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lillaxtrigger · 3 years

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Young hope: Chapter47

None but a few prominent stars above twinkle above the streets of Vienna, the sheet of lights illuminating the streets blanketing the night sky in a near thick black fog looming over atmosphere above Austria’s capital. A calming tranquil is all that travels through the almost empty roadways of the once bustling city, most of the buildings that line the sidewalks left recently broken into; the brickwork that once made its up its sturdy walls now cracked and on the verge of collapsing. The only outlier to this decay and destruction being the bank left upon the very end of the street, left almost untouched. That is until the tranquil peace of the night is staunchly broken when the front doors of the bank suddenly explode open from the inside in a kaboom of fiery metal and glass; a crew consisting of about six masked people racing right out from beyond the smoke with sacks filled with currency race down the steps. A beaten and bruised pickup truck comes around the corner and screeches to a halt out on the curb just in time for the robbers to jump right on inside the back; the truck racing away from the bank as siren lights glow from around the corner; the Vienna police fiercely pursuing straight after them.

As the local authorities tail the runaway pickup, one of the officers peeks out the window with a rifle in hand and takes aim at one of the robbers sitting in the back; the cop firing out only to hit the corner of the top. Everyone sitting in the back ducks down underneath as the police that pursue them continue to fire upon the truck; the constant bullet fire making it difficult for any of them to peek out for even a moment. Its then that one of the robbers digs through a toolbox laying beside them and pulls out a grenade from underneath the screws and tools; the criminal almost immediately pulling the pin and chucking the explosive out to the pursuing officers Rolling right underneath one of the pursing police vehicles, the grenades explosion practically sends the cruiser flipping through the air; the other pursuing vehicles screeching to a halt as the one in the middle crashed down before them.

With the chasing officers having been taken care of, the driver of the pick up lets out a relieved breath from underneath their mask as they peer back at the road ahead; that relief shattering when discovering a lone figure standing right in their way. The lights of the pickup quickly unveil the leader of the Vanguard League combat department standing in their way as she holds out nothing but a single hand against the approaching vehicle, the truck’s front utterly destroyed as it crashes against her as Cayenne herself stands unmoved. With the engine of the pickup having been utterly destroyed, the leader shoves the truck away and watches as it slides across the concrete road; some of the robber flung right out from the truck bed as it comes to a grinding halt.

Arising right out from the pickup bed in a dizzy, one of these robbers stand up to witness the spice queen slowly strolling towards then; her red green gradient eyes glowing against the shadows as she stares to them all with a menacing glare. Left panicked by the approaching young woman, the robber in the truck bed ducks down to pull out a rocket launcher; resting the neck of the deadly explosive weapon onto the top of the truck as they take aim towards the nearing girl. Cayenne lunges forth when finally realizing what weapon the robbers are using, yet proving just too late as they pull the trigger and fire the lethal explosive right at her; the rocket engulfing the streets in smoke as it blows up right in her face.

Yet despite taking the blunt of the explosion at point blank, the spice queen leaps out from the smoke with next to no sign of serious injury as she races towards the truck; Cayenne rising to the rocket launching robber and knocking right out of the truck bed with but a single kick. In standing upon the top of the truck, the combat leader discovers one of the robbers pulling out a double barrel shotgun from behind and attempting to take aim right at her; the young woman springing right off the top of the pickup and pouncing out to the gunner to deliver a swift punch to the face. Peering away from the knocked out robber, Cayenne finds another of the criminals taking aim at her with a magnum pistol; the spice queen firing out a laser from her eyes to knock the gun right out from the gunners hands. The delinquent letting out a pained scream as their hand is left scorched from the hot rays.

The driver of the pickup starts to reawaken from the dizzying crash, left with tears across their mask that reveal some cuts and bruises; the driver left at an instant fright when the spice queens arm punches through the front windshield and grasps the robber by the collar. Cayenne tosses the robber onto the rough concrete road as more officers finally reach the scene; the attempted robbers all rising from the ground as they prove utterly surrounded. “Got shit under control here. You guys doing okay?” the leader asks, pressing against the communicator in her ear.

“Oh, you know. Could be better?” Opal claims midst the constant sound of ricocheting bullets. Behind a wall of upheaval earth does the watery fighter sit beside Ryu, Raleigh, and Levi as they hide behind a constant barrage of flying bullets that beat against the rock; Ryu taking a glimpse behind the raised earth to find numerous people in masks constantly shooting at them all from within the recesses of an abandoned building; the boy noticing a couple of people dressed in suits tied up behind the dozens of gunners. “They got hostages.” the young man relays. “The hell were supposed to do? We’re practically pinned.” Raleigh question. “Good thing up got me covering yer hide, city slicker. Makin some more cover should give us some room to approach.” Levi then suggests. “Levi, don’t! You haven’t fully recovered from the last gunshot wound you took a week back.” Opal warns. “Like I’m gonna let some sneaky sidewinder shot from some hooligan keep me down.” the cowboy claims, leaping right out from the earthly cover. “No!”

Taking a brave leaping bound right out from beyond the safety off cover, Levi careens through the cool night air and right above the flurry of deadly led; some of the gunners attempting to shoot him right out from the air as the cowboy descends back down towards the Earth. Landing but several feet from the line of gunners, Levi stomps upon the concrete and waves his arms in a raising motion; the earth before him breaching from the hard pavement and forming a sturdy wall of hard rock that shields against the storm of bullets. The cowboy clutching onto his chest as he lets out seething hiss, peering back to the rest of his team to declare that: “I gotcha back! Move in!”

Their earthly teammate having given the rest of them cover, Opal, Raleigh, and Ryu quickly move in to Levi’s side; all of them not even getting a moment to breathe before grenades begin to lob over the rock wall and land before them. “Shit!” Raleigh screams. Moments before the countless grenades could unleash their payloads upon the four of them, Ryu waves his arms around to conjure up a swift gale and casts the winds in all directions; the brief winds pushing all the explosives away from them and going off without doing any harms. “Auugh. Nice one, Ryu.” Opal compliments. “Alright, just who the fuck are these assholes? Did the briefing say anything about why these bastards are packing so much heat?” Raleigh questions. “Doubt it matter’s much now. Best we can do is keep these hooligans from hurting anymore folks.” “Levi’s right. We gotta find some way to get those people discreetly out of their hands.” Ryu states. “Little bit of smoke outta get’em” the fire starter suggest, a bright ember flaring on his finger tips. “With the payload they’ve stockpiled!? Absolutely not!” Opal harshly denies. “What the hell’s your idea, then?” “Uh…” Pondering upon this question, Opal peers out to the roughed up and cracked ridden roads that lay stretched before them; the gears turning in her head when noticing a fire hydrant left along the edge of the street. “I think I might’ve thought of one. Care to help a girl out here, boys?”

Arising right up from the broken concrete, the earthly cowboy stamps his foot onto the ground to uproot a chunk of stone from beneath the cement road and shoves the piece of rock straight towards the fire hydrant; the entire hydrant knocked right out from the ground in an instant. When there proves to be not a sprinkle of water spewing out from the depths of the city streets, Opal sprints straight over to the hole and begins to move her arms about as smoothly as a natural stream; the young lady motioning her hands upwards to command what water remained up to the surface. “Just a little bit, Raleigh. We don’t wanna scald anyone in there.” Opal warns. “Yeah, got it.” the firecracker addresses, swirls of flames emerging from his palms. The pyromancer casts forth these spinning fires up to the stream of water that floats above, these swirling flames almost cradling the water as its very liquid starts to evaporate into a cloud of steam. As the thick plume of freshly made steam starts to float up towards the night sky, Ryu catches every bit of the cloud within a tube of twirling gales and directs the small twister to blow the thick plume of white steam down upon the gunners on the other side of the rock wall.

All who stand within the decrepit building are left in a confused stagger as the cloud of steam comes rushing right on in, completely engulfing the inside of the broken estate in a thick foggy shroud; the gunners within left wandering about as they poorly attempt to stumble through the confusing cloud of steam. As one of these gun wielding hooligans stumbles through the thick white, they suddenly feel the meaty impact of an unexpected fist strike upon their very chin; the knuckles feeling as hardly as earthly bedrock as this surprise assault knocks the gunner right down onto the floor.

While another gunner tries their luck in navigating through the confusing cloudy steam, a hand suddenly emerges out from the unknown and takes a tight hold of their weapon; a powerful heat irradiating off from the metal of the gun and causing its wielder to let go before their hands are burned. Holding the shotgun by the barrel, Raleigh emerges out from the cloudy steam and swings the weapon straight into the masked hooligan’s stomach; the blow harsh enough to knock the gunner down onto the floor as they clutch their stomach.

Having heard these takedowns from the depths of the steam clouds, one of the gunners remains alert and absolute in the face of the confusing fog surrounding in; the gunner aiming his weapon down towards the thick fog. Despite remaining as alert as ever, the gunner starts to feel stinging cold crawl along their torso; the masked hooligan left panicking when peering down to see their bodies entrapped in a layer of crawling ice; their limbs bound to their sides as the criminal struggles in vain to free themselves from the sheet of frost. Amidst their struggling plight does a lone young lady leap out from the thick recesses of steam and shove her foot straight into the iced gunners jaw; the masked bastard sent tumbling down onto the floor as Opal lands before them.

Wandering through the steamy fog in a blind panic, the last of the gunners discovers one of the hostages they took still left lying on the floor and bolts straight towards him; the steam around the racing gunner suddenly rushing right to the masked gunners side as he suddenly feels something strike at their side. As the gunner find to had struck them to be simply a teenage boy, Ryu takes flipping leap right atop the masked hooligan and slams their leg down upon them with a devastating axe kick; the strike powerful enough to disperse the surrounding steam in a bellowing wave of gale winds.

This windy assault practically bellows out the steamy shroud out from within the building in a burst of winds, the clouds parting away to unveil every single masked gunner that had held the people hostage having been incapacitated; a few of them left shivering on the floor from either the cold or the sharp pain. “Shit, didn’t think that’d work as well as I thought.” Raleigh admits. “Yeah, really pulled through this time, Opal.” Ryu compliments. “Aw, thanks guys. Couldn’t have done it without you all.” Opal claims. “Still kinda wonder who these hooligans are anyway? Slippery sidewinders taking up folks like cowboys bringing up wild horses to a glue factory.” Levi questions, untying the ropes binding the hostages. Pushing down upon the communicator held in one of her ears, Opal relays the news to the rest of the team how: “We got things tied up around her. Pretty sure all that’s left is the mess going on downtown. Just who did you send to try and quell them?” “Ugh...Somebody I sure as hell hope doesn’t make things worse.”

The downtown streets of Vienna are left aglow in a blanket of orange as countless fires plague across the district, cars, buildings, trees, even signs all left engulfed in vicious and consuming hellfire; the smoke emanating from this blazing fury wafting through the midnight sky. In the midst of these flames do dozens upon dozens of people run through the blazing streets with weapons in hand; while some of them inflict property damage upon the buildings that make up the lavish downtown district, others fight off the violent advances from the from the incoming police units. With bats, batons, bombs, and guns, the clash between the rioters and the authorities rock the downtown area in a furious flurry of brutal upheaval; the misfire of a grenade careen out from the battle and break apart pieces of building in their explosive fury. These pieces of destruction plummet down to the streets below and threaten to bury those attempting to escape from the chaos. Moments before these pieces of plummeting public property could crash down upon the fleeting people, rays of color reduce the chunks of brick and stone to naught but pebbles that trickle down upon these people; a figure of blue and white streaks above them as they continue to flee from the ensuing riot.

Among the incoming police units, one of them starts to uplift a bazooka loaded with a rocket up towards another officer standing upon a military van; the officer taking a moment to aim the crosshairs towards as many oncoming rioters they could fit. Once getting a cluster of people held with target, the officer pulls the trigger and sends the lethal explosive on a one way course towards the crowd; some of the rioters beginning to panic when witnessing the rocket careening their way. Yet before the rocket could meet with its mark, a streak of blue and white swoops right along the explosives flight path and takes the deadly rocket on an upwards trip towards the night sky; the explosion from the blast parting the rising sea of fiery smoke above.

Yet from the rioters side do thing prove not as defenseless as imagined as they prove to have their own secret weapon stashed, as one of the pulls out a fucking grenade cannon from along the back of the crowd; one person loading the cannon as another mounting the seat and takes aim towards the officers. Within seconds does the oversized pipe bomb burst out from the barrel and is lobbed right over the rioters, threatening to beat down against the advancing riot police. But like with the people before does this streak of blue and white swoop right in to cast the makeshift bomb away from the officers, sending straight up towards the night sky to unleash its deadly payload; the resulting smoke from this explosion swiftly follow up towards the rest.

Having kept both of these opposing sides from ruthlessly killing one another, the blue and white streak lands atop one of the buildings sitting beside the ensuing chaos; Tore gazing down to behold both rioters and police participating in this insanity. Its no good. Seems like no matter how many people are saved from all this, this fighting with police and civil unrest just keeps going. And all of this has been going on everywhere in the city for days now? This is what Cayenne probably meant when she said the capital was destabilizing, looks a lot worse than it sounds, that’s for sure. Can’t really take much of a side, either. All we can really do is just keep people from killing each other.

With this in mind, the indigo angel casts his palms out against the people beneath as his wings let forth a colorful glow; Tore focusing on the life and energy that dwells within both police and rioters alike. Careful here, Tore. Gotta not take too much out them, else some of these people might die. Just a little bit out of them to make’em grow too tired to move. Among the countless mixture of fighting rioters and police officers, strands of colors begin to emerge from their bodies and float up towards the night sky; the indigo angel letting these strands flutter through the air as he commands more of them to slither out from the chaotic crowd below.

Back behind the advancing crowd of officers does one of them pull out a sniper rifle and aims the barrel straight out towards the rioters out in front; his crosshairs right over the head of a young man among the herd. But when it comes time to take the shot, the officer’s index finger feels too weak to even pull the trigger; his aim beginning to wane as the officers contemplates why he’s so fatigued. Following him does of the police unit start to feel the same weakness be cast upon their bodies, their eager urge to battle fading away with each passing second; some of them collapsing onto the ground and passing out. Yet the police force proves not the only one’s plagued with this fatigue, as the sensation is also cast upon the opposing rioters and citizens; some of them barely able to stand for more than a moment before falling onto the pavement. In what seemed but mere moments, the brutal and seemingly unending battle between the authorities and the unruly people had been quelled; not a soul among them holding the strength to even open their eyes, much less get back up. Kay, now for any injuries. With but a small portion of the life he had harvested from the people below, Tore sends this strands of colorful power to those left on the verge of doom and has this detached life mend their fatal wounds; bullet holes, deadly cuts, and broken limbs all healing underneath the wafting life. There we go. The bruised and beaten having been healed underneath the extracted life, the blue boy casts all the power he had gathered from the restless crowd up towards the night sky; all the colorful strands slithering through the air as they spread off in different directions.

“And the downtown riots done. That should keep things quiet around here?” Tore asks, pressing his finger against the communicator in his ear. “I doubt for very long.” Opal warn. “Yeah, since the capital is destabilizing like this, it might not even be an hour before incidents like this pop up.” Cayenne adds. “Why do you think people are acting up like this?” the indigo angel questions. “Cause their country’s heading down the shit slide, piss ass. The hell you think they’re so mad about.” Raleigh rudely answers. “Hate to say it, but the fiery city slickers got a point. Since their government wound up imploding couple month’s back, almost all imports coming here have stopped. Got people stealing stuff and fighting among themselves willy nilly like a desperate sand gecko looking to buzzard eggs on top of a mountain.” “Can’t people just stop fighting for a moment to help fix their city?” Ryu wonders. “I’m afraid it ain’t that simple, Ryu. A lot of these people have been getting shafted by this countries government even before all hell broke loose. The president getting killed by the resistance was just the breaking point; ever since, the offices have been trying to get their people rounded up to try and fix thing. But a lot of citizens don’t wanna go back to the way things were.” Opal explain. “So...what do we do now?” Tore asks. “Aside quelling the chaos going on here, our assignment is to find the resistance leader and get her to try and cooperate. Maybe they’ll back down once she’s in our custody.” the spice queen briefs to them. “And what might your plan be for all that?” Ryu questions.

The midnight air turns as frigid as a lite blizzard when coming upon the edge of a decayed university grounds; what stood as once a place of advance education was left as nothing more than a hollow shell of its former glory. “This is where the those officers said the resistance HQ is?” Ryu asks. “Yep. Whole place reportedly thick with them. Too many for the cops to do a whole ass raid on. Course that’s before they called us.” Cayenne confirms. “So fucking cold out here. It was like about what, a little chilly before? Feels like yer taking a shit out in the middle of the artic.” Raleigh complains, his breath visible underneath the chilling air. “Such a resounding train of thought. Truly no better class of analogy could grace us.” Opal sarcastically praises with. “Does feel colder than sitting on a block of ice in the middle of January here. Ain’t even sure were bundled up enough to take on this cold shoulder of mother nature.” Levi reinforces. “So...you think capturing their leader will put a stop to all the riots?” Tore questions his superior. “Can’t say for sure. But it might at least stop any more shit from hitting the fan. Give the government enough leg room to get back on the right damn track.”

Reaching down into the depths of her uniform pocket, Cayenne presents a basic blueprint of the collage campus, the spice queen explaining to the rest of the team: “So the plan I’m thinking of here is to split up into two’s to thin them out; leave us enough leeway to reach the big boss’s office. Opal and Levi, you approach from the left. The Pedrosa’s’ll take up the right. Both groups sneak their way to the middle of these wings and start to raise some hell. That’ll give enough room for this blue dumbass and I to come in from the back and head right down into the boss’s office here.” “The principals office? Seems too obvious.” Ryu points out. “What? Think these jack offs might be setting up a trap?” Raleigh follows with. “Shit’s why the indigo idiot and I are heading straight for it. Sure whatever these piss holes got in store the two of us can handle just fine.” claims their leader. “The heck makes you think none of us can take it. Once tustled down a crazed bull rampaging out in the cornfield, grabbed it by the horns and drove it straight into a rock wall my pappy raised up trying to pin it.” Levi objects. “Look, I’m-I’m just trying to be careful here, kay. I don’t want anyone’s inside’s plastered against the wall cause of any fuck ups. We doing this shit right. We good here?” “Yep.” “Yeah.” “Crystal clear.” “Right boss.” “Yeah, dowgy.” “Good, now move out.” Having carved out a plan set in stone, the six of them split off into pairs as each of them head towards a different sector of the once proud and bustling campus; Opal and Levi taking left, Ryu and Raleigh taking the right, finally with Cayenne and Tore heading around towards the back.

The left wing of the campus proves rather decrepit and torn among the frigid air as dozens of icy sheets blanketing the cracked walkways. Yet despite the freezing temperatures do armed resistance members still boldly stand, bundled in thick winter gear as they patrol through the ruins of the collage campus. But hidden from their view do both the water and earth bender traverse through the shadows in their trip deeper through the collage grounds; Levi shivering among the bitter cold enough for his teeth to start chattering. One passing patrol stops dead in their tracks upon noticing the faint noise of clattering teeth, peering their surroundings as they pull out a flashlight from his winter coat pocket. Shining the light of their torch straight against the campus, the patrol finds next to nothing dwelling among the darkness; the member directing his light before them just to find another patrol whose was left a shuddering mess. Waltzing right over to their fellow patrols side, the resistance member reaches right into their coat to pull out a thermos; the content of which steaming against the cold freezing air when the lid comes off. Offering a cup of hardy and hot soup, the young man swipes the cup right out from the patrols hand and drinks down the smooth and warming elixir in but a few big gulps; the guy letting out a satisfied breath upon finishing the cup of brew. While pouring another cup of the refreshingly warm brew for the young man, the patrol leads him down through the campus towards one of the buildings beside them; both of them unaware of both the water and earthbender hiding behind one of the statues of a professor left adorned through the yard.

Behind one of these memorials of educators once past, Opal grasp the cowboy’s shivering mouth and keeps his teeth from chattering for another moment; the waterbender whispering: “Can you stop that chattering for one second, you’re gonna get us caught.” “Can’t help it here, Opal. Air here’s seriously more cold than an icy stare looking at ya in the middle of the Arctic. How come you ain’t letting out any jitters?” “I’m practically used to these kind of temperatures, really. Felt about this cold for almost all my life.” “More used to how hot the farm lands get myself. I still remember the days Persi and I would run across the summer fields and roll around in the mud. Felt so dry sometimes that the dirt would practically chip off of us in pieces.”

“You’ve been hanging out with Persi for quite a while these past few weeks. You even ask her out on a date yet?” Opal wonders. “Tried a couple times. Just can’t get the words out lookin at those pretty sky blue eyes of hers.” “Aww, that’s adorable.” “I ain’t...I just don’t know what to do about it. Feel like everytime I try, my mind just freezes up or something else happens. Makes me so mad at myself that I can’t even say couple words to her.” “Levi, don’t talk like that. You’re doing fine. Alot of people get nervous when they wanna ask someone out. At least you got that whole childhood friend thing to give you a leg up.” “Funny thing is that, I-I never really saw her as anything but that til she got back into town. Feels like my stomach gets into more knots than a balloon snake in a circus show about every time I wanna ask her out.” “Just try and not to think about it so much. First time I asked Ryu out before Chloe did, I just cleared my mind and sprung right for it. Easy as that.” “Ya think so, Opal?” “I know so. Now come on, More patrols might come around any second and were nowhere near the middle of the wing.” the water bender assures, both her and the earth bender moving out from behind the scholarly statue. “Right behind ya.”

Out along the opposite end of the abandoned campus grounds, the other pair of the elemental team prowl their way through the shrouds the encompass the once haven of Austrian education; the only light source piercing through the shadows be the flashlights of the wandering patrols. Upon taking cover behind the corner of the dormatory, Ryu takes the chance to peer out to the other side for any signs of approaching patrol members; Raleigh beside him expelling embers from his breath to warm his hands. The airbender quickly nudges his elbow against his brother’s shoulder before warning the firebender how: “Bro, quit that. You’re gonna blow our cover.” “Piss off, will you? Fucking freezing up in this shithole.” Raleigh claims, his figure slight shivering underneath his light coat. “I’m freezing too, Raleigh. But you don’t see me complaining about it.” “Oh yeah, cus you got so much to complain about.” “I do-...Where did that come from?” “Forget it. Is the cost clear?” “No seriously, what is with you? Seems like you always try to distance yourself from our parents and I. We barely see you around the house, always coming home at like 3, mom’s worried that you don’t even try in school, Dad’s wondering what the heck you do in the middle of the night; were all worried what’s going through your head.” “Those two worrying about me? That’s a fucking new one.” “Its true. You might not see that, but they love you.” “Whatev.” A slight, but sharp embitterment surges through the firecracker from his brothers backhanded suggestion; Raleigh rising up from the frosted grass beneath him and moves past the air bender to peer around the corner. “Raleigh?” “Coast seems clear. Let’s move.” he suggests, the flame bender leaving his brother’ side when moving out from beyond the dormitory side. “Ral-...God...”

Out upon the far back of the ice plagued campus, a few more patrols could be seen wandering through the rear of the collage grounds; some mingling among one another in the native Austrian language. Yet their idle chatter proves to be an unnoticeable detriment as none of them notice a figure hovering along the very lid of the collage air, this person traversing the shadows held in the air by another that holds them in their arms; both of these mysterious people gliding right out along the main buildings rooftop dimly lit by a lone light beside the doorway leading inside. These two gently land upon the campus roof as the dim glow unveils their figures shrouded from the darkness; Cayenne letting go of Tore as she lands right beside the blue boy, asking him: “So, explain to me why you couldn’t just dim the light your fucking wings give off? You even need them for your sorry ass to fly?” “I don’t really know how much of it I can help, honestly. Mall didn’t exactly give any specific details; all he said was a Kybr’s wings represent their soul or something like that. Still don’t really know what he means.” the indigo angel claims. “The fact that you’re figuring out anything at all about what the hell you are is a step up. Gives us a fucking lot more to work with.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Nevermind. Lets just bust down in this piss ridden shit hole and beat some ass in.”

The spice queens hands are left chilled when grasping the metal doorknob, finding the way down into the campus main building locked tight when attempting to turn the knob. “Course it’s locked. Gimme a sec here.” Cayenne states, tucking her arm back in preparing to bust through the iron door. Moments before the combat leader could swing her hardened fist against the doorway, she peers back to find her blue compatriot staring out towards the horizon; his eyes peering past the Campus and out to the rest of Vienna laying beyond. “The hell’s up with you now?” “Don’t know. Feel Like I’ve been here before actually...Yeah, few months back, Mally and I went with Roy on one of his jobs here.” “Oh my fucking god. What the hell did you three do?” ‘Hmm...I definitely remember fighting this one woman who could control ice.” “And you couldn’t mention this shit before?” “Gimme a break, Cayenne. Lots happened since last I’ve been here.” “Tore, I’m being fucking serious. If you know anything about all this then-” “Cayenne, I definitely would say something if I remember. Maybe we should keep going and I’ll figure out more stuff.” “Fucking jesus.” the spice queen sighs, punching straight through the iron door leading right into the campus. “Just come on.” “Aye aye, captain.” affirms the boy following after.

The air of the broken and beaten campus grows more thick chilled the deeper in to the grounds traveled; the breath of the patrolling night guards almost as visible and thick as steam. Some of the guards more bundled up for the cold winds than others. This tranquil, yet bitter cold quiet is suddenly broken apart when one of the patrol members is struck by a slab of earth from seemingly out of nowhere; the other guards glancing back and watching as one of their own is sent hurdling across the campus yard. Just when one of them peers back in the direction the slab had flown in from, a gush of water suddenly splashes right underneath their feet; the water rapidly freezing over to leave the guard entrapped within an icy tomb. The rest of the patrol then gaze outwards to finally witness a pair of teenagers race in from the side; the blond among them leaping up and stamping onto the earth, waving his arms in a raising motion to command the earth all they stand upon to erect out in thick pillars that divide the yard. From behind these walls of erect earth do Levi and Opal hide behind the gathering guards, what gunfire they possess doing little to stand against the thick pillars. “You really think I should just go for it?” the cowboy questions. “Of course I do. I’m sure Persephone would gladly say yes to a date with a guy like you.” Opal encourages. “Aw, shucks. Yer too kind there, Opal.”

One of the incoming patrol member then steps up to the plate with a rocket launcher in hand and takes aim straight to the rock wall; the guard pulling the trigger and letting the explosive fly. The rocket lets out its furious payload as soon as it crashes against the wall, the raised earth crumbling from the sheer magnitude of the explosion. Out from the resulting smoke do the two teenagers leap towards the advancing group of guards, Levi erecting out another wall of earth as soon as he lands while Opal draws forth water from the ice that plagues the grass beneath their feet. As the earth benders barrier shields the both of them from a storm of led, the water bender swings the water she had gather from beside the wall and sweeps the liquid upon the front lines; the water swiftly hardening into frost as soon as its splashed onto the guards. The front of the guards taken down, Opal peers behind her cover to see some of the patrol readying another rocket into the bazooka; the young lady turning over to her earthly partner to warn: “Got another rocket.” “Not fur long.” Declaring such does the cowboy then strike on his own barricade with a hardy kick, uprooting the wall from the ground and sending it careening towards the rest of the forces; the remaining patrols scattering in different directions before the giant slab of earth could crash upon them.

“Where would you think I’d even take her. Know for a fact that she loves the critters at the zoo. Gets more giddy about em than a bunny hopping outta the burrow in spring.” the cowboy then follows with. “That is a good start, though I’d say you gotta add more to it than just that.” “Think dinner and movie should top it off?” “Yeah, but movie first, dinner later. That way you got something to talk about while you two are eating. I know of a theater that plays some old classics. Maybe you guys can catch a good western or maybe an old Disney movie, I don’t know.” “Good thinking there. After the movie, I’d wager we have a good time going out to the Golden Corral.” “Eh, maybe somewhere else.

Amidst their conversation does the cowboy manage to spot another of the guards taking aim from up on the roof; Levi digging his fingers into the dirt to create small cracks that travel across the frozen ground and straight up through the buildings brick wall. Soon as these lines of rock reach up to where the sniper stands, the cowboy jerks the soil in his hands back to command the piece of the building to break off; both the chunk and the sniper plummeting down to the earth. “Hmm. I know it sounds stereotypical, but I think that Texas roadhouse would be a better place for you two. I went there once when it was Junji’s birthday and the food there was actually of better quality then I thought.” “I don’t know. You see what prices they got over there. Almost 16 bucks for a small ribeye. Something ain’t right about that.” “Tell you what, I’ll cover about half of the bill for you two while you two take the other half. How’s that sound?” “Oh, I couldn’t just let ya do that fur me there, Opal. You done enough as is.” “Just think of it as a little thanks for all your help.”

Among their banter does the water bender manage to spot yet another wave of guards pouring out from around the corner, each of them aiming the barrels of their firearms straight towards the two of them. From the side of the advancing gunners, Opal reaches out for the frost that covers the grass beside them and converts the ice into a torrent of water that she slams them all into the brick wall with; the splash of water hardening back into ice just as fast and gluing them all against the surface of the brickwork. “Aight, fine. Just this once though. Don’t really feel alright havin people pay for stuff for me.” “So once that’s out of the way, how many times do you think you two will go out before you go in for first base.” “Aam-I...Never really thought that far. Might have to think about it for a sec here.”

The chaotic commotion of flinging water and earth could be seen happening from the right wing of the campus, all the guards that are spread across the frosted yards breaking from their patrols to race right over to see what was going on. Yet before even a single one of them could even depart from the east wing, a bellowing gale blows in from the south and carries all of them back; the strong winds tossing the guards from whence they came as easily as ragdolls. Right before the other patrol members could even process what exactly happened to their co workers, one of their winter coats unexpectedly combust in a furious pyre; the guard left screaming as they rolls around in the frosted grass, the ice quickly putting out the consuming flames before they burn their skin. Peering towards where their coworker stood do the rest of the squad witness a young boy with a cigarette in his mouth charge at them; every single one of the guards aiming their rifles straight towards the approaching teen. Just when they were about to unleash a storm of led upon the nearing fire bender, a powerful gale rises right up from where they stand; the gusts of wind strong enough to redirect their aim upwards and miss. When coming upon one of the stumbling guards, Raleigh’s foot ignites in a bright, red hot inferno as he kicks the guard right in the side; the guard launched right out to their fellow patrol members in a blaze as he crashed upon the squad in a fiery explosion. “I told you to fucking drop it.” the fire cracker demands.

Having witnessed this terrible act inflicted upon their fellow patrol members, one of the guards the fire cracker had missed aims the barrel straight at the kids temple; the guard’s aim interrupted when yet another incredible wind blows from below. This chilling gale tosses the guard straight up into the air as effortlessly as a fall leaf riding the breeze, the very conjurer of these winds leaping out from the shadows towards the careening guard; Ryu delivering upon to the gunner a swift wind driven kick that sends them hurdling out towards another batch of approaching patrol members and knocks them all down like bowling pins. “No, just tell us what’s going through your head to act so distinct to us. Mom and dad are worried about you.” the wind bender responds with.

Amidst this brotherly quarrel does the air bender witness another grunt emerge out from behind one of the tree’s behind his brother, the guard carrying a rocket launcher of which they fire straight behind the flame bender. Ryu acts fast and blows out an incredible gale which curves right around Raleigh and blows the explosive off course. Yet rather than careening to the side like he thought it would, the rocket alters its course straight towards him and leaps up high in the air via a rising twister; the explosive ascending after him in its eager pursuit. “Fucking heat seekers.” Raleigh curses, taking a stance and punching the air to cast forth an intense ball of fire. Seconds before the heat seeking explosive could directly hit the air bender, his brothers flames streak right past between him and the explosive; the rocket almost instantly turning its attention to the fleeting flames. Landing down onto the frozen campus grass, Ryu watches the flame and explosive that had chase after him careen out towards the front of the campus; the rocket crashing onto the earth and unleashing its payload.

When finally taking in his surroundings, the younger brother discovers himself surrounded on all sides by numerous patrols; every one aiming their sites upon the wind bender and ready to pull the trigger. Faster than any of them could react however, Ryu swiftly ducks down and starts to spin with his back against the icy grass plains; a fierce tornado blasting right out from underneath the young boy and sends the surrounding squad flying in every direction.

“Mom and dad just want you to apply yourself more, that’s all.” the wind bender continues with as he lands before his brother. “Like it all just comes so smoothly with you? Grades, sports. You ever think I don’t wanna be that kinda guy; the sort of goody two shoes kissass that goes out playing sports or whatever the fuck you do? What if I wanna take the wheel on my own life instead of just being expected to do all the good shit they want out of me. Go fight clubbing, getting in drag races, supping up cars. Why the hell should I care what they think of me when they barely give a shit about what I want outta life.” “Raleigh...I’m sorry you feel like that. I-I didn’t know.” “How would you even? They actually give a shit about you.”

Its among the brother’s quarrels that Raleigh witnesses a wayward bullet scrapes right past his younger brothers head; a chilling outcry escapes from Ryu’s breath as he clutches the side of his head, all while his older siblings looks on speechless. The firecrackers eyes peer over to discover the stray shot having come from a lone grunt still left standing among the downed others; frantically trying to reload his rifle for another shot. Before the remaining guard could even take the chance to aim his next shot, he finds the firebender having raced right up to him with fists full of flames in his hands; Raleigh swinging out both pyres upon the last of the grunts whole upper body in his fiery wrath. A harrowing screech is all that escapes from the last of the initial patrol members, his head and chest engulfed in the fiery inferno as he races away from the scene in a panic.

After dispatching the final of the patrol, the flame bender rushes straight back to his younger brothers side; Raleigh kneeling down as Ryu writhes on the frozen grass. “Fuck! Bro, you alright!?” “Ah...yeah….Just barely scraped by my ear. Thought it blew of for a minute there.” the airbender confirms, arising from the frosty grass and uncovering his ear to show just a scrape. “Fucking piece of shit should of stayed down.” claims the firecracker as he peers over to where the shooter had fled. “...Hey, bro.” “Yeah…” “If it makes you feel any better. I give a shit about you.” “Cool...Thanks.”

Coming out from the stairwell leading from the campus rooftop, the indigo angel and his spicy superior bust right through the doorway leading right into the top floor hallway; the pieces of rusted iron scattering across the floor as the two discover there be not another soul among the dilapidated and run down halls. “The hell. Expected this place to be fucking packed. Where the hell is everyone?” Cayenne questions. “Think they might be sleeping?” wonders Tore “Doubt they’d be pissing about hearing our teammates raising hell out there. Something’s up.” “I’ll say. Just look at the miserable state this place is in. Seeming like not a soul even bothered to take care of it.” “This place feels like it could fall apart at any second. Why the hell would anybody this far gone?” “Memories were made here once, fond moments that people looked back to for when they were in their prime. And seeing it reduced to this…its heartbreaking. Like just imagine somewhere you’ve had the best times of your life at, making friends, having fun, going on adventures. Then you come back years later and find the place you’ve made all those memories from reduced to this. Left with little but to barely stand on its last leg, or standing at all if your lucky. Really makes a part of you ache in that special place, you know?” “Fuck. Your making it sound like a part of you dies when this shit happens.” “Doesn’t it?”

Out from this philosophical discussion over the remorseful nostalgia of places of memories past, the duo start to hear strange noise coming from around the corner of the hall; the two of the peering out to witness something slither out among the shadows. Sliding right into the light do the two discover this bizarre shadow to hold the form of a serpent of great size; the snake boasting a lengthy ice body that splits off into heads of three, each one letting out a chilling hiss from their frosted maws. “The hell is that?” Cayenne exclaims. “Me thinks its the campus’s mascot. A little unorthodox, but I dig it.” “Its gonna be nothing but shards once were through fucking it up.”

Almost right out from the get go does the icy serpent lunge forth towards the two teens, Cayenne and Tore sliding right underneath the frosted reptile as they dodge its chilled fangs; both of them feeling the intense cold radiate off its body as they slip past. Aiming to retaliate from the arctic bite of the serpent, Tore casts out ray of colorful light out towards the snake as Cayenne and him slide across the ice plagued halls; the blue boy’s attempt to counterattack being completely dodged as the snake weaves cleanly around the deadly beam. The frosted beast bares its icy fangs as it then goes straight for the boy that tried to shoot it down; the serpent proving faster than its size suggests, leaving little time to attempt to dodge. But moments before the monster could sink its teeth through the indigo angel skin, something clutches at its rear and stops the snake dead in its tracks; Cayenne hugging the tail end of the beast as tight as she can to give Tore some time to move. Yet the spice queens grip fails to remain absolute, despite her incredible strength; the icy serpent easily escaping from her grasp thanks to its slick and smooth icy scales. Once escaping from Cayenne’s clutches, the frosted snake does a complete one eighty and go straight for the spice queen behind it; its assault almost instantly stopped when the combat leader punches one of its heads and reduces it to icy mist.

Both her and the blue boy witness the icy snake slither away from them and wallow out in a corner of the hall, Cayenne lunging out to take the chance to finish the beast off. Yet when just inches away from striking the serpent down into nothing but icy shards, the neck where its first head had once stood suddenly splits apart in a misty burst; two heads of the snake having reformed and bite down upon the leaders side and shoulder. “Fuck!” Before any of the serpent’s heads could sink their teeth into any more of the girl’s flesh, the indigo angel swoops in and smacks the beast aside; both of them watching as the icy snake slithers into the shadows.

“You okay?” the blue boy asks his leader as he starts to place his colorful glowing hands onto her wounds. “It’s gonna take more than a couple of snake bites to bring this bad bitch down.” the spice queen confirms, picking the broken fangs from her bite wounds. “Think that overgrown Popsicle ran away?” “Fucking doubt it. Probably waiting in the shadows til we let our guard down to go for the throat. If we weren’t inside this shit hole waiting to collapse at any minute, a quick breath of fire could easily melt that icy bitch into a boiling puddle. Can’t waste time dealing with its icy bullshit either. Every second we give it is one more the head of this operation has to make an escape.” “Pretty tight time frame. What do you think we should do?” Tore questions. “Hate to say it, but I think splitting up might be our best option. Think you can handle that frosty son of a bitch while I move in towards the boss?” “You kidding? I’ve faced way worse than that slippery ice noodle with teeth. Turning it into ice cubes fit for margarita drinks should be a snap. An ice sna-” “Shut the fuck up. Lets just get moving.”

Traversing deeper into the depths of the abandoned collage campus, more icy veins run across the broken and cracked wall of the inside; almost as if the ice itself was patching up the damage and keeping the building from collapsing. Both the spicy combat leader and the indigo angel slowly travel through the patchy iced hallway; the glow of the angel’s wings lighting their way as they keep their eyes peeled for any sign of the frosted serpent among the shadows. “So, how’s being a leader been going for ya so far?” Tore breaks the tension with. “Not that bad. Kind of a bitch trying to get everyone to coordinate together, but its been smooth so far. Levi and Pedrosa’ve been at each other’s throats sometimes. Fortunately, Ryu and Opal are there to jump for them if they start acting up. Saves me a shit tone of trouble.” “Huh, never really thought about what its like being charge of a bunch of people before. Sounds pretty hard.” “It can be sometimes, but it has its rewards. Trying to build Persephone up from this harmless country girl into a real bad ass fighter’s hasn’t been easy. But we’ve been making some strides. Real proud of her. Don’t tell anyone I said that or headbutt yer fucking teeth in.” “No squeals, lips sealed.”

Upon the tail end of their conversation does something emerge out from the shadows, a long string like monster lunging out from the darkness and aiming its fang towards the indigo angel’s neck. Gazing down towards the floor does the blue boy witness the shadow cast by the oncoming serpent and swiftly turns back with fist at the ready; Tore striking against one of snakes head harshly enough to reduce it to shards. Before the icy serpent could retaliate with another of its head, the spice queen follows up the angels assault with an iron hard kick; both of them watching as their ice scaled foe tumbles across the hallway as its shard spread before it. Cayenne and Tore watch closely as the serpent almost immediately start to reform and multiply its missing heads; the indigo angel taking up a stance as the spice queen behind him departs with: “Kay, leaving this shit to you. Report back in one piece. Don’t wanna wind up finding you as a frosted corpses.” “No worries boss. I outta handle this scaly freezy pop just fine.” the blue boy claims, his leader retreating deeper into the shadows of the campus.

Straight out from facing off with the blue boy, the icy serpent immediately springs forth baring its numerous icy fangs; Tore frantically every head of the beast as it attempts to bite down upon his very flesh. Just when one of these heads was on the cusp of piercing through the boy’s side, its suddenly snatched from the air by the indigo angel himself; the blue boy struggling to keep the beast in his grasp as it writhes in his clutches. Within the boy’s grasp does the hydra serpent thrust its dozen head down upon the angel while still trapped in his grasp; Tore tossing the beast back as the palm of his hand radiates a colorful glow. Having sent the icy serpent hurdling through the hallway, the indigo angel shoots out a beam of numerous lively colors out to follow after it; the ray striking the scaly hydra right at the base of its neck and shattering its numerous heads.

A tender happiness sprouts among the blue boy’s shivering body as he watches the blasted beast fall upon the cracked marble floor; that satisfaction quickly fading when witnessing the frosted serpent start to rebuild itself from the terrible blast. “No you don’t!” declares the boy, speeding towards the beast as it recovers its numerous necks. Getting up close and personal to the icy snake, the indigo angel starts hammering his fists down upon the numerous necks that sprouts from its broken body; every blow to the serpent only giving it another chance to divide. But no matter how rapidly Tore attempts to beat the icy beast down, its regeneration proves remarkably faster as some head form among the chaos and thrust their chilling maws out to the blue boy; the angel retreating back before any of its fangs could dig into his flesh. Amidst standing away from the terrible serpent, Tore watches the hydra regrow and multiply its shattered and severed heads in just a matter of moments; the number of heads the beast held before the boy reaching among the dozens. “Ooh...Oh boy.”

Naught but the bitter cold accompanies the silence surrounding the spice queen as she slowly comes upon the very middle of the dilapidated campus; the numerous frames and trophies that proudly stood among the cases lining the hallway left but a shell of their former glory as the lettering engraved stood too far gone to read. Floating right through a rusted doorway, Cayenne comes right into the main office of the collage to find nothing but cracked wood and shattered marble that were once the stands and desks; nothing but some office supplies and frozen over pictures being all that remain among the wreckage. Shit. Might be starting to see what that blue idiot was on about. This looks pretty damn bad. Wonder when this whole place was built? Depressing as fuck...Wonder how Townsville elementary is holding up?

Within her trip through the main offices of the neglected and broken campus, the combat leader carefully hovers her way towards the principals office; prepping to start swinging at what may be hiding behind the main desk. Upon coming to the doorway does the spice queen swiftly fly right in with fists at the ready; her guard then lowering when discovering not a souls standing among her, nothing but the broken furnishings and destroying carpet held within. Practically the only thing that grabs Cayenne’s attention be a sizable frame still left screwed into the wall; the German text being all that was held underneath its ice plagued glass. Understanding not a shits worth of German herself, the spice queen pulls out her phone and takes a quick pic of the frame; the combat leader than running the text through the translator and reading its words aloud. “May the light of knowledge cast aside the void of mystery, lest we all drown within the unknown. Lend us your guildless, the poor, and the ignorant; we shall satiate their hunger for the wonders of this world and all that awaits them. No matter what debt, what strife, what harm those who come have endured, they shall carve the path to their futures within these very walls. Let the gates of a better tomorrow swing open for all that seek it. The time is neigh for our minds to open. Vienna state university.” While reading what her phone has translated the frames words to hold, the very air surrounding the spice queen grows further thick and icy; the frosted veins covering the walls growing wider with each passing second. Among these moments does Cayenne finally peer down to discover this very ice swiftly climbing up along her legs to the rest of her body; all the spice queen able to do was gasp as the ice envelopes her whole. As her frozen body stood in the middle of the principals office, the cracked marble floor begins to crumble beneath her feet; the entirety of the principals office giving way and dropping the frozen over spice queen down into the dark chilling depths underneath the office.

Plummeting through the thick dark does the combat leaders frozen body finally falls upon solid ground, the ice enclosing her remaining strong as she tumbles further towards into foreboding pit. In after these short moments of tumbling and dropping that Cayenne’s frozen comes to a sliding half within the deepest part of the terrible pit; the glow of her eyes piercing through the thick ice encasing her body as she peers through her prison and into the pit that she had just landed within. Yet among the drowning and chilled darkness does a voice pierce through the void, a woman’s call speaking clear English to the young girl trapped in the icy cage.

“So...those government weasels went and called you guys, is that it? To put an end to the fear and terror the resistance inflicted upon the proud people of this country? You have little idea of what we really fight for in these harsh cold times. … You could probably imagine that this school once stood as a proud pillar of education. A sanctuary of learning where one could pull themselves out from the depths of ignorance and carve a path out for themselves towards a better future. I still remember those proud and beautiful days. It didn’t matter what background you had come from, how rich or poor you were, how broken and beaten this cruel world had left you. Its door were open to all, those waiting within willing to feed your hungering mind with the light of knowledge. Be it of fervent passions or calculating plans, these walls held about every subject and tool one could ever hope for to build the skills they needed to flourish. Such a school gave way to a diverse and multicultural crowd. Not just Vienna’s proud people, but those all across the world would gather to partake in the advancements of all. It was among these walls that I had made so many friends; some not even from this world. I realized no matter where our origins lied among this existence, we were all people in the end, living and enjoying life. I could not think of any more prominent beckon of unity and happiness… … And yet despite how long such a beckon stood, in but a matter of moments had it been decided to be swept away by the greed of those above; those who held a malicious contempt for such a haven. For with it standing, they held no gain and saw this pillar as nothing more than a parasite to be destroyed. In but hours have countless years of learning and unity been left to be no more.”

Among the encompassing void does the light shinning out from the spice queen’s eyes finally meet with the very source of this depressing and radical speech; Cayenne beholding a muscular tall woman totting snow white hair and body patched by ice step out from the darkness holding a stern and determined glare. “The day that this haven of education had been dismantled did I choose to rebel. To fight against the oppressive poison that had seeks to subjugate and destroy all that unified us. Those government swine shall be devoured by our righteous fangs”

Its after this chilling declaration that the icy woman beheld the ice that caged the combat leader begin to swelter and crack as an incredible heat irradiates from the spice queens body; the resistance leader covering her face as the ice trapping her bursts open in an explosion of steam. The frost covered lass looks back down to behold her foe free from her prison and rising from the frosted earth as steams rises from her body; Cayenne letting a small breath of fire as she gazes downwards away from the woman. “Ya really think wrecking shit and hurting people’s gonna make all that come back? All that fucking bull’s gonna do is cause more blood to be spilled? It don’t matter what sort of motive you talked yourself into; long as your putting peeps in danger like this, the Vanguard’s gonna swoop right in and shove their boot straight in your ass!” the leader of the combat division declare, her fiery red and green gaze beating down upon her chilling foe in a spicy fury.

The first act of defiance against the spice queen the resistance leader takes is to spawn forth an icy flock of living doves lined with razor sharp wings and pointed beaks, the frosty flock flying swiftly straight against the combat leader as she takes in a deep breath. With naught but a powerful exhale, Cayenne unleashes a bellowing breath of raging flames against the oncoming flock; the searing fires melting the doves into nothing but water in a matter of mere seconds. Yet this does not denture the spice queen, as she comes to witness the icy woman dash out from the resulting steam with her arms coated in blades made from solid ice; the combat leader left inflicted with a lite, but bleeding cut along her face as she evades the initial swing. “Shit!”

Aware of how deadly the icy woman’s blades of ice were, the spice queen quickly retreats right out from her range as she takes in a swift breath; Cayenne spitting out a seething ball of flames out against her foe. The resistance leader holds her icy limbs out against the incoming inferno, the frosted swords guarding well against the fires despite melting in her hands; a cloud of steam resulting from the clash of fire and ice. Before the frosted woman could conjure more ice to prepare her next move with, Cayenne zips right out from the cloud of steam to deliver a devastating punch that sends the resistance leader crashing against the side of the icy pit; small pieces of the frost fluttering around them the moment she makes impact. But it doesn’t even take a moment before she pries herself out from the ice, the resistance leader rubbing the spot where she had been struck as she spits out the blood in her mouth. “That all you got?” the ice woman taunted. “Believe me, bitch. I got plenty more where that came from.” Cayenne swears as she cracks her knuckles.

Back in the frozen halls in the campus set above, the indigo angel zips along through the icy corridors with the frosted hydra pursing right behind, its dozens of heads letting out hiss after hiss that echoes throughout the collage hallway. Witnessing its pursuit turning the corner, the multi headed serpent slithers after the winged blue boy only to find not a trace of him standing within the darkened, iced over hallway; its many heads peering into the classrooms lining the sides as it slithers through. When finding not a single sign of the blue boy anywhere in site, the frozen hydra simply slithers off around the corner ahead; one of the classroom doors slowly pushed open after the snakes departure for Tore to see the coast clear.

No good. This thing grows itself back faster than it can be broken. Need to find some way to destroy it all at once. A big enough blast might do the trick, but trying that in the middle of the hall might end badly; the whole building could come tumbling down from all that. Might be worth thinking a little more creatively here. In pondering of a way to dispatch his regenerating foe does the blue boy peek back into the classroom he had just hid in, noticing all the entire room stripped of any desks or tables; the glass of the windows left completely without a crack among their surface. These two fact get the gears in the indigo angel’s head to start turning, Tore snapping his fingers when finally coming up with something good. “Ding dong!”

The frozen serpent continues the search for its indigo blue pursuit as it slithers along through the broken and dirt ridden halls of the once proud campus, its many heads peeking into every single classroom, closet, and bathroom that it passes aside. Amidst the snakes search however does it hears a sharp whistle come from whence it came, half of the heads peering back to discover the boy it had been chasing after standing around the corner; the indigo angel taunting the deadly serpent by sticking his tongue out at it. The frost hydra wastes not another second to quickly turn around and dart straight after the blue boy, Tore left a little shocked how fast the snake dashes after him as he retreats around the corner.

Chasing right after the blue boy, the icy serpent watches the angel leap right into one of the open classrooms and races right after; the snake feverishly charging right on into the room. But its upon entering the room that the chilling serpent discover not another soul standing among the empty class; its many heads peering around the room for any sign of its pursuit, unaware of the blue boy himself hiding just above the doorway the snake had entered from. When the indigo angel leaps right onto the marble, the stomps grabs the chilled beasts attention; the serpent watching as the blue boy races right out through the door. Just when the scaly beast lunges out after the blue boy, the ice snake bashes against the hardwood as the door slams shut on him. Glaring out from the door’s window, the chilling serpent sees Tore give it a waving salute before bolting deeper down the campus halls; a colorful glow drawing some of its dozens of heads away to discover a harrowing realization.

Hovering right in the corner of the ruined classroom be an orb of colorful light, its luminescence growing more frantic as it starts to tremble in the air. In a matter of moments does a wave of lively colors explode from within the sealed classroom, the explosion powerful enough to blow the whole outer wall out along the multiple illuminating colors. Once the incredible kaboom settles down, Tore takes a little peek into what remained of the already ruined classroom; failing to find even a single shard of ice left among the devastating wreckage as all that remained was but rubble and open air where the wall facing out stood. Yeah! Like to see that scaly goon come back from that. Now that oversize Popsicle is left in pieces, all that’s left is to catch up with Cayenne and take down the boss themselves. Hope she hasn’t beaten them to a whimpering pulp yet before I can get there.

Slamming her fists against the frosted surface of the pit, the resistance leader channels the ice around her to erect out a pair of twin dragons to glide after the spice queen; their icicle rowed teeth opening up as they fly towards the young lady. Weaving around both of the deadly drakes chilling chomps, Cayenne slams her fist down upon one of the dragons backside as she slides across; the blow however only yielding to a couple of cracks left along the surface. Just as the combat leader was about to hammer down upon the back of the beast once more, the dragon’s twin swoops along and bites down upon the girl’s arms; the spice queen taken along for a ride as the cold teeth of the drake start to pierce through her skin. “Motherfuck!”

Before the teeth of the drake could dig any deeper into her limb, the spice queen delivers a hefty headbutt against the side of the dragon’s very maw; the intense blow forcing the icy beast to let go of the young lady. As Cayenne descends through the pits chilling air, she witnesses the other dragon rise right after her with its mouth agape; the spice queen slipping right by its open maw and sliding along its side until taking hold of the beasts frosty wing. Despite holding onto the drakes wing as much as she can, the dragons icy scales prove far too slick to let her keep a tight grip; Cayenne’s grip slipping away as the crystal dragon rises through the air. In her tumble through the chilled air, the spice queen discovers both of the twin dragons closing in after her in a pinching assault; one of them descending from above as the other rises from the depths. The pair of icy drakes threatening her from above and below, the spice queen takes in a deep breath of the chilling pit air around her as she begins to twirl through the air; the pair of dragons on the cusp of chomping down upon the young lady. Upon the dragons approach does Cayenne finally unleash a bevy of intense flames from the depths of her breath, the fire twirling through the air like a fiery tornado as the pair of icy dragons writhes away from the growing inferno. A bright orange illuminates the dark cold as the whirling flames spread across the rapidly heating pit; the resistance leader erecting a wall of thick ice before the blazing pyre could crash down upon her. The twin dragon could barely hold themselves together as the fiery inferno engulfs their melting bodies; entire chunks of the drakes falling to the floor as their icy scales break apart against the hellish heat, left to melt away into nothing but water as their pieces break off against the hard rock floor.

All that remained of the pair of icy dragons was nothing but the steam their bodies had become and the shallow water that floods the bottom of the pit; the woman who had reduced them to these forms hovering down just inches above the water as she attempts to look for her chilling foe among the steamy shroud. “Where the hell did you-” In questioning the resistance leaders position, the spice suddenly feels a sharp and intense pain crash through her body from her shoulder; Cayenne letting out a pained outcry as she peers to her side, discovering a pike of ice having been pierced into her. Glancing behind does she discover the chilling woman herself having thrusted this spear of ice straight through her; the leader of the resistance conjuring another spear within the palm of her hand; ready to jab its spiked end straight into her back.

Yet moments before she could strike against the spice queen, a colorful light starts to glimmer down from the heavens; the ice cold leader leaping back as the luminescence rapidly descends down upon them. The water that splashes around from this figures landing reflects the colorful light that glistens from its wings, their eyes adjusting to the glow as the figures takes a stand; the ice leader left to behold Tore standing against her. “My time to shine now!”

The icy woman’s apprehensive demeanor almost instantly evaporates when witnessing the face of this seemingly out of nowhere newcomer; the resistance leader letting out an astonished gasp before stating: “Y-You!...I’ve seen you before.” “Huh?” Tore utters. “What?” Cayenne bluntly exclaims. “You were with that purple boy and orange girl that night.” “I...Oh, oh now it’s coming back to me! You were that ice woman we fought; what was your name again? Uh…” “Ilana.” “That’s it! Man, its been a while, hasn’t it?” “Indeed. Tell me that your not with this woman and her forces.” “Um...Yeah, I’m pretty much am. But, Ilana. You gotta stop all this. The whole city’s falling apart. Huge fights breaking out, banks being robbed, people being taking hostage. Its just chaos out there.” “It may seem as such, but I promise there be reasons for these actions. The actions of this resistance holds more than just pure madness.”

Among this argument between the icy woman and the indigo angel does the spice queen hobble over in the middle; Cayenne requesting for the blue boy to: “Heya, mind patching this up?” “Oh, sure thing.” As Cayenne swiftly pulls out the icy pike lodged within her shoulder, Tore swiftly heals the spice queens nasty wound before a drop of blood could be spilled from her body: the leader letting out a relieves sigh as she feels her freshly patched up shoulder. “God, that’s hella better. Now that we got that outta that way… Amidst her sentence does the combat leader grasp her subordinate by the shirt collar, Cayenne aggressively pulling the blue boy right into her face as she finishes her question: “What the fuck did you do!?” “Um...We wound up helping the resistance fight against the government that was hording the common wealth and goods.” “So the entire destabilization and collapse of the Vienna is all your fault!?” “I mean, all Roy did was throw the president out the window and into the clutches of the angry mob.” “That’s still assisted homicide, you fucking idiot!”

“Regardless, if your purpose this night is to quell our efforts. I’m afraid I cannot offer any mercy. If we give in now, those government pigs shall take charge once more and we’ll be back to square one.” the icy woman claims, a sheet of razor sharp ice rising from her grasp. Shaking himself out from the spice queens grasp, Tore jumps right between her and the chilling resistance leader and pleads with: “Don’t do this. We can work something out. Something that’ll stop all the riots and fighting in the streets. If we can just get you to talk with the head of the government, I’m sure we can-” “You expect me to negotiate with those horrid swine? Why should I even bother to consider standing down and talk to those greedy pigs?” “Because you owe us at least that much! You wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near here without Roy, Mally, and I. You’d probably be rotting in some deep underground prison cell if we didn’t decide to help you guys out. You could at least humor us.” A few moments of tense silence pass after the blue boy declares all of this to the frosted resistance leader; the tension broken when Ilana puts away the sword of sharp ice, all while the chilling woman questions: “How do you even plan to do all this?” “Yeah, man. How the fuck you expect to patch up an entire feuding country, one that you took part in screwing over?” his spicy leader gets in front of him to ask, her blazing glare beating down upon him. “Uh...I don’t know. I never had to deal with anything like this before. We just beat up the bad guy and it sort of just wraps itself up. There ain’t really any kind of final boss to beat, is there. I’m not really that good with using my words to work things out...but I think I might know somebody who is.”

The starry night skies above eventually fade away to let in the welcoming warmth of the morning sun; the twilight glow glistening through the finely polished glass windows of the capital building. Within the hallway of this Austrian capital does the chilling leader of the resistance strolls through, with the combat leader of the Vanguard league and the division she had brought along walking alongside her; most of them keeping an eye on the icy woman as they approach the pair of twin doors. Beyond these twin doors stood a sizable debate hall housing dozens upon dozens of people within the sideline seats, some of them being Austrian officials while others stood in place as representatives as other countries; all of them peering over to the doorway as the resistance leader and the team securing her come in. Two desk stood among the center of the hall; one left empty with nothing but a desk name plate holding the Ilana’s name, the other filled by a rather lank man donning a clean suit whose name plate titles him as “President Joanna”. Nothing but whispers among the spectating representatives fill the hall air as the Vanguard league lead the icy woman straight to her labeled seat; Cayenne and the rest of her unit taking their seat onto a beach left right along the side of Ilana’s desk.

Right as the team rest their asses down on the surprisingly cushioned bench, Cayenne takes a quick glance through the hall before a quiet growl escapes from betwixt her teeth. “Where the fuck is she? Feels like hot shits about to hit the fan in here and we haven’t gotten any calls about her coming.” Cayenne whispers. “Just chill out, Cayenne. Sure she’ll be here any minute. Doubt someone of her experience wouldn’t miss out on something like this.” Tore whispers. “You better fucking hope she does; cause if this whole mess winds up blowing up to hell and back, your ass is gonna be hauled off to the nearest detention facility.” “What!? Why?” “Why do you think, dumbass? Taking part in the destabilization of a country’s practically a war crime.” “Is it?” “Not really, but its still pretty bad.” Opal assures.

Its in this brief moment of quiet tension that the twin doors leading out swing wide open, the crowds eyes adjusting to the hallway light to witness a pink haired young woman holding three eyes stepping into the debate hall; a relieved breath escaping from the blue boy’s mouth. Constant murmurs and whispers in multiple languages fill the hallway air as the princess of the underworld struts through to the table standing before the resistance leader and the president of the Austria. The princess starts by taking in a deep breath before sitting down and beginning with: “Now, are we ready to start the negotiations.” “Yes ma’am.” the Austrian president confirms. “Indeed.” the icy leader agrees. “Okay, now as the initiator of this congressional meeting taking place today, we’ll start with opening statements given by the leader of the resistance.” “What!? Why?” the president blurts out. “She had willingly given herself into the Vanguard League on the bases of holding this very meeting as her own risk. Courtesy dictates in this case that she should hold the first words to establish a proper defense.”

“Thank you for the kind gesture, princess. As most of you standing before today are aware, I hold the position of a radical resistance against the Austrian government for the purpose of loosening the grip of power it holds on taxation and selling of necessities to horde off goods for their own gain. These detrimental issues that had plagued our society didn’t start until the former President of Austria begin to cut back on programs which had benefit the common people; including but not limited to free collage education access, food welfare programs, basic minimum housing, decent paying job positions, so on and so forth. The further these cut back decisions had been planted into our everyday lives, the more the resistance of the Austria has grown in support, myself included. The choices that our government had made during the former presidents term had not just stripped the common people of our rights, our futures, but some their very lives. I stand before you all to share in the plight and cause that every one of us had fought tooth and nail thus far and help end the suffering our people now face. Thank you.”

“And now that we have let the leader of the resistance build her defense, the opposing side may now offer its counter. Are you ready to oblige, Mr. President?” Vera informs and questions.

“Yes, ma’am. I am. While we fully admit that the decisions of our late president had not been...the wisest Austria has put into law, the resistance has been held as little more than a hindrance in our efforts to return the continent back onto a path of stable normalcy needed to continue with our political endeavors. And the state of affairs had only gone further downhill since we have entered this state of anarchy, our city left vulnerable under the waves of criminal activity that has plagued us, some of which I assure our guests, the Vanguard League here, had to have quelled in their efforts to bring peace back to the streets. Why even some members of the so called “Noble” resistance cell had even partook in such activities. Robbing and destroying business establishments, holding riots in the streets, even taking hold of hostages. Whatever sort of noble goals this resistance had are clearly offset by the chaos that now runs through our streets.”

Left a tad miffed by her opponents response to her defense, Ilana pounds upon her table and points out to the president with: “Our goals are still an ongoing effort! The plight of the people is an endeavor that cannot be sedated in just a few months, especially with your police fighting against the people under our cause. And that chaos you so demonize, is but a dismantling of the establishments that have quelled our very lives and have kept the people under boot and heel. The banks that kept a stranglehold upon the welfare of our people have sought to needlessly tax us to the point of poverty, especially so since news had surfaced of over half the government officials had been embezzling funds to satiate their greed. Those hostages we had taken prisoner were those very monsters that had taken the lives of so many others for their own personal gain. Those stores that had been destroyed had all belonged to corporations that only further exasperate the woes of the people with their monstrous inflation costs, the likes of which outright forcing some people to take two, nay three jobs to keep their families afloat. This chaos you see surely will lead to a far better future than the hopeless dystopia you have created.”

“Will it? Because from what I see right now out in the streets is our once proud city having been reduced to nothing but a mockery of its former self. You think its so outright simple to just reduce prices to keep our continent afloat within this demanding world we live in; the wages we hold with other countries, debt we have accumulated. You understand nothing of what we need to do to get this continent back on track left a laughing stock thanks to our former president and further worsened by you people! If you can no see the efforts with which we attempt to recover from our hardships, then we must do so by forced!”

The entirety of the debate is whipped up in a murmuring frenzy from the statements given to both parties of the ongoing crisis; and while the Vanguard League is left anxious over these proceedings, Tore meanwhile is left in a sweating mess over the inflicting tension. Amidst all the chaotic rantings and maddening outcries flung between the two party leaders, a single voice pierces straight through the discord as Vera stands up from her seat and claims that to be: “Enough!” A simmering wave of heat pulses out from the hellish princesses demanding outcry, one of which effectively settles the entirety of the debate room all at once; her fellow League members left quite astonished over her unexpected outburst.

Soon enough though does the hellbound princess calm herself as she slips back down into her seat, a small cough escaping from her mouth before she politely continues with: “From what I have heard from you two this day, I can understand what plights you two have struggled with to reach this very point. The resistance wishes to fight against the oppressive greed that had plagued your countries government, while the state wishes to rebuild stabilize for the sake of reconnecting with the rest of the world. Believe when I’ve seen situations like this arise in watching my own fathers career. …There is a compromise we could hold, but it possibly couldn’t solve all the problems heard today. It might be a band aid solution, but it could be a good starting point to work off from. I do understand how the government needs to rebuild to get itself back on track with the world, yet I know that the terrible parasitic aspects that had proven a detriment must not be put into power. So with all that, I offer this.”

In the middle of this statement does Vera peer over to the icy resistance leader and questions to her: “Ilana, are you willing to work with the government personally to rebuild its structure?” “What!?” the president blurts out. “From what my associates have told me off you, they make you out to be a bold and clear cut woman willing to go beyond the extra mile for the people around you, even if its at your own detriment; something you’ve proven today just by stepping into this debate hall. I have confidence that you can guide the government in the process in building back up in a way that will be not as a crippling hindrance to its people. I understand if you don’t wish to participate in the very system that you’ve fought against, but I would urge you to consider working alongside them to better Austria as a whole.” After the initial shock set upon her by the mediating princess, the chilling resistance leader takes a bit of a moment to think over Vera words; leaning forehead with her head tilted to the side. “You’re kidding me? You expect us to work with an assassin of the former president?” the president barks. “Either that or risk further destabilization to the point of not being able to climb out from the depths of the pit, Austria left as nothing but a shell of its former self. Only you can make this happen, Mr. President.” Vera claims. “Surely with the mistakes presented by the past can we hope to build a better future. I shall withdraw my forces from there post so long as every single one of them are fully pardoned.” “Nrr…………...Fine.”

Upon this very compromise do the representatives held out along the spectating seats murmer on from the conclusion of the meeting; the Vanguard league members cheering from the resolved conflict as Vera rises from her seat to approach, especially the blue angel, who lets out a relieved breath. “That was amazing, Vera.” Ryu compliments. “Yeah, I thought it was all going downhill for a minute there.” Opal admits. “Not bad.” Raleigh utters. “Dang tootin. You wrangle words better than a cowpoke roundin up a herd of rowdy cattle in the middle of mating season.” Levi claims. “You really did a fucking bang ass job patching this whole shit show out. Never thought you had that in ya.” Cayenne finally compliments with. “Aw, thanks a lot guys. It ain’t no big deal, really. It wasn’t even the worst one I had to deal with.” Vera admits. “But thanks to all that, you possibly saved potential thousands of lives. And not to mention sparing me and my family from getting hauled off into federal prison.” Tore states. “Wait, what?”

“Glad to see all of us got outta this with practically no reciprocation whatsoever. Anybody wanna stop by a Wendy’s on the way back to celebrate. Really in the mood to bite down into a Baconato-” Tore suggests as he starts to head to the door; his departure put on a sudden hold when Cayenne grasps him by the shirt collar and brings him right up to her face. “You blue ass motherfucker; you really think you can just walk out this whole shitshow after causing it unscathed?” “Um...Did we not?” From where they had once sat, the combat leader drags the indigo angel behind her as both head out towards the twin doors; Cayenne keeping a tight grasp of Tore’s collar as she drags him across the floor. “Swear to fucking god, you and Mal are gonna be on janitor duty for a fucking year when we get back, and don’t get me started on what we got in store for that purple asshat. The rest of you keep yer mouths shut about this. Don’t want word getting out about just having somebody who screwed an entire government up on the team.” “Aw, come on. Can’t you just put me through some super tough training regime? Cleaning stuff just sucks!” “Di-did I miss something or…” Vera questions. “With every thing wrapped up like this, I don’t think you need to worry about it.” Opal assures to her as her and the rest of the members follow their leader towards the exit.

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Another chapter, this time taking place in a previous location, and the consequences of our character's actions catching up with them.

#lillaxtrigger #next gen #Young Hope #callyieverse

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