Kihonne: Alright guys, I'm back, and here we are, at the second to last chapter of the story. I know at least three of you guys are excited for this, but before we move onto the chapter, it's shoutout time!
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LabGirl2001: I'm glad you're excited for the chapter, and that you liked the last one. It's gonna be an action-packed chapter for sure, and if you like what I did with Rani and Liam and Alivia and Lily last chapter, you're really going to like certain parts of this! Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
AlienGhostWizard14: I'm glad you enjoyed it! As for your question, if I had to choose actresses for them, I think I'd go with Victoria Moroles as Rani, Zoey Deutch as Lily, and Taylor Ann Thompson as Melody. Honestly, though, I never really think about that kind of thing unless a reviewer asks. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
MayLeaf2001: Yes, me too. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Gulliver…well, I think it's pretty obvious that he's completely lost his marbles. I will, however, let Rani give her opinion on his craziness soon enough. I'm glad you enjoyed the part with Liv hitting Liam – I thought it would be funny. I know, only two more chapters! It kinda sucks, but don't worry – at least some of the characters from this story will be in future chapters of the Power of Seven. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
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Kihonne: Anyway, time for the chapter!
Alivia: Kihonne doesn't own Mighty Med or Elite Force. She only owns this story, all the OCs, and anything else you don't recognize.
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Lily's POV
We split up almost right away, each of us picking our villain to take down. Alan and Melody, a surprisingly good team took on Rune, while our two favorite archers chose Gulliver, leaving Alivia and I with Riker all to ourselves. Despite our numbers, the three of them were still formidable opponents, meaning that Liam and Rani would have to hold on until we could help them with Dr. Wrath.
"I got right, you go left." Alivia spared me a quick glanced before lunging at Riker, not waiting for an answer. She hadn't created a duplicate, I noticed (likely a little wary to after losing one only a couple of hours ago), but that didn't seem to faze her in the slightest. No, she went straight in for the attack, only to drop back at the last second when Riker went to blast her. I understood her plan immediately; she wanted to use herself as bait while I attacked his weaker side. It was a good plan in theory, but we could only hope it would work.
I did as I was asked, coming up on his left side as Alivia darted forward again, teasingly stepping just within Riker's reach, then backing out just as quickly. He lunged at her and I took my shot, raising my hand and telekinetically throwing him to the side. He flew into the air, but rather than crashing back down to the ground, he caught himself, shapeshifting into his signature swarm form midair. He hovered above us for a brief moment, then slammed down towards us, using his swarm's size to hit both of us at once. It wasn't a heavy blow – he only managed to get a partial hit on both of us – but it was enough to knock Alivia into the nearest wall and to push me down to the ground.
I reacted instantly, shoving the swarm away with my powers even as I got to my feet. "How can we fight something we can't even touch?" I hissed as Alivia stepped away from the wall. She shook her head, having no answer for me, then glanced over her shoulder at the others. I only hoped that they were having an easier time than us.
Liam's POV
Heart beating fast, I raced into the room Riker, Rune, and Gulliver had been protecting. The room was pretty large, designed like the kind of office you'd expect a CEO to have or something, but with darker, grimmer colors.
Rani was kneeling on the ground, bent over with two henchmen standing over her. Nearby, a tall, bald-headed man in a cloak watched them, his pale lips curled upwards in a cruel smirk. "Hey, Wrath!" I shouted, knowing who he was on sight. Everyone in the room looked at me, even Rani. "Wow, Nyx must be real powerful if it takes all three of you to beat her. Why don't you try me on for size?"
Was I expecting that to make things better in any shape or form? Not really, but it did get the henchmen's attention off of Rani for a second, and that was all she needed. Raising her right hand, a shadow burst from the wall and engulfed the boy next to her. I reacted instantly, flashing the room with a bright light before darting towards Dr. Wrath himself.
"Volant!" He shouted, his voice breaking through the white light, and suddenly, I found myself flying through the air. I skidded across the ground, thankfully slowing down before rolling into the nearby wall.
"Ah!" Rani's back slammed into the wall next to me, her teeth gritted painfully. She glanced at me, sucking in a shaky breath. "What-what are you doing here?"
"Uh, I'm here to rescue you?" I laughed breathlessly, getting to my feet. She rolled her eyes.
"You're a terrible stormtrooper." She grumbled, wincing as she held her left arm to her ribs. Just as I was about to reply, she ducked, just as a large, ball of smoke came shooting at us. At least I thought it was smoke, until it hit me in the chest with the same force as was in my own hard light beams.
I dropped to me knees, trying to give myself a chance to recover. "I didn't know he could do that." I admitted.
"I'm done being afraid of you." Rani declared, standing up to Dr. Wrath. She raised her hand, her mouth set in a firm scowl. "Conteret eum!"
A blast of black energy shot from her hand, much like her regular shadow blasts, though this one contained slivers of amber spiraling within it. Seeing this, the henchman and henchwoman exchanged looks and bolted, clearly not liking where this was going.
"Occidere!" Dr. Wrath shouted in response, his blast, a smoky colored beam of solid energy bursting from his extended palm. The blast collided with Rani's, sparks flying from where they fought to overtake one another.
Lily's POV
"This isn't working!" I shouted, even as I used my telekinesis to try and keep the swarm under control. Controlling inanimate objects was easy enough, but when you were using telekinesis against something with a mind of their own, they tended to put up a fight, and Riker was no exception. He frequently alternated between the swarm and his physical form, taking turns charging us and blasting us. It was almost impossible to combat him, each of his forms were weak to a different kind of attack, and he was shifting too quickly for us to settle on one. "We need a new plan!"
"I'm open to suggestions!" Alivia retorted. I glanced over my shoulder, and saw that the others were having similar problems; Gulliver was using his mirage trick to confuse the two archers, while Rune was using a similar tactic to his brother to fend off Alan and Melody.
"Yeah, actually. Duck!" I ordered, dropping low as Riker's swarm dropped at us. Not waiting to explain my plan, I rolled backwards as I dropped, then twisted, my arm raised out towards Melody. Using my telekinesis, I plucked her up and into the air, sending her over to Barry and Angela.
"Hey!" She protested, confused as she dropped back down to the ground, landing on the balls of her feet. "What gives?"
"Switch things up!" I ordered, jumping to my feet and running to Alan's side. "Arciere, you're with Geminus!"
"Copy that!" He agreed without hesitation, rushing to the Irish girl's side.
"Really? Is that your big plan?" Gulliver sneered, shaking his head at me.
"We like to keep you boys on your toes." I replied mockingly. "Besides, it's better than betraying one of our own."
"My sister needs to learn her place!" He snapped, aiming his 3D gun at me. He pressed the trigger, but I deflected the blow, using my powers to redirect the blast into the ceiling. I spun around and used the momentum to help boost my telekinetic push, shoving the 3D gun upwards. My goal had been to get rid of the weapon altogether, but he held onto it tightly.
Alan roared, lunging forward in his lion form at Gulliver, only to go right through him. Several more Gullivers appeared around us, each armed, but only one of them the correct one. Damn it; I hated his mirage power!
Alan growled in frustration, leaping at another Gulliver. He pawed at the ground as he landed, the mirage disappearing. "Good luck!" Gulliver's annoying laugh echoed around us.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, my hand outstretched in front of me. I'd been tracking that dirt bag for weeks now; I could pick him out of a crowd. Trusting my senses, I reached out with my mind, searching for the all too familiar aura…it was just out of…yes!
"Ha!" I shouted successfully, shoving my palm forward, telekinetically grabbing hold of the real Gulliver. I slowly lifted him up, just enough that his feet dangled above the floor. "He's all yours, Alan!"
The young shapeshifter didn't have to be told twice, launching himself at Gulliver without the slightest hesitation. The moment his large paws touched the villain, I released my telekinetic hold on him, letting Alan take him down to the ground. I turned away, seeing the claws slide out of the paw just before Alan swiped at Gulliver. "Don't kill him, alright?"
Turning to the others, I tried to see if I could help any of them, but it looked like they too were wrapping things up. I watched, impressed, as Angela shot an arrow into the heart of Rune's swarm, Melody using her own powers to freeze it mid-flight. The swarm swallowed it up, like it had the arrows Angela and Barry had been shooting earlier, but this time, something new happened; an icy frost began to spread from the center of the swarm, quickly coating it. The frost didn't stop, not until the cold forced Rune to transform back to his human form. He landed on the ground with a thud, shivering. He started to get up, only to have an arrow pointed directly at his throat. "Don't even try it, shapeshifter." Angela spat, cocking the weapon threateningly.
On my other side, Alivia and Barry were finishing off Riker. The shapeshifter was already down, with an arrow sticking out of his calf and a black eye to match. He tried to get up, clearly not ready to give up yet, but Alivia sprung into action. Pushing off the ground, she spun around, kicking Riker in the face, hard. He was sent back to the ground, where he hit his head on the floor, knocking him unconscious. "Nice." I grinned, smiling at her. She smiled back appreciatively, then looked over the scene.
"Good idea, switching things up. They were so used to us fighting in specific teams, they didn't know how to handle us trying something new." She smirked, nodding at me. I smiled, giving her a little curtsey as a joke. "Alright, those guys are down for the count. Now it's time for the big guy."
Liam's POV
"C'mon, Rani." I murmured, half to myself, as I watch the two beams of energy fight to take over the other. A part of me wanted to get involved, to blast Dr. Wrath full of light while he was distracted, but God knows where his killer smoke beam would go, or what that would do to Rani's concentration. Chnaces were, if I tried to get involved like that, it would do more bad than good.
The problem was, though, Rani couldn't win this. It would be difficult enough for her on a good day – he was the one who taught her everything she knew, after all – but she was injured and exhausted, making things worse. I was pretty sure her arm was broken too; there was no other explanation for why Rani, a lefty, would be using her right hand to control the blast. As it was, I could see her struggling to keep up, her limbs shaking and sweat beading down her forehead. "Rani, c'mon, kick his ass!"
"Trying!" She snapped back, just before crying out in despair as she lost some ground. She dropped down to one knee, bracing herself as she forced herself to keep going. "Perdere!" She cried out, and more slivers of amber filled her beam, giving her a little more power, but it was clear it wouldn't be enough.
"I'm disappointed, child. You should know by now who is true master of the dark arts!" Dr. Wrath said, not struggling in the slightest. "I will see to it that my next student knows better."
"Screw it." I muttered as I saw Rani slip again. I raced towards her, dropping to my knees and sliding until I reached her.
"What are you doing?" She breathed, not daring to take her eyes off Wrath for fear of losing her power. "Get out of here, go back to the others."
"Hate to break it to you, Shadow Girl, but you're stuck with me." I promised her, raising my hand. I blasted a beam of hard light alongside her energy blast, figuring that I could at least give her an extra boost.
"Simul!" She hissed, leaning closer to me. I looked at her in confusion, but before I could ask any questions, the two beams of energy, light and dark, twirling around each other. The dark and light beams spun around each other, faster and faster, until suddenly, they combined in a flash of light so bright that even I had to look away. But I could feel it in the way the beam tugged at me, begging for more power – it was dangerous and far stronger than anything Dr. Wrath could produce.
"No!" There was a shout, and then, slowly, the light died away. Blinking hard, I looked around as my vision returned. I'd expected the blast to knock Wrath out, or throw him across the room, but what I wasn't expecting was for him to be gone altogether, a pile of ashes in his place.
"Whoa, dang." I murmured, just as Rani slumped next to me, falling onto my chest. I looked down, alarmed, but paused when she let out a breathless laugh.
"No one's going to resurrect him from that. Not this time." She whispered. Suddenly, the door burst open and the rest of our team rushed in, all of them looking as if they expected a full out war. They stopped, looking around in confusion.
"Wrath?" Melody questioned. I nodded at the ashes before taking Rani's (uninjured) arm and helping her to her feet. "Seriously? We missed it?"
"What can I say? We're badasses." I replied. Rani looked up at me, shaking her head.
"Idiot." She muttered half-heartedly, laughing a little before wincing in pain.
Alivia's POV
"Alright, so Liam and Rani just got to Mighty Med 2.0. Depending on how serious Rani's arm and rib injuries are, they could be there a couple of hours." I announced, walking into the common area of our hotel room. "And, according to my contact at UPSEI, Gulliver, Rune, and Riker are behind power-dampening bars."
"Where they belong." Lily added, smiling. I looked around the common area, surprised to see that she was the only one in there.
"Um, I think we're missing a few team members." I observed. She laughed lightly and patted the couch cushion next to her, motioning for me to sit down.
"They went out to celebrate." She explained. I smiled, glad that they were enjoying themselves, though one thing still confused me.
"How come you didn't go?" I inquired, sitting down. She crossed her legs, shrugging.
"I thought I'd keep you company." She replied. I smiled.
"Maybe we should go out. Celebrate too." I commented. She smirked slightly.
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about tha-" Lily stopped midsentence as my phone went off.
"Sorry." I apologized, grabbing it and looking at the caller ID. "Huh, Skylar."
"Don't answer it." Lily said quickly, before I could press a button. I looked at her, a little surprised. "Please?"
"Alright." It probably wasn't all that important anyway. I rejected the call, sliding the phone into my pocket. "Why though?"
"Because, I keep trying to have this conversation with you, and every time I do, I keep getting interrupted." She insisted, sounding just the tiniest bit annoyed. I smiled playfully. "Anyway-"
"Interrupted? You mean like this?" I asked, purposefully cutting her off. I didn't wait for her to get annoyed with me, but rather leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers, one hand reaching out to pull her closer. She responded in kind, moving her strawberry pink lips in sync with mine for a long moment before breaking it off. She stared at me for a minute before furrowing her brow.
"Well, that kind of interruption I don't mind, but…" She admitted. I laughed lightly, amused. "Wait, are you sure-"
"Nope." I admitted. "I'm not sure about anything, really, except that I like you and you like me, and we deserve this. And to be honest, that's all I really care about right now."
She blushed, ducking her head. "I couldn't agree more." She smiled back at me, leaning in for another kiss.
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Kihonne: Alright folks, what did you think? I hope you enjoyed it, particularly the fight scenes, but I won't know whether you did or not without a review! Seriously, it would really make my day if I could get, like, 5 reviews on this chapter! Anyway, I'll be back next week on the 21st with the final chapter…though, if I get those 5 reviews (from different people), I might just update a few days earlier ;)