John POV
Sera reacted before he did. She lunged towards him, throwing a punch at the man with the needle. He laughed, dissolving into water just before the punch connected; it had been too late. The disabler had already gone into John's system.
"T-this wasn't the deal!" Sera exclaimed, her voice trembling. John reached a hand to his neck, feeling the spot where the needle had connected. He felt nothing except shock at the moment, though it was sure to kick in soon enough.
Everything had gone wrong. Spectre didn't believe them, they'd achieved something they could use against him, and Sera was still left without an ability... What do we do now?!
"Orrin, we didn't agree to this either," The man with the purple hair started, his tone one of warning. The man with the brown hair chuckled at this.
"You'll thank me later, for getting another god-tier on our side. He'll be fully under our control now," The brown-haired man, who must've been Orrin, told them with a smirk. "Now, should we make a new deal?"
"NO! YOU LIED TO US!" Sera screamed, whipping around to face the screens. Her dark blue eyes were full of rage. John wasn't sure he'd ever seen her so angry before. He himself still felt like he was in a state of shock; only one mind echoed through his head. We need to get out of here, now.
He glanced over at the man who'd disabled him. Based on the way he'd turned himself into water and appeared a few feet away, John guessed he had some sort of strong water ability; he still hadn't lost his own ability, too, being able to sense the other man. He bit his lip. He must've snuck up on us while we were talking. I didn't even feel his aura until it was too late.
"Seraphina, you're powerless against us, and so is your friend. Getting angry won't help you now," Orrin told her in an amused voice. John could feel anger slowly rising inside of him, taking over the original shock.
He had turned on them, despite Sera doing so many things for him. She'd gone on all of these dangerous missions for Spectre, but here they were, turning their backs on her... They hadn't even given her back her full ability. His eyes narrowed.
If his ability was going to be disappearing again after all, he might as well use it for one last time. John's amber eyes lit up as he copied the ability of the man who'd stabbed him.
"We're not powerless yet," He told Orrin in a low voice, giving one last glare to the screens. They're going to pay for this.
Without another word, he spun on his heel and sent a blast of water at the man who'd disabled him. The man quickly raised his arms, using a shield of ice to deflect John's water; John only smirked. Does he really think he can beat me? The other man may have been strong, but John knew that he was stronger. Plus, he had a lot of pent-up anger that he needed to let out.
He ran at the other man, slamming a fist through the wall of ice and shattering it before the man could respond. He pulled back his arm to punch again, but the man quickly moved back, waving his hands at John's feet. He could feel them slowly freezing to the floor, but he only smirked; a wave of own hand shattered the ice, allowing him to step forwards.
Sera was yelling something in the background, but he could barely hear her. He lunged at the man, this time catching him with a punch in the stomach; before the man could escape, he created a thick layer of ice around the man's feet, using his own trick against him. Then, raising his hand, he created a thick shard of ice. He drew it back to strike the man when the first wave of dizziness hit.
The ice faded from his hand as John's mind suddenly spun. He raised his hands to clutch it, confusion washing over him; it was then that he remembered the disabler. He'd almost lost control again, and in doing so forgotten that escape was their first priority...
Suddenly, the sounds of screaming pierced through his ears. He froze.
It was Sera's voice. She's in danger! He spun around, his head becoming a little clearer. He hated how tired he suddenly felt. The anger had sustained him for several minutes, but now that the disabler was kicking in, he couldn't do much more.
He turned to find that there was another figure in a black body suit here now, a woman with orange hair this time. A purple claw extended out of her hand, reaching for Sera, who'd fallen on the floor; there were several scratches on her face, though the other woman appeared untouched. A wave of dread filled John as he realized something. I can't sense that ability... it doesn't match the woman. She... she shouldn't have that claw.
He couldn't think about that now, though, not while Sera was in danger. He ran forwards, throwing a shard of ice at the woman. It scratched across her back as she reached for Sera, causing her to gasp in surprise; that was all that John needed to run forwards and wrap an arm around Sera. She'd already begun to stand up, though he could tell she was injured.
"John... we need to... get out," She huffed as he pulled through the room, towards the exit. He nodded, hurrying up. The woman would be distracted for a moment, and if they could get through the doors they could find Kayden-
A shard of ice pierced the arm that wasn't holding Sera, causing John to cry out in surprise and pain. He spun to see that the green-haired man had gotten up from where John had knocked him down, stepping in front of their exit. John whirled around to see that the other woman stood on their other side. A wave of fear rushed through him. We're surrounded.
"You can't do much against us with the disabler kicking in," The man told John, smirking a little as he took a step towards them. John glanced at the door behind him. Maybe if they could get him distracted, they could make a run for it...
"Don't try anything, either. You can't do much against two high-tiers," The other woman smirked. John's stomach seemed to drop to the floor. High-tiers? Oh, great. He'd sensed some of their strength with his ability, but even his passive seemed to be fading a little.
"We just need to hold out until Kayden comes," Sera whispered out of the corner of her mouth. John barely heard her, already thinking the same thing. They just had to delay until they could escape.
Before he could think further, however, another blade of ice came rushing towards him. He dove to the floor, pulling Sera with him. The man laughed as he sat up slowly, wincing at the impact. Sera gave a small groan. Just hold on a little longer. We'll get out of here.
That thought seemed like a lie even to himself. If only they could find the machine, and use it...
The man took a step towards them. John could see the woman doing the same on the other side; they were closing in. A wave of fear rushed through him, paired with the same dizziness. They weren't going to make it out of here. He was going to die. Worse, he was going to lose Sera, all because he was too weak to protect her.
He could never protect anyone. His father, mother, and now Sera... they would all end up dead because of him. He wasn't strong enough. He didn't have the strength to create more ice, and he couldn't teleport them out of here... he'd need to have Kayden's ability copied for that.
He closed his eyes. This was the end.
Except... he couldn't bring himself to accept that, not with Sera still by his side, her eyes burning with anger. She wanted to fight back, even if she couldn't use her ability at the moment. She wouldn't want him to give up, and he wanted to save her. I'm going to get us out of here. I just need to teleport... I need Kayden's ability...
He closed his eyes. At this thought, something inside of him had strengthened; he could feel his aura running through him, waiting for a command. I need to teleport. I need to copy Kayden's ability. Kayden wasn't anywhere close, but maybe John didn't need him to be.
He could remember what the other man's ability had felt like. They'd practiced for the plan. John knew Kayden's ability well. His aura knew it, too. Everything around John seemed to fade as he focused in on his own ability. Come on. Mirror Kayden's aura, a teleportation ability.
Something inside of him clicked, just as another piece of ice came rushing towards him.
John opened his eyes, but this time he wasn't scared. He reached out to touch Sera's shoulder and activated Kayden's ability. She looked up at him, confusion in her eyes, but John didn't look to her; instead, he turned to stare dead into Orrin's eyes as he used his ability to teleport himself and Sera away from here.
He would be coming for Orrin.