The Elementals

I slip out the door and then immediately backpedal. “Coal!” I yelp and duck behind him as the now completely conscious and very mad clone blasts fire from his hands.

“What are-” Coal spins, thankfully reacting fast enough to cover me. “So I’m the useless human shield now?”

“Nope.” I duck under his arm and leap, landing a solid kick to the clone’s chest. He hits the floor and then I’m running down the hall. “Just useless.”

I look behind me and see Coal staring at the clone. His wide eyes flick up to me, mouth open.

"C’mon!” I hiss.

“Right.”

I make sure he’s following me and then I start heading down the hallway that says upper deck. Alarms have already started wailing, the red lights flashing along the walls. I catch sight of guards dashing down the opposing hallways, turning to start after us.

“There’s an airlock up ahead.” Coal says. “It’s to keep the boat dry during storms. There are usually guards stationed there, and they’ve probably closed the outside door by now.”

“Okay.” I think. “We’ll go in; you lock the door behind us and then work on getting out. I’ll take the guards.”

“But there’s like six -”

I throw a glare over my shoulder.

Coal closes his mouth. “Okay, okay, you take them. I’m just great with doors.”

“Good.”

We reach the airlock and shove the heavy door open. It’s barely closed and latched before the guards have caught up and are pounding on it.

I spin, already kicking and my foot connects with someone’s chest, sending them to the ground. I see Coal race to the other door as I duck a punch. Another strong side-kick, another guard down. I face the remaining seven with a slightly psychotic war smile. They don’t stand a chance.

A few punches, blocks, and kicks later, no one is left standing. Except for me. Funny thing about that. I look up and see Coal staring, mouth slightly open, an expression he’s wearing more often. I walk over importantly, and put my hand on the door.

Before I pull it open, I turn to him. “There were nine by the way.”

I yank open the door and march through while he mutters behind me, ”nine!"

As we emerge onto the deck, it occurs to me that we should probably hide. I grab Coal’s arm and drag him behind a stack of crates.

“Alright.” I say, catching my breath. “What now?”

Coal gives a quick, airy laugh. “First you teach me how to sidekick like that.”

“Tomorrow.” I grin back. “Maybe.”

He laughs again, though we both know the humor is strained. “It’s a date. Now, we need to find the others.”

“There’s a missing shuttle boat over there.” I point across the deck to where there are lines of boats. “They’re probably in the water already. We’ll have to jump. What are you looking at?” I ask as Coal tilts his head back.

I follow his gaze and see a crane lifting a large tank above our heads. I have time to read the word gasoline before the shadow blocks my vision and Coal shakes his head. “Nothing. Let’s go.”

We creep slowly out from behind the crates and make our way to the edge of the carrier. The wind whips at my hair. So far no one has spotted us, too engrossed in moving machinery to notice two kids looking down into the churning ocean below.

I nudge Coal as I see a small boat floating as close as it dares to the carrier. The passengers are waving, and I recognize the erratic movements of Terra as she tries to shout, voice getting lost in the crash of waves.

“-are they?” I jump as Izila’s angered shout echoes over the deck. ”There! Do you even have eyes?” I whirl around and see a swarm of guards flooding out of the now open airlock, led by Izila, the clones, and Caelum.

“Come on!” I shout to Coal.

“She’s not going to stop Tide.”

“What?” I demand. “Come on Coal, there’s nothing we can do -”

"Yes there is." He insists, eyes flicking to the tank of gas, now set down by a three others on the deck. “Jump, I’ll be right behind you.”

I clench my teeth at the lie. “Coal, you promised."

“I know I did. And I’m not doing it on purpose. It just happens to be an unfortunate side effect.” He reasons as the guards march towards us.

“Coal don’t you dare-” I step forward but then he’s matching that and holding my shoulders.

“I’m sorry.” He says quickly. “I love you and I’m sorry.”

“Coal-”

He cuts me off with a kiss, a frantic, hurried one that has an aching finality to it, and then I’m shoved off the deck and barely have time to scream before I splash into the water near the boat.

"Coal!” I screech once I break the surface. “Coal what the-” I’m yanked out of the water by my arms and dumped into the boat.

“Please don’t try to jump off again-” Owen starts but I’m already off the boat and back in the water. “Here we go.” I hear him sigh behind me before a flash of light over the edge of the deck makes me ever more frantic to get back up there.

The climb is about forty feet, and the waves are getting larger as my stress grows. “Coal I am going to freaking kill you!” I shriek. Blocks of ice freeze and I climb onto them, making a staircase to the deck. As I get closer I can hear thumps and gunshots and shouting. I climb faster, not wasting time to screech any more threats.

“Tide!”

I don’t even pause as I hear Oh’Rian calling. Terra chimes in and I know they’re climbing after me.

I reach the deck in time to see the second round of guards flooding out from below. Coal seems to be holding strong, pushing his way towards the engine tank. His hands are glowing; I can see the air rippling even from this far away. I’m screaming at him again, useless threats to try and drag attention to myself, but he’s obviously the bigger problem.

“Tide!”

I ignore the shouts and run forward. The splashing of the waves has made the deck wet, and I slip in my frantic dash. Terra races up beside me, grabbing my arm.

A hissed “no!” escapes me and I go to push her off but instead she helps me up.

“We’re his friends too!” she says and Oh’Rian comes up on my left.

“Nobody’s playing sacrificial terrorist today.” She growls, the first definitive thing I’ve heard her say.

Audrey, Steel, Sparky - everyone catches up with me as I stare at them, panic swirling my thoughts, until the roar of fire brings my head snapping back around.

“Coal!” I start running again as more guards swarm out of the door, armed with guns. He’s taken out the first round with fire, and I can see one hand on the first tank. “Coal!” I scream again, but he still can’t hear me.

The metal is melting, burning a hole - I’m sprinting, screaming for Terra and Oh’Rian to help me. Water is rising behind me, I can feel it, and wind picks up as I leap at Coal.

Then everything explodes.

The thunderous boom is muffled by the titanic wave that crashes between the explosion and my friends. Water sprays everywhere from the shock wave but surprisingly I’m not thrown to the ground.

I can hear shouting, but it’s stifled by the pounding of my heart in my ears. The ocean rises up, a tidal wave of force colliding with the carrier on all sides. I can feel the power surging through my body, making me feel light headed and yet solid as a rock.

The deck shakes beneath me, trembling under the pressure of the water. I can just barely control it enough to keep a bubble of air around me and Coal, and I hope the others, but suddenly I’m being enveloped by the power, the heat in my veins becoming scary as I lose all focus.

Broken flashes of images slide past my eyes, almost unbearably bright, making me wince. My head aches, my heart beat like a strike to my temples every time. All my muscles are burning in pain. I hear an unearthly sound and then realize it’s coming from me, tearing out of my throat.

Light invades through my closed eyelids, hot, burning light. I force them open and see that the swirling water around us is alight with flames. To my right, a warm shoulder presses against mine to keep me upright. I don’t have to turn my head to know it’s Coal, lighting the gasoline mixed with the salt water, but when another body sidles to my left, I look and see Terra, then Oh’Rian.

Wind whips through my hair, spinning in a cyclone and helping me keep the water from crushing us. The effort of making waves is lessened as Terra makes the sea floor tremble, even from up here on the carrier.

Wind, water, earth and fire. All four elements in a churning hurricane around us. I can’t hear anything now, no more shouting or gunshots. The power is engulfing me, pouring through me, a drug I cannot get enough of. Everything is clear, calm, slowed down into perfection.

I feel like a god.

“Tide!”

A voice scatters my thoughts, bringing the roaring turmoil of noise back.

“Tide!”

It’s Terra, voice hoarse.

“Tide, we can’t take much more of this!”

I can feel it slipping away, the serene pinnacle of power. My eyes widen in panic, desperate to grab it back, to feel the energy again.

"No!” I wail. Work! Fight! Harder, faster!

I throw my hands out in a last ditch attempt, and the whirlpool blasts out with my movements, dispersing back into the ocean and leaving the carrier empty except for our little circle.

Terra’s body trembles next to mine, until she isn’t there anymore, instead on the ground with Oh’Rian. I hear Stella rush to their aid, the others close behind, but I’m too busy remembering how to breathe. Chest heaving, my weight falls more heavily onto Coal, whose in about the same shape, until we both sink to ground in a gasping heap.

“Did...” Coal takes a while to continue. “Did we just make a flaming hurricane tornado earthquake?”

I tilt my head to the sky, where clouds have gathered around the boat and a drizzle has started. Farther along the horizon, angrier looking cumulonimbuses are collecting into a storm, after effects from our little side show.

“Yeah.” I reply airlessly. “Yeah...I guess we did.”

“A Fire-cane-earth-nado.”

I laugh, though my entire body feels sore. “You’re so stupid.”