"Is that all you got, Kumo?"
"Nope, I'm just getting started."
Kumo Geiru called a bolt of lightning onto his opponent. A man of sixteen years with white hair, blood red eyes and an average build, Kumo had the ability to control not only lightning, but manipulate the wind and flames.
The attack seemed to do a number on his opponent, Hyoketsu Nami.
"Take this, Kumo. ICE!!!!!"
Along with ice, Hyoketsu had the ability to call upon the water and the wind, as well as the unusual ability to use psychic abilities. He had jet black hair and ocean blue eyes and had a worse build than Kumo, though he was a year younger, so it didn't really matter yet.
"What do you folks think you're doing?"
The voice belonged to Ryoshi, their teacher.
"I...uh..."
"Well...you see..."
"Get to class this instant! I'm teaching you about history today."
"Ah, yes sir."
"As you wish, sir."
Kumo rushed off to the classroom, as Hyoketsu simply teleported there.
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"Nishi...what the heck are you doing?" asked Hyoketsu.
Nishikawa Yaketsuku was happily nibbling away at the table, her golden eyes filled with hunger and her blond hair messily tied up. The youngest Lancer being 15, she could manipulate lightning and command fire.
"I hear wood does wonders for your health," she said, as she swallowed the table whole.
"Really? Where'd you hear that from?"
"Myself."
"Shut up guys, I'm tryna focus," said Ai Geiru.
Though sharing the same last name as Kumo, they were only distantly related. They had the same facial features, however, as characteristic with all Geirus. They had the ability to call the wind, force water to do their bidding and control bolts of lightning. "Ai, class hasn't even started yet, what are you focusing on?" asked Hyoketsu.
"I'm focusing on my previous notes. There's a lot of information to be found here, like the art of being able to keep your mouths quiet." They commanded a gust of wind to blow Hyoketsu across the room, straight into Kaze Geiru.
"Ouch... Ai, please don't do that anymore, ok?"
Kaze was in fact, directly related to Kumo as his younger brother. Kaze shared both wind and lightning in common with Kumo, but swapped out fire for water. Appearance-wise he was turning out to have a much better build than his brother, and had cerise eyes as opposed to scarlet.
At that moment, Kumo arrived at the classroom, Ryoshi following closely behind. "What in the world did you guys do to this classroom? You guys were here for 10 minutes!" exclaimed Kumo
"Kumo, just take a seat. I'm about to start teaching. Nishi, stop nibbling that desk and find another one. Hyo...just take a seat. Where's Ashura, did he skip class again? Is Tatsumaki in his lab again? It hardly matters, just be quiet."
Everyone quickly did as instructed. Though Ryoshi (seemingly) had no powers, what he did have was an intimidating presence whenever he went anywhere.
"All right," he said, taking a sip of rice wine, "today we will be learning about the history of the lands. Around 2000 years ago, the four lands just...appeared out of nowhere. We don't know how, but what matters in this class is what we do know. Does anyone know what the 4 lands are?"
Ai's hand shot straight up.
"Really? None of you besides Ai? Nishi, pay attention and stop eating your notebook, don't you know that food is prohibited in class? What are the names of the 4 lands?"
"Uhhh...there's the Seething Settlements, the...Windy...erm...windmills?" Ryoshi put a hand to his face as he called upon Ai to speak.
"The Seething Settlements, the Leviath Lands, the Tranquil Terrain and the Cryptic Cliffs."
"I still believe that the name of Windy Windmills is far better than Tranquil Terrain," said Nishi.
"Oh my gosh, will you- Ugh. Anyways, each land is inhabited by a different clan which determines your last name. Can anyone tell me - besides Ai - the names of the clans? Yes, Kumo?" "There were the Geirus, the Namis, the Yaketsukus and the...hmm..."
"Ooh! I know this one!"
"Yes, Nishi?"
"The Yummies!"
There was a brief, awkward moment of silence. Then the entire class burst into hysterical laughter, even Ai and Ryoshi.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"Yamas, Nishi, the Yamas." Ai corrected.
"Oh. I gotchu."
"Enough," Ryoshi said as the class quieted down, seemingly feeling a soundwave pass through them.
"Each clan belongs to a different land and they also have distinct facial features that show their clan. The Geiru clan resides in the Tranquil Terrain, the most numerous of the clans. They are characterised by red eyes and white hair. They are always able to wield wind. The Nami clan resides in the Leviath Lands, characterised by black hair and blue eyes. They are always able to wield water. The Yaketsukus reside in the Seething Settlements, characterised by blonde hair and yellow eyes. They always use fire. Finally, the Yamas, the least numerous of the 4, reside in the Cryptic Cliffsides. They are characterised by brown hair and orange eyes, and are always able to use earth. You got that down?"
Ai was completely finished, Hyo and Kumo were struggling to write everything down, Nishi went to sleep and Ashura Hasashi had just arrived at class, with messy blond hair and yellow-orange eyes.
"Ash, take a seat! Why are you so late?"
"Sorry sir, I was playing with Ligma."
"Who's Ligma?"
"LIGMA B-"
"Ash, that's quite enough from you. Watch your tongue."
Ashura begrudgingly sat down, subconsciously holding a ball of fire in his hand. Along with that, he could also control stones of various types. His main talent, however, was in weapons.
"Alright, now that that's done, we'll learn about these middle lands. The land that the Lancers, our faction, is built upon is the land of lightning, which currently goes by The Unnamed City. The Lancers serve to unite these lands and bring our peoples together. Class dismissed, everyone. Go do...whatever it is you do in your spare time."
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The sky flashed a brilliant display of oranges and pinks as Tatsumaki Geiru tinkered away in his lab, mixing up various types of crazy potions and hi-tech gizmos. Right now, he was working on a concoction that would turn the drinker into an incredible warrior made of hardened flesh, funded by none other than the largest company seen by the 4 lands: Aether Inc. Why Aether would need this was beyond him.
He took a bottle of Rice Wine (also manufactured by Aether) and brought it to his lips, before starting to drink...a little more than he should've. After drinking an entire bottle of rice wine, Tatsu became clumsier than usual, and accidentally knocked the bottle over. It hit the ground and shattered into many pieces.
"Oops, hehe. I'll go clean it up. Wait, what's that sound?"
The wall had started to move around, bricks being rearranged into...a doorway?
"The heck is this?"
Tatsu walked towards the new doorway, past a bin containing multiple shards of glass. He took a deep breath in to calm himself before running straight through the doorway.
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The next day, Kaze paced back and forth around the communications room as the other Lancers simply sat around the table, awaiting their mission. Kaze was head of communications, and usually gave the Lancers their tasks.
"Kaze," asked Hyo, "What did you call us here for?"
"I brought you all here today to show you a very important-"
"Get to the point, Kaze," insisted Kumo.
"There's an underwater lab somewhere in the Leviath Lands that contains highly classified information. We don't know what it is, but based on the numerous amounts of tests being run and letters being sent out, we can only assume it's something dangerous."
"I'll prepare a submarine," said Kumo, "As the leader of the Lancers, it is my duty to-"
"We know, we know," interrupted Ai, "Don't bore us to death. Who's going?"
"You're all going to go," insisted Kaze.
"All of us??" they all said in unison.
"Well not all of you. Chuya's still in the void, Tatsu's always in his lab, Ash is straight up gonna die from water exposure..."
"Bruh," Ash said.
"So Kumo, Hyo, Nishi, Ai and myself will go. Ash, you're head of coms until we return."
"Buh" he said.
"Yay! Submarine!" Nishi said, excitedly, "I bet theres a lot of things I can eat, like if we find a pirate ship I can eat melted cannons!!"
They rushed into the room the submarine was being kept in and a push of a button from Ash ended up filling the room with water.
"Get in," ordered Ash, "or you'll get ligma."
"Ash, you used the exact same joke yesterd-" started Hyo, before being interrupted by-
"LIGMA BA-"
"We're going now!" said Kumo, "Everyone, seatbelts. I'll take the wheel."
The room finished filling up with water and the Lancers' submarine was deployed into open waters, towards the Leviath Lands.
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"I don't see any cannons," cried Nishi, frowning.
"We're not here to eat cannons," said Kaze, "We're on a mission."
"I'm leaving," she insisted, "This is boring."
"Nishi, you physically can't leave this mission," said Ai, "the submarine was specifically built to be as durable as possib- WOAH!!"
The submarine shook violently as a huge noise was heard banging on the side of the submarine.
"WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!!" exclaimed Kumo, "EVERYONE, DEFEND THE SUBMARINE!!!"
"...wouldn't it be more beneficial to simply abandon ship?" suggested Ai.
"AND WASTE A PERFECTLY GOOD SUBMARINE???"
"How the frick are we supposed to defend a submarine from the inside?" said Ai, before getting an idea. They smashed the window and fired bolts of lightning from their hands, one by one electrifying the rocket launchers. Hyoketsu then patched up the window with ice.
"Everyone, out of the submarine," ordered Ai. "There are diving suits around the back, but of course you don't need one if you can use water."
"Hey," protested Kumo, "what about our submarine-"
"Shut up and get out, Kumo," ordered Ai, as they threw him into the back.
"Ouch, will you stop doing that?"
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"I'm so bored," complained Ash, "There's nothing to do!!"
He slouched in his communications chair even further than humanly possible.
"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."
After several minutes of this nightmarish boredom, he realised that there was someone at the Lancers' gate. He swiftly propelled himself into the air using bursts of fire and landed at the city walls, only to find a girl standing there.
She was tall and lean, her pale skin marked with scars that served as reminders of where she'd been. Her long, white hair was braided tightly against her head. Her scarlet eyes surveyed the city frantically, as if she was looking for a way in. She could wield water, wind and lightning, and her name was Denatsu Geiru.
Her eyes landed on Ash, and she smiled warmly. "Hello! I'm here to speak to the head of the Lancers," she said.
"Ah, this seems to be a specimen of... woman," said Ash, as he walked towards Denatsu.
"Uh, yes... I am a woman," she said, backing away from Ash. "Can I speak to the head of the Lancers now?"
"I don't know you, strange woman. You might be here to destroy the city," Ash replied.
Denatsu sighed. "If you aren't going to let me in..." She formed a small tornado with her hands and thrusted it towards Ash.
"Wind cringe," said Ash, before shooting bursts of flame in her direction.
"You want a battle?" Denatsu asked tauntingly, dodging the flames. "I can put up a fight, you know!"
"Buh," he said, before he hit the earth to send pointed stones from the ground, edging closer and closer to Denatsu.
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"Hmm," said Hyo, using his psychic abilities to see into the lab without actually being in the lab, "There seem to be numerous workers around every nook and cranny."
Ai thought for a moment before saying, "We're going to have to work methodically in order to- Nishi??"
Nishi had already busted her way into the underwater lab and started gunning the workers down using bullets of fire.
"TAKE THIS SUCKAAAAAAAA!!!"
"Why do I even- everyone support Nishi!!" commanded Ai, before jumping in to send a wave of electricity around everyone inside. Hyoketsu patched up the hole with ice.
The 5 Lancers stood back to back, firing many bursts of every element they could use at the people inside, knocking all of the workers away against the wall.
"Guys, I'll handle this, you go on ahead to get the plans!" ordered Kumo, still firing bolts of lighting everywhere they looked.
"Are you sure, brother?" asked Kaze nervously, before he, along with the other 3, were propelled back through the doorway and into the room with all the juicy info. Kaze took out a USB and plugged it into the machine, a progress bar flashing on the display.
Hyoketsu sealed the door with ice as they nervously waited for the display to reach 100%.
5% completed...
"I'm bored!!" complained Nishi, "I'm leaving."
"Again Nishi," said Ai, clearly annoyed, "you can't leave, we're not done."
"Buh bye!" she said, before Ai restrained her with chains of water.
"You can't leave," they said, "wait for the USB."
14% completed...
BANG!!!
"They're breaking my ice!"
"Hold them off, Hyo." ordered Ai, "Just replenish the ice."
Hyoketsu kept on replenishing his ice as it continued cracking more.
26% completed...
"I need help, guys!"
"Hyo, you're the only one out of us that can use ice," insisted Ai, "Just keep holding them off."
"Wait a minute," said Kaze, getting an idea, "Nishi, Ai, load the USB with electricity. It'll make the process speed up."
"You could've told us that before-"
"Ai, shut up and load," ordered Kaze, as the banging got louder.
34% completed...
And louder...
41% completed...
CRACK!!
46% completed...
BANG!!
54% completed...
"Halfway there folks," cried Kaze.
61% completed...
BANG!!!!
69% completed...
"Nice," said Nishi.
CRACK!!!!
74% completed...
"I can't hold them off for much longer!!"
78% completed...
BANG!!!
"FASTER GUYS, FASTER!!" ordered Kaze.
"I'M LOADING AS FAST AS I CAN!!" cried Ai.
"And I want drugs." said Nishi.
86% completed...
CRACK!!!
90% completed...
"THEY'VE ALMOST BROKEN THROUGH!!!" Hyo cried, panic very clear in his voice.
95% completed...
CRASH!!! Hyoketsu was flung back to the other side of the room as the workers finally broke through the ice. In a panic, Kaze unplugged the USB at 97% completion and stuffed it in a waterproof pocket, before electrifying the workers.
"KAZE, YOUR BROTHER!!" cried Ai, as they spotted Kumo, knocked out cold on the floor.
"Oh shoot!" exclaimed Kaze, "Hyo, can you teleport him here?"
"Ok, but...due to my...previous injuries, I'll pass...out...after...that...." he said, as he used his psychic abilities to teleport the unconscious Kumo to his location before passing out himself from sheer exhaustion.
"Ash," said Kaze through his communicator, "are you there? Ash??"
There was no reply.
Nishi used fire to propel herself through the water and was the first to make it to the submarine. Kaze and Ai quickly followed suit, carrying Kumo and Hyoketsu with them.
The workers, in their diving suits now, quickly followed suit.
"NISHI, START THE SUBMARINE!!" cried Kaze, stumbling from carrying his unconscious brother.
"Ooh, was it this button?" Nishi asked. She pressed it and rocket launchers appeared from the sides of the submarine, and started firing at the workers.
"MAYBE IT'S THE BIG GREEN BUTTON LABELLED 'GO'??" boomed Ai, clearly annoyed with Nishi's incompetence.
"Oh yeah," realised Nishi. She pressed it and the submarine started moving forward.
"TURN AROUND USING THOSE- Augh, fine, I'll do it myself," said Ai, annoyed, dropping Hyoketsu to the floor and storming towards the front of the submarine and pressing the turn button.
"Ouch, Ai!! Wait, we're in the submarine? Did we make it?"
"Not quite," called Ai from the control panel, as underwater rockets were being fired at the submarine by the workers.
Finally, the submarine finished turning and quickly went underway towards the Lancers again.
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"We don't need to fight!" cried Denatsu, using a small raincloud to fly around. "I'm only here to speak to the head of the Lancers."
"Bruh," said Ash, before bringing up a pillar of stone right in front of Denatsu's path.
"Stop! That actually hurts," Denatsu said. "I'm not here to attack this city!"
"Cringe," he said, as he fired multiple bursts of fire. Denatsu matched them with her own streams of water.
Ash raised his hands and parts of the ground started erupting, spewing lava out like a powerful geyser. Denatsu carefully made her way through the large columns of lava before whirling her hands to create a small tornado, slowly growing in size until it sucked in some of the lava and flew directly towards Ash. He defended himself by taking control of the lava in the tornado and threw the tornado straight back at Denatsu. Instead of hitting her, the tornado went straight into the city, waking Ryoshi from his slumber.
"Gah! Wh- Why is there a giant flipping lava tornado in the middle of this otherwise peaceful city? Ash, is that you? And who is that girl you're fighting?"
"Sorry sir," Ash apologised, "This girl could've been attacking us-"
"I have a name, you know?" Denatsu says, unimpressed.
"-and I had to protect Lancer City from any damage!"
"You certainly went the other way with that," Denatsu quipped. Using water, she put out the flames and stopped the tornado.
"Hmm, impressive. Tell me, young girl, what is your name? I'd be thrilled to take in another student."
"Cringe," muttered Ash under his breath.
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Word Count: 2945 (excluding this word count sentence)