The Elementalists

ROBIN

                  
I'm cold. My shoulder hurts like heck, I have a headache, and I'm cold.

   I'm still in the van; I wonder when they're going to let us out. Agent Ralph said that we'd be at The Lab in a few hours, but that was yesterday. The van's not moving, though, so maybe we are at The Lab.

   I don't know how long I've been asleep, or when I fell asleep, or how I feel asleep with everything that's going on. Mark's lying on the floor a few feet away, dead to the world, snoring his head off. I crawl over to him and thump him on the head.

   "Mark!" I hiss. "Wake up! This is our last chance to get away!"

   Mark just moans and continues snoring. I sigh, and crawl over to the water bottles that Agent Ralph gave us. I grab two of the three water bottles and set them aside; I grab the third one and crawl back over to Mark. Then, I take off the cap and pour the water on his face.

   Mark's eyes fly open. He sits straight up, coughing and sputtering and shaking his head. I'm laughing my head off the whole time.

   "What the--!" he begins, then his eyes land on me. "What was that for?!"

   "You wouldn't wake up," I say simply. "And I learned that the water trick works especially well on Fire Elementalists." I grin.

   "Not cool," Mark mutters. Then, as if noticing the van's stillness, he asks, "Where are we? We aren't moving."

   "I think we've finally reached our destination," I say grimly. "This is our last chance of escape."

   Mark frowns. "Well, this isn't the best of situations. How much time do you think we have left to escape?"

   I shake my head. "I don't know," I say, "they could come for us any minute. We have to find a way out now."

   Mark nods. "I could try to melt the metal," he suggests.

   "It won't work," I say, "or I would've had you do it before. You can't make your fire hot enough yet to melt fire-resistant and bullet-proof metal."

   "Awww," Mark whines, disappointed. Then his face lights up, and he adds, "Wait, you control all elements, so you could melt us out of here!"

   I shake my head again. "Nope," I reply, "I'm not well-trained enough, either. I'm only good at defensive elements. Being able to control all of the elements is like being a jack-of-all-trades: I'll never be able to master one. You guys will be more powerful than I ever will—or can—be."

   "Oh," Mark says, "I didn't know that. You seemed like you mastered air."

   "I did," I reply. "I mastered it to my abilities, as much as I'm able to." I clear my throat and say, "Now, we can talk about this later, but right now, we need to escape." I close my eyes, trying to think, but no ideas pop into my mind. "Crap," I moan, "we're so screwed!"

   "There has to be some way," Mark says. "Maybe if—."

   Mark never finishes his sentence, because at that exact moment, he lets out a cry of pain and puts his hands up to cover his ears. His eyes begin to glow, and then they roll back into his head, and he passes out.

   "Double crap!" I yell. Why did this have to happen now?! This is our last chance to escape, and I can't just leave him here to die!

   "Mark," I say, grabbing him by the shoulders and trying to shake him awake, "wake up! If you don't..." I don't bother to finish the sentence. I lower my head in defeat and then realize that all hope isn't lost. It worked before, who says it won't work again?