(Second person POV)
Leaping over the acidic swamp and landing right in front of the opened Venomari tomb, the last two members of the ninja team assembled, making you sigh in relief. "Anyone order a little kick butt?!" Cole yelled as the last word of his sentence echoed through the hole in the ground, making Jay snicker despite his circumstance.
"Boo!" Pythor suddenly growled, leaping out of the trench, making the lightning ninja let out a yelp of surprise as you felt your brow furrowing.
So that's his unique ability... you muttered in your head, ready to defend Kai and return the favour, He's able to turn both himself, the things he holds, as well as his aura invisible but, can still be sensed through echolocation as he's still a physical being... That's very similar to how my light element works and I can use this knowledge to my advantage...
Pulling out the sacred flute, Zane began blowing into it, attempting to stupefy the entire group of Serpentine in one go, only for the instrument to be snatched away from him by the Anacondrai.
"Oh, let's not let music ruin things, hm?" the snake smirked as the rest of his allies advanced toward the group, making you grimace.
"This would be a great time for you to wake up, Dart," you hiss under your breath to your dragon who was still sleeping like a stone. Well, I half expected this to happen... you mutter in your head, knowing better than to get in a confrontation with so many enemies and slowly backing away with the rest of the group.
Feeling a foreboding feeling of a warm, hot, singing sensation digging into your skin like thousands of red-hot needles, you swallowed the lump in your throat. Knowing that your foresight ability of your time element had activated upon a whim, you realised that the burning feeling was of acid scraping at your skin. If this goes on, all five of us are going down... you growl internally, scanning the crowd of enemies to see if there was a weak spot in their formation, There're no obvious openings... Guess I'll just have to make one...
Raising your dominant foot and bringing the heel of your boots down on the ground, you created a small earthquake in your vicinity, avoiding hitting the Ninja as they had backed away. The tremor had disrupted the snakes' formation, giving them a small window of escape, which was better than no window. "Go!" you yell, holding off the Venomari general before pushing him off your sword, "I'll follow later!"
"But-" Zane protests, making you glare at him as if to wordlessly say that there was no room for discussion.
"Don't let them escape!" Pythor commanded as his allies gradually recovered from your attack, "Capture the girl and leave the others to their doom!"
Letting out a growl now that your teammates were going to be in danger, you saw through the corner of your eye that the group were about to break through the circle of opponents-
Suddenly, the sound of something heavy falling through the air caught your attention, making you snap your head to see the source of the noise when your opponent hissed "Eyesss up here, girl," before spitting his venom toward you. Using your water element to move the stream of liquid away from your orifices, you felt something slam into the top of your head as a sickening crack echoed through the marshy swamp.
Feeling multiple eyes land on you, some in horror and others in fear, you look around in confusion as to why both sides had stopped what they were doing to focus on you. You feel something warm and wet seeping down from above. And then suddenly, the stale smell of marsh water turns into iron, and it takes you a while to realise that your blood was flowing down your face. Looking to your sides, you found two halves of a boulder five times the size of your head, a jagged crack splitting it in two as if it had collided with another rock with incredible force-
Oh.
Ohh... That's why everyone was staring at you in horror. The Serpentine must have dropped a boulder on your head and it split the rock right open without seemingly affecting you in the slightest. Deciding to try and dispel some of the tension in the air, you decided to pull a Jay and joke "I know Kai likes to say I'm hard-headed but isn't this taking things a little too far?"
To your relief, the lightning ninja seemed amused, letting out a suppressed snort when you heard someone else chuckle alongside him. To the surprise of the entire ninja team, Zane also cracked up, seeming more relieved than anything that you were alright. The sound of his own laughter surprised him to silence as the teen looked around in confusion while his male friends (aside from Kai who was staring at you with an odd look in his eye) seemed astounded at the prospect of him being able to understand a joke.
"Well, sorry to interrupt this stand-up comedy act of yours, but we'll be taking you captive," Pythor suddenly cut him with a snarl just as his tail wrapped around your body in a bone-crushing grip, your Void Crystal being ripped away from you against your will. Then once again, the Ninja team was forced to back away toward the edge of the acid swamps while you could do little but watch as they drew closer to their imminent doom.
Forced to retreat onto a fallen log that lay in the chartreuse-green water, the teens looked at you for help and in worry, but you were too wrapped up in a problem of your own, quite literally too. If I can just... you hiss in your head, struggling against the scaly appendage, If I can just break out of Pythor's grip, then I'll be able to grab my crystal and get out of here with the team-
As if sensing your struggle, the serpent tightened his hold around you, forcing the air out of your lungs and smirking "I've got a sinking feeling... this may be the last I see of you four... and for the girl at that," Looking at you with what you managed to make out as a sadistic grin through the blurriness that was your oxygen-starved vision, the Anacondrai let out a chuckle. "Oops... Wouldn't want you to die before saying your last goodbye to your little friends now, would we?" he smirked, his words coming out in an apologetic tone that you both knew was a lie as he loosened his tail's hold on you just enough for you to breath again.
"That's it," you heard Cole growl, "I used to hate dragons, but now I officially hate snakes."
"Wait, do you see that?" Kai murmured almost absent-mindedly, "A magic floating rope... We can climb to safety...", almost walking off the dissolving tree to his death.
"Boy, that Venomari venom is some powerful stuff," Jay remarks as he pulls his firey friend back onto the stump.
"For whatever it is worth, it was an honour to fight beside you all," Zane confessed as his friends chimed in.
"...Me too," the earth ninja agrees, looking in your direction with something akin to regret as if he had something to tell you.
"Yeah, ditto," the male in blue nods, the worry and despair in his voice making you grit your teeth.
...I can't let them die now... you hiss internally, I... I still need to repay Kai for protecting me and talk with Zane more, and fulfil my promise to Mr and Mrs Walker... There's still so much I have to learn about everyone and everything... I... I need to help them... somehow...
I think I can help with that~ Koun's voice sang through your mind, making your breath hitch in your throat with relief. I'll pour a little more of my power into you while you try to use your elemental abilities. But just so you know, by absorbing my power, you'll be absorbing me and getting regular flashbacks to the past, but you literally have no choice.
But... I can't use my elemental powers without the Void Crystal, you grimaced, glancing at the gem that was currently being examined by your captor, I've tried the last time Pythor captured me and you know how that turned out.
Yeah, but your teacher said the Void Crystal was pretty much just a catalyst that helps you manipulate the mana around you. He also said will also drain the energy of anyone that isn't the stone's master and might place them in a coma after long enough. the manifestation of your past recalled, probably knowing this from sifting through your memories, her words finally convincing you.
Sucking in a breath, you focused on the acidic swamp, willing the water to pull the dissolving log toward land so that your teammates could take the chance to escape. Doing the same thing you usually did with the Void Crystal, you felt your muscles strain from exertion as you persisted through the pain.
Only for nothing to happen.
The waters didn't seem to budge at all, and it looked like all your efforts will be in vain-
Suddenly, you caught sight of the lime-green liquid ripple, reigniting hope in you as you continued in what you were doing, feeling Koun's power integrate with your own, her soul mixing in with yours as you felt a wave of fear rush through you that was quickly drowned out by the adrenaline pumping through your veins.
...Just a little more... you grunted as you slowly pull the group toward you as relief began pouring through you. They were going to be fine! They were going to be safe and you will get yourself out of this mess somehow-
Suddenly, a serpent grabbed a branch and pushed the log away, completely destroying all of your efforts and making things even worse for the team. Frustration replacing the cool sensation that was relief, you grit your teeth as you decided to change to plan B: Offense instead of defence.
"Jay!" you yelled out, catching everyone's attention as the blue ninja perked up at the sound of your voice, "Use thunderbolt!"
Faltering for a second, the male stammered "B-but you'll also get-"
"Just do it!" you insist, your determination changing the teen's mind, he decided to place his trust in you and let out a high voltage of electricity.
I might not be able to generate any elements right now... you thought as you used your lightning element, But I can still influence them passively as I did with the swamp water! I wasn't able to create liquid, but I was able to manipulate how it moved, albeit weakly, but even that would be enough to let me escape.
To your relief, you managed to manipulate the white-hot energy in your direction, making all one thousand volts of power hit you like a truck, momentarily making you lose consciousness. Eyes rolling into the back of your skull, you somehow managed to register the yell of pain from the usually calm Pythor, his suffering filling you with indescribable joy, momentarily blocking out the pain from your singed muscles.
Hold on. Since when were you so... sadistic? So... bloodthirsty?
Pushing the question to the back of your mind, you focused on the situation at hand, feeling the serpent's hold on you loosen enough for you to pull yourself away from the appendage in case he wakes up again. Numbly, you manage to wrap your trembling fingers around your Void Crystal the Anacondrai had dropped before using the time element to recreate the broken string.
Wrapping it around your neck, you whip your head to your left, about to save the Ninja when you see... nothing.
W-what the-? you mutter in shock, pushing off the ground and heading to the swamp edge, looking around for any trace of your teammates, but a lump of dread had already begun to build in your stomach. Was I too late? you swallow, trying to moisten your drying throat, but to no avail, T-there's no way, right? They couldn't have gotten in the acid... right? Glancing back at the place the serpentine once were, you found that they had long since retreated, leaving little more than burrows in the ground that had served as their escape route.
It's okay, it's okay, you assured yourself, sucking in a deep breath to calm your racing heart, The ninja should be fine. They're not completely helpless and would surely have made their own escape route somehow. Besides, maybe Jay's electric shock deadened my sense of smell and hearing, which would explain why I can't find the four teens. I'll- I'll use my aura sensing to-
Before you could finish the thought, a gust of wind whipped past you, blowing your hair into your face as you instinctively winced, trying to discern what in the world was making these bursts of gales. Finding a giant robot-like entity taking off into the cloudy skies, you struggled to see past the thick smoke its engine produced, only catching sight of its red, black, and gold coloured parts.
Closing your eyes so you could use your aura sensing, you found that the being was not sentient and not dissimilar to a giant exoskeleton made of metal, housing a single living being inside that seemed to be the one controlling it.
That aura... you mutter to yourself as you tear your eyes away to look for the four ninja that have no doubt gotten themselves in more trouble, It seems... oddly familiar... The way it seems to fluctuate like waves on an ocean... Have I met this enigmatic person somewhere before...?
Author's note:
Thank you for reading this chapter! It was 2264 words long and I hope you enjoyed it. I'll see you in the next one :)
Please pardon my terrible photoshop skills, but I did this at 4 in the morning lol. Hope this makes you laugh :)