YOSUKE SHIN
"Are you crazy?" Jiro and Naemi blurted out in unison, their voices overlapping in disbelief.
I smirked and waved off their concern. "Don't worry. They're nothing more than children who think they're some kind of gods."
Naemi's brows knitted together, worry clouding her eyes.
"You know anything about them?" I asked, studying her face.
She hesitated before answering. "Aside from their names? Nothing."
"Alright," I said, trying to shift the mood. "I'll call in the Rainbow Team, okay?"
They both gave uncertain nods. I went on, "So, there's the red guy, the cyan guy, the green guy—who didn't say a single word—the black-haired girl, and the orange-haired girl."
After a while, my opponents had made their choices. When I approached, I saw they had selected the red guy, the cyan guy, and the orange-haired girl—who looked like she'd rather be anywhere else.
"Before we start," I warned, "you'd better keep your distance." My voice was calm, but the tension in the air made even the bystanders shuffle backward.
Once everyone was at a safe distance, the battle began.
I stood there, facing three so-called 'powerful' warriors, but all I saw in their eyes was arrogance—cocky bastards who believed their own legend.
The red one stepped forward, smirking. "I think we shouldn't start by going all out."
A slow, dark grin spread across my face. "No," I said, my voice dropping into something almost inhuman, "you're wrong. In the end… you will resist."
The underground chamber smells like wet earth, mixed with marble dust. Grass under my feet is soft, but wet — perfect for water bending if I need it. My heart's racing, every muscle on edge. Three of them, one of me. Fun.
The girl just stands there, doing nothing. Watching. Fine. My focus's on the other two — the ones who actually want to fight.
The red guy smirks and goes for it. Heat hits me before I even see the flames. Fire bouncing off the marble ceiling, wind sneaking at my ankles. I twist, push the wind back with my own air bending, whip a strip of water from the grass at him — but he's gone. Shadow step. Pops up behind me.
Adrenaline spikes. My back tenses. I spin, ice shoots up from the ground to pin him, but nope — he's gone again, now on the ceiling. I can feel that little flicker of fear, but I shove it down. Focus. Focus.
The cyan guy slams his hand into the ground, mud geysers flying, gusts slicing at me. I leap, rip a chunk of marble from the ceiling, spike it at him with a little metal thrown in. Shadow step again. And suddenly, I feel ice scrape past my neck — he froze it in a blink.
My brain's on fire, heart pounding, lungs burning. Lightning crackles from my fingers, fire from my palms, wind carrying it. Every time one of them disappears, I have to guess where they'll strike next.
And then the girl moves. Shadow step. Pops out behind a marble column. My stomach drops. Three on one. I twist, whip up a whirlwind, throw ice shards, molten metal flying. Every move has to count, every attack has to cover every angle.
Marble crashes. Air roars. Ozone hits my nose, scorched grass underfoot. But somehow… I feel alive. Every strike, dodge, shadow step, it's like a pulse. I'm flowing between fire, ice, air, earth — and it's beautiful chaos.
The fear, the pressure, the chaos — it's fueling me. I grin. Let them come. I'm ready.
I can feel them circling me now, tension thick in the air. The girl, still watching, but I know she's not staying out of this forever. The two guys, desperate now, keep shadow-stepping, trying to overwhelm me with numbers.
I grin. Time to end this.