Earth-7: Young Justice Initiative [IC]

[Ren✧]

Sin closed her eyes, she didn't want to see the concrete rush up to meet her. Before that could happen, however, Sin felt a powerful jerking sensation, wrenching her upwards. Gasping, Sin turned her head to see that the puppet-like girl had been the one to save her. She let out a sigh of relief, taking a moment to just bask in the miracle that was her being alive. "Thank you!" Sin called up, maneuvering herself safely to the ground and detaching herself from the thread-like objects that seemed to be coming out of the girl's fingers. 'Just like a puppeteer.' She thought to herself. She called up another form of gratitude, but she knew that she would never be able to fill that debt. Someone saves your life, you spend the rest of your life waiting to return the favor. But Sin couldn't think of that now.

 

It was time to stop acting without thinking. The group needed a plan. Sin carefully watched the Caitlyn girl fire several rounds at the fire creature she had mistaken as a civilian. Several of the bullets hit, causing the creature to cry out in pain, but aside from that, the creature didn't seem to show any other adverse effects. There didn't even appear to be blood. That unsettled Sin. She had always been taught that if it bled, it could die. That didn't seem to be the case here. 

 

Similarly, they still had the problem of the fire that surrounded them. It seemed to have consolidated around the battle sight, but still, there were bound to be people that needed saving. She sighed. There was no way she could do it alone. She would be dead had she tried to tackle this situation by herself. The question would be, who could penetrate the intense flames that surrounded the group and continue to evacuate the people.

 

There were also a few members missing. Denila and Adrienne, no doubt somewhere else in the city fighting the blaze or rescuing those that may be trapped by the fire or debris. Sin tried to think up a solution to their problem, but was interrupted as the crack of gunfire split the air. Caitlyn had opened fire on the creature, several of the bullets hitting their mark. However, they just tore through the creature, and while it did cry out in pain, it didn't show any other adverse effects. There wasn't even any blood. That troubled Sin more than anything else. She had always been taught that if something bleeds, then it can be killed. If this monster didn't bleed, then could it be stopped?

 

Sin looked around the other members, trying to figure out a strategy they could use to combat the elemental. She just didn't know enough about their powers, but it looked like their best bet might by the Draco kid. He had since transformed, sprouting wings and a tail. He looked very dragon-like. Could that mean he was invulnerable to fire? Or at least resistant? 

 

"Draco. How do you handle fire?" Sin asked just before Jaden grabbed his sword and unleashed an impressive transformation himself. Taking to the air, he immediately confronted the creature, undoubtedly trying to draw its fire. Releasing an arc of light energy, the creature responded by unleashing a stream of white hot fire from its hands, causing the two attacks to collide, resulting in an explosion.

 

Sin repeated her question into her communicator to make sure that Draco heard and began to move. As the smoke from the explosion began to clear, another round of fireballs came raining down, but the majority of them seem focused on Jaden. The creature too had taken to the air, seeming to just hover in the air. That wasn't a good sign. 

 

"Adrienne, Denila. We need you." Sin said into her communicator. They would need the whole team to take down this enemy. 

[StealthyTyranitar]

Adrienne had seen that there were many members of her team heading inwards to a specific point in the city, so she had begun to make her way there, blowing out windows and doors with large chunks of stones while she walked. She was about half way to the building when she heard a large explosion, followed by gunshots, then another explosion. She felt a cool rush of air brush over her, which was very much needed. "Adrienne, Denila, We need you." She heard over the mic. She couldn't tell who the voice was, for some reason it was coming out monotone and fuzzy. She took it out to examine it while running towards the building. It had a shard of rock through the side. It was a miracle it still worked. "I'll have to get that checked out when I get back..." She said to her self, before arriving at a humongous inferno. It seemed to stretch in a circle around the building. Adrienne prepared to charge through it again, covering herself in her stone armor. She charged through it, feeling the heat on her skin as the stones began to super heat. She quickly shed them once they got through, but not quickly enough. Adrienne now had a large burn on her shoulder, and she could still feel it stinging. She ripped of the arm of her shirt, to reveal only a first degree burn underneath. She let out a sigh of relief. "I'm here. What's the situation?" She said into her mic, hoping that someone would fill her in.

[ANBU]

Draco passed the other male, seeing as they didn't grab hold of him, rising up into the air as he noticed a female falling out of the building towards the hole he had originally targeted, about to move in to attempt to catch her when he saw that she seemed to have been caught by one of the others. As Draco watched to see who had attacked the female teammate of his he saw the female surrounded by flames, who seemed to be saying that it wasn't her fault as she launched balls of flames at various team members. Draco found one of these headed towards him, opening his mouth and seeming to inhale the fire as if eating it, "almost tasteless.." he muttered to himself after doing so.

 

Draco then watched on as he heard the sounds of bullets being fired, seeing holes seem to be torn in the being of flame but no blood or definitive life essence of any kind exiting the wounds. Draco began to move closer as the firing of the sniper seems to have stopped before noticing the male who he had attempted to help move closer earlier transforming, gaining some sort of armor after raising his blade into the air, the male seeming to want to take the attention of the flaming female. Draco floated slowly closer as the male released an attack of light met by fire from the female, resulting in some sort of explosion, the explosion causing Draco to back away slightly, about to swoop in to attempt to grab the female before hearing talking on his earpiece. "How do you handle fire?" the voice that came through his communicator seemed to ask him, sounding as though it belonged to one of the females, "Well, it's edible, so I guess Immune would be where I'd say, haven't tried eating any hotter than normal fire yet though, might have a good taste if she heats it up more" Draco then responded into the communicator.

 

Draco turned his attention back to the fight at hand after responding, only to find the burning female floating up from the building, a large amount of fireballs seeming to be headed out of the smoke of the explosion towards the male who had drawn her attention. Draco began to swoop down towards the female, his rough hide preventing any damage from the small amount fireballs that his path caused him to intercept though his clothes on the other hand would likely find themselves burnt. Draco's flight path heading towards the female in an attempt to grab her, isolating her with an opponent in close range who she couldn't harm sounding as good an idea to him as any the others may come up with within those few seconds. If Draco managed to grab the female he would spin with her in his grip, an attempt to keep her facing him and engaged with him if she managed to escape the hold whilst revealing her back to the others where they may attempt to strike.

[Love of Ghibli]

V could only tilt his head as it seemed that the cause of this fire was some fire based woman. Pity...it didn't look all that special. In fact V was pretty sure the beast was whining about something. But that is besides the point. It started making attempts on his teammates and friends. This can only lead to one natural conclusion. The creature must die! Besides its what the family would do in a situation like this. They usually take the more violent approach to solving disputes and with the addition of Hellfire making bodies disappear was not that hard. So that was it V decided to rush into the scene. 

As he got closer to the incoming barrage of fireballs he simply extended his right hand and the chains formed a spiral pattern. Then he coated the chains with Hellfire which acted as a makeshift barrier from the fireballs. It was innovative to say the least. He ran through the fire and quickly followed behind his teammate Draco 

 

"And thus I clothe my naked villainy." He "spoke" as he noticed Draco take flight to further engage the woman in close range combat. Making sure not to get in the way V used his chains to scale a nearby building and which he then proceeded to slingshot himself to the other side of the flame deity with black flames surrounding his chains and in addition to that changing the individual links so that they are now barbed to do extra damage. As he hovered in the air for a second more words seemed to emanate from him. With old ends stolen from holy writ. At this moment he extended his chains to wear they made some sort of make shift cage for the airborne combatants.

 

Finally, And seem a saint when most I play the devil. The two ends of the chains shaped into spear heads coated with the Hellfire hoping to split her straight down the middle both horizontally and vertically.  Of course V was careful in making sure that his teammate was in no grave danger as well.

[D.A._Sakuyamon]

Denila had done a decent job with taking care of the fires when an odd rush of cool air came from out of nowhere. Although she could see the majority of the fires, something told her that they had dimmed. At that moment an explosion could be heard from far away and almost instantly after her earpiece chirped "Adrienne, Denila. We need you." Seems her "teammates" were in trouble. This pleased her but she was annoyed that at least one of them knew her name when she hadn't even spoken to anyone. Well now she knew one of her teammates name, though she had no face to place it on. Anyways, back to the task at hand. It wasn't likely that the firefighter would be of much use. She would however keep him long enough to guide her to were the explosion had occurred. She figured starting there would be the most logical place to start at for finding her teammates.

 

"Hey, I want you to point me in the direction of where that explosion happened. After that, I'll let you go. It'll be to dangerous for one such as yourself to be near."

 

The firefighter guided her close enough that she could hear fighting. Sure enough this was the place. She let the firefighter go and flew the rest of the way. She still had about two thirds of the supply of water she had gathered. She figured keeping it might come in handy. Once she got close enough a ball of fire entered her field of vision. She squelched it almost instantly. Several more appeared and all dealt with in the same fashion. Some of her water supply however was depleted due to the extreme heat. She could hear people moving about and she figured these people were her teammates.

 

"Hey, I'm here. I don't know exactly whats going on and I'm not about to let this water go to waste just to see briefly. I need someone, who is likely next to useless right now to be my eyes. That and someone tell me whats going on."

 

Denila floated to the ground moving the water out of the way as she did so. She waited there, useless until someone decided otherwise.

 

[spoiler=OoC]

Denila's hair is still down and she's also a bit wet. Her field of vision is a full 360 degrees within 15 feet of her. So whether someone shows up behind her or in front of her she'll know your there.

[/spoiler]

[Ren✧]

Now that the last remaining members of the group had arrived, Sin tried to find where she would be the most use. "I don't know exactly what's going on and I'm not about to let this water got to waste just to see briefly. I need someone, who is likely next to useless right now to be my eyes. That and someone tell me what's going on." Denila instructed. Sin was taken by surprise to see that a decent sized pool of water floated around the girl, trapped in a blue aura, the same color that her eyes glowed. 

 

"I think that's me." Sin volunteered, hoping that she could at least prove useful in this way. She explained to Denila the figure that they were facing, hovering so far above them. Currently, the situation seemed to be turning in their favor as Draco and V joined the fray, able to create further chaos for the elemental as Jaden continued to deliver blow after blow with his sword. "Perhaps you could douse her flames?" Sin suggested, pointing to where the figure was in the sky, hoping that it would give Denila some direction.

 

Turning, Sin saw Adrienne looking to where she could help. "I think Caitlyn needed some cover." Sin said, rolling out of the way of stray fireball that came flying at her. In the process, she grabbed Denila by the hand to safely move her out of the blast range as well. "Could you do that?" Sin asked.

 

---

 

Up above, the elemental was finding itself in quite the predicament. Having been nearly neutralized by the large, draconic being and the man shrouded in bandages, the sword slashes continued to find their mark. "...IT BURNS!" She screamed in pain, although it appeared that she was talking about the fire that raced across her body and not the numerous wounds she was enduring. "..soo...HOT!" With her final exclamation the majority of the fires that kept the group confined immediately went out. Several small fires still burned around the city, but nothing like to the intensity it had just been.

 

The flames, instead, funneled upwards, immediately feeding into the elemental. The three heroes that were at close range, no doubt, began to back off, but were not able to so in a fast enough manner to completely escape the force of her next attack. Erupting out from her, a massive wave of heat spilled outward. It wasn't in the form of fire, but rather near invisible energy. Several of the members on the ground looked up, able to just faintly see the heat wave roll told them at an alarming pace. Having already overtaken those that were close to the elemental, they would have to worry about themselves.

 

"Take cover!" Sin cried.

[Hälō]

Oliver remained stationary, allowing Jaden, V, and the dragon kid to continue their assault on the elemental. Even though he already knew that most forms a physical attack would be useless against the creature, he had to at least be sure that nobody on the team had a practical way to snuff out her flame, before he put his own plan into motion. Turning to Denila in response to her asking for someone to be her eyes, he realized that that the girl appeared be holding a sizable amount of water with some form of telekinesis. That could be useful… 

 

Luckily, Sin volunteered to aid  the girl, allowing Oliver to continue observing the fight. It had seemed the other three had actually managed to gain some kind of advantage over the creature, but just as another one of their attacks connected; the Elemental began gathering vast amounts of heat energy. All the flames in the area seemed to be called back to their source, and moments latter there was a massive spike the the area's temperature. 

 

Sir, I’m picking up massive amounts of energy heading our way. It would be advisable to fall back. Margret's warning chimed in through his helmet. 

 

But Oliver didn't need Margret to know that he and his team were in grave danger. The heat wave was strong enough to be visible, seeming to roll through the air as it engulfed the three that had been engaging the elemental in close combat. “V!”  Oliver allowed himself a moment to call out to his friend, before turning back to Denila and Sin.  “We need move, NOW.” he barked into his communicator. 

 

Using his augmented speed, Oliver was able to close the gap between him and the girls in seconds. Bringing himself to halt directly in front of them, he crouched into a runner's stance. "Hold on, just don't let go of the water! " His voice oozed urgency, as he attempted to grab both Denila and Sin by the waists, before using the strength granted by his suit to leap a safe distance away from the blast. The others would have to fend for themselves.

[StealthyTyranitar]

Adrienne nodded readily at the suggestion, then realized what she was doing. "Uggh, fine, I'll help out the gun-lacky...." Adrienne commented, sneering and rolling her eyes. She then realized that though the woman was a bit of a bitch, she was a person, and better yet, a team member. She also realized that she was someone that she was not only going to live with, but someone she was going to fight alongside, a partner against evil. She didn't have to like Caitlyn, but she did have to tolerate and respect her, as well as protect her when she could.

Okay, I've got to figure a few things out first: número uno: How the heck am I going to get up there? She worried, looking at the building that Caitlyn was currently on with a puzzled look on her face. It was taller than 20 feet, so by the time she ran over to the door, climbed the stairs, and got up to Caitlyn's position, a fireball would find its mark. Her next option was one that would undoubtedly end in pain for her, but undoubtedly less than not would for Caitlyn. It was an ability she had struggle to get a handle on, but strived to learn. She thrust one foot forward, the ground under it shifting a little, then swung her arms back to look like the Naruto guy from her sister's comic books running. Around her feet, the ground around her feet shifted, to lean at a 15 degree angle, approximately. Adrienne took a deep breath, then blasted the ground under her upwards. Adrienne was flying, on course, towards Caitlyn's position. Maybe flailing would be a better verb. Her limbs flung wildly in the air. This was definitely not her element, in the air. "I immediately regret this decision!" She yelled. She had perfected the launch, but a landing was something she was still working on. She slammed hard into the rooftop. Adrienne's vision went black for just a moment, before she shook her head. She checked all her teeth for cracks or absences, but there was full and healthy attendance. Adrienne got up slowly, grimacing, only to drop to the ground again to dodge a fireball. Adrienne got her first good look at the fire beast. She was just a girl, not much older than she. Adrienne turned on her mic. "Please, unless you have to, and I mean unless it's absolutely necessary, as in 100% life or death, do not kill that girl. I repeat. Do. Not. Kill. Her." She commanded, before standing up. She had left a skid on the roof, about five feet long.

Numero dos: How am I going to provide Caitlyn with cover? She thought about using her armor and being a human rock, but decided it would be extremely difficult, not to mention awkward. That left her current skills to building a pile of pebbles which also was not going to work. It was time for Adrienne to innovate with her powers. There wasn't a lot of concrete on the building, so she didn't have a lot to work from. Taking a look at her surroundings, she came to a realization: if she could knock it over, a concrete support from a building directly next to her could provide Caitlyn with both cover and more mobility. "I'll be right back!" She yelled behind her before rushing off to take care of the support. As she ran, she covered in her armor, then used her concrete thruster in miniature form to launch herself over the ledge to the next building. She wailed on the support, waiting for it to tip. She heard it start to give way, and backed away, "Timber!" She hollered as the concrete fell. It landed on the building with a thud, providing Caitlyn with a 4 feet thick, long piece of cover. Adrienne ran across it, diving behind it as another fireball zipped past her.

As the fire began to retreat, Adrienne frowned. It didn't look like they had own yet, as the girl was still flaming and looking pissed. She realized that the woman was charging something up. She grabbed Caitlyn's sleeve, not giving Jericho of a choice in the matter, and pulled her close, covering them both in her stone armor and rolling them behind the cover, just in time to feel a white hot heat wave to rush over them. The usually cool stones heated, bringing the inside of the armor to about 100 degrees. Adrienne felt her neck get sticky and her shirt stick to her. She held it until the heat wave passed, then released the both of them from the armor, stood up, and nodded to Caitlyn, smiling awkwardly.

[D.A._Sakuyamon]

"I think that's me."said the person that had radioed Denila. That person got within her range and explained the situation at hand. Apparently there was some kind of female fire elemental that was the source of all the fire. It'd also explain why every so often a stray fireball would enter her vision. Denila could at least place that this person was female but had no name for her. It couldn't have been Adrienne as this person had called for Adrienne. In any case, once she was done explaining she suggested "Perhaps you could douse her flames?" and pointed in the direction of above her to where the fire elemental was.

Denila was annoyed with the suggestion since she'd asked to be pointed in the right direction, no need for the person pointing to suggest it. Still she had the water compress down in a corkscrew shape with one end, ending exactly in the direction the girl had pointed. Like using a sprayer she let out a short burst of water strong enough to erode through solid concrete in seconds.

Denila made note of the name Caitlyn when it was mentioned. At the moment the person directing her moved her out out of the way of a fireball. Though that didn't do much good as the fireball was squelched almost instantly.

Up above Denila could her the screams from a girl whom she could only assume was the fire elemental based on what the person next to her had briefed her. However, it could also be this new Caitlyn person. It suddenly had gotten colder around Denila which could have indicated that the fight was over. That seemed unlikely though cause no one was cheering. Denila was not one of the people who looked up cause for her direction movement didn't matter. Take cover! exclaimed the girl helping her.

 

Denila didn't think this was important till someone came rushing at the two at high speed who then stopped immediately in from of them. Hold on, just don't let go of the water! said the person who felt like a guy. It seems whatever was coming was huge and while she might be safe the other might not be able to make it out in time. She found it amusing to no end that this guy thought she could lose control of the water. She in the future might have to explain why such a thing wasn't so easy to lose focus of. Denila pondered the thought of teleporting the three when the guy grabbed the two and leaped. She might as well she thought, they are her teammates after all. At that moment Denila teleported the three of them and the water a block away. Upon arrival, they were still pulled upward from the momentum gained from the guys leap.

[ANBU]

Draco kept the flaming female still as the others continued to attack attempting to wear her out, this seeming like it was working as the fires seemed to thin, something able to be felt by a sudden lack of heat, the feeling of victory that came with this however being short lived. Draco began to feel heat, something normally incapable at this form as the elemental had launched some sort of wave of pure heat energy, the small burn like feelings it caused enough to cause Draco to begin attempting to back away of before the brunt of it hit. As Draco attempted to move back he found himself engulfed in the wave of heat, something that physically didn't affect him anywhere near as severely as it would the other teammates who he looked for, finding them to seem to be escaping it.

 

As the wave of heat finished passing over Draco the pain the heat caused was able to bring out his most painful memories, bringing up the feeling of heat and pain that was around during his first transformation, such memories causing him to slip out of control, with the personality of Drakon having become more dominant due to the sudden burning feeling of the heat. To the others Draco would appear mostly fine, if slightly off color, this almost fine appearance however would not be retained in his actions. Drakon now in control began to close the distance that had been left between himself and the female who had caused that heat along with moving above her. A noise from his mouth escaping that would sound to the others much like a dragonic roar able to be heard all around without the communicators being used, this sound followed by his own flames, these flames seeming to follow a pattern into a large rounded cone like shape. The shape of the flames ended near the female, the flames caused by Drakon slowly burning out the nearby oxygen that would supply her flames with life, this lasting for a few seconds before he would stop, likely too short a time to cause any damage to the elemental.

 

As the flames from his Dragonic form disappeared Drakon then dove towards the female and attempted to slam her with his arm, the speed of his dive, increased by folding his wings around him temporarily to provide less of a buffer for the wind, increasing the damage this would cause if it connected. The damage the blow could cause being much beyond what the being may have endured in previous hits considering his hardened scales, increased muscle mass and the fact that underneath the fire of this being may lay some sort of average human body with no physical reinforcement which may not have been hit which the scales would strike through the flames. If the blow connected Drakon would swing his arm around to attempt to with brute force increase the damage it would cause, his primal instincts leading him to attack what had caused his body pain with prejudice. Drakon's claws and tail likely to be involved at some point during battle between the pair if he was allowed a continued engagement once he approached and attempted to attack, his body running on instinct, one which currently told him to fight.

[Cherz]

Caitlyn was getting frusterated with her bullets lack of use. Holes opened up in the elemental's body, but no sign of relent was shown. Caitlyn continued dodging fireballs in between shots and reloads. She was about to position elsewhere when she noticed a girl flying at her. She scoffed and stepped a few feet to the side, watching the anything but graceful girl land. She shook her head to the side and scoffed.

 

"Sloppy." She reprimanded in a harsher tone. At least the woman did something useful for her. Adrienne had made some cover for her. It was something she could use. She used it to her advantage. trying to take out spots in the body that were vital. She aimed for spots in the hand, arms, and legs. Still, it was all for naught. Caitlyn fired a few more rounds, aiming precise. Bullets whizzed by V, Jaden, and Draco. All of them were close calls, but no marks or impact was made on her allies. More and more wounds opened in the elemental, and after the creature moved its mouth, the raging inferno seemed to die down.

 

Caitlyn lowered her scope, and then heard Adrienne shout a command through her mic. Caitlyn furrowed her brow and walked up to the girl.

 

"If I could have found a way to kill it, I would have already. How can you say that? Do you know how many lives are being put at danger? Well then enlighten me! Because I don't! Do YOU have any way to just extinguish her? Can YOU stop her without killing her?!" Caitlyn snapped back, clearly irritated by Adrienne's rash decision. This elemental was dangerous, and Caitlyn didn't believe that they could stop it without a casualty. It seemed like before Adrienne could even process her words, she tackled Caitlyn and created a rock shelter.

 

"What th-" Caitlyn was cut off by Adrienne tackling her. Before she could push the girl off, a wave of heat overtook the close shelter. It began to get unbearably hot, and she couldn't help sweating in the rocks. It was like an oven in there.

 

"Are you trying to melt us?" She tried to choke out, but her mouth was dry. She wasn't sure if the message got through. After what felt like hours, the rock armor became a stack of rocks. Caitlyn greedily gasped at the dry air, and coughed a bit. Caitlyn felt beyond irritated when she caught Adrienne smiling.

 

"Is this a joke? I can care for myself!" She reprimanded, raising her nose into the air. Still, this idiot team mate could be dealt with later. Caitlyn decided she would need to blow the creatures head off. That would solve the issue, or so she though. Caitlyn flicked a switch on her rifle. The barrel extended a good 5 inches, and another scope popped out. Gears and mechanics whirled and spun inside the complex gun and what sounded like pouring could be heard. Two containers in the bottom of the gun were sucked into the butt of the gun and came out the bottom. Both were empty now.

 

Caitlyn looked through the scope. A red dot found itself on the elemental's forehead. If one were to look to the origin of the light, they would see it coming out of the scope Caitlyn was looking through. She took two seconds to make sure everything was perfect, before pulling the trigger.

 

"Boom. Headshot."

[Love of Ghibli]

Needless to say V was quite dismayed at this creature's quite effective counter attack. He instinctively covered the more vital parts of his body in the Hellfire to hopefully counterattack the all powerful wave of heat that sent him flying. His burning body skipped along the top of a nearby roof as he barely managed to hear Oliver's shout through the communication array. While it wasn't the most deadly attack he was ever hit with he was certainly knocked for a loop. Instead of getting up to rejoin the battle he decided to sit still and ponder what action to take next. His chains didn't seem to have any real effect. Then again it didn't really look like the flame creature even noticed them. In the past someone would have told him to do something by now so he wouldn't have to think this much. But that was just another great part of this adventure...self-discovery. So he thought...and thought...and eventually he drew a blank. He was literally suffocating under the amount of options he had in front of him to the point that they all were moot. Wait, there's a thought "suffocation" 

 

Fortunately it seemed that the communication devices were lit up with chatter on this exact situation. Unfortunately, being so close to the initial blast seemed to have damaged his communication device so he couldn't hear everything that well.  "Please, unless *scramble*, and I *static noise* absolutely *scramble* 100% *static noise* kill that girl. I repeat.... Kill......" It was clearly a sign from the Heaven's his teammate had given him a direct order. Granted it sounded more like a plea for something not like murder, but who was he to insinuate the tones of others. He doesn't talk at all. V slowly pulled himself to his own two feet and tried to snuff out the residual flames from that elemental attack. He would quickly notice that he wasn't the only one who was somewhat angered by the fire creature's counter. One of the heroes had gone almost full dragon. V could only tilt his head as a berserk was definitely an awesome trait to have. That being said he would have to somehow keep his distance so as not to get hit in the crossfire.  He stroked his chin cartoonishly as if he was solving one of life's greatest mysteries. 

That was when his brain actually remembered his suffocation idea (from all of 12 seconds ago). He realized that he could help out by giving that creature less wiggle room and hopefully this will lead to some from of snuffing the fire out. V proceeded to extend his chains and he kept extending them with his families magic as if they would go on forever. But what he managed to do was make a aerial cage for the Drakonian and the Elemental to duke it. He even took into consideration that one of his teammates was a sniper so there were plenty of holes for her to exploit and have her head shot uninterrupted.

[Ren✧]

Jaden was surprised by the advantage the team was gaining. What had previously looked to be a futile fight was quickly turning in their favor. Having released the powers of The Liberator, he could feel the other presence that always accompanied the transformation. It wasn't like there was someone talking to him in his head, but more like a second conscious or another instinct. Whatever it was, Jaden could tell it wasn't okay with killing the elemental, which he could understand and empathized with himself. Heroes shouldn't make a habit out of killing their adversaries, otherwise, what separated them from the villains? Still, would it really be so heroic to allow this creature a chance at escape? After costing the city millions of dollars in property damage and no doubt killing a large number of the population? Would it really be so bad to kill her?

 

He knew what Jackdaw would say. He would tell Jaden to what was necessary, but only what was necessary. Nightingale, with a bit softer moral composure, would be against it, but Jaden also knew that the same questions he was asking himself had plagued Nightingale for years. So, basically, Jaden received a whole lot of advice and not a lot of answers. 

 

Having been caught up in his thoughts, Jaden almost missed a fireball that had been lobbed at him. Bringing his sword up, he intercepted the attack, causing the heat from the fire to wash over the unprotected parts of his face. "Ow..." He muttered, silently berating himself for take his attention off the battle. Several other members of the team had joined Jaden in the air, and together the elemental was having a difficult time combating them all. It would no doubt just take a little more pressing and they would be able to draw this battle to a conclusion.

 

No sooner had that thought passed through his head, than something changed in the atmosphere of the battle. "Jaden, I'm getting very strange readings. The amount of energy that that thing is charging up is incredible." Nightingale's warning came just in time as the first wave of the heat pulse washed over the closes combatants. Reacting with practiced fluidity, Jaden conjured a wall of light to protect himself from blast. The sea of invisible fire parted around him, but he could still feel the scorching temperature, but didn't allow himself the luxury of focusing on that. Other members of the team would soon need his help.

 

He watched as Oliver sprung to protect the tattooed girl and another female member of the team from harm, the trio disappearing in a flash soon afterwards. Caitlyn was nowhere to be seen, but there was a particularly strange rock formation that seemed to be resisting the blast, he could only hope that she had taken cover there. Those that had been in the air with him fared okay it seemed, which left the puppet-like member of the team, Mary.

 

Casting his hand out, a sphere of light energy appeared around the marionette-like woman. However, his concentration wavered, causing his own shield to crack, letting in small bits of the thermal energy. Searing a part of his leg, having found a chink in his armor, he hissed in pain. Luckily, the attacked seemed to be over however. 

 

When he turned back to the elemental, he was surprised to see that the dragon-skinned boy's transformation had progressed further and seemed to be doing a decent enough. Their advantage was quickly pressed by the bandaged figure, encasing the two of them in a chain-link cage, restricting the movement of both parties. However, none was so shocking as the sudden jerking back of the elemental's head. 

 

Suddenly the battle seemed to slow as the elemental paused in its furious attempts to escape. It's body lit up bright(er) orange, and somehow Jaden knew to instinctively turn away as the creature let out a high pitch wail before exploding violently. It had all happened so fast, he could only hope that the dragonic member of the team that had been trapped in the cage was okay. 

 

Examining the scene, there didn't even appear to be a body left, which aroused suspicion in Jaden's mystery wired brain, of the elemental. Merely a pile of ash. 

[Love of Ghibli]

Ding Dong the witch is dead and it was cause for the greatest of celebrations or so V thought inside his idealistic little head. As the creatures seemingly turned into a pile of ash after some massive explosion. It was interesting to say the least. He hoped the creature would put up more of a fight, then again maybe that is how awesome his teammates are. He didn't really have any idea on how to the beast strength but it looked like the headshot from the sniper might have been a special bullet. Naturally V retracted all of his chains to their normal length and simply jumped down from the building to go hopefully celebrate with the rest of his teammates. Though  in hindsight he probably could go out and try to stop some more fires. But first a celebration was in order.

[Hälō]

“Huh?” Oliver’s eyes widened as he was cloaked in brilliant light. A large wave a panic begun to overtake the boy, was he unable to avoid the elemental’s attack? Luckily, before he could eject himself form the suit; the light subsided, revealing that they were now roughly a block away from the battle field, still air born from his leap. Quickly regaining his composer, Oliver tightened his grip on the two girls before bring himself to a landing atop the roof a small building. He placed both girls safely on their feet, but not before giving them both a hasty inspection. We teleported …? 

 

“Is everyone alive?” Oliver spoke into his communicator as he turned back towards the action. The fight seemed to have already reached its climax, but he was still just in time to be nearly blinded by the light that the creature emanated as its swan song. “Son of a b****!” He grumbled under his breath, before ripping off his helmet. Oliver’s soft blond hair was now completely matted with sweat, and he struggled to keep it from falling into his eyes. Turning back to his two teammates, he motioned towards battlefield, and said. "Looks like we're done here..." He let out sigh, and flashed them a tired smile. "So does anybody wana teleport us back? Or do I have to carry you guys again?"

[Ren✧]

Adrienne stared at the spot where the elemental had just been. No. She refused to think that it has just been an 'elemental'. It was just some creature. It wasn't a monster. It had been a person, of that, Adrienne was sure. The way it had cried out, like it was in pain. There was no doubt that 'it' is a 'she'...was a 'she'. "Why...why did...you... WHY DID YOU KILL HER?!" Adrienne screamed, whirling around to face Kaitlin. Tears started to appear in her eyes and after losing a battle to keep them in, they rolled down her face. Suddenly, the image of her sister dead replaced the pile of ash. That had been someone's daughter. Probably someone's sister. Maybe someone's girlfriend or wife. "...she was..."

 

"Oh, shut up, would you?" Kaitlin snarled, putting her rifle back in its place. "She was a danger to not only you, but also the entire city. She had to go." Kaitlin practically spat out. This ungrateful little girl had no right to find fault with what she did. It had been a necessary precaution. "Grow up and realize that sometimes, we need to kill to get the job done." Those were her final words before she stalked off, eventually reaching ground level. 

 

Adrienne, however, stayed there on her knees, still blinking away the last images of her sister hanging from the ceiling. The few bits of rock that still composed her armor fell off and disintegrated to pieces. Tears flowed freely for awhile, before she wiped them away. Maybe Kaitlin was right...

 

---

 

One moment, Sin was in the line of fire, running for cover when she felt Oliver scoop her and Denila up. Then, she felt her stomach turn upside down as they appeared almost a block away from the action. "What th-" Sin's exclamation of surprise was cut short by a brilliant explosion from where the battle had been raging. "Oh my God!" Sin said, afraid that perhaps the elemental had gained the upper hand. 

 

"Did you teleport us?" Sin asked Denila. "Can you get us back?" 

[ANBU]

Drakon continued his enraged assault on the female elemental, claw and tail coming into the fight to attempt to inflict more harm before the elemental's head suddenly whipped back. Drakon undeterred by this continuing his attempted assault before being caught in the explosion of heat energy that came after the female's wailing, this heat energy though mostly ineffective at permanent damage due to his physiology caused the Dragonic Being more pain than what he had been submitted to so far, his rage growing more intense. As Drakon looked back about to attempt further assault he would find the female missing, a spout of flames leaving his mouth before he roared once more, headed towards the chains that surrounded him as if to break through before finding them retracting, this retraction allowing him through with no obstacle.

 

Drakon then landed inside the building the elemental had came from, a large crashing sound capable of being heard from within as wood broke underneath him, another jet of flame escaping his mouth as he scorched and likely relighted the flames that had previously consumed the house. "Destroy" he then roared, the word sounding barely human and being one of very few words Drakon had been capable of using with most of the ability for any sort of talking being only held by the host of the body, Draco, who had fallen out of control and was forced to watch the destruction caused by Drakon's rage. This destruction causing more sounds that would've likely alerted the others even if they didn't hear what he had roared, the rage of Drakon who was run by instinct wanted to break whatever and possibly whomever if he was interrupted to satisfy his berserk rage.

[D.A._Sakuyamon]

Denila said nothing as others requested to be teleported back. She wasn't sure how useful the water would be anymore but decided to keep it. Though, he space it was taking up was getting in the way so she condensed it down into the size of a baseball. Who knows, a super pressurized ball of water could come in handy. With that she teleported herself and the others back to where they had just been. She couldn't see what was going on but she heard the snapping and crunching of wood. Maybe that fire elemental burned out but still had a solid shape.

 

"I'll still need some eyes."she said and ran towards the direction building the noises were coming from.

[Ren✧]

A wave of nausea washed over Sin as she was teleported back to the scene of the battle, however; she was given no time to take in her surroundings because as soon as the group landed a stream of fire jetted towards them. "Denila! Right in front of us!" Sin screeched, knowing there was nothing she could do to protect herself or her teammates from the white hot stream of fire. Reacting incredibly first, the young psychic sent the compressed sphere of water to intercept the nearing flames.

 

Upon impact, the water exploded like a canon, drenching everyone around them and immediately quelling the fire. Sin opened her eyes and realized that the fire had not come from the elemental, but from a dragon-like creature that now dominated the scene. "Draco?" Sin asked in disbelief. The dragon let out a high-pitched roar and lunged at her. 

 

Now more prepared, Sin animated several of the hexagonal discs that checkered her arms and sent them careening at her reptilian teammate. They stopped the attack, dazing the viciously hostile Draco. Sin took the opportunity to think of a plan. She noticed that Kaitlin was now on the ground and was preparing to take a shot at Draco. "No." Sin said into the communicator. "There's been enough death today." Kaitlin rolled her eyes and reluctantly lowered the rifle. 

 

"Fine, what's your plan then, princess? How do you plan to stop a monster like that?" Kaitlin asked. Sin didn't know how to reply, so she didn't. Besides, Draco was gaining awareness of his surroundings and looked thoroughly pissed off at Sin. The dragon lunged again, but before it could get very far, tendrils of blue energy wrapped around Draco's extremities, halting his flight.

 

Mary, now perched on the side of a building, struggled to maintain her hold on the dragon. It was obviously a losing battle and she wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. Fortunately, Sin had thought up an idea. "V, contain him." Sin ordered. The bandaged member of the team reacted quickly, obviously good with following orders. His chains moved to reinforce the hold that Mary had established. 

 

Now, the rest of the team watched as Sin moved closer to the snapping and snarling dragon. If he decided to blow fire, there was nothing that Sin would be able to do to stop herself from being burned. "Draco. It's over. You're not in danger." She said calmly, holding her out in front of her.

End of Episode

 

Three Weeks Later...

 

 

Episode 3- Power Struggle

 

The Team was scattered about the Training Room, facing off one-on-one against a sparring partner. It had been three weeks since their last mission, but you could still feel the awkward tension that permeated the air. Adrienne and Kaitlin continually shot scathing looks at one another, and Draco's face was a mask of guilt and worry as his continuously replayed how he had lost control in the battle. 

 

He had yet to fully explain to any of them just what happened out there, but he had offered more than one long, heart-felt apology. Still, he felt terrible for endangering the others like he did. Especially Sin, who had been the one to calm his rampage. And as luck would have it, he had been paired up to spar against her. 

 

It was obvious that Sin didn't have any ill will towards him, although she was mighty curious to learn more about the dragonic member of the team. However, now wasn't that time. Under the watchful eye of Sarge, there was no room for chit-chat in their sparring sessions. 

 

Sin planned to wait for Draco to make a move against her, and which point she planned to grapple on to his extended leg or arm and bring him down with the full of her body weight in addition to the momentum that the failed attack would hopefully bring. 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Jaden stood in the training room, doing a few deep breath exercises as he slowly sighed. This plan of Sarge's was the WORST thing he could've even come up with. Well, in a sense anyway. The team were split up in one on one pairings and forced to brawl against each other...but without weapons. He could understand most with them having firearms, but the swords were sort of a necessary means to an end for him to assess the situation of his teammates. However...he would be able to assess one's skills further...

 

"KUDO! Your up against Oliver!"

 

A small smirk appeared for a brief second as he saw Oliver step up to face him. "Well well, guess I get to test out your skills a bit more, Hacker." he said as he got in a fighting pose, seeing his opponent do the same. "Don't hold back on me...cause I'm going full force on you."

 

Training Bout...BEGIN!

 

Jaden, true to his word, made the first move. In a quick fluid motion, he went from punch to punch, sending off to a strong side kick. Now, provided his opponent would block the attacks (more specifically the kick), then he might stand a shot. C'mon...show me what you got, Strider. he thought with a smirk.

[Hälō]

Oliver scoffed as he took up his own stance. “Don’t worry, Bird boy, I promise not to disappoint.” He shouted as Jaden began his assault. 

 

He weaved the other boy’s initial punches with relative ease, but just as he thought he had established a rhythm, Jaden let loose a powerful side kick. Raising his arms in a guard, Oliver was just able to defend the attack before stumbling back a few inches. Strong. Oliver thought with sneer. And obviously well trained… Let’s see if we can use that against him.

 

Regaining his composure, Oliver threw a vicious backhand towards Jaden’s head. Anticipating his opponent’s ability to dodge, he then feigned an attempt to grab Jaden by his collar. Knowing all too well that Jaden was trained to be able to effortlessly defend against such an amateur attack, Oliver waited for the counter. If his opponent fell for the feint, Oliver would cock his free hand backwards, before thrusting it forward in an brutal open palm strike. "Try this one!"

 

[Love of Ghibli]

Everything was getting more and more awesome by the second. It wasn't a full three weeks ago when the team had achieved their first successful mission and now it was time for a sparring session. Granted during the down time V had received many letters from the family. One would expect them to be well wishes and salutations but in fact it was what little information they could dig up on the rest of the team. It always pays to be prepared. Besides this was the first time that the family has let one of there little birds out of the nest before it could fly on its own so naturally they would take try to help out when they could. 

This new round was going to be a completely power free martial arts fight. Meaning that V couldn't use his chains. Which was...different. Naturally he wanted to inform the Sarge about how important the chains were to his lifestyle, but how could he do that if he couldn't even speak. He chose to obey the mans rules as everyone went into their individual sparring rooms. He looked around and realized that his opponent was going to be a female. Which was weird for a couple of reasons. His opponent and he were the only two combatants who didn't have some emotional trigger. Its almost as if they were the remaining two. Second his opponent was Denila, clearly an awesome female but she seemed to be one of those people especially chosen for her abilities. Whatever they may be. 

The only thing V could think of doing was waving as a sign of hello then he followed up with a thumbs. He was thinking about letting her have the first hit, but then the thought about offending her lady hood crept in skull and shook his head vigorously. Then ran at her vigorously. His speed was slightly above average seeing as he didn't have a bunch of chains weighing him down.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Jaden was impressed that Oliver blocked the side kick, as he smirked. "Not bad, not bad at all." he chuckled as he brushed his thumb on his nose, as he waited for Strider's counter attack...and he wasn't disappointed of his rival's strike.

 

A feint backhand, it was expected. He quickly blocked as he pushed the feint back in a block. However, what was next impressed him more...an amateur move by a collar grab. Rookie mistake... he thought with a smirk, as he countered it by grabbing his opponent's arm, locking it in an arm-bar. This was a plan that Oliver thought of, as his quick strike hit his chest.

 

Jaden groaned as he was pushed back a bit, the wind knocked out of him for a quick moment. "Heh...not bad, Hacker..." he said as he looked at Oliver, before taking a running start, as he did a spinning jump kick at Strider.

[ANBU]

Draco readied himself slowly assuming a competent stance as the Sparring match between himself and Sin was started watching the female carefully as she also readied herself. "I'm sorry, but it would seem since this is to help each other train and since it's you, holding back may seem impolite, this might hurt" he said quietly as he looked towards her, these words said just loud enough for her to hear so that Sarge would likely not hear them and punish him for talking when they were meant to be sparring. Draco then dashed forwards suddenly, a feat which given his build and stance would seem quite awkward if not pulled off so easily into an attack, Swinging his body around as he brought the back of his left hand up at an angle, aiming to strike with a backhanded blow after the spin which had come just as suddenly as the dash that led into it. The angle which Draco spun and moved his arm would cause his momentum to have been changed, going from the high forward momentum of his dash to being relatively backwards and vertical, as if the strike was planned to counteract an attempt to stop his opening blow. If the attack went as planned he would follow the backhand up with a quick punch from his right hand towards the female's gut, not enough for any real damage, the blow being swung with the intention of winding his opponent and keeping them on the defensive where he could determine the pace of the combat, without being at the level of strength where it could cause real harm.

[Ren✧]

Sin hadn't expected such a quick reaction from Draco, she had thought that maybe she would be able to take advantage of his bigger frame and outmatch him with her own speed and agility. This was obviously a mistake, and one that Sin often made. Just because an opponent was bigger, didn't mean they were slower. She would keep that in mind, but for now she had to focus on regaining control of the battle. Draco's attack had proven to be more or less successful. Having recovered from his initial hit, the punch to her gut had been minimized by Sin taking half a step backwards, causing his fist to only graze the side of her ribs. It was still painful, but not as stunning as it would have been if it had winded her.

 

Moving smoothly, Sin ducked to the ground and performed a sweeping kick in hopes of bringing the bigger boy crashing down to the ground. Should that prove successful, she would move to pin him down the full weight of her body and use her strong thigh muscles to immobilize his arms, stopping any form of counterattack. She might just be able to pull a win out of this yet.