*Gaia King's POV:
For a hidden, secret government island, it sure was beautiful.
Palm trees stood tall; some were coconut trees. The waves gracefully crashed on the golden sandy shore and seagulls could be heard squawking as they flew above us. The temperature was warmer, probably around eighty degrees.
It was paradise. It reminded me of my home country: the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The island was considered "small" by Danny, but it looked and felt way bigger.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Shimizu asked as he approached me from behind.
"Yes, it's amazing. You wouldn't been able to guess that this place is hiding something insidious" I replied, turning towards him.
It was starting to get hot, so I took off my thin khaki jacket and wrapped it around my waist.
"Let's be cautious. We'll never know when the killer-machines may strike" Shimizu replied with a sigh in nervousness. He placed his arm on my shoulder as we looked out into the jungle from the shore.
It felt as if someone was staring back at us.
"As long as we stick together, we will conquer this place" Danny said, walking up beside us.
"How are we going to find food and water?" Mohammed asked Danny, approaching us along with Katie, Kimberly and Beval.
"We're going to have to go into survival mode for the next few days. Anyone here know how to hunt?"
Silence surrounded us for a few moments until Robin spoke up.
"I do, but I only know how to hunt with a gun. Me and my parents love hunting."
"Welp, instead of a gun, you may want to use your powers" Danny suggested. That's when I had an idea.
"Hey, you know animals love me, maybe I can trick the fish into coming towards me so you guys can catch them!"
"Great idea Gaia!" Shimizu smiled.
"The best part about that is, there's a large pond on this island. We can catch some fish tonight" Danny said as while walking towards the jungle. He turned back towards us.
"Are you guys ready to go? This place isn't going to bomb itself."
"Do you still have the bomb?" Robin asked Shimizu.
"Yup!" Shimizu replied with confidence, showing them the disc-shaped bomb.
"Here, place it in here, that way you won't lose it" Danny insisted, giving Shimizu a cloth bag that he found yesterday in the water from the wreckage. "Alright kids, let's go, the sooner we leave and get this done, the sooner we can go home."
"Whoa, check out the writings on this tree" Mohammed pointed, running up to the tree.
"What does it say Mohammed?" Katie asked.
"It says "who enters this island has entered the gates of hell. Turn back now, for your life is at stake" Mohammed read. That writing gave me chills.
"Somebody was here before us?" Shimizu asked Danny, not taking his eyes off of the tree.
"Most likely an adventurer who found out the hard way what this island has in store" Danny answered as he watched his surrounds, not really caring for the writing. "Come on, let's keep moving."
Making our way into the jungle was rough. There were no pathways, so we constantly had to fight our way through bushes and leaves. The ground underneath my feet was a bit muddy and the plants were hydrated with dew.
I watched my surroundings, waiting for whatever was going to come.
Suddenly, I smelled a strong odor. It was disgusting and it made me nauseous. I covered my nose in horror, trying my best to not throw up.
"Oh my god, what is that smell?!" I cried to Danny. My eyes tearing up in the process.
"It smells like rotting meat!" Kimberly shouted, holding her nose and coughing.
"Look over there" Danny replied, pointed to an area. He obviously wasn't fazed by the smell. Me and the others gazed our eyes over to what Danny was pointing at.
It was a body of a man. He was several yards from us and was lying behind some tall leaves. It was kind of hard to see him.
Katie screamed in fear and hid behind Shimizu.
"Is that what I think it is?!" I asked, shaken up by the sight of a decomposed body.
"Oh my god!" Kimberly cringed as she shook her arms in disgust.
"Why are you girls acting like that? You've seen dead bodies before at the revolt" Danny stated in confusion.
"Yes, but not decomposed ones" Kimberly snapped back.
The boys only seemed uncomfortable, not only by the sight, but by the smell. They didn't seem scared like me, Kim and Katie. Robin on the other hand was fascinated. Typical Robin.
"Wow, just wow. This is the first time I've seen a decomposing body in person. Oh my gosh, I wish I had a camera. I've always been fascinated with death and the process of human decomposition. It's so interesting" Robin said in an excited tone as she tiptoed over towards the body.
"Ah-ah-ahh. Stop right there. That body may carry bacteria with it, and I don't want you going near or touching it. We don't have time to be strolling with sick people. You guys just got better from a cold not too long ago. Remember all of that harsh work we did in the cold at the extermination camp?" Danny lectured to Robin.
Robin groaned and she pouted as she made her way back over to us.
"Hm, I'm guessing that this man is probably an adventurer or conspiracy theorist who ended up on this island to search for W.E.A." Shimizu hypothesized as he stroked his chin.
"And ended up being killed by those killing-machines" Danny finished.
"That's so sad. It looks like they ripped his intestines out. Look at his stomach!" Mohammed pointed in disgust and amazement.
I took a second look at the body. The man's stomach was exposed, and his guts, liver and intestines were hanging out. I gagged looking at the man's mangled body.
This man was killed in such a brutal way, it almost made me cry. He didn't deserve this, all he wanted to know was the truth of whether W.E.A was real. This man was someone's son, uncle or father.
As I covered my mouth and teared up, I heard something rustling in the bushes over to my right. I quickly looked over in its direction.
"Did you heard that?" I asked the others.
"Everyone get in a circle position and face outward, not inward. That way we can watch from all angles to see what's coming...hurry!" Danny demanded in a loud whisper.
"What?" Kimberly asked in confusion.
"Get your powers ready! Now!" he shouted, ignoring her.
Immediately we got into a circle and watched our surroundings.
I stood in between Beval and Robin. Shimizu stood in between Robin and Katie, and Mohammed stood in between Katie and Kimberly. Kimberly stood next to Danny, whom was next to Beval.
It was quiet now, just the sounds of birds and the snapping of sticks and dry leaves below our shoes.
I was beyond scared that the kill-machines would attack us off guard. My heart was beating heavily, and my breathing was rapid.
I gasped as I felt someone randomly hold on my hand. It was Beval.
"It's going to be okay" he said in a quiet whisper. He could tell I was scared by my body language. That boy could read me like a book. I made a nervous smile at him before he let go of my hand.
There was nothing but silence again for the next ten seconds. But as soon as Danny was about to announce a false alarm, we heard a voice.
"Excuse me."
In shock, we got our powers up and running, only to find out that it was a child standing meters away.
It was a Pacific Islander boy with short, black hair and a tan cloth tunic.
We gathered behind Danny and watched the boy.
"Are you lost? If you are looking for the W.E.A, me and my village can help."
"I thought you said this island was deserted" Kimberly whispered to Danny in anger, keeping her eyes on the boy.
"It is. That is not a boy" Danny replied.
"I said...are you lost? If you are looking for W.E.A, me and my village can help you..." the boy asked again, firmly, expecting an answer.
"He is saying that to lure us away so he can kill us while we aren't paying attention" Danny whispered to us, keeping his eyes on the boy. "Do not respond to him."
Several seconds of silence have gone by before the boy spoke again.
"I said, are you lost?! Answer me now!" the boy screamed; his yell was so loud it made my ears ring.
I did not expect what happened next. His form changed from a little boy into a skinny, hairless, pale creature. It was standing seven feet tall now and its arms were bony and very long. His eyes were tiny compared to his face. He had no nose, but his mouth took up majority of his face. Hundreds of sharp razor teeth filled its entire mouth: top, bottom and its sides. Some of its teeth were protruding from it.
He took two steps towards us. His walk was disturbing to say the least, and wobbly. Suddenly, he let out a horrifying roar.
"Robin, now!" Danny shouted.
Robin's eyes lit up a bright orange. Flames lit up from her hands as she made a large ball of fire. She threw it at the killing-machine, aiming at its face.
The creature screamed in pain as the fire burned through its face, slowly revealing a robotic endoskeleton.
The fire was only going to do so much damage, it would have been a better idea to crush the robot instead of just lighting it on fire. That killing-machine was going to try again and attack us at any moment.
"Should we just stand here or should we ru-"
"No!" I interrupted Mohammed. "I'll take care of this!"
The killing-machine was furious now. He began letting out a shriek before charging at us. it was coming fast, so I had to react quickly.
My eyes lit a bright neon green as I stomped hard on the ground, bringing up a large chunk of earth. I kicked it as hard as I could, hoping to aim at the killing-machine. It did.
Once it made impact, the creature flew by the force and slammed against a trunk of a tree.
I stomped again to form another one from the ground and kicked it. This time, it landed against the killing-machine's head, destroying it.
I sighed in relief, as the others asked each other if everyone was alright.
We ran over to see what damage had been done to it. The creature was slouching against the trunk. The head was destroyed, revealing a metal endoskeleton with wires and other electric mumbo jumbo. It twitched as it slowly deactivated and died.
"Thank you Gaia!" Robin sighed as she hugged me tightly.
"Thank you!" I said back hugging back, giving her credit for staying calm under intense fear as well as I did.
"That was sick! You girls are so incredible" Mohammed shouted in amazement as he hugged me and Robin a little too tight.
"That shriek the killing-machine did...it was letting other killing-machines know that we are here" Danny announced to us, watching his surroundings. That honestly killed the moment.
We looked at each other and back at Danny. Before we could say anything, he continued.
"We have to keep moving, we can't stay in one place, it will be easier for them to find us that way. Watch your surrounds and don't be a fool. We have to find a cave to shelter in by nighttime."
"Cave? I thought we were looking for the Corano Mountains" Mohammed stated in confusion.
"We are, but we need a place to take shelter in through the night, yes?"
"I guess" Mohammed responded to Danny. "How far is Corano Mountains again?"
"Three days' time...if we don't lollygag. There are a lot of caves on this island because of those mountains, so we have places to shelter in, not just for tonight. Do you see the Corano mountains over there? Look!" Danny pointed. We looked forward and there it was.
I couldn't believe I overlooked them, they were big, green, and mighty. They stood over the island with such pride. Too bad W.E.A headquarters was under it. The mountains weren't too far, which was good.
"They're gorgeous" I said in awe, staring at the huge green giant as I placed my hand over my forehead, blocking out the sun's light.
"Not as gorgeous as you Gaia. You're such a goddess, a Goddess of the earth, Mother Nature's daughter herself" Mohammed flirted as he walked over to me. He showed a big smile, his chubby cheeks poked out in the process.
I was flattered. I've never in my life have been compared to a Goddess before.
Before I could respond with a "thank you" Beval pulled Mohammed away from me by his right ear.
"Stop it. We have things to do and you have other things to worry about" Beval said with a hint of jealousy.
"Get off my ear!" Mohammed replied, fighting back a little.
Next thing I knew, we heard rustling in the bushes again. This time, it was coming from all over.
"Did you hear that?" Robin asked Danny.
"Everyone, form the circle!" he ordered.
We all got into a circle again, ready for whatever was about to come. I almost forgot that the killing-machine let out a shriek that warned others of our existence.
They started coming out from behind trees and bushes.There were five of them now, surrounding us.
Each of them had a distinct look: one was a demonic figure with pitch black skin and completely white eyes. The other was a beautiful blonde girl in her late twenties, wearing a white gown. There was a leprechaun figure, about four feet tall, taller than the average leprechaun. Another was a purple-skinned monstrous figure with three heads and one eye for each face, along with three legs.
The last one was the scariest to say the least. It was alien-looking, had spider legs, a human upper torso and a human face, but had spider eyes. Its skin was a normal tan, but it had no hair what so ever. It had a mouth, but no nose. It was about seven feet tall.
Katie cried and wailed in fear as she trembled. She held on to Shimizu.
"We got this, we will protect you, Danny and Mohammed. We are stronger than them" Shimizu said to her in confidence.
Her fear slowly melted away as her pupils dilated while looking at Shimizu.
Shimizu readied up his water powers. Me and my friends did the same. Kimberly turned into a tiger.
The killing machines roared as they began charging at us at full speed.
I quickly raised my arms before a large chunk of dirt began rising from the ground. I swung my arm in the same motion as if I was throwing something.
The chunk of dirt landed on the leprechaun killing-machine, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the ground.
Shimizu was spraying tons water from his hands and at the spider killing-machine, wetting us in the process, but because of our adrenaline, we payed little attention to it.
The spider chased Shimizu around. As he was running, Shimizu turned his back around and gave it a good spray to the face, trying his best to blind it or at least mess up its functioning. He succeeded, the spider killing-machine started malfunctioning as it collapsed on to the ground.
"Katie, Mohammed, Danny, I need you guys to hide somewhere! And don't let the killing-machines to see you!" Robin ordered to them as she fought the beautiful female killing-machine.
She was extremely strong, but Robin could take her. She swung her fist at it, in which fire was blazing out of. One landed on its stomach and the other on the side of its face.
Its flesh was melting as it was fighting Robin, revealing its metallic skeleton. The killing-machine picked Robin up by her neck. She grunted and gasped for air as she squirmed.
The monster gave out a loud robotic roar.
"Robin! Nooo!" I screamed. But before I was able to run over to her, the leprechaun killing-machine caught me by my shirt and threw me. I landed with great force as I tumbled on the ground, groaning in pain as I struggling to get back up.
"Gaia!" Beval yelled running over to me after literally blowing away the monstrous, purple creature. The impact of it landing broke it into pieces.
"I'm good, I'm fine, but Robin is in trouble!" I shouted as I pointed while Beval was helping me back up off the ground.
Shimizu must've heard me say those words as he was stomping out the spider-killing machine's head and destroying it. He turned his head around and looked for himself.
"Help!" Robin gasped out.
The commotion was so loud, especially with the roaring of the killing-machines, we could barely hear Robin's cries for help.
"Robin!" Shimizu screamed, sprinting over to her.
Robin tried kicking the killing-machine in the stomach. No result. She tried beating in repeatedly in the head. No result.
The beautiful female killing-machine raised her arm, flashing her long, sharp nails. She slashed Robin across the face.
Robin whimpered in pain as she held her hand to her left eye, crying. I could see blood flowing down her arm.
The killing-machine raised her arm again, ready to make a fatal slash. Luckily, the killing-machine was hit by a strong force of water that it lost grip of Robin as it was blown away twenty feet.
Robin fell to the ground, still holding on to her bleeding wound.
Before the killing-machine could get back up, Kimberly (the tiger) made a loud roar as she jumped on it, clawing and ripping it to shreds.
We destroyed two monsters and had three more to go, but Beval and Kimberly worked together to eliminate them as me and Shimizu went over to help Robin.
"Robin!" Shimizu yelled as we ran over to her.
She was on the ground, groaning and crying. She placed her hand down, revealing the bloody left side of her face. There was a big scar that went from the eyebrow to the left cheekbone. Thank god that it didn't get her eyelid or eyeball. It would've blinded her.
"Oh my god" I said in horror as we kneeled.
"Place your hair in a ponytail, I need to cover this scar!" Shimizu demanded as he ripped off a piece of his shirt.
I grabbed Robin's hand as she whimpered in pain. She tied her hair back into a ponytail. Shimizu wrapped the piece of clothing across her head, covering the scar and tied it tightly.
Robin gasped in pain, flinching as the cloth tightened.
"Sorry, I just need this to be tight in order to stop the bleeding. This method helped the bleeding when I got my wound from the bullet" Shimizu explained.
I stared down at Shimizu's wound on his right arm, it was still wrapped around in the same cloth. Dry blood stains were visible, and Shimizu still felt some pain when he moved his arm. Shimizu tried his best to function, even with his sore wound. He tried to stay strong and not let the pain stop him from completing this mission.
"I don't think you should fight right now, your right eye is covered with the cloth, so your sight will be affected a little. You need to hide" I suggested to Robin as I lifted her on to her feet.
"No! You guys need me, I have to help you fight those three more monsters!" Robin snapped at us, grunting as she was still in a great deal of pain.
I looked back and saw that Beval and Kimberly were still struggling with the leprechaun, purple monster and the black demon. They needed our help.
"Look Celosia, we don't have time to argue!" Shimizu snapped, accidentally calling Robin by her first name.
"What did I tell you about calling me by my first name?!" Robin yelled in anger a she squinted her eyes a little.
"I need you to go hide behind that tree where Danny, Katie and Mohammed are, there you will be safe" Shimizu ordered before he gave Robin a huge hug. "For now, we will take care of these killing-machines. Stay safe."
I gave Robin a hug also before we ran over to help Kimberly and Beval.
The leprechaun was destroyed, so now it was only the black demon and the purple monster.
"Girls, finish off the monster, me and Beval will take care of this demon!" Shimizu orders, his blue eyes glowing as he was readying his powers.
"Got it" I responded.
The monster struggled to get back up as one of its legs was torn off thanks to Kimberly. That's when I decided to use my most powerful weapon.
I closed my eyes, cleared my mind and concentrated. I chanted something in an unknown language as I slowly raised my arms upward near my sides.
"Gaia, what the-" Kimberly paused as soon as she figured out what I was doing, I used the same weapon on her before: brainwash the animals into attacking both the demon and the monster.
I opened my eyes again. They were completely green. Seconds later, any animal that was within a one hundred meter radius, from lizards to mammals were surrounding us.
The purple monster managed to get back up and charged at me and Kimberly. Kimberly charged at it, prepared to fight.
I roared as I clasped my hands together, signaling the animals to attack the demon and monster. All the animals jumped on to the purple killing-machine, tearing it apart and chewing on its freshly outsides.
The purple monster shrieked as it tried to overpower the animals, but to no avail.
The demon threw Shimizu into the bushes and charged at Beval. Beval, used his wind powers to keep the demon away. It became overwhelmed by the force, trying to move forward, only to be pushed back by the swirling wind again.
Beval kept it going enough for Shimizu to come back and spray the demon away with a great amount of water.
The water kills them?" I asked Shimizu, wondering how would've they survived if it rained on the island.
"It's not the water that kills them, it's the force of the water" he responded. "Keep an eye on that monster, while I finish this demon robot off."
When i went back over to the creature, it was dismantled. The animals left the scene, not affected by my power anymore. But Kimberly was finishing up the damage by ripping it's two other legs off.
"Kimberly, it's finished, it's already dead!" I explained to her as I ran over.
"It's always good to make sure" She responded, spitting the leg out of her mouth.
Shimizu and Beval were hitting the demon with large sticks as they kicked and stomped it.
It was finished, we won the battle. I knew there were going to be more to come. This was going to be a long three-day journey to Corano Mountains.
"Are you okay?" I asked Kimberly, touching her orange and black striped back.
"Yes, just a little sore" she responded, turning back into a human.
Beval collapsed on to his knees and tried to catch his breath. All of that fighting wore us out.
"Val, are you good?" I asked, running over to him.
"Yeah I'm fine, just exhausted."
"Hey Danny, guys, you can come out from hiding now! It's safe" Shimizu yelled out to Danny, Robin, Katie, and Mohammed.
Slowly but surely, they proceeded to come out from hiding behind a big tree. Danny looked around at the destruction we made from fighting.
"Jesus, so many craters on the ground and tilted palm trees" he said in slight disappointment, placing his hands on his hips as he shook his head. "Such destruction to nature."
"Are you really going to complain about destruction when we just destroyed five freaking monsters...without your help?!" Kimberly yelled at Danny, storming over to him.
"There is a cave up about seven hours away. We can make it there by five. Right now, it should be around 10 am" Danny announced, ignoring Kimberly as he walked pass her. "Let's go, the more we just stand here, the more we will be seen. The killing-machines are more active at nighttime, we have to find the cave."
We followed Danny.
I was paranoid, constantly looking over my shoulders for a killing-machine, worried if they were going to sneak-attack us this time. While we walked, I was trembling as I folded my arms.
"You did amazing back there Gaia" Robin told me as she wrapped her arm around me. "You did better than me. Most of the damage I did was to the plants. I burnt some of them to a crisp."
By her voice, I could tell she was still hurting. The bleeding stopped, but the pain didn't.
"No, no, you did great too Robin. You've handled it with girl power and melted the flesh off its metal skeleton. You are the fire queen" I inspired her as I gave her a tight hug.
I didn't want Robin to feel like her powers were inferior to mine, Beval's and Shimizu's. Fire can be just as powerful as earth, wind and water. I really wished Robin would've felt more better about herself, like I've learned to do for myself.
A lot has changed about her personality, but her self-esteem still needed improvement. It wasn't the highest, but it wasn't the lowest either. Robin was more incredible than she thought.
We all were. We've even proved it.