-The Hub-

"Why are we here?"

The irritation could be heard from the warrior of fire. Seeing his family abducted and not immediately going after the man made his patience lower with each passing minute. The group, minus the Flora Radiant, was standing in front of the door with the red mark. The warrior of terra shook his head. He understood the fire warrior's irritation; maybe returning to the Hub was not the right idea, but it was needed. They needed a bit more knowledge of who they were up against.

"Buddy," smiled the lightning warrior. "You want to punch someone?

"Yes."

"Then punch airhead."

"Nope, punch sparkplug."

"Enough, you two." the water warrior glared at them. "Be serious."

"We need to be calm." Frost calmly spoke, her eyes on Blaze. "We will rescue her."

"I know!" He grumbled. "Just feels like coming back is a waste of time."

The warrior of light walked to him, grabbed his arm, and stared at him with a soft gaze. The fire warrior stared at her with surprise. Why was her stare having a calming effect? Was that the secondary power of being the light user?

"Don't worry, Jake. We will rescue her; just listen to Jack."

He nodded. "Yeah, but it's still worrisome."

"I'm afraid I might make you more worried." spoke Geo as he stared up at the door. He pressed his hand against it and said. "Open." The door opened instantly on his command.

"Is what is in here related to you or the Piper?"

"Ja," He crossed his arms and marched in. The others followed him. Whatever they were expecting, was not it. It was a room with eight crystal pods hooked up to a large machine, glowing with mana, in the middle of the room.

"What is this?" asked the Ice Radiant.

"Life Support Pods." The Terra Radiant said solemnly as he stood in front of one of them. "Keep people in stable condition until they are treated.

"Who is... in here?" said the Light Radiant cautiously.

Geo pressed his palm against one of them and wiped the moisture away to reveal an unconscious woman with short brown hair. "My older sister, Johanna. She... fell to Piper's song."

"That's bad." frowned the Wind Radiant. "She fell into a coma afterward."

"No..." grimaced Geo. "When your desire gets taken, you either lose any sense of will, fall into a coma, or die. She lost her desire. The need to get up in the morning to achieve your goals. ."

"A drive to take you further." The ice warrior shook her head. "Stolen by that cur."

"Then why is she here?" asked the lightning warrior. "She's still alive, right?"

"She became depressed, no longer having any purpose." the warrior in brown clenched his fist. "She was slowly killing herself. She did not eat and drank very little. Luka found her sitting in a chair holding a knife."

The other six gasped. Blaze stared at the woman in horror. "She... tried to kill herself?"

"Tried, but had no desire to." He faced them. "She was slowly fading from the lack of nutrients. Luka brought her here at my request and placed her here. I... want to believe when the Masked Piper is defeated, her desire will return... maybe."

"It could return." Lumina spoke. "You never know."

The stoic teen grimaced. "Maybe." He shook his head. "Even if they did not die or fall into a coma, losing any feeling you have for the future has a nasty effect on some people. Her hope, her desires." He closed his eyes. "Are gone. My mission is to get them back by kicking his ass."

"He tried to do the same to the LARP gang." growled the lightning warrior. "Then abducted Tina for some reason."

Ring ring.

Blaze jumped at the sound of his phone, then held up his hand, manifesting his cell phone. He grimaced at the name of his mom on the screen before stepping out of the room to take the call.

"It's not the first time he abducted someone, like the one girl who was pulled to Galvania." Geo grimaced at the thought. "Normally, 1 out of 4 people are not affected, but what I saw at the park? His power increased. Tina should have succumbed, and I want to know why."

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"Maybe spending time with us gave her some mana?" shrugged the yellow-haired teen

"Then all of our families would get residue mana." said the blue-haired teen. "It is something else."

"We won't know until we travel to Egypt." said the white-haired teen.

"The truth does not come unless we dig."

The voice belonged to Ivy as she entered the room with a knowing smile. She held her hand to them and opened it to reveal eight seeds. The group looked at the seeds curiously while the terra warrior humbly took one.

"What is it?" the wind warrior critically eyed it. "I know we're on the same team, but you have this look that scares me."

"Sam." Aqua scolded him.

"No worries, I get that a lot from all my peers. Happens when the knowledge is flowing." She chuckled. "Take one. These are my patent Ivy Seeds. They restore a fourth of your mana when you are nearly out. Pop one in, and you will be slightly recharged."

"They are safe... she had trial and error and nearly died." scowled the terra warrior. "And Blair was angry her hair changed to polka dot, and I lost my eyebrows."

"Oh boy, she was furious; she threatened to drag me to the abyss if I didn't change it back. Luckily, it lasted 10 minutes." She smirked. "Always the quiet ones who are the most dangerous."

"We're not going to get any weird side effects right?" the light girl panicked. "I like my hair and my eyebrows."

"No, now you will get a little indigestion, then flatulence."

Lumina squeaked with indignation while Aqua sighed.

"Oh, cool. A stomach ache and farting while nearly getting killed." sarcastically said the wind boy. "Great."

"Might be funny." chuckled the lightning boy. "Farting on your enemies."

"That is embarrassing." the ice girl grimaced while blushing.

"Ah, we're among friends. No big deal." the plant girl waved away.

"Are we set?" Geo spoke before anyone else could say something. He spotted Blaze and Reinstar walking into the room, the former with a determined look. "Well?"

"I lied to mom by telling her Tina is with me." He scoffed. "Not happy about that, but I can't tell her the truth."

"Luka said everyone woke up feeling delirious." the shinobi said. "Luckily, we stopped the rats, but hearing that tune made everyone nauseated."

"His range increased." Geo growled. "We have to get a move on and finish this."

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-The Temple-

The Masked Piper observed the crimson feather with interest. "Hmm... this may have protected you from my melody." He eyed the girl sitting on the floor with two rats guarding her. "Otherwise, you would have been another casualty."

"Yeah," She stuck her tongue out. "Give it back."

"What is it?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. My grandfather gave it to me. He bought it from a shady seller."

"Then someone foolishly sold him a remarkable item." He walked up to the door. "There are two types of birds in mythology I am aware of that have such beauty. The Vermillion Bird and the Phoenix... or it could be something unrelated to them."

"Who knows."

"I don't care which." He raised the feather to the door. "Will you accept this?"

The massive door across from him rumbled slightly. The feather floated from his hand while glowing with yellow energy. After a few moments, the door stopped rumbling, then the feather floated back to his hand. The man glared at the feather with disdain. "Not yet." He walked to the young girl and returned the feather to her. "This has no use for me." He quietly stared at her, wondering what he should do. The young girl felt uncomfortable under his unflinching gaze.

"Stop staring."

"Who was that boy?"

"The Radiant."

"Don't be stupid. You called out to him, Jake. Who is he to you?"

"Family."

"I see... does your desire align with his?"

"No!"

He glanced at the rat; it nodded before facing the girl. A flash of light emerged, blinding her temporarily.

"Ah! Stop! Just go away!"

"You want me to go?"

She froze, eyes widening in shock. Her heart skipped a few beats as she slowly turned to see the familiar face of her long-dead father.

"Dad?" She spoke, tears starting to flow. She reached to touch 'him', but she was reminded of her current situation and dropped her hand. She somberly stared at the 'man' with tears dropping. 'His' face was how she remembered him, which saddened her further. Her attention switched to the masked man. "W-why?" She whimpered. "That's cruel."

"Family is important, is it not? What if I am able to bring him back?"

"Y-you can't." She looked away from the imitation of her father. "It's impossible."

"I will make the impossible possible. For too long, people have tried to bring their dreams into reality. People want that job? They will get it! People want a house? Yes! Lost loved one to come back, whether it is a rift in relationship or death? YES!"

"B-but... there is s-something wrong there."

"I don't care. I will bring back the love of my life who died in a car crash, then have the person responsible get far worse than jail."

The girl's eyes widened. "But... how?"

"This flute." He held up the flute. "Was supposed to be a gift to her, but as soon as the accident happened, it responded to my desires. I was... given a new lease on life. I researched and practiced, then learned about a place where your desires are given. This flute has given me to not only take desires, but to give me new abilities. I took inspiration from the Pied Piper by commanding an entourage of monster rats."

"Why rats?"

"As I said, taking inspiration from the Pied Piper." He chuckled. "Now shut up and wait for my entourage to come back. Soon, this door will open."

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-Egypt-

On one of Egypt's many mountains, the Radiant and Reinstar were standing in front of the opening of a small cave. The terra warrior narrowed his eyes at the darkness.

"And here is where he uncovered the route to the temple. It was a downward slope from the entry point."

"That Pharaoh hid the temple here?" the water warrior stared into the darkness. "Funny, I expected it to be in one of the more well-known mountains."

"Nae," responded the flora warrior. "One of the lesser, non-tourist venues. It beats knocking a few guards out before going into forbidden territory."

"I don't want to know how many, but if they caught you, you all would be wanted."

"Aye." She snickered. "Most likely."

The gray-haired boy whispered to the white-haired girl. "She is giving me vibes that I will wake up without a kidney."

"Hush, child. Keep your thoughts confidential before she hears you."

"I know. My mouth is zipped."

Blaze stepped forward. "Traps?"

"None." Geo glanced at him. "All the traps were set off when we arrived."

The shinobi stepped forward. "I will take point. Who knows if that beast is waiting."

"Alright." The fire warrior growled. "Geo, Ivy?

The rock warrior nodded. "I have nothing to say; I want to finish this."

The plant warrior nodded. "I will have a big nap when this is over."

"Then let's go." The burning teen ordered.