"We're alive, we're alive, we're alive," Neiva chanted, her chest heaving as she hyperventilated. Her yellow aura flickered erratically in the gloom, casting long, nervous shadows. Above them, a suffocating cloud of pulverized bedrock drifted like a funeral shroud.

  Sol braced his hands against his knees, panting heavily. He dragged a forearm across his brow, smearing cold sweat and dirt. He glanced at the shattered remains of the black prisms that littered the crater floor, a cold pit forming in his stomach.

  Angelo's breathing was ragged, his silver Trinergy aura pulsing faintly in the dust. There was no time to rest; Red was already tapping into the network of forged energy marbles scattered above.

  "We've got bad news up top," Red announced, his mental voice cutting through the ringing in Angelo's ears. "Got some assface calling himself Electro outside. The pros are here too, but it looks like they're on our side!"

  If Angelo hadn't just verified the visual feed himself, he wouldn't have believed it. His eyes were unfocused, staring into the middle distance as he relayed the intelligence. "Breathe, Neiva," he commanded, his voice a rough rasp. "Try to remain calm. We have a situation."

  While the group caught their breath in the bowels of the earth, Electro made a sharp, mid-air pivot toward the source of the colossal explosion. He hurtled toward the massive crater at the far edge of the ruins, leaving a trail of ozone in his wake.

  "Wait—!" Sienna barked, but the warning fell on deaf ears. Electro had already cleared the distance, landing lightly at the crater's lip. Electricity crackled violently around his forearms, illuminating the dust cloud. Sienna launched herself into the air after him, leaving Kirren behind in the dirt.

  "Hiyaaa!" Electro roared. His arm swung in a wide, devastating arc, directing all the accumulated lightning straight down into the abyss to finish off whatever had survived. The lightning screamed as it tore through the air, blindingly bright.

  And then, something impossible happened.

  Absolute silence.

  The roaring thunder vanished, leaving only the sound of the rushing wind.

  Electro landed at the very edge of the crater, his brow furrowing in confusion. The lightning that had been arcing across his skin simply ceased to exist. He inspected his hands, flexing his fingers as the last remaining sparks died out. "Now, that's strange."

  "Ohoho." A soft, polite laugh made him turn.

  Sienna stood a few yards away, her posture infuriatingly casual. The harsh wind whipped her hair around her face, but she looked entirely unbothered.

  "So, this is your doing," Electro concluded, his yellow eyes narrowing.

  Sienna's polite mask slipped, twisting into a bloodthirsty grin that would have made Red proud. "Indeed." She popped her neck, the joints cracking loudly in the quiet air. "I eat lightning Aurons like you for breakfast."

  "Let me guess, your evolved ability?" Electro asked. He didn't sound particularly worried, just mildly curious. "Though I have to admit, I never thought a Wind Auron could completely negate electricity like that."

  "Ohoho," Sienna laughed again, the sound carrying a serrated edge. "Have you never heard of sulfur hexafluoride?" she asked, her tone dripping with predatory condescension.

  Electro shook his head in genuine amusement. "Lady, I couldn't even begin to pronounce that, let alone know what it is."

  "Well, you should know that it is odorless, heavier than normal air, incredibly dense, you see, and—"

  "Spare me the chemistry lesson," he cut her off, his voice hardening.

  She paused, the feral grin returning. "And it is a perfect insulator. You cannot ionize my air."

  "So, hexa-whatever equals no electricity. Got it," Electro summarized, his muscles coiling beneath his pristine clothes.

  Sienna's jaw tightened. It was the first visible crack in her aristocratic facade; she clearly hated his casual confidence. She scoffed, then inhaled deeply, drawing a massive volume of air into her lungs.

  Her yellow eyes locked onto his, and when she spoke, her voice was a low, unnatural rumble that vibrated through the ground. "I will give you this one chance to walk away. Otherwise, you will summon the wrath of the whirlwind."

  "Ooh," Electro mocked, his stance dropping lower, coiled like a predatory spring. "I am simply shaking to my bones."

  He leaped. He was faster than the blink of an eye.

  Sienna blocked.

  Their forearms locked with the sickening crack of bone on bone.

  One feral grin greeted another as the battle finally began.

  Down in the darkness of the crater, Angelo finished debriefing Sol and Neiva on the situation above. If the silver light of his aura allowed it, they would have seen how deathly pale they all were.

  "This is bad. This is really, really, truly bad..." Sol muttered bitterly, staring up at the distant circle of sky.

  "We should ru—" Neiva started, but Angelo raised a sharp hand, cutting her off.

  "Wait. They started fighting," Angelo notified them, his eyes still unfocused. "And Kirren is making his way down here. He should arrive any moment now—"

  "I figured I'd find you lot down here!"

  Right on cue, Kirren's flamboyant voice echoed off the crater walls. He landed lightly in front of them, his pink aura adding a vibrant hue to the gloom.

  "What's going on, Kirren?!" Neiva blurted out, her panic overriding her manners. "Who the hell is that guy?"

  Kirren looked genuinely baffled. "Huh? How do you know about him? And how come you aren't surprised to see me dropping out of the sky?"

  "That can wait for later," Angelo dismissed sternly, his rough voice leaving no room for argument.

  "What I want to know is," Sol interjected, his laid-back demeanor entirely gone, replaced by sharp, detective focus. "How did you guys find us, and did you bring that psycho here?"

  "Hey, we are in the dark about that guy just as much as you are," Kirren answered defensively, raising both hands in surrender.

  "Is he telling the truth?" Sol asked Angelo directly, completely disregarding politeness despite Kirren standing right there.

  "Red?" Angelo prompted.

  "You know it's hard to read his little emotional rainbow while I'm keeping your silver light show running, right?!" Red snapped internally.

  "Red...!" Angelo growled aloud, the tri-colored veins in his silver eyes flaring dangerously.

  "Ugh, fine. He's legit. You happy?" Angelo looked back at Sol and gave a single, firm nod.

  Sol shifted his gaze from Angelo to Kirren. "Alright. What's the play?"

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "Alright, first things first. This guy is most likely an Arch Auron," Kirren said, all traces of his usual theatricality vanishing. "In other words, it means if you get hit once, you die."

  Neiva gulped hard, even though her mouth was completely dry.

  Kirren looked up toward the lip of the crater. "Sienna and I will try to drive him away. That's when you guys make a run for it." He brought his gaze back to Angelo. "You can fly, right?"

  Angelo nodded.

  "Good. So you grab the others and get the hell out of here. I'll try to signal you somehow..." Kirren trailed off, scratching his chin as if just realizing the glaring hole in his strategy.

  "Don't worry. We'll know," Angelo reassured him. Kirren eyed him suspiciously, but Angelo stepped forward. "Give me your arm."

  "Why? What are you planning?" Kirren asked, reluctantly extending his wrist.

  Angelo let his actions answer for him. Silver energy, threaded with crimson, azure, and orange, spilled from his fingertips. It coiled around Kirren's wrist, solidifying into a sleek, forged Trinergy bracelet.

  "Uh, thanks?" Kirren muttered, examining the faintly glowing accessory.

  "Keep it safe. As long as you wear it, I can help you remotely," Angelo explained, keeping the mechanics deliberately vague.

  "I don't follow," Kirren admitted.

  "You'll see."

  Kirren blinked a few times, then shook his head. "Right." He turned his back to them, bending his knees to prepare for the massive vertical jump. "Alright. You guys sit tight and wait for my signal—"

  "Wait!" Neiva stopped him, the words tumbling out in a rush.

  "Yeah?"

  "I just remembered," Neiva said breathlessly. "You said you two were signing up for a Veteran rank tournament. Doesn't that make you, like, ten times weaker than an Arch?!"

  Kirren's expression shifted from surprise to pure amusement. "Yeah, I'm a Veteran Auron. Same as Sienna." He glanced upward, a proud smile touching his lips. "Only difference is, I can't evolve. But Sienna can. Which makes her an Arch Auron when she does! So don't sweat it. The Sandstorm duo will make quick work of that guy!"

  With a powerful burst of pink energy, Kirren began ricocheting from wall to wall, ascending rapidly toward the surface where his fiancée and his opponent awaited.

  Above ground, Sienna and Electro exchanged a blur of devastating blows, the sheer force of their impacts cracking the bedrock beneath their boots. Sienna sported small bruises across her arms and shoulders, nothing major, but Electro's skin remained infuriatingly pristine.

  "Ha!" Electro barked as he casually deflected a sweeping kick. "Can't risk letting me out of your close range, or the sparks start shooting!"

  "Ohoho!" Sienna matched his intensity, stepping into his guard. "I am merely enjoying the thrill of close combat! It is not every day I can let loose like this without worrying I will BREAK someone!" She pushed off his chest, creating a fraction of distance.

  "HEX CRUSH!" she bellowed. She threw a punch into the empty space between them. Instantly, a thick, visually dense distortion of heavy air rushed toward Electro like a translucent cannonball.

  He sidestepped with terrifying speed. The spot he had occupied a heartbeat earlier exploded, sending a massive shower of rubble and dust into the sky.

  Electro clenched his fist, instinctively calling upon his element, but sparks simply popped and fizzled out against his skin. "This hexa-stuff is really effective—"

  He ducked a high kick and grabbed Sienna's leg mid-air.

  "Got you now—!" he started, but Sienna used the momentum to twist her body, driving her other heel directly into his cheek. He paused, absorbing the blow, then calmly grabbed her second leg and slammed her ruthlessly into the fractured earth.

  "Gah!" Sienna gasped, the impact driving the air from her lungs, but she rolled backward and recovered instantly.

  "I actually felt that one," Electro noted, his voice dropping to a dangerous purr.

  He opened his mouth to taunt her further, but the ground beneath him suddenly ruptured. Jagged spikes of hardened sand erupted from the earth, aiming to impale him where he stood. Electro didn't even flinch; the crystalline tips shattered harmlessly against his durable skin upon impact.

  Kirren landed lightly right behind Sienna, leaning in to whisper something in her ear.

  "Ah, there you are. I wondered where the cowardly man went," Electro mocked, brushing dust from his shoulder.

  "Ha! Nothing could keep me apart from my future wife!" Kirren declared, puffing out his chest. "No matter who we're up against, she will always have me right by her side."

  Sienna couldn't help but smile at his blunt, unwavering devotion.

  Electro, however, dropped his fighting stance. For the first time since he arrived, the predatory amusement vanished from his face, replaced by something cold and profoundly serious. "So, you're a couple. Future husband and wife, huh?" He slowly shook his head. "You know, I used to be just like you once. Me and the love of my life... we were inseparable. Took her on every job. Swore I'd protect her."

  His yellow eyes blazed with a mixture of ancient anger and raw grief. "And now, you're repeating the exact same mistake that I did." He tsked three times, the sound loud in the tense silence. "Such a waste."

  He snapped back into his fighting stance. Even though his electricity was entirely neutralized by Sienna's heavy air, the sheer, suffocating pressure of his killing intent made the hair on Kirren and Sienna's necks stand on end.

  "Stay behind me!" Sienna ordered, her tone brokering no argument.

  "Always!" Kirren called back, dropping into a low, supportive stance.

  "Here he comes!"

  Electro moved like a phantom. Sienna met his strikes head-on, while Kirren flooded the surrounding air with swirling sand, creating a localized smokescreen that blinded Electro while leaving Sienna's vision perfectly clear.

  Frustrated by the interference, Electro changed tactics. He leaped violently backward, escaping the sand cloud. It was a calculated move, forcing Sienna to break formation and leave Kirren's side just to keep Electro trapped inside her suppressive zone.

  The two resumed their high-speed exchange of blows. Suddenly, Electro feinted, ducking under Sienna's guard, and lunged straight past her—aiming directly for Kirren.

  Sienna didn't react fast enough. She launched herself backward with a desperate burst of wind, but she was too late.

  Electro's hand sliced through the air like a guillotine blade.

  "KIRREN!" Sienna screamed, her voice cracking with terror.

  Kirren stood frozen in complete shock. Just as the lethal strike was about to connect, an invisible force violently yanked him backward. Electro's fingertips missed his throat by a fraction of an inch.

  Electro realized he'd missed and pivoted to attack again, but Sienna had already closed the gap, throwing herself between them.

  "You're okay?!" Sienna gasped, struggling to keep Electro's relentless strikes at bay. But then, Electro stopped pushing forward. His attention was entirely captivated by something standing behind her.

  "What is that?" Electro asked, his head tilting in confusion.

  Kirren looked over his shoulder. A silver hand was floating in mid-air. As he watched, the impossible happened—the hand rapidly extruded silver, crimson, and azure energy, growing a torso, legs, and a head until it took a very familiar shape.

  "A-Angelo?" Kirren stuttered.

  The Trinergy puppet gave a sharp nod. It crouched low, dropping into Angelo's signature battle stance.

  It finally occurred to Kirren what Angelo had meant underground. He smirked, genuinely impressed. "I have no idea how you're doing that, but I'm glad you're watching my back!"

  The battle resumed with renewed ferocity. Sienna and Electro blurred into a storm of impacts that shook the surrounding ruins. The Trinergy puppet attempted to flank, launching a calculated strike at Electro's blind spot.

  Electro didn't even look. He simply backhanded the air, his raw physical strength slicing through the forged Trinergy construct like a hot knife through butter. The puppet shattered into useless sparks.

  "Tch," Angelo grunted down in the crater, his physical body flinching as the anchor point was destroyed. "Even with Trinergy Mode, I'm completely outmatched in pure speed and strength."

  Sol's jaw clenched tight. He looked away, staring at the dirt wall. Neiva shifted her weight anxiously, her hands wringing together.

  Up above, Sienna leaped backward, landing squarely beside Kirren. "Together!" she yelled.

  They moved in perfect synchronicity. Kirren summoned a massive wave of sand, while Sienna infused it with her hyper-dense, pressurized air.

  "HEX..." Sienna started.

  "SANDSTORM!" Kirren finished.

  They unleashed a devastating, wide-range wave of crushing, abrasive pressure. The combined Hex Sandstorm exploded outward like a localized hurricane made of grinding teeth. Ancient stone walls and rusted steel beams from the surrounding ruins didn't just break; they were instantly pulverized into fine powder by the hyper-dense, cutting currents. The sheer volume of churning bedrock and suffocating dust swallowed the battlefield whole, plunging the surface into total, impenetrable darkness. Vision was reduced to absolute zero. Electro didn't bother trying to block the apocalyptic wave; he simply leaped straight up into the sky, escaping the blinding maelstrom below.

  But Sienna had anticipated the evasion. She was already waiting for him in the air, the space around her fist shimmering as the air condensed to the density of solid steel.

  "Hex Punch!"

  She drove her fist toward his spine. It didn't even need to make direct contact; the hyper-concentrated air acted as a blunt-force battering ram, slamming into Electro's back with the force of a freight train.

  Electro came crashing down to the earth, kicking up a massive plume of dust and debris.

  Kirren spun toward the crater, ignoring the settling dust. "NOW!" he roared.

  Angelo didn't hesitate. Down in the darkness, he shifted his full focus back to his physical body. Massive, silver Trinergy wings erupted from his back, and thick tethers shot out, wrapping securely around Sol and Neiva's waists.

  "This is it!" Angelo called out over the roar of his wings.

  "Move! Move! Let's go!" Neiva yelled, panic spiking her voice.

  The thrusters in his wings detonated, and they shot upward like a silver missile, tearing out of the crater and into the open sky.

  But the very second they broke the surface, every hair on their bodies stood on end. The smell of ozone was suddenly thick enough to taste.

  "Keh heh. Got you."

  Electro had used the momentum of his crash to bound far outside the radius of Sienna's suppressive zone. High above the emerging group, his thunder wings had violently snapped back into existence.

  He hovered directly over the pale, exhausted trio. His hand was raised high, crackling with enough concentrated lightning to incinerate them a dozen times over.

  "H-How...?!" Neiva breathed, staring up at their executioner.

  "Begone!" Electro bellowed, throwing his arm downward.

  "NOOO!" Sienna and Kirren shouted in unison as Sienna tore through the sky, desperate to reach them before the lightning did.