Elements

We all got into a fighting stance and prepared to battle, but we didn’t need to. In through the door, came in a person wearing all black. The more I looked, I realized it was the same strange person that came up to me at school and disappeared behind a tree!

“You!” I said. “You’re the person from school! Who are you and how did you know about our powers?”

He pulled back his black hood, and I immediately recognized the bright blue eyes staring at me.

It was my brother.

“Raven!” we all gasped in unison.

“Jade, I always knew about the things you would tell me,” Raven said. “I just pretended not to believe you for your own sake. I’ve been working with Willow for a while now, and when she told me about Toxic Shadow, we had to warn you.”

“But...but,” I stuttered. "You vanished behind a tree. How did you do that?”

“I have a teleportation ability. That’s how I can get to Mystic Meadows. We have to get out of here. Quickly.” I still had so many questions, but there was no time to chat. We began running out of the door, but were stopped by an invisible wall.

“Leaving so soon?” Touchless taunted.

A portal was opened beneath our feet, but we all quickly jumped out of the way. Carina used Air and knocked down Toxic Shadow. I didn’t know her wind could be so strong, but I figured they fell because of the suddenness of it.

“Run!” she shouted.

The five of us darted out of the doors with Toxic Shadow chasing behind us. We were in a musty building with dim lighting and brick walls. Down the hall led into a wide-open space, with panels around the curved walls. Against the walls were metal counters covered in papers that had writing and sketches. There was a circular metal table in the middle of the room, with a hologram of a complicated looking graph coming out of it.

This must be their headquarters, I thought.

On the other side of the open space was another hallway that we all made a run for. We were sprinting around in zigzag patterns to dodge Touchless’s platforms or Black Holes voids.

I almost made it, when I felt an icy breeze on my feet that stopped me from running. The ice was crawling up my legs, and it spread to my torso, arms, and eventually, my face. I couldn’t move.

Icy Volcano.

I tried screaming for help, but my mouth was frozen. My eyes were still open and I could see the rest of my friends running through the hallway, not noticing I was frozen here. I saw Leo turn around, and his expression was horrified.

Touchless walked up in front of me. “You will take us to Mystic Meadows, or your friend here will be shattered.”

Leo didn’t take any time to think. “Guys hold them off. I’ll melt the ice,” he shouted to Carina, Michael, and Raven.

In a split second, Michael blasted Toxic Shadow with Water, and Carina shoved them with Air. Raven teleported around and threw a few punches, clearly annoying them.

Leo ran towards me and whipped out his lighter. He flicked it on and there was a small flame. I watched through the ice as the flame grew bigger, sparks flying around it. He directed the fire towards me, and melted the ice quickly. Almost all of it was gone, and he only had the ice on my feet left, when a giant piece of rock flew at him and pinned him to the ground.

“Leo!” I cried.

I turned to the direction of where the rock came from, and saw Boulder standing there with an evil grin on his face. I tried moving, but remembered my feet were still frozen to the ground. I called on Earth and threw the rock back at him, freeing Leo, but he crushed it with his head. Raven teleported in front of him and threw a punch, but he wasn’t strong enough against Boulder. Realizing that after, he meekly stepped back and teleported.

A portal was opened from under me, and I was falling from the ceiling. I quickly grabbed to the side of the portal and swung my legs to the wall, smashing the remaining ice off me.

“Jade,” Leo said, coming towards me. “We have to get out of here.”

“Are you alright?” I said, surprised. “You were just squashed by a rock!”

“I’m fine. I think we have a little more protection with our suits.”

I felt relieved and started thinking about a way out. “Carina!” I shouted. She looked over at me, mid-battle with Black Hole. “Start a tornado in here! Destroy this HQ, and I’ll start breaking our way out!” She nodded, and I immediately felt a gust of strong wind surround me. While she was doing that, I gathered some roots I felt from under the floor, and had them rip through the stone floor, then through the ceiling. They made a huge hole, and the room was finally bright.

“Climb!” I barked to Leo. I watched as he climbed up the roots, and threw a piece of debris toward Icy Volcano when he tried stopping him. Carina’s tornado was beginning to form, and was becoming stronger by the second.

“Michael! Raven! Let’s go!” I shouted. Michael ran over, shooting water at Touchless along the way. Raven easily teleported to the top of the roots, and was out.

Last, was Carina. There was no way I could get her to hear me. She was too focused on the tornado, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get close to her either.

She’ll be fine on her own, said a voice in the back of my head. She’s got her own powers to take care of herself.

I climbed up the roots and joined with the others. When I saw Icy Volcano climbing them, I moved them back and forth, until they collapsed on the ground. I quickly closed the hole with some leftover debris, so they wouldn’t be able to escape.

“Won’t Black Hole just be able to create a portal to get out?” Leo asked.

“She won’t,” Raven said. “If she did, the winds from Carina’s tornado would go with her, making it extremely dangerous to travel through the portal.”

I noticed we weren’t on top of a roof. Instead, we were on top of a hill. Their HQ was underground in a cave.

“We have to get off now,” Michael said. “It’s not safe up here with a tornado right beneath us.”

He was right. The tornado would soon destroy this whole hill. I took the roots of a large oak tree nearby and told the others to grab onto them. When we all had a firm grip, the roots safely led us down the hill.

“Wait,” Michael said. “Where’s Carina?”

“I...I had to leave her,” I said. “There was no way for me to get her out of there. She’s too focused on making the tornado.”

“She’ll be fine on her own,” Leo said. “She’ll find a way out.” I felt a vibration on my wrist, and saw the tree button glowing and pressed it.

“What are you still doing at Toxic Shadow’s headquarters?” Willow hissed. “You should be out by now.”

“We are out.” I explained to her about how we got out, and how Carina was still inside.

“You left her inside? With Toxic Shadow?! ALONE?” Willow was furious.

“We thought she would be able to handle them on her own since she was making a tornado. Won’t that kill them?” Leo asked.

“It’ll take more than some wind to kill Toxic Shadow. Is Raven there?” Willow asked.

“I’m right here,” he said, stepping closer to my watch.

“Teleport inside and get Carina out of there. Quickly.”

“On it.” Raven was gone in an instant.

“Let me know if anything else goes wrong,” Willow said, then hung up.

“She sounded angry,” Michael said.

Raven teleported back, carrying an unconscious Carina in his arms.

“What happened?” I cried. “Is she alright?” I stepped up to her and let out a sigh of relief. She was still breathing.

“She’ll be fine. The tornado took a lot of her energy. I assume she’s never made anything that big,” Raven said as he placed her on the ground.

“She’s never had to,” I said.

“Is Toxic Shadow still in there?” Michael asked.

“They’re all still conscious and fighting to get out, but it won’t be like that for long. I’m not sure how long it’ll take for the tornado to die down, but by the time it does, they’ll all be taken down.” Raven paused. “But they’ll get back up again and go for your gems again. For now, we should get back to our families. They’ll be worried that we haven’t been home since Toxic Shadow’s arrival.”

I had completely forgotten about my parents and instantly felt bad for not thinking of them. They must be losing their minds at home.

“Raven, can you teleport us back home?” I asked.

“Sure, but not looking like that.”

We were still wearing our element costumes. I pressed the button inside the watch, and was back in my normal clothes. Leo and Michael did the same.

“Wha...what happened?”

I gasped and turned to see Carina waking up.

“You did it girl,” I whispered to her. “Your tornado saved us. It’s time to go home now.”

I pressed the button in her watch and turned to Raven.

“You should send the guys home first,” I suggested, since they were neighbors.

He nodded and placed a dark gray stone in their hands. There was a raven carved into them, with a purple glow coming in through the outline.

“Hold these,” he said to Leo and Michael. “These will allow you to come with me when I teleport.” "

Why didn’t you use these to get us out of Toxic Shadow’s HQ?” Michael asked.

“I only have two, and I wasn’t going to leave two of you alone in there with them, even for a split second,” he said, glancing over to Carina who was still on the ground.

When the boys left, I walked over to Carina and helped her up. Raven was already back, and handed one of the stones to her.

“I’ll see you soon girl,” I said to Carina.

Raven was gone, then back in seconds.

“You ready?” he asked me.

I took in a deep breath. “I’m ready.”