Kihonne: Figures, the one time I manage to get the chapter written with time to spare, my step-dad accidently cuts the wire connecting us to WIFI. It's actually a lot funnier than it sounds, to be honest. But anyway, Bell finally got our WIFI back, which means I can get you the new chapter! But first, it's shoutout time!
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LabGirl2001: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, especially the parts with Spotlight. I wanted to try and showcase both their perspectives, so that people could make their own opinions on them rather than me accidently biasing them towards a specific opinion. And don't worry – I won't rush. Thanks for understanding about the brief break. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
Eliteforce12: I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I hope you like this chapter just as much.
AlienGhostWizard14: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, especially the growing relationships. And yeah, sorry about that; the website screwed up and no one got notified about the story being updated. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
MayLead2001: I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and that you're excited for this chapter. Liam and Rani are going to have a really interesting moment this chapter, so I hope you enjoy that. As for Liv and Lily…well, they do seem to be spending a lot of time together…that's all I'll say about that. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
SzymonS: I'm glad you enjoyed it. Please enjoy this one too!
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Kihonne: Anyway, on with the chapter!
Alan: Kihonne doesn't own Mighty Med or Elite Force. She only owns this story, the OCs, and everything else you don't recognize.
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Alan's POV
"You have got to be kidding me." Rani shook her head, pushing herself off the bleachers. Rune and Riker approached us, both smirking confidently. "How the hell did you even find us?"
"That list the Elite Force compiled gave us your location." Rune bragged. "You think we were going to let you get away with what you did to our family?"
"No, but we didn't think you'd be stupid enough to challenge us." Barry retorted, dropping the basketball in his hands. "Not after we kicked their asses."
"You're going to pay for that." Riker vowed. I stepped back and began to shapeshifter, falling onto all fours as fur broke out all over my body. The lion form had worked well against their brother, I figured it was the best animal to go with here.
"Like hell we are." Rani snapped, raising her hand. The villain's own shadow rose from the ground and targeted him, tackling him in an attempt to smother him. Barry tried to help her, racing over to the bleachers where he'd left his bow. Meanwhile, I charged at Rune then pounced, intending on taking him out, but he quickly shapeshifted into his signature swarm form, causing me to fall through him and back to the ground. He shot into the sky, circling us, while his brother managed to escape Rani's shadow attack.
Riker stepped into the middle of us, eying all of us dangerously as Barry, Rani, and I cornered him. I kept an eye on Rune, knowing that he could attack at any moment, but this was hardly going to be a difficult fight. There were only two of them, and we were arguably the most powerful on our team (well, I was anyway. Barry was a Normo, so he was hardly at my level, and Rani…well, actually, she scared me a bit, so I won't go there), so it wasn't like they had a chance.
Riker looked between all of us, possibly considering surrender, then, to my surprise, he smirked. He raised both of his hands, then suddenly shot two blasts, balls of a purple, fiery substance, at me and Rani. The blasts hit both of us before we could avoid them, throwing us into the air. I hit the fence that surrounded the basketball court, then hit the ground roughly.
"C'mon!" I shook my head, wincing and looked up at the sound of Barry's frustrated shout. Rune, still in his swarm form, surrounded the archer, preventing him from even seeing Riker. I saw a couple of arrows shoot through Rune's swarm, passing through him harmlessly. "How the hell am I supposed to shoot you if you won't stop moving?!"
Pushing back to my feet, I raced towards Riker, only for him to turn into a swarm. I leapt through him and his brother, accidently knocking Barry to the ground. Thankfully, he rolled out of the way before I could accidently flatten him under the weight of my lion form.
During all this, Rani had managed to recover, and began shooting beams of shadow energy at the swarms, but like us, she was having trouble connecting a hit. The shapeshifters were just too quick – I was beginning to understand why the Elite Force had such a hard time defeating two of them to begin with.
The swarms suddenly darted down towards us. I braced myself, knowing running or dodging wouldn't work, and closed my eyes as the shapeshifter swarm barreled right into me. I managed to stand my ground, though Rani and Barry weren't as lucky. When the swarms flew back into the sky, both of them were on the ground, crawling back to their feet.
"Okay, that's it." Rani growled. She heaved herself off the ground, then rubbed her hands together. "I'm done messing around."
She raised her hands to blast the swarms, but before she could, a beam of light shot through them, scattering the swarms away from each other. Before they could recover, a couple of plasma arrows shot through the swarms, followed by two large froze spikes.
"Hey!" Liam came jogging in from the street, both Melody and Angela hot on his heels. "You guys alright?"
"We were before you got here." Rani muttered. "We had this handled. We don't need your help."
"Your stubbornness is going to get you kill." Angela advised, reloading her weapon. "Accept the help; you are part of a team now."
"She is?" Liam glanced at Angela. Rani looked at him, incredulously, before shaking her head.
"Wow, I feel SO welcome." She commented sarcastically. I looked back up into the sky to see the swarm beginning to descend on us. I growled loudly, warning the others of the approaching danger, before leaping through the swarm again. The others dodged the swarm, but the moment it past, Melody spun around and blasted it with her cryoblast. The icy wave hit the swarm dead on, actually making contact with it as opposed to our blasts. For a moment, it seemed to hurt them, then they shapeshifted again, landing on the balls of their feet as they, now in human form, fell from the air.
"I heard shapeshifters like you didn't like the cold." Melody mocked as the shapeshifters glared at us. Both of them attacked at once, one of them shooting blasts of plasma energy at us while the other had this kind of dark electricity thing going on.
"You guys take Riker! We've got Rune!" Angela shouted at us, running off with Melody and Barry to draw the other shapeshifter away. Liam, Rani, and I turned on the remaining shapeshifter.
"You're dead." He growled.
"No, I don't think so." Rani replied, raising her hands. She blasted a wave of shadow energy at him, only for him to dodge it.
"I have an idea!" Liam hissed. He glanced at me. "Hold him down?"
Gladly. I waited for Rani to try and blast Riker again, then when he dodged her blow once more, I leapt at him, taking advantage of his distraction. I plowed into him, pinning him to the ground. He struggled beneath, managing to get one arm free. He raised it, ready to blast into oblivion, when Liam finally shouted, "Move!"
I rolled off the shapeshifter just in time for Rani and Liam to simultaneously blast him, the force of both the light and dark attacks enough to throw Riker into the air. He landed on the hard ground, in the middle of the basketball court.
"Rune!" He grounded out, slowing rolling onto his hands and knees. He cast us a hateful glare before turning back into his swarm form, and flying away. Rune followed suit, escaping his own losing battle to catch up with his brother.
"Well, that went well." I commented, half-jokingly as I turned back into my human form. The others all looked at me incredulously.
"C'mon." Melody sighed. "Let's get back to my flat before Alivia loses it."
Rani's POV
"What the hell were you thinking?" Alivia demanded, the moment we walked through the door. "Running off like that? You could have been killed! You could have drawn those shapeshifters back to the rest of us!"
"I'm not sure which one she's madder about." Barry whispered. I smirked.
"Seriously, can't you do as your told for once?" Alivia sighed in frustration. "And maybe try not to get killed?"
"Do as we're told?" Alan repeated. "Who put you in charge?"
"I'm the one who put this team together!" Alivia snapped. He snorted in amusement.
"And that means you get to boss all of us around? I have as much right to lead as you do!" He argued. "Hell, I might even be better at it!"
"Yes, I'm sure." She rolled her eyes.
"I could be! My father was on the original League of Heroes, same as yours. What gives you the right to tell us what to do?" Alan demanded.
"Look, who's in charge doesn't matter. All Alivia was trying to say was that we've all lost enough family and friends to be taking stupid risks." Lily cut in, standing up from her spot on the couch. "And further more, quit arguing and go pack your stuff."
"You found Gulliver's location?" I demanded quickly, forcing myself to stay calm. Just because she found him, didn't mean my brother was alright, let alone still alive. Lily nodded.
"Yeah, I found him." She promised, giving me a gentle smile. "He's in New York. I have an exact location."
"We'll leave in the morning." Alivia decided. Alan looked at her, annoyed, then stalked off to his room. We all separated, going our separate ways. We were all a little hyped up on adrenaline (most of us from the fight, Alivia from unnecessary stress about our wellbeing, and Lily from her success at finding my brother), so I think we all needed to cool down a bit. Knowing that I wouldn't get much privacy hanging inside the apartment, I slipped out the window and onto the fire escape.
Night had fallen already, the sun having gone down on our way back to the apartment. I looked up at the sky and took a breath, wondering if this was really the best course of action. Siding with these superheroes, a number of which didn't trust me, to try and save Gulliver. If I could get Lily to tell me his location, I could try and do it myself, I supposed. It might be for the best, seeing as they wanted to take on Dr. Wrath and the rest of his minions. At the very least, Gully and I could escape without putting ourselves in danger-
"Hey." I looked up to see Spotlight sitting on the windowsill. I rolled my eyes, annoyed.
"I'm not running off again, if that's what you're worried about." I assured him. "I just wanted some air; can't I do that in peace?"
"Okay, I think may deserve the hostility." He admitted sheepishly. "I guess I've been a bit of a hard-ass lately."
"Really? I hadn't noticed." I replied.
"I'm sorry, alright? I'm a superhero; I'm used to fighting the bad guy, saving the day, getting the girl. Everything used to be so black and white. And now…" He shook his head. "Former superheroes like Roddiseus have gone dark side, and we're working with former villains. Things are a little confusing, and I guess I took a bit of that out on you."
I sighed, recognizing the sincerity in his voice. "It's fine. I get it, I was the villain. Not to mention, we're practically polar opposites."
"Which oddly has been working out in our favor." He smiled in confusion. "Anyway, tomorrow we're going to have to be at our best, and I thought this might help."
He reached inside the apartment, then pulled out a large book wrapped in cloth. He handed it to me, then climbed back into the apartment. "Just…don't use that on us, alright?"
"No promises." I teased, watching him go back inside. I looked back at his gift, and slowly unwrapped the cloth it was cover in, revealing the old spell book that I'd found in Dr. Wrath's storage units. I bit back a smile, running my fingers along the ancient pages, examining the spells.
Alright, maybe this whole team thing wasn't such bad idea after all.
Kihonne: Alright guys, let me know what you guys thought. Don't worry, since my step-dad probably won't make the mistake of cutting the wrong wire again, you guys can expect the next chapter on Friday! I'll see you all then, and don't forget to review!