Mako illuminated the darkness of the hole with his fire as he addressed Nathan and Leon.
"Listen up, guys, I don't know how much time I have bought for us but we have to use it effectively or we might not even be able to make it out of this room alive," Mako said.
Meanwhile, the dust began to settle on the surface and the blue lightning user rushed forward hoping to catch Mako and the others by surprise, but to his own surprise, they were nowhere to be seen.
The other gang members were still recovering from the strong concussive blast that they took on point-blank range and the one who could transform into the Magma Giant reverted back into his human form as he couldn't get back up after falling down.
"Where the hell are they!?" The blue lightning user shouted in anger as he couldn't believe the intruders were able to slip right between their fingers.
"I dunno... they must run back from the way they came from" One of the gang members suggested.
Filled with rage, the lightning user discharged all of his built-up aura in a spectacular show of sparks and arcs of lightning. "Find them! The boss won't spare us if we fail!"
In the underground tomb that Mako and Leon had created, Mako began explaining what he had learned from using Analyze on all six enemies.
Thanks to all those additional points that Mako had in intelligence and Mentality, his reaction time and ability to read and understand had grown exponentially.
In the short time frame that Mako had while the enemies were charging at them, Mako hadn't just analyzed the gang member who had transformed into a magma giant, but also the five others.
The fact that Mako could analyze them meant that they were weaker than him or else the skill would have failed which gave Mako little hope that they still had a chance of survival in this insane scenario.
Even though Analyze had confirmed that they were slightly weaker than Mako, they were still incredibly strong with six of them each coordinating well with the other members, they became far more dangerous and hard to deal with.
Using his Analyze skill, Mako gained valuable information about the foes they faced. Dimitri Volkanov, capable of transforming into a Magma Giant, with fortitude and strength that seemed insurmountable. His weakness to ice, water, and wind might be their only hope.
However, none of them possessed the abilities that he was weak to which made it far more difficult to deal with than it already was, but Mako did have a plan, something that he had just executed himself moments ago.
Nathan and Leon listened intently as Mako outlined their strategy.
"Guys, we can't take these enemies head-on," Mako began, his voice firm with determination. "We need to exploit their weaknesses."
Nathan nodded in agreement, but he was still confused as to how would they exploit their weakness if they didn't possess the ability to do so.
Mako shook his head in a way to show Nathan that he was thinking about this completely wrong.
"We can't exploit his elemental weakness, but we can exploit his physical weakness, just like I did before," Mako said.
Nathan suddenly realized what Mako was referring to as he lit up with the realization.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Nathan said, affirming Mako's plan.
"Yes! It takes transformation users a lot of energy to fully transform and even more energy to maintain that form and by the size of that thing, I don't think he can maintain that form for long. Aim at his feet, and try to make him stumble, he won't just be out of the fight, but his struggle could become an obstacle to his own team, giving us the advantage." Mako explained his idea.
Leon's eyes sparkled with determination. They had faced tough odds before, but this battle was unlike any other. The stakes were higher, and the enemies were stronger than they had ever encountered.
"But what about the rest of them? They are bound to be strong too." Nathan asked worried, that the plan wouldn't work if they focused on just one person.
"Our main threat is the blue lightning user, as he has the greatest amount of power, the other four are just regular ability users with two level 4 abilities. It is not a great solution, but I do have a plan that might just work," Mako said as he began explaining his plan to deal with the less powerful gang members.
As Mako continued to share his plan, they could hear faint footsteps and the sound of voices above them. The gang members were searching for them, determined to flush them out and eliminate the intruders once and for all.
Mako glanced at Nathan and Leon, who nodded, signaling their readiness.
Above ground, the gang members scoured the room and the tunnel connecting to it, frustration building as they found no trace of the intruders. The blue lightning user clenched his fists, his energy crackling around him. The other gang members exchanged uneasy glances, knowing the consequences of failure.
"They can't have gone far. Keep looking!" the blue lightning user ordered.
Meanwhile, beneath the surface, Mako and Leon had executed the first part of Mako's plan.
With Leon's assistance, they created a network of tunnels and pitfalls, underneath the room as quietly as possible. The tomb that they had initially made had now expanded into a big network of very tight tunnels and huge drops that were several feet deeper than the level they stood on.
Thanks to Bill, Mako and Leon had learned a neat little trick that he taught them during their week of training which was to use the Earth's ability to sense movement by sensing the vibration on the ground or in this case the roof.
They were able to use this to their advantage and sense that all the members were standing on top of them.
The one who could transform was sitting in the middle of the room trying to catch his breath with the blue lightning user standing right beside him, while the four others were checking behind all of the crates to make sure that they weren't just hiding behind one of them.
With oxygen nearing depletion inside the tunnels that Leon and Mako had made, they knew it was time to execute. Mako signaled Leon by holding three fingers into the air which he began counting down.
As Mako's last finger dropped, they both slammed their foot on the ground simultaneously, opening two holes in the ground each, which happened to be right under the four gang member's feet.
"AHHHH!" The gang members shouted as they fell down into the labyrinth of tunnels, but not at the level on which they were standing, but straight into the pitfalls that they had created, effectively trapping them there as none of them possessed the Earth ability to free themselves.
The blue lightning user and his friend reacted immediately to the cry for help their members made before they were sucked into the pitfall, but before they could act, Mako and Leon erupted from the ground next to them with speed and force and rushed in to land a critical blow when they were caught off guard from both sides.
[Sprint has been activated]
[Stone Skin has been activated]
Mako covered his right arm with a thin layer of stone and began channeling as much red fire into his fist as possible, the stone began to hiss as it began red hot and appeared just like the Magma giant's skin.
He dashed with great speed to land a heavy strike with Leon doing the same with his speed and hardening ability combined with his own flaming fist.
Meanwhile, the ground underneath continued to shake as if there was a mini earthquake hitting the tunnel they were in.
The two of them instantly reached the two enemies and it looked like their fists would connect, dealing explosive damage; however, the blue lightning user hadn't depowered at all unlike what Mako had expected.
The blue lightning user had a habit of always keeping a charge on himself which he would occasionally release in bursts of sparks and lightning if the charge build-up got too much.
The lightning user retracted his body inwards bringing his hands and feet closer to his center and in an instant released a pulse of electricity that looked similar yet far more impressive than Mako's electrical discharge.
The pulse blasted outward with violent force, dealing heavy damage to Leon who thankfully used hardening around his chest just in time to protect his heart, blasting him away and paralyzing him onto the ground.
Mako who already looked like he had taken a severe beating, performed a bit better against the violent pulse of electricity as it got countered with his very own lightning ability which thankfully prevented him from getting paralyzed, but he still got blasted back just like Leon.
Leon was completely out of the fight as he lay on the ground, unable to move a finger while Mako managed to catch himself before he got blasted into the crates lining the walls.
He quickly stood up to see both gang members staring at him with the first one already transforming back into the magma giant, and the second charging up a strong lightning attack, both of them completely ignoring the mini earthquakes that kept shaking the ground.
Just as the two gang members had finished preparing their moves to finish off Mako quickly, Mako slammed his foot on the ground, and from the ground emerged Nathan who erupted into the air, his hands glowing with sparks of hundreds of explosions.
Nathan had been the one who remained inside the tunnels when Leon and Mako jumped and was the reason behind the earthquakes as he used his explosion ability to quickly deal with the gang members who were trapped in the pitfalls.
The enemies weren't expecting this but just like before the lightning user aimed to attack Nathan with his lightning strikes before he could attack; however, this time the opposite had happened because Nathan had his Advanced Perception ability.
Nathan was able to predict and dodge all of the Lightning strikes and now it was his turn, as he blasted the two of them with hundreds of explosions aimed right at their feet.
The explosion dealt some serious damage to the enemies and kicked up a lot of dust creating cover for Nathan and Mako to run around them and save Leon.
However, right before they could reach Leon, strong winds started to blow that completely removed the dust from the room revealing the blue lightning user controlling the wind with his hand and the Magma Giant hurled around him like a ball to protect him from the explosion that Nathan had just released.
They were both barely damaged and were now ready to counterattack.
Nathan and Mako slowly backed away toward Leon, shocked to see that their plan failed and now they were out of tricks and would have to fight head-on.
Nathan and Mako prepared themselves for the tough fight ahead as they knew giving up and just dying wasn't an option, but just as the gang members began their next course of action, the ground beneath them rumbled. They felt the vibrations, and the room darkened as if shrouded in a shadowy mist.
A low, haunting laugh echoed through the chamber, sending shivers down their spines. The lightning user showed a terrified expression as the room transformed into an eerie shadow realm.
Out of the shadows emerged Angela, her presence commanding and formidable. Angela unleashed her Shadow ability, creating tendrils of darkness that snaked toward the two enemies, wrapping around them quickly from the feet up.
The blue lightning user and the magma giant were ensnared, struggling in vain to break free. The tendrils continued to wrap around them sapping their energy until they reached their face.
The tendrils turned into a black mist and entered their body from the mouth, nose, ears, and even their eyes, rendering them completely immobile and causing them immense pain as their shrieks echoed throughout the room.
The shadow attack completely immobilized them and made them fall to the ground in under ten seconds.
The room reverted back to its original state and Angela appeared in front of them once again, ripping apart the lingering shadowy fluid on her arm as if it were a leech.
The boys were shocked to see Angela defeat two very strong opponents in just 10 seconds leaving them all speechless, but before they could exchange any words, the sound of clapping echoed through the corridor, and a chilling smile spread across Victor Voss's face as he stepped into view, accompanied by his six more of his formidable henchmen.
The stage was set for the ultimate showdown, and the fate of their captured friends hung in the balance.
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