Escape

They emerged out onto the street in a tight formation. Mira pressed closely behind Luna's shield, while Elena and Rell followed closely behind. 

"What happened to the city?" Rell shook his head, looking at the trees that grew upwards from the cracked concrete. 

A loud cry came from above as the two sharks circled. 

"They found us!" Mira yelled. 

"Incoming!" Rell let out. 

"Luna!" Elena yelled. 

"Leave this to me." 

Several spikes flew at them at high speed. Luna summoned Earth Nin, strengthening her stance on the ground. All four of them took shelter under the shield as a wall of earth formed around the shield. The spikes pierced the ground around them, but clattered off the shield with loud echoes. 

"Let's move!" Mira ordered as they broke their defense. 

"Anytime now Rin!" Elena said. 

"Give me a second! It takes a bit to set up my Fire Nin." The Light orb shot back. 

Bolts of fire raged across the sky, slamming into the two sharks in a fiery rage and causing them to shatter, diving into the city below. 

"How's the power of the greatest sniper of the seventh feel?!?" Rin's light orb danced. 

"Friends." Luna let out. 

Several Shadows emerged from the tall grass. Unlike the ones from earlier, these Shadows didn't walk on two legs, but ran on all fours, resembling translucent wolves. 

"Doggy." Luna said, slamming her shield down and sending a shockwave of earth Nin through the ground, sending two of the wolves flying. 

Mira channeled Water Nin at the tip of her spear. With a thrust, an burst of high pressure water emerged, severing the two wolves in half. 

"Just as planned." She adjusted her glasses.

"Hey you stole that line!" Elena protested. 

Another wolf rushed their flank. Elena handspringed forward to meet it. It charged her, teeth barred. With the elegance of a ballerina dancer, she spun out of the way, severing its neck with her blade as she danced past. Another wolf attacked, only for her to flip over it, blasting it and pinning it to the ground with a wave of air. 

"Bounce." Luna leapt into the air with surprising power, slamming her shield down on the wolf and bisecting it. 

A final wolf attacked Rell. biting into his arm. It was an After Image. Rell appeared to it's side, stabbing its flank and killing it. 

Something else stirred in the grass. Two gigantic, lizard like Shadows appeared, scaling two adjacent buildings with blinding speed. Once they were high up, they began channeling Nin.

"Cover!" Luna yelled. 

The three others rushed to Luna's position as another wave of spikes flew at them, taking shelter under the shield. 

"They have us pinned." Rell said. 

"That's pretty obvious..." Mira sighed. 

"Hm? Something is coming..." Luna let out. 

Something slammed into the shield, forcing Luna to slide back and knocking the others out fo the way. 

The three recovered quickly, jumping behind rocks and rubble to avoid the lizard spikes from above. 

"Luna?" Mira looked towards the shield girl. 

A massive rhino Shadow was pressing against her. Luna recovered her feet, but was still being pushed backwards from the force. 

"Strong..." Luna muttered. 

"We need to help her!" Rell yelled. 

Mira looked to Elena. They shared a knowing nod. 

"Rin!" Elena yelled. 

"Roger!" Rin cried. 

A bolt of fire soared at one of the lizards, hitting it within half a second and frying it. The other lizard hissed, dodging out of the way of another fire bolt and skittering inside a broken window. 

Elena and Mira charged the rhino, splitting left and right. 

"Pin." Luna said, slamming her boot onto the ground. 

Earth Nin wrapped around the legs of the rhino, holding it in place as Luna leaped out of the way. Elena charged at it with incredible speed, burying her weapon into its flank. It howled it pain, but didn't fall. It broke the earth binds easily, swinging around to hit Elena with its horn. The Sister danced around it, rolling her body over its back and delivering another sword blow to its other side. 

"Thump." Luna muttered. 

Earth Nin launched the rhino, but not as far up as she expected. Mira charged forward. 

"Thousand Brine Thrusts." She said. 

Rell had never seen a spear user move at such speed. Using water Nin to increase the power of blows, she proceeded to stab the Shadow in a blinding flurry of blows. The rhino hit the ground, covered in black blood, smoke pouring from its wounds. Elena drove her blade into its head, killing it. 

"Alpha Squad!" Elena leapted. 

Mira pushed her out of the way of a spike as it zoomed past them, digging into the concrete between them. 

"Whoops. Forgot that one..." Elena laughed. 

Mira sighed. 

"I got it." Elena smiled. 

She channeled Wind Nin, launching herself into the air. The lizard peeked its head out the window, launching spikes at her. She twisted in the air, using Wind Nin to bounce off invisible wind walls in a zig zag pattern before finally reaching the window. With a spin, she severed the lizard's head, defeating it. 

"Now Alpha Squad!" Elena waved from the window. 

"Alpha Squad." Luna raised a fist. 

Mira adjusted her glasses, chanting Alpha Squad in her heart but keeping silent in order to maintain a calm and collected appearance. 

"That was kinda amazing..." Rell commented. "I feel like I didn't do anything..." 

"Oh don't worry. We practiced a whole heck lot." Elena said, softly landing on the ground next to him, her boots tapping against the ground. "

"Heads up." Rin said, a blackened Shadow passing above them. 

It was one of the sharks. It had a smoking wound where Rin had hit it. Black blood poured from it, raining down on them below. The shark disappeared behind building. 

"Let's keep moving." Mira directed.