Bolt flew through the air, his hands clasped together, coated in electricity as he prepared his Electric Hammer. Soaring beside him, Lumina raised her leg, radiating with orange light as she readied her Bright Strike. The Scarab flew toward them with both of its maces. Their attacks collided like the force of two hammers slamming against each other. The scarab pulled back its maces, then used its extra set of hands to punch them away. They were knocked to where the other three were, where they were caught by Frost and Aero. After being set down, the group eyed the beetle with curious looks.

"What do we know about beetles?" asked the water warrior.

"I heard they are related to the dung beetle." said the lightning warrior. "You know, they take poop and roll it up in a ball. Classy little guys."

"Mm-hmm." The information repulsed the ice warrior. "Those pincers will be a problem if we dispose of the maces."

"Aren't they like ants? Lift more than their normal body weight?" inquired the wind warrior.

"I think we need to study about insects." said the light girl. "Look, its shell is raised when it flies. Maybe we can attack it from behind?"

"Remember the motto? Knowledge is power." Aqua raised her arm, pointing her glowing index finger. "Do what we can to bring it down because here it comes."

The scarab crouched low, its elytra, the hard outer wings, opened to reveal the underwings. With the flap of its wings, it shot forward with one of its maces raised high. The group quickly jumped away from the heavy impact as the big beetle slammed the mace into the ground, bringing up dust. Spotting Aero in the air, the bug thrust its weapon toward him. Acting quickly, the wind warrior summoned his boomerang. He used it to block the mace by firmly holding it with both hands. The forceful strike sent him spiraling across the room. Looking proudly, the beetle smirked at its victory, then yelped in pain at being hit in the face by a powerful stream of water. Noticing the water warrior, the beetle charged at her with full force. Frost slid in front of Aqua, then unleashed her Frozen Wave. The beetle stopped by slamming its feet into the ground and jumped to the side to avoid the incoming ice particles.

Meanwhile, Bolt summoned his three-section staff. A mischievous chuckle sounded as he began to twirl it while imagining himself as one of the famous turtles. From his left, Aero walked up while moving his arm in a circular motion, gripping his boomerang, ready to rev up. The boomerang glowed, prompting the electric teen to race at the beetle while throwing up his 'Lightning Strike' adroit. The beast hissed at the electric shock before centering its attention on the electric warrior. The boy's staff crackled with electricity as he raced at it. The beetle raised its mace with the intent to crush him. Spinning past the Radiant of Lightning, the wind-enhanced boomerang flew at the beetle. The weapon slashed across the chest of the beetle diagonally before flying back to its owner. The big beetle hissed at the pain; it glared at the smirking wind warrior. That distraction gave Bolt the opening to quickly leap at it and hit with an electric strike to the head from the staff. The impact made the beetle stagger back while growling. It quickly used its third arm to grab the boy. Once he caught the warrior, the monster began to squeeze him.

A combination of 'Ice Blast' and 'Bright Shot', made the beetle loosen its grip, giving Bolt time to leap away while sending another 'Lightning Strike.' Lumina summoned her tonfas while bravely running toward the beast, accompanied by Frost, gripping her estoc. Aqua, firmly gripping her spear, ran off to the side while the beetle paid attention to the others. Noticing the two approaching, the creature pounced on them while aiming its horn. The duo jumped back before the horns hit the ground. After landing, the two pounced back. Tonfas glowing brightly, she slammed them hard on the head of the creature while Frost jabbed it along the body with her ice-shrouded estoc. Angry at the blows, it knocked them off by spinning around.

Spreading its wings once more, the beast flew at them while swinging its maces in an eccentric way. Raising her tonfas to block, the light warrior was knocked away and into one of the pillars, breaking pieces of it. Aero tossed his wind-shrouded boomerang, only for it to be smacked away by the rapid assault from the beetle. The warrior of ice tried for a Frozen Wave, but the beetle once more slammed its feet into the ground and jumped over the ice dust, yet failed to notice a bolt of lightning striking its underside, following Aero's Gust Buster. The monster dove toward the ground to attack. The kids jumped as it crashed, but the maces hit them once the beetle quickly stood up.

Unknown to the bug, Aqua had grappled onto one of the pillars beside it, then dove at the beetle with her naginata raised. Water ensnared the weapon as she dove into the exposed backside of the beetle, piercing it. She braced herself as the beetle cried in pain as it crashed into the ground and collided with one of the pillars.

Lumina watched on in shock. "Aqua! Are you okay?"

"Don't gawk!" Aero raced forward with his boomerang raised. "Cut those wings."

Tossing the weapon, it soared with razor-sharp wind shrouding it as it sliced off the wings and damaged the elytra. The water warrior stood up and blew out seven bubbles. With the Bubble Snap active, she jumped back as the beetle rose. Once a bubble tapped its exposed back, it exploded. It caused a chain reaction of the bubbles exploding one by one, further damaging the beetle's back. After the final blow, the elytra was damaged, appearing bent and unable to close. Blood poured out while the beetle hissed dangerously. Grabbing its dual maces, it stood up slowly to attack, but the ice warrior's adroit froze its feet. Noticing its frozen feet, the bug lifted the mace to destroy the ice and maybe its feet.

"Aqua Gun!"

"Ice Blast!"

"Gust Buster!"

"Lightning Strike!"

"Bright Shot!"

The monster screamed in pain as the combined adroit drilled into its back and exploded through its chest. With one last screech, it fell face forward, dead. Behind the beast, the group had their arms spread toward the beast, remaining in position as if they expected it to rise back up to fight. Two minutes went by before lowering their guard and breathed in relief.

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"Big Bad Beetle, DONE!" shouted the yellow-haired teen. "We are the elemental exterminators! Nice job finding the weak spot, marine girl."

"It was a guess." The blue-haired teen summoned her Naginata. "Lumina said to attack the back, and you all distracted it."

"I'm a genius!" giggled the orange-haired teen. "Seriously, we might need to study insects."

"How often are we going to run into giant bugs?" said the wind warrior. "Maybe often, knowing our crazy job."

"At least it did not use excrement on us." The ice warrior looked disgusted. "Nothing worthwhile can come from feces on us."

"That is true." said Lumina. "Let's be glad it chose not to." She eyed the doorway. "What do we do now? It feels like something is happening."

"Do we rest or charge?" asked Aero.

"Give us a minute to breathe." Aqua spoke. "Then charge."

"Let's take the Ivy Seeds." Bolt took out the seed, with a cheeky grin. "Need a good recharge if the Musical Meister Menace pulls out a sneaky super skill ."

Grimacing at the idea, Frost held up her seed. "Honestly, it's embarrassing."

"We are miles away from people, ice princess."

"It's the principal!" she whined.

The light warrior ate the seed. "Just in case." she sighed while blushing.

Aero glanced at the way they came in. "Hope the three of them can beat him or hold it off until we get there."

"They will be fine." smiled the Radiant of Light. "They trusted us. So we will trust them."

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Racing down the corridor, Blaze, Ivy, and Geo had a sense of unease as they approached the end of the hall. Upon entering the room, the fire warrior grew angry at seeing his sister sitting beside an illusion of their father. They stopped their advance into the room.

"Tina!"

She looked joyfully at her brother as she got up and embraced him tightly. "You came!"

"Yep."

Before the illusion could speak a word, a vine pierced the cranium, making it revert to a rat and dissolve into dust. Shaking her head at the illusion, the planet girl glared at the closed door.

"Are you okay, little lass?"

The young girl nodded. "Yes."

The rock warrior gazed at the young girl. "Why did he take you?"

Tina looked at him, then at her brother. She reached into her pocket and took out the glowing feather. "Because of this."

"What is it?" he eyed it critically, sensing its mana.

Blaze focused on the feather. "If the story is true, then that is the Phoenix Feather. It feels slightly stronger than last time, but not by much."

"Oooh." Ivy was in awe at the feather, her eyes widening. "How did you acquire this fascinating specimen?"

"Grandpa bought it."

"Hmm, it feels warm." The green-clothed girl reached out to touch it.

"Focus." Geo said as he approached the door. "Tina, what happened?"

"He... went inside." The young girl spoke. "I don't know what he was expecting, but there was nothing at first, then some strange person appeared instantly. Masked Piper got mad, and the strange person did something to him."

"Did something." Blaze moved from his sister and approached the closed door. "Like what?"

"It closed before I could see."

The flora warrior approached the door. "Is he trapped in there? I wonder how we can o-oh?" Upon moving close to the door, it started to open. "Ah, looks like he is not trapped. Guess it opens whenever someone is near."

The terra warrior marched forward, a deep frown on his face. "Which is good, we can stop him."

"Wait!" Tina shouted. "It's not Masked Piper that scares me, it's that... thing that is in there. Don't... antagonize it."

The fire warrior shrugged, a sad chuckle escaping him. "I think being a Radiant will give it enough reason to attack us if it knows who we are."

"Be careful, please." the young girl muttered.

"Aye." Ivy nodded. "People are careful until danger sinks their fangs in them."

Blaze sighed while Geo shook his head.

Once the door fully opened, they tensed up, their faces showing a slight shock at the scene before them. They saw the cloaked individual holding an eight-foot-tall wolf-like creature at bay. The wolf creature's fur was gray and wore brown pants. It was banging against the invisible wall with a familiar flute.

"Change me back!" the wolf beast shouted. "I order you!"

"One desire per lifetime." The cloaked figure sounded amused before calmly turning its head 180 degrees, to the Radiant. "Ah... the Knights of Order."

"Uh, who are you?" Blaze asked.

"Where is the Masked Piper?" growled Geo.

Ivy perked up at seeing the flute. The beast stopped before narrowing its eyes at them. She noted the pants, the cape, and the bent mask on the floor. A sad chuckle escaped her mouth. "Seems that wolf is the meister."

"YOU!" growled the wolf. "You drove me to this! You brats led me here!"

"Idiot." The rock warrior shook his head at the fiend. "You attacked people."

"I'll kill you all!"

"The man wanted the desire to fight you all, so I gave him the power to contend with your strength. The strength of a jackal and an increase in mana. Defeat him, and you will get answers and perhaps... your desires? Resurrecting a father, restoring a sister, and restoring a childhood. There is more, but those are your true desires, right?"

All three tensed at words; none of them denied it. However, it was eerie how he knew what they supposedly wanted.

"Don't peer into me." The plant warrior spat at him, venom in her voice. "My mind is mine alone."

The cloaked figure chuckled, then vanished from their sight. "Amusing."

The jackal punched once more, only to feel the invisible force containing him. The beast roared out in anger. "COWARD!" Eyes then centered on the teens. "I will end him once I finish you."

"You don't have to do this." the fire warrior said. "Look, you have lost a lot, and you became this. Perhaps we can fight him or find a way to reverse this spell?"

"NO!" Glowing with a purple aura, the wolf pointed its flute at them. The flute transformed into a staff. "I'm ending your tale, then forcing that demon to reverse me and give me his power!"

Geo sighed. "You tried, but we have been at this for months. He's tired of running. Are you ready? That flute might be his power source, but who knows what that thing did." He took a deep breath before centering on the jackal. "If that doesn't cancel his power, and if we can't arrest him. We might have to... you know."

Blaze grimaced at the alternative. "Guardian drilled in our heads about making the choice to kill or not. If that flute breaks, we can cancel his power... if not, then we have to kill him."

Ivy nodded, understanding how he felt. "Right, it's us or him. If we can subdue him, that would be great... if not."

"I know, we will do what we can." Blaze nodded, resolve boiling within him. "Masked Piper, one last chance!"

"No! I am a jackal now, or should I say." He growled as he played into the staff like a flute, summoning three six-foot-tall rats. "It's Meister Jack! Now die!"

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-London, Beneath the city-

The rat crawled through the sewer, searching for the objective ordered by its master. It managed to crawl into a part of the sewer, unknown to current society. The rat snuck into a large chamber where old relics were stored. Across the room was an old throne. It knew its objective was here; it could sense him, but where? Suddenly, a hand grabbed the beast and held it up in the air.

"What does the vermin want?" spoke a calm, rough voice.

Attached to the hand was a man with pale white skin, sharp fangs, cold red eyes, and dark gray hair. He wore a red cloak that had seen better days and black pants.

The rat's eyes flashed before transforming into the Piper. This action made the pale man sneer. "Is this a joke? I am not a minion of yours. Your power does not affect me."

"At ease, Count Edgar, this is only a message from me to you."