The Red Ravens Strike!

Kyle and Brandon had found an exit to what seemed to be an underground building, leading out into the open road. The moment Brandon pooed his head out of the exit, a ball of fire blitzed passed, almost setting his head ablaze.

"Careful, we might end up becoming the centre of attention in this fight! We need to remain low-key until we know what we're doing," Kyle ordered, while Brandon gritted his teeth.

_________

The titans and warriors seemed to be pushing back against the invaders, however, with the attack power of the red-haired man, the tides of the battle seemed to be changing. His versatility in the use of fire made him an untouchable Target for the village defenders.

Spade had joined the fight, along with Kreg. With his impressive strength and speed, he was able to overwhelm a group of five with ease, knocking them all out with a series of well-placed kicks and punches.

Kreg kept on the defensive, avoiding the attacks of the enemy while leading them to the range of the offensive fighters. He played more of a delivery service in the whole thing, leading weaker fighters in groups towards the more capable.

The battle was drawing to a close, and most of the Red Raven who had invaded had been dealt with, except for three and the man with the advanced fire powers.

Spade and the other titans charged at the remains of the invading party, showing no fear or signs of slowing down.

"Hithon, we wait upon you," one of the remaining three said, his voice muffled by the mask he wore.

The man named Hithon raised up both his hands and a yellow dome protected the four from the attacks of the titans. While the dome remained, Hithon turned around.

"Made good use of the power I share with you."

A strike from Spade suddenly shattered the dome, his eyes fixated on the man with red glowing tattoos.

"You're next, devoted servant," Spade declared as he raised his sword to strike down at Hithon.

As the sword came just few inches from his head, an intense burst of fire pushed him back, sending him tumbling and crashing into a nearby building.

"I will not let you harm our leader," one of the three masked people declared as his eyes glowed bright yellow.

"Ugh..." Spade got out from the shattered wood and rubble on the floor as his body swayed side to side. Steadying himself, his eyes locked with one of the three Red Raven members charging at him readying a fist. Too weak to defend himself, the punch landed square against his cheek, sending him back further.

________

"Kyle, just what are we gonna do? Are we gonna wait out the rest of the fight in here or are we gonna prove to those f*ckers that were useful?" Brandon complained.

"Che, give me a moment to think..." Kyle said.

"Here you guys are!" the two heard a shout. With their guards up, they expected a pirokinetic to jump in and set them ablaze, but instead a somewhat familiar face appeared.

"What do you want, little man?" Brandon

said as he readied his fist for a punch.

"Calm down, stranger, I'm the one who's here to beg," Krenk said.

"Cut the c*ap and tell us why you're here!" Brandon ordered.

"Run!" Kyle yelled as he ran back into the darkness.

Both Brandon and Krenk had their eyes wide in confusion as to what was going on, but as the flames crept into the tunnel, they too rushed into the darkness. Fortunately, the flames didn't reach too deep in, as as they slowly cleared, they all breathed out sighs of relief.

"This is crazy! What are we gonna-"

"I know, you're terrified, but don't you think I am too?!" Kyle snapped back.

"Will you two stop bickering like kindergartners and listen to what I have to say," Krenk interjected, but it seemed like his words fell on deaf ears.

"Huh, YOU'RE worried?! You, Kyle Gregory, The Ice King? The boy with zero emotions and who cares about no one but himself? The psychopath of Gen AG? You really must be out of your game today, aren't ya?!"

"Shut up! Just shut up!!!"

A loud bang was heard, causing the ceiling to crumble slightly as debris fell to the floor. Krenk urged the two to come back to their senses and told them of a secret passageway towards an exit located at another part of the village.

Arriving there, they emerged and found themselves facing a large bush surrounded by lots of flora.

"You brought us to a stinkin' bush. A literal stinkin' bush!" Brandon held his nose as he forced himself not to vomit his innards out.

"Hey, isn't this where we first arri-" A stern glare from Kyle was enough to make Brandon shut his mouth.

"Huh? This isn't the shelter," Krenk seemed confused as he scratched his head.

"Did you forget and made us take a wrong path?!" Kyle asked, his tone laced with anger.

_________

Opening his eyes, Spade found himself in the shelter. The medical staff were at work attending to those who had sustained injuries during the battle.

'I need to get back and joined the others... I need to ensure they don't...' Spade struggled to get up, plus a female staff noticed his actions and urged him to stay put until his injuries had healed considerably.

'I remember crashing into someone, then loosing conciousness. That person must.have brought me here in much severe state,' Spade thought. 'Still, there must be something I can do, even from here. This is the first time the enemy has sent someone so advamced to deal with us,' Spade remembered the red haired man from the village square.

In the middle of his thoughts, a door suddenly opened, and coming out we're the two strangers and Krenk.

'...' Spade didn't know what to think, or how to feel about the current situation.

_________

After the two had reprimanded Krenk for leading them out of the village by accident, the later eventually held his head down and led the two through a different path towards the shelter. All through the journey, Brandon kept on disturbing Kyle.

"I just can't help but wonder why he's so cooperative now. Are those invaders really that dangerous?"

Kyle took a little longer than usual to respond.

"I'm not sure, but as I said before, let's just be careful and not take overly dangerous risks."

Brandon raised a brow.

"Right... not take any overly dangerous risk..."

Kyle sneered as he was about to start a fight.

"We're here," Krenk said, as he opened the two and they both could see many people heavily injured and receiving medical attention.

"So what now?" Brandon asked.

Krenk held his chin, but eventually gave Brandon a reply.

"I'm not sure if it might work, but we have to try."

Brandon raised a brow.

"It's a ritual, one meant to give incredible power."

"If you knew of this ritual, then why didn't you guys use it in the first place?!" Kyle asked.

"..." Krenk couldn't give a reply.

'Idiots,' both Kyle and Brandon thought.

"Well, we're trying it now. However, since we have no healthy village member here who can withstand the ritual..."

"N-"

"We'll do it," Kyle interjected.

Brandon gave Kyle a side glare but he didn't even flinch.

'Just what are you thinking?!' Brandon wondered.

"If this ritual is our only shot at protecting the village, then we might as well take it."

Everyone present was confused yet surprised by his words. For a stranger who had no rights as the villagers themselves, he sure seemed adamant to give them a helping hand. Although they assumed he might be doing this for his own personal gain, their culture just made it impossible for him to do that, so a few began to think he was really doing this from his heart.

"In that case, we will start immediately," Krenk said.