Written by: dxganronpa

"What... what was that?" Scarlett asked, looking around with widened eyes. She grabbed onto the nearest thing she could, which happened to be Jay's arm.

Jay immediately put his controller down, holding onto Scarlett as if she was the most fragile thing. "Don't... don't run off. Maybe if we stay down here, they won't find us."

"Are you talking about... those shadows you've mentioned? The things that hurt Mia the other night?" Scarlett questioned with slight worry in her voice. "Then wouldn't it be better if we all met up as a team? If we stay by ourselves, then those things have a better chance of—!"

"Okay, okay, you're right!" Jay just didn't want to hear anymore, only be rid of the shadows as he dragged the girl out of the room. They arrived into what they assumed was the kitchen just as the lights went back on.

"Guys?" Mia asked, running into the room with Lloyd. "Oh, thank god the lights are back on!"

Nya then ran into the kitchen with her brother, her face full of concern. "What's going on?"

"Nothing good." Cole entered the kitchen with Zane, and the entire team was now together. "If it's what I think it is, then we have to keep Mia and Scarlett under protection. They can't take all of us at once."

"Just Mia," Scarlett mumbled under her breath, inhaling deeply through her nose. "Just Mia."

"Well, we don't have much time until they get here. Once we get rid of them, we must depart. If they know our location, this won't be the last we see of them," Zane informed, the rest nodding.

"But hey... I've unlocked my light powers, didn't you see?" Mia asked, holding out her hand. Of course they did... if they saw me and Lloyd, she thought to herself, sighing. The glow began forming at her fingers, growing to fill her hand.

"Oh, that's right! Now we actually have a fighting chance!" Jay said with a smile. However, upon receiving looks from everyone, he cleared his throat. "Uh, not that we didn't have one before..."

From the corner of her eye, Mia noticed something coming toward them in the dim light. She noticed it going for Scarlett, and her eyes widened before she jumped forward, tackling her down.

Scarlett looked up to see a knife through the wall, which would've struck her had Mia not saved her. "Thanks, M..."

"Just looking out for a friend." Mia smiled as she helped her off the ground. "They're already here. We have to go!"

"This way!" Lloyd led the group out of the kitchen just as a shadow revealed itself, laughing menacingly.

"You can't run forever, Brooklyn... and you're most definitely not off the hook, Dragonfire."

Scarlett almost tripped upon hearing the laugh. "I- I heard it!"

"We're not letting them get to you," Kai assured her, grabbing her arm as he ran.

She pulled her arm away, looking ahead of her. "Don't worry—they won't have a reason to."

Once stopping outside the deck, everyone panted, putting their hands on their knees. Cole asked, "Is everyone here? In good shape?"

"I'll question if we're in good shape... but we're all here," Jay answered.

"Where did he go?" Mia asked, putting her hand on the dagger in her belt. "I'm ready to fight him!"

"Daggers will be useless against a shadow..." a voice hissed.

This made Mia move her hand, her eyes widening in shock. "So he is here..."

Purple mist began flying straight toward Lloyd, who was in the middle of the group. Looking the other way, he didn't notice it until Scarlett jumped in front of him with her hand held out, the mist being absorbed in her skin.

"Scarlett, are you okay?!" Kai asked, seeing the purple on her hand.

"Um... it doesn't... hurt or anything." Scarlett looked down at her hand, confused. "It's just... there."

"Okay, now that doesn't look very safe!" Cole told her, pointing at the purple that was now taking over her entire hand and slowly moving up her arm.

"Wh- What?!" Her eyes widened and she violently shook her wrist. "Get it off me!"

"Well, this is a much easier way to obtain your powers..." The shadow finally revealed itself to the ninja, smirking. "Maybe you should have just let him get attacked."

"What are you doing to her?!" Mia scowled, forming her light in her hands and shooting it at the shadow. It hit him and he disappeared, but another one appeared right behind her.

"Making her a shadow will give us easy access to those powers of hers that are yet to be unlocked." He formed a knife from the shadows and was going to stab her, but she moved away just in time to only get a scratch on the arm. "Although I see that you've unlocked yours, Brooklyn."

"Hit me with your light!" Scarlett shouted to the redhead.

"Are you crazy? I'm not hurting you!" Mia shook her head as she dodged the shadow's attacks.

Lloyd didn't hesitate to run to her aid, shooting his energy beam at the shadow, making it disappear. "There are more coming!"

"M, do you want me to be a shadow for the rest of my life?" Scarlett cried, backing up as another shadow appeared in front of her.

"But—!"

"Just do it already!"

With those words, Mia gulped and formed her light in her hands once more, aiming it at her friend and letting the power fly. It hit both the shadow and her, and Scarlett let out a cry at the impact.

But it worked, as the purple was no longer on her body, replaced by a deep burn mark on her entire left arm down to her hand. She held it, tears in her eyes from the pain. "Thanks..."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry...!" Mia apologized, putting her hands over her mouth. "Wasn't there any other way...?"

"Guess it's too late to find that out now. Was that the last of them?" Kai asked, going over to the scarlet ninja and holding her waist with one hand, her burned arm with the other.

"I hope so. It's gotten really quiet." Jay let out a small sigh. "At times like this, I hate when it's quiet..."

The group looked around, their heads moving left and right rather quickly. It seemed like the coast was clear, leaving the ninja to sigh in relief.

"Okay, now that they're gone... let's get that arm healed up." Mia looked to Scarlett's arm, which showed no sign of healing yet. The red was still clear under the remaining fabric of her gi that was a bit ripped from the light attack.

"Alright..." The idea sounded great to her, considering she didn't like the pain at all and wanted relief as soon as possible.

But once they all began walking back inside with their guards down, another shadow appeared behind Mia and hit her in her injured ankle.

Mia let out a scream, turning her head to see the enemy behind her. "Again?!"

"We aren't done yet—you should know better than to let your guards down, Ninja..." the shadow hissed, not hesitating to grab her by the shoulders and pulling her toward him.

"Let her go!" Lloyd scowled, forming his powers in his hands.

"You're clearly outnumbered," Cole said, clenching his fists.

But an echoed hiss then rang out among the team and more shadows appeared. Much, much more than there were in the group, leaving them all with widened eyes.

"I believe you spoke too soon, Cole..." Zane gulped, forming his ice in his hands.

"Okay... seven of us against a bunch of shadows. Wonderful," Scarlett mumbled under her breath.

It was after those words that the shadows began attacking. Nya blocked and dodged their attacks, frowning. "Please don't tell me you forgot how to count... there's eight of us."

"I'm pretty uneducated, but I don't count."

"Scarlett, are you still going on with that crap? How many times do we have to remind you, you are one of us," Jay told her, shooting his lightning at two more shadows.

"Jay, not only am I injured—" Scarlett squeaked as she barely dodged a knife coming her way. "I can't fight for shit!"

"Let me go!" Mia tried wiggling out of the shadow's grip, but she couldn't. Almost escaping him twice costed her kicks to her injured ankle, leaving it bleeding from the ankle. "Ow...!"

"Better stay put, Brooklyn," the shadow threatened, pulling her away from the other ninja slowly. "Or you'll suffer worse when we get back."

Her eyes widened for a few seconds, her face then shrinking into a scowl. She lit up her hands in her light, ready to release it. "You aren't taking me anywhere, you—!"

But she couldn't finish her words as a pair of handcuffs were closed on her wrists. "What the—?"The light then subsided, and she was no longer able to use it. "M- My powers!"

"I guess you've never heard of Vengestone before." The shadow smirked, grabbing hold of her arm and yanking her back. "You won't be able to use your powers with these on."

"You monster..." Mia scowled, not hesitating to try and escape again.

"Mia, hold on!" Lloyd shouted. As he was going to help the redhead, he was attacked by a shadow, being hit in the head. He fell to the floor and was immediately unconscious.

"Lloyd!" Mia cried, trying to reach out for him but failed to with the handcuffs around her wrists.

"What about the other girl?" the shadow hissed, looking at Scarlett. However, she was behind Kai, who attacked every shadow that dared take a step toward her.

"None are getting past him. It's like he's her bodyguard," a second shadow told the first. "But we have one of them—and the bothersome one at that."

"You're right... although we should never let our guard down." The first shadow looked at Scarlett, scowling. "Appearing weak may just be a setup. She may end up unlocking her element at any given time. We can't let her go."

"So what do we do?"

"We retreat with the redhead, and when none of them are paying attention... we finish the job."

The second shadow nodded, looking back to the entire group. "We must retreat!"

"Retreat?" Nya looked up, confused. "Why are they retreating?"

"H- Hey, they have Mia!" Jay pointed toward the three.

"Yeah, thanks for noticing!" Mia huffed, trying to pull herself away. "I can't use my light because I'm stuck in Vengestone!"

"Vengestone is a material that disables elemental powers," Zane informed. "How did they get their hands on it?"

"Well, Lloyd's knocked out and they're getting away!" Cole was at the green ninja's side, his hand behind the blond's head and lifting it up gently. "He's out cold."

"You ninja will never see your friend again... too bad you can't say goodbye." The shadow holding Mia tossed her to another one, and the two disappeared. "And you..." He looked at Scarlett. "Don't think you're off the hook."

Scarlett took a step back, gulping. "You... you don't need me."

"You won't lay a finger on her." Kai stood in front of her, his arm held out. "And we'll get Mia back!"

"Oh, Fire Ninja... that's what you think." And after those words, the remaining shadows were gone.

"They took Mia..." Jay frowned, his lightning leaving his hands. The others let their hands fall to their sides, the same look on their faces.

Scarlett felt the pain in her arm intensify and she held it, hissing. "My arm..."

"Maybe there was a better way to get rid of that..." Nya sighed, walking over to her. "Let me see it."

Lloyd groaned, slowly opening his eyes. "Where... where is she?"

"They took her away," Zane answered with a frown. "But we'll get her back."

The green ninja rubbed his head, sitting up and looking around. "Dammit... they're gonna take her powers—!"

"Mia's strong, Lloyd," Scarlett cut him off, her voice soft. She let the Sister of Fire examine her arm, even if it hurt, and gave him a sad look. "She can clearly handle herself. I know they won't get to her."

"Scarlett's right, Lloyd." The nindroid helped his friend to his feet, patting him on the back. "We will get Mia back—but we have to recover for now. They can be coming back for Scarlett at any moment, and we must prepare."

Scarlett huffed at his statement. "For the last time guys, I—"

"Don't argue. You heard the shadow," Kai stopped her. "You're not off the hook. They know your element is still inside you, and they'll take it no matter what."

"Do you see any powers in me?" Scarlett snapped. "They can take me away for all I care, because they won't find anything."

"Scarlett, can you just—?" Cole began, but Nya held a hand out.

"No, Cole. Scarlett's right—she hasn't unlocked her powers yet, and therefore, they won't find anything." Nya looked to the others, and at their shocked faces, gave them a serious look. "So why should they come after her?"

"Thank you." Scarlett huffed, turning around. "I'm not the best with medics, so... if any of you wanna help me inside with this arm, I'd really appreciate it." She then walked back inside the Bounty without another word.

Once she was out of sight, Kai crossed his arms. "Nya, what the hell was that?"

"I did not see the reason behind that remark," Zane told her.

Nya sighed, turning around with a small frown. "Man, I really thought reverse psychology would work on her!"