Jassa: A Question of Drive

Jassa
March 14, 2169
Highland City Anatolia

Ebony, Russet, Virid, Krimm, Azure, and Eta-7 each entered the Central Chamber of the Nexus Core with nervous steps. Virid had his revolver drawn, sweeping the room as he watched silently, Azure had his hand on the handle of Tonnere, his lightning powered sword, and Ebony kept a firm grip on her black bladed scythe. Krimm fidgeted with his chain whip, while Eta-7's feet hovered silently off the metal floor as they moved further in. Russet was the most nervous as she tightened her gloves on her hands, keeping pace next to Ebony. The room was dimly lit, a faint blue glow coming from the reactor of the Nexus Core, pulsating with a gentle hum as it generated untold amounts of power.
The chamber was large, encompassing the entirety of the central reactor. Russet laughed nervously to herself, trying to stay quiet. "Be quiet," Ebony said swiftly with a harsh whisper, her head craning to listen closely with her heightened sense of hearing.
Russet looked at Ebony's black blindfold and swallowed hard, saying, "Sorry."
"He has nowhere else to go," Virid said as he swept the room with his revolver. "He has to be in here."
"But why the Nexus Core?" Azure asked as he approached an instrument panel; the screens showed that the energy output of the reactor was stable and even. "Why come here?"
Virid grunted, shaking his head as he studied the controls. "I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough."
Azure stepped closer to the control panel, feeling his way along the smooth surface with his fingertips. "I don't understand...every Nexus Core in every Highland City is supposed to be monitored by a team of technicians. This place..."
"It's empty," Eta-7 said flatly as she floated around the room, studying it carefully. "There is no one within the facility that I can detect."
"Maybe he's hiding," Russet said, her voice high and anxious. "Maybe he's somewhere else in the city."
Ebony froze, grabbing Russet's arm to stop her from moving. "Shhh!" she hissed quietly, and everyone stopped moving. She tilted her head, her superior sense of hearing honing in on...something. "He's-"
A wall of spectral green snakes erupted from the floor, impacting Ebony and Russet with such force that they slammed into the titanium walls of the chamber with pained grunts. The rest of the group reacted quickly, swinging their weapons as the snakes continued to pour out of the ground. Ebony rolled away, drawing her scythe and sweeping it at the snakes.
Krimm drew his chain whip, the metal links glinting in the blue light of the reactor as he began to shred the arcane mass. "Kiss of Thunder!" Azure shouted as he enveloped himself into a ball of lightning, lunging forward and destroying a large chunk of the mass of snakes.
The snakes writhed and thrashed as they were destroyed, but more kept coming. Ebony and Russet struggled to their feet, while Azure kept firing bolts of electricity at the snake mass. Eta-7 flew through the air, her giant sword slicing into the snakes like a guillotine. Virid rapid fired his revolver with concentrated intensity.
Russet ran along the wall before kicking off of it, leaping through the air. "Burning Fists!" she shouted as her fists were engulfed in fire and she began punching every snake before her.
Virid grunted as he swung his revolver, slamming the handle into a serpent's head and blasting it apart. "They're getting in the way!"
Ebony swept her scythe over the snakes, cutting them down like a razor. Suddenly, the glowing, green, ethereal mass of serpents dissipated as their enemy leapt from the hole in the floor he had torn with the snakes.
Jassa landed with a metallic tinkle as his leather shoes made contact with the titanium floor, and he began to laugh. "I knew you would come!" he said in a loud voice, looking at Ebony. "You have all been such a thorn in my side. Especially you, Sightless! YOU weren't invited to play!"
Ebony caught her breath and readied her scythe. "You won't beat me this time, Jassa."
Jassa looked over to Virid, who was reloading his revolver hastily. "Ah, then there's the Major! Good on you for tracking me down, soldier! But...you weren't invited either."
"Who are you?" Azure asked, pointing his sword at Jassa; the blade crackled with electricity.
"Heheheheheheh. Hahahahahahaha. AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't you see? Don't you see what you have in common! Krimm, the disgraced warrior. Azure, the heroic Knight of Justice. Russet, the free spirited adventurer. The three of you...YOU were invited. These others...I tire of them. Be gone!" He shouted the command, and a swirl of magical green snakes appeared again and wrapped around Ebony, Virid, and Eta-7.
The three of them erupted into a blinding green light and vanished from the room. "What did you do to them?" Russet demanded, her fists erupting into flames.
"There! There it is! THAT is why you were brought here."
Azure watched the fire burn on Russet's hands, then turned to look at the lightning on his sword, before turning to look at Krimm; Krimm's arcane shadows were beginning to manifest, but he had no clean way to rush Jassa yet. "Drives," Azure realized. "The three of us...all three of us have Drives."
"Bingo! On the money, Sir Knight!" Jassa cheered as he began to clap. "It's a relief to know that you, in fact, have a brain in that empty head of yours!"
Krimm looked at Azure, and he sighed. "I don't know if I can take him, Azure."
"No, you can't," Jassa said with a laugh. "But, you're welcome to try."
"What did you do to my friend!" Russet cried angrily as she began to rush Jassa.
"Kid, wait!" Krimm shouted.
"No time!" Jassa shouted with a snap of his fingers. Russet, Azure, and Krimm all froze; they were unable to move. "My Drive is called Infinite Serpent," Jassa explained. "I can stop time...for short bursts only, of course, but that's never really been an issue before." He turned on his heel and stared at the Nexus Core's reactor. "Just long enough for me to do what I came to do."
"Wait, you can't just destroy this place!" Krimm cried.
"Why not? It's only a machine! A machine can be replaced!" Jassa said, pointing his finger at the Core. "Oh...but maybe the people can't, can they? Ahahahahaha! Well, don't worry. The blast won't be that bad...probably." Jassa stepped up to the Core, and with a wave of his hand, it began to glow. Azure could see the green energy swirling around the Core, and then suddenly, it shot out, engulfing Jassa. He laughed louder, and louder, and louder. "Master Xana! It has begun!" A flash of green and blue light, and the reactor exploded.