The New Zodiac: Arisen Anew

Chapter 36: The nightmare begins to end.

"And here I was, thinking they would put up more of a fight," Seeker drawls, examining the scene before him. Eight of us lie on the ground, either dead or unconscious, and Terran and Zephyr are slumped against the back wall, conscious, but barely able to fight.
"Like shooting fish in a barrel," Outer says mockingly. "Finishing this lot off with be easy." 
Serena gets to her feet and points at Outer, the green glow enveloping her again, but he merely shudders under her control, breaking free of it and thrusting his hands out. An invisible force slams Serena into the wall, and she collapses, groaning. Sergio places April's limp form next to Zephyr and charges at the Bengan brothers, firing arrow after arrow. Outer stops the majority of them in midair and sends them flying back, and Sergio barely manages to dodge. I collect the last of the water spilt on the ground and split it into multiple smaller spheres, then push my hands outward and send them rocketing towards the brothers. Sergio fires off another round of arrows, and while most of them are deflected, one of them pierces the corner of Seeker's labcoat, pinning him to the ground. He merely grunts and removes it, and Outer lets loose another invisible blast, slamming the two of us into a wall.
"Time to end this," Seeker mutters, and the two of them raise their guns, fingers curled around the trigger. I squeeze my eyes shut, unable to watch.
"Stand down, Bengan brothers!" a booming voice calls out, and they lower their guns, appalled as a deep brown glow fills the room. A hulking figure rises out of the ground, dirt pouring off his skin in droves. Two large horns extend from his head, and his legs are covered with coarse-looking hair. He looks up at us, brushes the last of the dirt off and strides forward, each step shaking the earth.
"I am Taurus, the fixed Earth sign, second of the Full Zodiac," he declares. "Stop this madness, spawn of Ophiuchus, or I will be forced to take action."
Outer merely scoffs and fires another shot, but Taurus waves his hand and a pillar of rock shoots out of the ground, blocking the bullet.
"This is your last chance, Outer Bengan. Stand down and release the New Zodiac, or you will truly pay for your actions."
Outer goes rigid, his eyes bulging, and dashes forward, blade in hand.
"I won't HAVE IT!" he shrieks, raising the blade and swinging it downwards, but Taurus leaps backwards and thrusts his hands forward. Outer freezes in place, unmoving, and Seeker growls, extending his own hand, but Taurus waves his hand and Seeker also freezes. Taurus sighs and lowers his arms, striding towards us.
"We need to get out of here," he says in a low voice, extending an arm out and helping me to my feet. "I've frozen them in place for now, but it won't last long. Collect your fallen comrades and bring them to me, and we can leave."
Sergio and I nod, slowly walking over to where the others lie. Sergio bends down and picks up Nia's body, his hands trembling, and carries her over to where Taurus stands. I pick up Meg's body and do the same, tears beginning to form in my eyes. Zephyr and Serena, having finally regained the strength to stand, pick up Flint and Arus, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Zephyr pick up Arus's glasses and place them back on his face, sighing heavily.

As the last of our friends is brought over, Taurus examines them, frowning.
"I'm afraid four of them cannot be saved," he says solemnly, picking up the bodies of Meg, Arus, Flint and Nia. "I'll take them back to the warehouse and leave them there. These other four, however, are still alive, but barely. You'll need to get them to a hospital immediately."
"Hey, Taurus," Zephyr interjects. "What did you mean when you called the Bengan Brothers 'spawn of Ophiuchus'?"
Taurus sighs and shakes his head.
"Some of you may not know this, but there was once a 13th zodiac sign: Ophiuchus, the Serpent Carrier. However, thousands of years ago, he attempted to kill me and my brethren, resulting in him being banished to the Realm of the Dead and imprisoned there in hopes that he could never return to the mortal world. However, over time, his bonds have grown weak, and five years ago, he managed to enter the mortal world and impart pieces of himself into these two and their brother. Working through the Bengan brothers, he aims to break free and become Ruler of the Kingdom of Clouds, killing us in the process. This is why we have called upon you in the past month. Only you can stop the Bengan brothers and banish Ophiuchus back to the Realm of the Dead. You are young, and your powers have not yet reached their full potential." He gets to his feet and walks to the center of the room.
"Good luck, New Zodiac," he says, before disappearing into the ground, taking the bodies of our friends with us.
"So we finally know what we're up against," Zephyr muses, frowning. "It doesn't look good."
"We'll figure all that out later," Serena reassures him, helping Terran to his feet and slinging his arm around her shoulders. "We need to focus on getting these four to hospital. Anyone got their phone on them?"
I nod and pull mine out of my pocket, dialling the number for the emergency services and explaining the situation to them. We pick up the rest of our friends and stagger outside, bruised and battered, collapsing on the ground outside the lab and waiting for help to arrive.