part is, you all didn't notice because I've been talking a little bit each night, or when she's alone. I was the one who convinced her to go with you on the boat. I was the one that made her break up with Drew. I was the one who made her quit. So now, I not only have the most powerful FBI agent on my side, I also have intel to make her hate you more," Amáya spat. "The Dusk will fall. And in its place will rise Drew and I, yin and yang, Dark and Fire."
"I'm pretty sure the yang to your yin would be Bryn, since she is Light-"
"SHUT UP!" She roared.
During Amáya's little speech, Jacob and I surrounded myself with a cold water bubble, trying to ease the burns on my limbs, neck and back. This bought me time to radio in Ember, while Ben and Drew were taking on Andie, and Sam was holding the whole dang military up.
"Em," I gasped, trying to breathe in the air Jacob was feeding me. "Ember we need you now, Andie is fighting against us. Please, help." Talking underwater is HARD.
EMBER MARTINI: Coming down the hall now. Hang on, cheesecake.
BRYN OLIVEIRA: I still can't get over how cute y'all are.
EMBER MARTINI: Shut up, he can hear you!
I heard footsteps running down the hall, and I prepared for the battle to get messy. I love working with all of our powers at once.
Instead of it being the girls, though, it was Omõro. With more backup.
"Ay, long time no see, huh, Omõro!" I laughed, getting some water bombs ready.
"Or should I say KONALA!"
The room fell to immediate silence.
"How do you know who that is?!" He yelled, in a thick Cuban accent.
"We met with your elders. The ones in Polynesia."
"How? I wiped them out long ago!"
"Um, buddy, you're the one who sent him there, not me. It's not like we wanted to go back in time," Drew sassed.
"I've had enough of you. My daughter has poor taste."
The next few seconds were a slow motion blur. Drew was shot in the abdomen with Omõro's pistol, and in response Sam threw Drew up into the air, away from everyone, while we fought off the rest of the second wave. Ben, in his anger for not being able to remove the weapons quick enough, played off Andie's suit to forge small weapons of his own, and killed/seriously injured others. Amáya, furious at her father for hurting Drew, blanketed us in darkness. We fought blindly, for what felt like hours.
"Amáya STOP!"
Ember!
"Tell your soldiers to stand down!"
"Who are you, so wise in this battle? The love of my life has been shot, and you guys just keep coming!"
A vibrant light shone from the doorway: the four girls standing, ready to fight. Noel, who heard Drew's labored breathing, shot ice in his direction, and temporarily froze him.
"Stand down." Bryn stated again. "I'm not going to hurt you if you tell them to stand down." She enunciated every word, despite heavily breathing.
"Stand down." Amáya muttered. Everyone stopped. There was a clear division between light and dark.
"Why are you doing this?" Bryn asked, her voice wavering slightly. Her light beams matched the emotion that was evident in her demeanor.
"I want to marry Drew."
"No, we want to reestablish Cuban government in the U.S." Omõro stated.
"How can you reestablish something that never existed?" I asked, trying my best to hide a smile. Omõro lunged, but before he could reach me, Ember's vines wound around his ankles and up to his hips. Noel froze them in place.
"Try it."
"Look, Amáya." We don't want to hurt you. You need help," Cam pleaded. "I know you don't like us. But look: your actions, and the actions of your father, have led to the downfall of the one you love. Wouldn't you want to respect his wishes, and help him out? He could bleed to death. Let us help him, and help you."
"I don't need help. I have everything I want."
"You don't. You're acting out of anger and you're afraid of us. You're afraid to lose the one thing you love and have become attached to, and you're destroying the world around us for it. What do you gain when the destruction outmatches Drew? If he died right now, what would that destruction be worth?" Sam challenged softly.
The room was so silent, I could hear Andie's electricity hum.
"Please, Amáya. You're going to get help. And then you won't have to rely on anyone emotionally anymore. You can do it yourself, and be the best version of you," Noel whispered.
The decision felt like hours, but in reality was only seconds.
"I'll get help," Amáya said, her voice breaking. Tears streamed down her face. "But save him, please."
Sam immediately released the gravitational field, and everyone came clamoring down from the ceiling, except for Drew. His ice body was placed on a bed of soft flowers created by Ember, and supported by my water. Noel released her ice, allowing his body to naturally warm and prevent blood rush. Bryn rushed over, creating micro-orbs of light to assist her in aiding Drew. I put the IV in, Ember removed the suit around the area, and Bryn started getting the equipment needed for a quick surgery. I'm sure he'll brag about his rock hard abs saving him later.
While we were working, Jacob and Noel talked to her about pulling the device that's been speaking to Andie out of her subconscious or wherever out ASAP. One of the soldiers who was by Amáya's side (I think his name was Captain Mattias; he seemed nice, but scared) ended up showing them how to remove it. Unfortunately, because Andie was still angry while they were pulling the device out, Sam had to create opposing gravitational pulls to keep her in place. After it was removed, though, she had a complete change of mood. Almost like someone flipped a switch.
"WHERE'S DREW?!"
"He's getting surgery-"
"OUT OF MY WAY."
Thankfully, in order to keep Em and I helping Bryn, Cam, Ben, and Sam were able to take her away and hold her back. I'm not sure if she's excited or annoyed to see him, but either way I thought for sure I was about to get eaten. Or punched.
While waiting for authorities to arrive, the team members who weren't performing freakin surgery on Drew were rounding up the Cuban military, just in case part of their army were to try and escape. Andie, through her hysterics, amazingly, short circuited their communications, so they couldn't contact for backup or to warn them to desert.
"Are you almost done, Bryn?" I asked. Holding the trash bin for her to put the shell shrapnel in was making me nauseous. And my arms hurt.
"Yea. And then you can help me stitch it, if you want."
"Um... I actually uh..."
"Aw come on, Connor!" Ember pushed me. "You can put an IV in, but can't handle stitches?"
"I didn't say I couldn't handle it! I'm just so much better than you guys, I'd just make you look bad."
"Uh huh."
Bryn started stitching, and within two minutes stood back up.
"Okay, um, now that we're done with that, Connor, can you remove the IV? Also, there's some cream for your burns in my bag. Em you can help put that on, and bandage it. I'm going to go wash my hands and try to find a lightweight fabric or a blanket for him to recover in. If he wakes up before I'm back, give him some painkillers," She said, discarding her gloves and mask in the trash I was holding. We did as she asked, bandaging up the exit wound from the IV, and left Drew on the little bed to wake up.
"Why aren't we starring on Grey's Anatomy?" I asked, and began to put the cream on under my shirt and on my neck.
"Honestly."
"...Emmie?"
"Yes, Connor?"
"What do you think is going to happen to us?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, are we considered war criminals? Since we used our powers to hurt people?"
"I... don't think so. I hope not."
I sighed, and enveloped her in a hug, burying my face in her hair. "I hope we still aren't separated."
"Me either."
After about 30 minutes of quiet conversation between Em and I, Andie was calm enough to come visit Drew, who she sat with while Bryn kept watch.
"Sweet boy. When will the anesthesia wear off?"
"Fairly soon. I only had it in in case he woke up too early from the freeze. The solution is watered down with extra fluids and sugars to help organ functions, especially where he got shot, in their return to normalcy, and because I can only legally carry so much in my bag."
"There's a legal limit to anesthetics?"
"Hey, I'm not a practicing surgeon here."
"Are you sure?"
A clamor of footsteps down the echoey, hollow halls caused the room to go silent. People were coming, and we didn't know if they were on our side.
"FBI HANDS UP!"
We all immediately put our hands up, and guarded Drew, who was just beginning to stir.
"You're all under arrest!"
Dozens of FBI agents poured into the hospital room, and had guns cocked and ready. They were pointed at everyone in the room.
"Sir, all of us? We're part of the FBI!" Jacob exclaimed.
"You're not being arrested, but you do need to come with us. You're going to court."
"To court? Why?"
"I'll explain in the car."