Originally Posted by
Sub-Zero MKA
The light from the explosion and the dusty cloud of debris that resulted from it faded away gradually. Sarada drew in a shaky breath and felt nothing but pain. An intense burning pain in her left arm, and a terrible pain in her chest. She looked down at her arm and saw that it was bent in three different directions, none of them the right way. It was her cybernetic arm, but it was going to take some time to fix, time she didn't have. She only had a few days before Tundra arrived on the homeworld.
Her good arm reached up and touched her chest. She grimaced when she felt that her armor had melted into her skin. Cracked and bleeding flesh had fused with her armor's materials until the two were indistinguishable. "...no..." She felt warm blood trickling down her cheek. That was, by far, the most normal injury she had suffered thus far.
Come on... get up... She grunted and first pushed herself to her hands and knees. It was awkward with the broken arm. She lost her balance and fell forward, barely catching herself before she face-planted. She grunted again and struggled to her feet. From there, she could see what was what. "Kai..." Kai was hanging limply from the edge of the Lookout. If he fell, he was going to die. She took a single step toward him when she barely heard a weak voice calling out to her. She turned to face the source.
What she saw was horrifying.
Eva was standing, which was good. The green beam that lanced downward from above was suspended as a permanent lance through her chest. Strange energies crackled around her, proving that was her doing. Sarada's gaze cut to just behind Eva and saw why. The RoSaT was right behind her. If the beam struck that room...
Totoma and Lantro were buried under piles of rubble. Jack and Nunlil were nowhere to be found. That meant it fell on her to save both Kai and the rest of the Lookout. Eva was likely going to die. She swallowed the hard lump that had formed in her throat at that thought. If Kai lived, that meant the role of Guardian could be passed on to him, like last time. It would only be until they could get to Namek and wish Eva back.
Eva's desperate efforts were clearly straining her, so Sarada didn't have time to dawdle. The multiform ring Inanna gave me is still intact, she realized as she pressed down on the silver and gold band. A brief tearing sensation overtook her before fading away as quickly as it beset her. A second Sarada was standing beside her, suffering the same damage she had. Staring at her double revealed to her the full breadth of her injuries.
...her hair...
"Save Kai," she told the double. "I'll help Eva." Nodding, the two went their separate ways. The double grabbed Kai and gently hoisted him over the edge and back to the safety of solid ground.
Sarada quickly moved behind Eva. "I...I'm here, Eva," she said. She transformed quickly and braced herself. "I'm going to stop the beam, Eva. You can let it go." She swallowed. The gift she received from Lasair after completing her training wasn't something she had ever used before. She only had one chance to get it right. If she failed, there was no way of knowing how terrible the consequences of the RoSaT's destruction were going to be.
There was only one way to find out.
Lasair's Gift, All-Consuming Flame
Her golden aura shifted, flickering and licking the air not unlike an inferno. She braced herself, arms crossed in front of her face. Doing so sent jagged jolts of fiery pain through her broken arm, but she gritted her teeth and sucked it up. Just for a moment, a short moment.
"I'm ready, Eva. Let it go!"