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Chapter 8
The Second Thoughts

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Lauren's whole body froze as a loud alarm blasted through the halls during their training session. No one moved for what felt like an eternity before a wave of realization washed over them. While everyone else ran to get their suits on, the Taylor girl stayed by the small pond with a million thoughts running through her head. Sure, she'd been through numerous training scenarios and practiced every chance she got, but nothing would prepare her for the real thing. Nothing would prepare her for actually facing the King of Darkness and his shadow army. It wasn't long after that when Lauren finally snapped out of her daze and followed her teammates.

As soon as she made it to the locker room, Lauren went to her section of the large space to get ready for what was to come. Her eyes studied the black jumpsuit with blue detailing for a long moment before she forced herself to change into it. Once she looked at the part of a hero, the blonde girl closed her locker door and went to join the rest of the team in the mission bay. Lauren did her best to hide her emotions as she walked past Marie and Matt and toward the center of the room where Umi was standing.

"Where are we heading?" she asked while grabbing a communicator from the case on the table and placing it in her ear. Only a second passed before everyone else around her moved to follow her actions.

As they grabbed their earpieces, Lauren turned her attention toward the Seer to get their instructions, only to see Umi lost in thought as she stared at the monitors in front of her. A wave of confusion washed over the leader of the Chosen as she stared at the white-haired woman. Throughout their time together, Umi always seemed to be radiating confidence and made sure they knew they were the right fit for the job. But at that moment, Lauren could see the hint of doubt in Umi's eyes despite how hard the latter tried to hide it. It wasn't long before the rest of the heroes started to notice the Seer's state.

"Earth to Umi," Matt said while snapping his fingers in front of the white-haired woman's face, causing the Zerrin woman to come out of her trance as she looked over at them with a blank look in her eyes.

"Oh, um...you're going to New York. Just outside the city," Umi told them in an emotionless time after studying the screen in front of her one last time. Silence surrounded them once again for what felt like an eternity before the Seer turned to look at the young heroes. "Please...please be careful. This isn't like a normal training session."

Despite the terror and doubt running through her veins, Lauren forced a smile on her lips before placing a hand on their mentor's shoulder. "We will be. I promise."

Shock began to mix with the other emotions that the Taylor girl was feeling after watching Umi's eyes begin to water. It wasn't long after that when her blank expression slowly started to fade until it looked as if she was about to have a breakdown. Lauren did her best to mask all the emotions she was feeling but slightly failed, unable to hide her reaction to the uncertainty in the Seer's eyes.

Does she not have faith in us? Lauren thought as she turned around to face her four teammates awaiting their instructions, did the trust she had in us fade?

"Marie, get the bikes ready. We leave in five," Lauren said while trying her best to clear her mind of all thoughts except for the mission ahead of them.

"On it," the redheaded girl replied before turning around and heading into the garage while the Taylor girl looked over at the rest of her teammates.

"Matt, I need to think of a game plan...maybe a few. We don't know what we're up against," Lauren declared, earning a small nod from the only male Chosen before he ran in the same direction as Marie. As soon as he was gone, the Taylor girl turned her attention toward Grace. "Make sure everything is packed and ready to go. We need to be prepared for anything."

"Not a problem," she responded before quickly leaving the room to begin her work.

"Kayleah," Lauren said as she turned to her last teammate, who was awaiting orders with a smirk on her face, "chart the best route to New York. We need to get there fast and undetected."

"Gotcha," she announced then she ran into the other room to look over all of her maps.

Lauren waited for a moment to make sure that all of her teammates were occupied before she turned back to Umi. It didn't shock the Taylor girl as much as before when she found the Seer staring at the monitors once again. After letting out a small sigh, Lauren walked over to the white-haired woman, only to find a look on Umi's face that made her seem like she would break with a single touch.

"Umi, is everything okay?" Lauren called out in a tone just above a whisper, causing the woman in question to look over at the blonde girl, "are we not ready?"

"That's not it. All of you are more than ready for what lies ahead," the white-haired woman responded, making the confusion the Taylor girl was feeling double, "but it's too early."

"What are you talking about?" the blonde girl questioned while keeping her eyes glued to the concerned woman standing next to her.

"You saw the vision. Your fight with Adrien happened at night...it's the middle of the day. And, on top of that, it's not raining. It's a perfect day without a cloud in the sky," she explained before finally turning to face the leader of the Chosen, "something's off. I don't know what it is but you all need to be careful. We're not fully prepared for what lies ahead."

"We'll be careful. I promise," Lauren told her while trying to mask the fear in her voice then a small smile appeared on her face, "we'll be back before you know it."

"Lauren! We're ready!" Matt shouted from the other room before Umi had a chance to respond to the girl standing next to her.

"Coming!" Lauren called and exchanged one last look with Umi before running into the garage. When she entered the room where her teammates were waiting, the Taylor girl instantly stopped in her tracks. All the emotions within her immediately doubled at the sight of their jet warmed up and ready to go. After staring at the plane for a moment longer, Lauren finally boarded the flying vehicle and met everyone in the cockpit. "No cycles?"

"Too far," Marie stated before pressing the button to open the hangar door while everyone else fastened their seatbelts.

"Who's flying?" the blonde girl questioned, knowing that none of them had even bothered to get their pilot license since they received their gifts.

"Autopilot. Kayleah already charted the course. All we need to do is let the plane do its thing and we'll get there in no time," Marie explained then she pressed one of the buttons on the dashboard, starting the plane.

No one spoke as they took to the sky and began their journey to New York. Just by the look on everyone's faces, Lauren knew they were thinking the same thing. They were on their way to fulfilling their destinies...if only they knew whether they succeeded or failed.

Silence surrounded them as they flew further and further away from their base before Lauren finally looked back to look at the rest of her team. However, what she found surprised her more than Umi's worry. They all had excited smiles on their faces as if their doubt and fear had evaporated in a matter of seconds. As soon as the Taylor girl faced forward once again, her mind filled with a million questions she would never know the answer to.

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"Now approaching New York," a robotic voice announced, causing Lauren's eyes to snap open before she quickly sat up. Her attention was glued to the New York City skyline in the distance for a long moment before she turned to look at the rest of the team. A sense of uneasiness washed over her when she saw Grace and Kayleah sitting around the plane without a care in the world while Matt acted like he was at a party. All of them seemed eager to finally accomplish what they were meant to do. Marie, on the other hand, looked exactly like how the Taylor girl felt. It seemed as though she wanted to turn the jet around and head back home.

Lauren would be the first out of all of them to admit it was difficult to put your life on the line when it barely even started. They weren't didn't have all the money in the work to build protective armor and enhanced suits like Iron Man did in the comics she grew up reading. They didn't even have superstrength or an indestructible shield like Captain America. All they had were mystical elemental abilities given to them by unknown forces and a year or two of training. And even with the training they had, none of them were even close to mastering the gifts they received. Umi had made that clear on numerous occasions. Was what they had really enough for them to take on a being that had been around for a thousand years and make it out to tell the story?

"Now arriving in New York. Fifteen minutes until the destination is reached," the autopilot announced, causing all of Lauren's senses and nerves to skyrocket as she looked over at all of her teammates.

"Ready?" the Taylor girl asked while trying her best to mask all the emotions she was feeling under her false confidence.

"Yes! Let's go!" Matt responded with so much energy it sent chills down Lauren's spine before he sprinted toward the back of the jet.

No one moved as they watched him disappear through the door then the rest of the team looked back at Lauren. Their leader could tell they were nervous, and why wouldn't they be? They were about to take on a powerful being with much more training and experience than they had combined. But it was what they were meant to do.

"Yeah," Kayleah, Grace, and Marie replied with a lot less enthusiasm and concern on their faces.

"Then let's go," their leader said, surprised at how calm her voice was as they continued to approach the location where they would face the man they had been training to defeat.

Lauren stepped to the side and allowed the three girls to walk passed her. The Taylor girl's eyes stayed glued to the window and watched the scenery getting closer to them before she turned and followed after them. Once she got into the supply room, she grabbed her gloves and attached her water pouches to her belt. Lauren stood in her place and waited until her team finished getting ready before they felt the plane land. After the realization that they had arrived near the place where they were going to face Darkness, the Chosen got onto their bikes that they loaded onto the plane as the ramp slowly opened. A small sigh passed over her lips as they began to drive toward the field where their opponent was supposed to be.

They just arrived at their destination when a huge black ball came barreling toward them. Lauren was barely able to move out of its way at the last second before they all jumped off their bikes and sprinted into battle.

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