Last Stand

As the corrosive gas thickened, Shine's eyes lit up with a sudden idea. "Yuno!"

he shouted, his voice muffled by his pinched nose. "Remember what you did to the Wind Hawk? That clap thing you pulled off? Do it again, now!"

Yuno froze mid-step, his hands still cupping his face. "You mean the one where I clapped so hard it blew away the wind attack?"

Shine nodded. "Exactly! Your brute force can disperse the gas before it gets to us!"

Yuno grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Alright, leave it to me!"

He planted his feet firmly on the ground, took a deep breath through his mouth (which he instantly regretted as his face scrunched up from the taste of the gas), and clapped his hands together with all his might.

BOOM!

The shockwave from Yuno's clap rippled through the air, blasting the corrosive gas away in a dramatic whoosh.

The green cloud scattered, dissipating harmlessly into the far corners of the room.

Shine gave a thumbs-up. "Nice work!"

Hugo, who had braced himself for the clap, lowered his arms and looked at Yuno with a smirk. "Guess punching gas wasn't necessary after all."

Yuno dusted off his hands, grinning proudly. "See? I told you my fists could handle anything!"

Behind them, the Bone Hydra's left head snarled, clearly unimpressed as it began to rear up for another attack.

"Don't celebrate yet!" Hugo barked. "We still have a big pile of bones to deal with!"

Before they could react to the Hydra's movements, the middle head reared back, its jaws opening wide as a blazing orange glow began to build in its throat.

"Uh… is it—" Yuno started, but before he could finish, a massive stream of flames erupted from the Hydra's mouth, roaring toward the trio like a deadly flamethrower.

"FIRE?!" Shine yelped, throwing himself to the side just in time to avoid the scorching blast.

Hugo dove the opposite way, tumbling across the ground and scrambling behind a bone pillar for cover. "It has flame attacks, too? Seriously?!"

Yuno, who was in the middle of flexing after his earlier success, had no time to dodge.

The flames engulfed his position, and a moment later, he came stumbling out of the inferno, patting down his singed clothes.

"WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?!" Yuno yelled, smoke trailing from his hair as he frantically tried to extinguish a small flame on his sleeve.

"Because you keep running in first!" Hugo shouted back, peeking out from behind his cover.

"I thought it would stick to bones and gas!" Yuno argued, still smacking at his clothes.

"Obviously not!" Shine called from his spot, crouched behind another bone fragment. "Now we know it can burn us, too. Great!"

The Bone Hydra let out a deafening roar, echoing throughout the chamber, as its middle head pulled back, preparing for another flamethrower attack.

"Alright, no more surprises!" Hugo barked, eyes narrowing as he scanned the Hydra. "We've got to take that middle head out before it roasts all of us!"

The Hydra's middle head unleashed another fiery stream, forcing the trio to scatter in every direction to avoid the flames.

The intense heat scorched the ground, leaving charred cracks and ash in its wake.

"How do we even get close to this thing?!" Yuno shouted, stumbling behind a bone fragment for cover, his clothes still smoking from the earlier blast.

"One step at a time!" Hugo yelled back, darting from cover to cover, his gauntlet raised defensively as embers licked at his heels.

The Hydra roared again, its three heads coordinating seamlessly.

The right head fired a bolt of electricity at Shine, who barely managed to dive out of the way in time. "I can't even take a proper shot at it!"

he panted, gripping his rifle tightly. "It's too chaotic!"

The left head spewed corrosive gas, blanketing the battlefield in a toxic fog.

Hugo quickly covered his nose and shouted, "Stay out of the gas! It'll eat right through your skin!"

"I'm trying!" Yuno yelled, leaping over a bone barrier to escape the spreading mist.

However, the middle head swung down, snapping at him with its massive jaws. Yuno ducked just in time but lost his balance, landing hard on the ground.

"Yuno!" Hugo shouted, rushing to his brother's aid.

He slammed his gauntlet into the ground to create a shockwave, momentarily distracting the Hydra and giving Yuno time to scramble to his feet.

"Thanks, but can we hurry up and kill this thing already?!" Yuno huffed, sweat dripping down his face.

"Not without a plan!" Hugo snapped, eyes darting between the three heads, each one poised to attack.

The Hydra roared again, raising its massive tail. In a single swing, it shattered the bone pillars they were using for cover, sending debris flying everywhere.

Shine dove behind another fragment, coughing as the dust clouded his vision.

"Guys, we're getting pinned down here!" Shine shouted, trying to steady his rifle as the Hydra advanced.

"No kidding!" Yuno barked, dodging another swipe of the tail only to be grazed by an electric shock from the right head. He yelped in pain, clutching his arm.

"Is this thing trying to cook us, fry us, or melt us?!" Yuno shouted, ducking behind a bone pillar as another burst of electricity tore through the air, barely missing him.

The Bone Hydra's relentless attacks forced the trio onto the defensive. Flames scorched the air, bolts of electricity crackled, and the corrosive gas seeped into every corner of the room.

Hugo, Shine, and Yuno dodged and scrambled for cover, barely keeping up with the onslaught.

"Maybe all three at once!" Shine snapped, wiping sweat from his forehead as he rolled away from another flamethrower blast.

Hugo, crouching low behind a bone wall, clenched his fists. His mind raced as he pieced together their predicament.

The Hydra wasn't advancing, it just kept its position, relentlessly firing off its attacks. It was almost like...

Hugo's eyes widened as the realization hit him. "Wait a second…" He glanced past the Hydra, focusing on its position.

There, just behind the towering creature, he saw it: a bowl sitting on a square stone pedestal, holding the same eerie blue flame they had seen before.

"That's it!" Hugo hissed to himself, his sharp gaze narrowing.

"What's it?" Yuno shouted, narrowly dodging a sweep of the Hydra's tail, which smashed the pillar he was using as cover.

"It's protecting something!" Hugo called out, pointing past the Hydra. "That blue flame—it's in the bowl behind it! That's got to be its life force!"

"What?!" Shine yelled, snapping his head toward the Hydra's position.

He squinted, catching a glimpse of the glowing flame behind the monster. "You're saying that flame is keeping this thing alive?"

"Exactly! That's why it hasn't moved from its spot this whole time!" Hugo shouted, adrenaline kicking in as he ducked another tail swipe. "We take out that flame, and the Hydra goes down with it!"

"Great plan, genius!" Yuno barked, narrowly dodging a bolt of lightning that singed the ground near his feet. "But how are we supposed to get to it when this thing keeps trying to kill us?!"

"Leave that part to me!" Hugo shouted, determination flashing in his eyes. "You two distract it, I'll get to the flame!"

"Distract it?! You mean, keep dodging death?!" Yuno groaned but sighed. "Fine! I'll take the left!"

"I'll cover the right!" Shine added, already moving into position.

With the plan set, the trio braced themselves, each preparing for the final push against the relentless Bone Hydra.

The plan was in working set. Yuno and Shine kept the Bone Hydra preoccupied, dodging its elemental attacks and drawing its attention away from Hugo.

Yuno shouted taunts while clapping his hands together to create thunderous noises, while Shine fired precise shots at its heads, forcing it to defend itself.

Meanwhile, Hugo slipped past the Bone Hydra's defenses unnoticed, crouching low and keeping his movements quiet while running.

As he got closer to the glowing blue flame in the bowl, he clenched his fists tightly. The gauntlets on his hands shifted, the sleek metal retracting and collapsing into their original cube form.

He stuffed them into his pocket, his heart pounding as he rolled up his sleeve, revealing the Megatrix on his wrist.

A brief flashback crossed his mind: his father's stern voice echoing in his thoughts.

_____________

"Hugo, no matter what, you must keep the Megatrix a secret." Lloyd his father had said. "The wrong people finding out could put all of us in danger. Use it wisely and sparingly. Not everything needs to rely on power, you can be stronger by staying smart."

_____________

With his father's words, Hugo was already planning not to reveal it no matter what. This was the only way to extinguish the fire with this form. As he take an deep breath, he pressed down on the device.

The Megatrix's circular interface glowed, spinning rapidly as it activated. "Hydro-Ninja, I choose you.." it announced softly. A flash of light enveloped Hugo as his body transformed.

In seconds, he became the Hydro-Ninja: his new amphibious form enhanced with spike-like armor, a scarf-like tongue that blended him into his surroundings.

The hybrid stealth kicked in as he disappeared into the shadows, his movements now swift and silent.

Hugo sprinted forward, closing the distance to the pedestal.

Producing a single water shuriken in his hand, he locked his eyes on the glowing blue flame. Without hesitation, he threw the shuriken with deadly precision.

The shuriken struck the bowl, extinguishing the flame instantly.

The Bone Hydra froze, its body violently trembling before collapsing into a massive heap of bones. Dust filled the air as the towering monster crumbled, sending a wave of debris outward.

Yuno and Shine coughed loudly, waving their hands in front of their faces as they tried to clear the dust cloud.

"What the hell was that?!" Yuno shouted, squinting through the haze.

"I don't know, but it's over!" Shine replied, coughing as he stumbled back.

As the dust began to settle, Hugo emerged from the cloud, his transformation already undone, and the Megatrix hidden once again.

His expression was calm, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"I extinguished the flame." he said simply, walking toward them.

Yuno and Shine looked at each other in disbelief, then back at Hugo.

"You did what?!" Yuno exclaimed. "How did you even—"

"Never mind." Hugo interrupted, cutting off the question with a casual shrug. "Let's just focus on getting out of here."

Still confused but too exhausted to press further, the trio made their way toward the exit, leaving behind the pile of lifeless bones that had once been the terrifying Bone Hydra.

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