Union

seven

June 23rd

1942 HAST

Flares of lava erupted from Mauna Loa's crater, sending sprays of fire all around. All the vents along the side of the mountain radiated wave after wave of unbearable heat, and each of them were put out by Tristan as the Union tore up the mountain. They were seemingly invincible, banding together like they never had before.

The brunette villainess stood carefully near the top of the volcano, her hands outstretched as she made the eruption bigger and bigger. As the heroes approached, she flexed her hands and another massive burst of lava shot into the air.

"You do not stand a chance against me, heroes!" She roared. "I am Aetna, my namesake was the immortal goddess of volcanoes. I am invincible!" As she finished her spiel, another flare of fire erupted from behind her, spilling down the sides of the mountain.

At that moment, a wave of water washed over the crater. Steam billowed into the air as the water made contact with the lava, and Bristol stood proudly, her hands outstretched. "Water puts out fire, so I would think again about that invincibility of yours!" She called, another wave growing in the ocean behind her.

Aetna's citrine eyes shimmered dangerously. "Elemental Empress, I recall that you have four elements at your disposal. Why use only one?" She taunted.

Avi glanced at Bristol, and found a visage of falter on the girl's face. Bristol ignored Aetna, trying to summon another wave but her grip went slack as the volcanic villainess sent a wave of lava straight towards her.

"Bristol, watch out!" Avi yelled urgently. Instantly, she clapped a hand over her mouth and her vision darted quickly to Aetna. If she had heard Bristol's name...but she hadn't. Sighing in relif, Avi turned back to Bristol, expecting her to have moved.

But Bristol was stuck in place. The lava was approaching her but she wasn't moving. She was petrified, and the hot rock kept looming closer to her. Her dark eyes seemed to illuminate with the impending glare of her imminent doom.

Then a streak of black and red bolted into sight and Bristol was gone, standing safely on the opposite side of the mountain, next to Avi. CJ set her down. "Be careful," he said, before speeding off.

Bristol took a deep breath and looked at Tristan, who was crouched behind a nearby rock, forming flurry after flurry of ice and snow. They accumulated around Aetna, but with each one that took form, she simply swiped them out of existence with another spray of fire.

"She's getting on my last nerve," Tristan huffed, standing up.

Avi bit her lip. She examined the crater and did a quick resonation of the mountain beneath them. "The volcano is almost reaching the next level of eruption. We need to distort Aetna's control on the magma chamber and the eruption will slow down."

Tristan ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "But how do we do that? I can try to freeze the magma through the vents." He suggested.

Avi took a deep breath. "I will distract her. You guys," she looked at Bristol and Tristan, "work together to slow the lava."

CJ skidded to a stop nearby them, putting a hand on Bristol's shoulder. "Can you try to control two elements at once? Earth and fire?"

Bristol instantly looked to Tristan, who was shaking his head ever so slightly. However, she looked back to CJ beside her. "Yeah," she said with a shaky breath. "Yeah, I can try."