A Dance With Death

Kai wasn't the egotistical type, but he was still a teenage boy. That's why when he had the opportunity to save a beautiful lady, and succeeded, he HAD to say something cool. Right?

With Loni in his arms Kai got her out of harm's way.

"Th-Thanks, I should've been more alert."

"Meh, don't sweat it. That's what friends are for."

The word 'friends' caught Loni off guard for a moment. Though she didn't let it show on her face, friendships weren't something she was well versed in. In fact, Loni couldn't think of a single person she had ever considered her true friend. Not only that, but it was weird being called a 'friend' by the person, not even two hours ago, she was about to let die.

"Right…"

Of course, Kai couldn't have known this so for him it was just him letting her know he was comfortable with her. That's why when he noticed her blushing a little while in his arms, he got a little flustered himself.

"Oh sorry, I can put you down now. My bad, hehe."

Looking away, and a bit nervous herself, Loni looked off into the distance with her emerald eyes.

"We can't let our guards down yet. We still haven't made it to the eye, and from now on we're gonna have to be on our toes. This must be where the funnel is bringing all the stuff it's pulling in. It's not far from the eye so we won't be forced to stay here for long, but still it might be tough. Can you handle it?"

Kai faced towards Loni and smirked:

"Aren't you forgetting that I just saved your life? Sure we're in a man-eating storm, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"Yea, yea, just don't eat your words later, K?"

"Understood, madam."

As the two mutated waited for what was inevitable, the world around them was thrown into disarray.

Noticing a large stone about the size of his head blazing towards him, Kai spun in the air and sent an air splitting axe kick towards its center, shattering the rock on impact and splitting it into a myriad of pieces.

Kai was starting to get used to his new sky-filled surroundings, and due to that his reactions were becoming… sharper.

Ducking to avoid a horizontal blow from a speeding tree branch, Kai lunged forward to knock another rock off course from colliding with the back of Loni's head. As he did this, she performed a mid-air front flip, dodging an especially large piece of hail, then sent a spear kick towards a small tree stump headed for Kai's back.

After the quick sequence of events, and the two mutated had a second to breath Loni spoke:

"Keep it up."

Already preparing to dodge the next piece of debris, Kai thought to himself:

'Right.'

Only focusing on keeping himself and Loni alive, Kai began to lock in. Dodging multiple debris at a time while also watching Loni's back was an arduous task… Yet Kai was managing. The storm's wrath was unpredictable and merciless. One wrong move in this deadly onslaught meant death, so Kai didn't make any mistakes.

He weaved through the hail balls too large to be allowed to hit him, and swung himself around branches, now made deadly by the furious tornado. Kai was fully attuned with his bodily functions, and the flow of the assault. All except for his affinity of course.

It was then that he noticed something within the tornado of debris. It was letting up…

Having a moment to breath Kai yelled out to Loni, who was just 10 meters away.

"Is it ending? It wasn't that bad. It only lasted like 20 minutes, but I can feel it letting up some already."

"No… this is just the start. That was just the first wave I think."

[Well done, mutated Kai. You have completed the first wave of the storms embrace.]

'Mm.'

Of course it wasn't gonna be that easy, it never was. As Kai floated in the air he took the short respite of the storm, and allowed himself to relax… That was until he heard a certain someone screaming for their life up above.

Karma was falling.

'Ha, the idiot doesn't even know what he's falling into. Though, neither did I so…'

Pivoting in the air to avoid his falling friend, Kai grabbed Karma by the collar to prevent him from falling too far down.

"Kai!? Heh, nice to be reunited, but stop holding me like I'm some naughty pup."

Releasing Karma to allow him to be carried by the wind, Kai let out a small chuckle.

"Good to see you too, bro."

With the small break in between waves of debris, Kai gave Karma a run down on what the situation was.

"Hmm, I guess I get it. So this is just another part of the 'trial' and we need to survive each wave in order to make it to the eye. Sounds about right?"

"Yea, pretty much."

In the same moment, Kai felt something shift around him then Loni's voice rung:

"The second wave is about to start, get ready."

[Prepare yourselves. Your struggle is not over yet.]

As the worlds voice resounded in Kai's mind, the savageness of the storm returned. This time even more crazed than before.

Luckily the three mutated were prepared this time. In a formation so that each had their back to each other, the small cohort was ready to face the deadly debris.

The hail now looked to be about the size of soccer balls, which made it even harder for the three to maneuver around. The maddening wind became even more turbulent, making it seem impossible to get the right purchase. But even through all this the group of three persisted.

Swerving out the way of a sharply pointed branch, Karma caught it around its center then used its own momentum to spin in the air with it. Gaining enough speed Karma launched the speared branch towards a large piece of debris. 

The branch didn't destroy the mass of debris, instead it shattered into hundreds of tiny splinters. But It was able to knock it off course enough to send it flying away.

At a later time, Kai used a small boulder to gain enough purchase, and launch himself downwards towards Karma. But just as he was about to zip by, Karma grabbed both of his ankles, used his driving power to throw himself into a somersault, and threw Kai towards a very large rock traveling towards Loni at insanely high speeds.

Reaching it, Kai launched his legs forward, performing a dominating drop kick on the boulder and smashing it to pieces. 

The group kept on performing actions like these in order to survive the dreadful onrush. He wasn't sure, but Kai could've sworn he felt like he was sensing a pattern even within the fury of the unpredictable storm. Maybe it was just his hope to survive tricking him, though.

It didn't matter though, because the three mutated kept up the deadly dance, and when the second wave ended, they survived the third wave, too. Getting even more used to this viscous reality. Then they persisted in the fourth wave, and the next, and the one even after that. 

They maintained their lives within the hateful storm, all the way up until the seventh wave… The final wave.