Book 2: Breathe

Okay so I've just started book two of this series so there isn't much up, but you can read what's there. (Just remember to start at Hello World which is under the chapters on the left side bar.)

Hope you guys like it!

http://breathe-guardianchronicles.blogspot.com/

Breathe - Book 2 in the Guardian Chronicles

Okay, so I feel kind of bad for leaving things the way I did. So, because I'm such a guilt ridden person, I decided to post of up the synopsis of the Breathe, the second book to the trilogy. Here you go!! And mind you this is just a rough draft, I'll post the official one later.

Kaleigh and her brothers made it out of their last encounter with Sage. But just barely.
This time, luck will make it just a little too late.
this time the stakes are growing steadily higher.
Interfacio has been working on something that could mean an immediate surrender from all Elementals.
Except for a group of fiery, determined kids who don't back down for anyone.

The End - YES REALLY!!!!!

And that's all folks!

I'm not kidding, that's the end of the book!! I really hope ya'll enjoyed it, and I'm glad you bared with me through this adventure. This isn't the end of the story of course, just this book. I don't know when I'll be starting the second one, but I'll let you know when I do. Right now I'm just going to kick back and look at my handiwork then, move right on so I can revise this and edit it and hopefully (I'm praying anyways) get it to a publishers.

Thanks guys!

^_^

Epilogue: The Fires of an Angry Heart

Epilogue: The Fires of an Angry Heart

"Celia, Celia listen to me." She tried not to let her voice quaver as she comforted her little sister. She was small for her age, barely four feet nine, and she was only twelve years old. Her long golden red hair hung limply in her eyes that were scared and red from tears.
"We have to keep moving, alright? We can't let them catch us."
"But Scarlet! They have guns! How are we ever going to get away?" The little girl cried.
Scarlet pulled her into her arms and squeezed her hard.
"I know, I know. You just leave that to me, alright? We're going to be fine, I promise. Now you get to the safe house, you know where it is right?"
Celia pulled away and nodded, rubbing her eyes with her grimy hand.
"Yes Scarlet, I know where it is."
"Alright, then you run. You run and you don't look back. I'll meet you there in a little while okay?"
Celia nodded and darted off down the alley way.
Scarlet ran the opposite direction, tightening the straps on her backpack so it wouldn't bounce as much when she ran.

She had taught Celia everything she knew about the alleys of Los Angels, and knew she was going to be fine so long as she stuck to the backways and avoided people as much as possible. Usually it was police they ran from, or social workers that tried to take them to live in orphanages. Claiming they'd have a better life, a life full of education and TV, and games and everything every normal teenager had! (Except the parents of course)
But that was just it, they weren't normal teenagers.
They were special.
Or cursed.
It depended on the situation as to how Scarlet looked at it.

But these men weren't police. No, they were something else. From some high and mighty branch of the government. They had special guns, and seemed to know everything about she and her sister. and Scarlet didn't like it when people knew that much about her.

She ran through the busy streets, hoping to loose them. But at a stop light, she glanced over her shoulder and saw their tall bald heads and knew she was screwed.
They spotted her and she made a split second decision.
Dashing in front of the cars, dodging them as they slammed on breaks, she ran the red light and knew the men were following her.
But she knew how to take care of them. She just couldn't do it in front of thousands of people.
   Turning onto another alley, she wove her way through the connecting streets that were never used except for people who were on the run. Then she came to a dead end and skidded to a stop. She turned and fiddled with the rings on her hands as she flicked her head so her bangs were out of her eyes.
A few seconds later, the men came running into the alley and came up short when they saw her just standing there, staring at them.
The fatter one smirked.
"You've got no where to run little girl." He yelled.
She cocked an eyebrow.
"Really? Cause it looks to me as if you've got no where to run." She stated.
The man exchanged glances with his partner, who just shook his head.
"We'll find your little sister. I'm sure she'll make a nice addition to our boss' collection." He said with a sly grin. "He likes hearing girls scream."
Scarlet's face hardened instantly. She slammed her hands together, the rings clashed and rubbed against each other, creating a spark, she then pulled hands apart slowly, showing the men a ball of fire dancing between her palms.
"No one. Threats. My sister." She stated coldly as she threw the ball towards them, willing it to become bigger, and consistent.
No one heard their screams above the usual hustle and bustle of the Angel City.

No. 26: Strangers Appearance

No. 26: Strangers Appearance

Terra was glad to be back in the comfort of her skirts, but it was getting colder, so she had to wear more than one. She pushed her hair back with her free hand as the wind blew it, her other still pressing on the black and white keys. She was fully aware of the boy standing in the doorway, but she just let herself blush since he couldn't see it, and smile since she let herself remember that blissful moment during the heat of battle.
"So, who taught you how to play?" Venn's voice asked from right next to her.
"My grandmother." Terra replied, still playing. "She use to have this beautiful piano forte in her parlor, and she'd play for hours on end, any song I wanted, then she taught me and soon I'd be the one playing while she made requests."
"Sounds like an awesome grandma."
Terra nodded.
"Yeah, she was."
They were silent as she continued playing, Venn had sat down next to her, and she was fine with that. Maybe a little bit more than just fine.
her hand bumped into his as he took of her left hand. She grinned and dropped her hand onto the bench and continued playing her right.
"Hey you're getting really good." She commented with a smile.
"Well I had a good teacher." He replied, squeezing her hand that laid on the bench. She tried to ignore the butterflies and focused on playing.
The song came to an end and when it did, he pulled her to her feet.
"Come on, the Professor wants to see us all." He said, guiding her through the mansion. She ran a step to catch up with him and wrapped her free hand around his arm that held her other hand, pulling him closer.
He glanced down, smiling. It wasn't a secret anymore, to them, or anyone around them. But though they were often called a couple, they weren't. Yet, anyways.

They met everyone else in the Professor's office and sat down on the couch, which was the only available seating left.
Everyone shot them teasing looks, which Venn incidentally didn't notice, but they're attention was taken up by the Professor.

It had been a few weeks after Sage's invasion, but the Professor was healing slow, which was probably due to his old age, but they were all praying non stop for his quick recovery. His left arm was in a sling, because of the bullet wound in his shoulder, and he moved a bit more slowly, but at least he was walking about now, which was better than the first week after the invasion, he hadn't even gotten out of bed.

"So, I hear no one knows why they left." He said, eyeing each one. From Brandon, slouching in one of high backed chairs, to Kaleigh sitting on the arm of the same chair, swinging her foot like a child, to Cliff lying on the other couch, to Stryder in the other chair, with his elbows braced on his knees, to Venn and Terra.
They all shook their heads in unison.
"Hmm...interesting. But you felt that same alien feeling the rest felt huh?" He asked, addressing Stryder nodded.
"Yes sir, just as they all described it."
"Well it's obvious your Element is no longer dormant, but still..."
"What is it?" Cliff asked, voicing the same question that went through everyone's head.
"Is it just erasing their brains and then they become idiots?" Brandon asked. "Because if it was, dude that would be awesome!" Kaleigh slapped his shoulder with a stern look, telling him to shut up.
"I don't know anymore than you do. You can't even see this Element, you just see it's effects. It's..." Stryder struggled to find the right words, but finally gave up and shook his head. "I don't know. Alien." He finally decided.
The Professor nodded slowly.
"Hmm....It might take us a little longer to figure out what it is, but we'll figure it out Stryder. I promise."
Stryder nodded in thanks, and the Professor took it as a key to move on.
"But, we do have one more order of business."
Just then the door opened once again, and in came two people that couldn't possibly be anymore different from each other.
For starters, one was a woman, and the other a man.
The woman was pettiet, wearing a business suit, and a sour look on her face. And the man was tall, broad in everyway, he had a marine haircut, and chiseled muscles that stretched out his shirt.
The kids looked from them, to the Professor again. He sighed and had an odd look on his face.
"I have learned that I alone am not a good enough teacher -" He put his hand up to keep them from protesting, and moved on after they fell silent. "- so I had to call in some back up. These folks are not Elementals, but they know everything there is to know about them. This is Lydia Forks, and Captain Bryan Smith."
Shockingly, the marine, looked much more friendlier than the lady. And so they all gave him smiles and her hesitant 'hello's.
"Miss Forks will be overseeing your education, and Captain Smith will be overseeing your training. Trust me, you're in very good hands."

.:+++:.

The kids had decided to treat themselves for their victory, since for the past few weeks they had done nothing but worry over the Professor, and clean up the evidence that the fight was ever here so none of the boarding students, when they came back, would freak out.

So, they ended up pulling to cafe tables together at Brandon's favorite ice cream shop, eating pistachio ice cream and talking about the latest things happing the world like any other teenager.
For a moment, they were just any other teenagers. They could laugh, they could tease, they could joke, and they didn't have to be serious. It was so blissful, and such a blessed moment they knew they wouldn't forget any moments like these.

Kaleigh pumped into Brandon's shoulder as she licked a drip of her ice cream before it could fall onto her hand.
"Hmm?" He asked, his mouth full.
"So, are you actually ever going to ask me out on a proper date? With out it being ruined by mystery guys giving cryptic warnings," She shot Stryder a glare, who playfully pretended not to notice. "or muggers in the alley?" She finished, turning her attention back to Brandon.
He smiled, meeting her gaze and shrugged.
"I don't know. That's half the fun though isn't it?" He asked.
She rolled her eyes and shoved his nose into his ice cream cone.
"Oh burn!" Her brothers shouted. Everyone laughed so hard their sides hurt.
It was times like these, that they were glad God had brought them together. That even though all the hard things they had all gone through, it was worth it, not just for the victories, but for the little moments of joy that became treasures.

No. 25:...We'll Stand Tall

No. 25: ...We'll Stand Tall

Cliff was starring down the blade of a samurai sword, held by the leader of the invaders. The guy in the trench coat.
"You'd make a fine prize." The man said, making Cliff turn his head using his sword. "I've never seen a Water Elemental do what you just did. It was very impressive."
Cliff glared at him for a minute.
"Want me to show you how it's done? I'm sure death would look real well on you." He spat.
The man's eyes flared with anger as his sword dug deeper into Cliff's throat, making it impossible for him to breath.
The sword was suddenly pushed out of the trench coat's grasp, when a body rammed into his body.
He immediately scrambled for his sword, but found the tip of something cold digging into the back of his neck.
"Turn around." A voice said, one so tinged with anger, he knew in an instant who it was.
He turned around, and looked lazily up at the boy standing over him. His curly black hair falling into his gold eyes. Cursed eyes. He was holding an odd glass looking sword in his hand that looked so fragile, one hit and it would shatter.
"Well hello brother. We wondered where you had gone off to." He stated plainly resting on his elbows.
Cliff's eyes widened as he registered what the guy had said.
"Stryder..." He said slowly, struggling to get into a sitting position. Cradling his hurt arm close to his chest. "He's your...brother?"
Stryder's eyes momentarily glanced Cliff's way and Sage took the advantage to knock the sword away from him and dive for his own.
Stryder took a step back as his brother pointed his sword at him, but didn't back down like he use to when he was a little boy.
"Yeah, unfortunately he is." He answered Cliff's question through gritted teeth as he starred his brother down.
"Wow..." Cliff said slowly. "and I thought my family was messed up." He marveled.
"Cliff, shut up." Stryder ordered. "I suggest you get your brother out of here, this could get ugly."
"Why? Do you plan on fighting me, little brother?" Sage asked with a sly grin.
Stryder jut out his chin in defiance.
"Yeah. I do. I'm not the same little brother you remember Sage. And I'm not going to let you kill anyone here today." He said with a tone of determination that surprised Sage, and even got him worried slightly.
But then he threw that worry off like a coat and scoffed.
"Tough words, but that's all they are. You always had a bark that was bigger than your bite little brother."
"We'll see about that." Stryder muttered.

Cliff was helping Venn to the mansion when Kaleigh jumped off the roof, with the help of Brandon, and ran up to Stryder.
"Stryder, what are you doing? Who's..." She sentence hung there when she turned to Sage. Though he was no longer a little boy, she could still see the resemblance of the little boy she had seen Stryder play with in the clips the Professor had shown them all.
"...Oh." She said. "Nevermind." She added hastily. A crooked grin crossed Stryder's face as he readjusted his grip on his sword.
"You're forgetting your manners I think, little brother." Sage said, eyeing Kaleigh that made her shift uncomfortably, so she was behind Stryder slightly.
If she was honest, this was probably one of the most bizzarre things she had ever seen in her life.
Two brothers, shooting daggers at each other, swords in hand, on the verge of killing each other, and the older brother wanted introductions.
Stryder rolled his eyes.
"Yeah well that's not happening. Kale get out of here. Help the others."
She looked up at him in alarm.
"What?"
He looked her in the eye sternly.
"Go."
Kale crossed her arms and stepped back several paces then planted her feet there, giving him a defiant look.
He sighed and knew that was as good as it was going to get. He knew she'd come to her sense eventually, when she realized her friends needed her help.

Stryder returned his gaze to his brother and quickly sized him up. He was tall, lean, muscular, and strong. That didn't leave him with a lot of options. But he did have a couple of tricks up his sleeve.
"Well, if you're that sure little brother."
"Stop calling me that." Stryder snapped. Sage laughed and gave him a look that said 'fat chance'.

He waited anxiously, like he had been instructed too so long ago when he actually took sword lessons. Back then, he was smaller and weak. And he knew that Sage would still expect him to be, he wouldn't expect the sword to be his primary weapon. He didn't know he had been training with it every day for twelve years in secret whenever he could, just so he could be his brother's equal. There was a lot of things Sage didn't know.

They both raced at each other at the same time, swords held out in front of them. They clashed together with a high pitched ringing. Sage looked in wonder at Stryder's sword, amazed that it had withstood the impact. His sword had been made of the strongest metal known to man, it shattered other lesser metals before, and yet this glass sword didn't even show a crack.
   Stryder pushed him away and used his broad shoulders to his advantage. Sage stumbled back, but quickly retaliated with an upper cut.
Stryder took a step back, bringing his sword up as he did. The swords met once again, hard and unmoving. Stryder dropped to his knees and struck up with his heel, hitting Sage in the place that counted.
Sage crumpled to the ground and looked up at his brother, with a look that could kill.
"I didn't say it wasn't going to be a dirty fight." Stryder stated. Sage's eyes gleamed as he smiled.
"Well in that case..."
He dove into a roll and came up slashing his sword across Stryder's chest. His shirt ripped open, the skin under it pealing back as blood soaked his blue shirt, staining it.
Kaleigh screamed and he was almost scared she'd come running, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Brandon was holding her back. He met the idiot's gaze and a silent 'thank you' was passed between them. Then he focused on his brother.

Stryder used his brother's own shoulders to steady himself has he flipped over him, landing behind him with his knee bracing him. He slashed backwards, cutting his brother's back before turning around and kicking him to the ground.
"I told you. You're not killing my friends." He stated, his sword to his brother's neck.
"Stryder, you're forgetting something." Sage stated. He just saw the light bounce off the sword before it hit him on the arm, causing another cut. He staggered backwards, his face clenched with pain as he moved his sword over to his left hand.
Sage was on him, quick like a cat. He sent blow after blow, Stryder barely able to block them as he retreated. Sage cut at his legs, and Stryder jumped away, but tripped over the dried up carcass and fell to the ground.
Kaleigh was still screaming as Sage flicked Stryder's sword into the grass beyond his reach.
Stryder looked back at his brother with the same defiant look. If he was going to die, which he knew was a very viable option, even if Sage was his brother, he'd at least know he had died fighting for something!
But then he heard Kaleigh screaming. He looked over at her, they're eyes linking immediately. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she screamed. Brandon wouldn't let her go no matter how hard she pulled, but she kept on fighting.
Then he glanced around at the remaining invaders that were raining Cliff and Venn with bullets. Terra had come out at some point and was using her life Element to heal wounds they got and keeping them from dying, but also fighting with Venn, using knives she had stuck in her belt. But he saw that each one of them was reaching their limit. They had taken down many, but many more still remained. He watched as the three retreated, looking at the line of invaders, gun pointed strait at them, with despair and defeat.
Stryder watched as, Venn slipped his hand in Terra's and murmured something in her ear. She looked up at him in shock before he kissed her square on the mouth.
Cliff glanced at them, then took a double take in shock.
In that instant, dying wasn't an option. Not for any of them.
Stryder looked at Sage as his arm came down, the kill blow.

"Enough!!!!"

A strange thing happened next.
Stryder pushed his hand out at his brother, a feeling over taking his body and pulsing through him like a second heart beat. It couldn't be seen, but a wave crashed over his brother, and over the remaining invaders, a wave that made them stop cold in their tracks.

No one dared breath. The Elemental's gazed in shock at what was happening around them, Kaleigh had stopped screaming, Venn and Terra had stopped kissing when they heard the silence.
It didn't make sense.
The invaders glanced at each other, even Sage in confusion. The Elementals stood in fear, waiting for them to jump at them, kill them here and now.
But instead, Sage shrugged his shoulders, rose, and limped away, the surviving invaders following in suit.
Brandon and Kaleigh ran up to the other Guardians as they gaped at what was happening in front of them.
The invaders got in their vehicles and drove away, not taking a second glance to any of them.
"What...the heck...was that?" Kale said aloud as they all starred at Stryder.
He looked at them with a worried look, then turned to the dust rising into the air by the cars on the dirt road.

No. 24: Through it All...

No. 24: Through it All...

Kaleigh ran across the front lawn, her eye always on the enemy.
They were recovering from shock, literally.
The ground wasn't attacking them anymore so she figured it was a safe bet that Terra had successfully gotten Venn to calm down.
She estimated they had taken out barley one third of the enemy's numbers. Not quiet what she had hoped for, but she'd take what she could get.

Her feet hit hard metal, and she stopped with a start. Glancing down she saw the square metal door that had taken her from a reality that seemed like a dream now, to the real world.
As the metal took her down below the ground, she marveled at the fact that it seemed ages since she had left that old life. For her brothers, she knew there was still that dull sting of realizing that what they had back there wasn't actual reality. She on the other hand hadn't lost anything, but gained quiet a lot coming out of the a coma. Her brothers though, lost their friends, their families, and their memories they thought were so real. Somewhere inside her, she knew they still held onto those, not wanting to give them up quiet yet.
It had been in her prayers every night that her brothers would come to accept, and maybe even enjoy this world, and let old things go, but at the moment, she feared they'd only remain prayers.

When the elevator doors slid open soundlessly, she was plunged into a darkness she did not expect. Momentarily blinded, she called on her Element, and focused on containing the crackling electricity to her hand.
Using the eerie, purple-blue light as her guide, she found a light switch that didn't work.
"Well I'm sure Venn's erupting earth put a damper in the electrical wires." She mumbled, placing the electricity covered hand on the switch. Sparks flew around her as the energy charged the electrical cords, lightening up the light bulbs once again.
She sighed in satisfaction as she removed her hand, shaking it out to get rid of the tingles as she ran down the hall, back to the lab where she had woken up months ago.

It had taken Venn forever to rig up this phase. Though explaining how it all worked was easy enough to understand, and a tad bit old fashion, it still took him a while to figure out how to put it all together, and then the Professor of course came in with his chemistry wired brain to help get the formula right also took some time, but they both had been proud to announce it finished after long nights with little to no sleep.

Kaleigh moved to the contraption in middle of the room that was centered in front of the tanks, still full of blue gel that lapped gently at the sides.
The sight of them caused her to shudder slightly as the thought of suffocation and drowning crept into her mind.
She shook her head firmly and set a hard gaze on the object in front of her, forcing the thoughts into the back of her mind.
The object was actually just a cylinder pulsing with different lights and pumps. Up at the top, tubes lead the way into the roof, through the ground, and then twisted around to the mansion, where they broke off into a hundred different tubes of various sizes that ran along the roof, balconies, awnings, and even windows of the mansion.
"Get a grip." She growled as she punched a big red button and then moved onto what originally was the observation deck. A sealed in room, that was covered in glass and had a wall full of computers and panels that were now all dead. She turned them on, all of them popping up with the program that Venn had put into them that showed her how the machine was doing, and how close it was to being ready to be activated.
Then she leaned against the counter, whip clutched in her right hand, arms crossed over her chest, her jaw set, and her mind frantically praying that none of her friends or family would die today.

.:+++:.

Stryder almost ran into Venn on the way into the mansion.
"Oi! Watch it!" Venn snapped, doing a little dance to avoid a collision.
"Sorry." Stryder muttered.
"How's the Professor?" Venn asked, leading the way to the roof.
"The bullet passed through his shoulder, lucky for us. But it severed an artery. I bandaged it up as best as I could, but there wasn't much to work with."
"Why didn't you bring him back up here?"
Venn received a look that said 'are you an idiot?' but ignored it.
"I could barely get him to the forest, there's no way I would be able to drag him through the forest, all the way back to the mansion. Besides it probably wouldn't help with the whole severed artery thing."
"Well why didn't you just get Cliff to help you?" Venn questioned.
Stryder glanced down at the floor and did his best to avoid his question.
"Where are the girls?" He asked.
Venn, conscious of the subject change, answered anyways with a hard gaze.
"Terra's in the computer room in the pyramid building, and Kale's downstairs in the basement. Now what did you do to Cliff?"
Stryder scowled in annoyance as he stared out the window.
"I knocked him against a tree." He stated bluntly.
"You what?!"

.:+++:.

Sage had figured that the old man wouldn't give in easily, but he hadn't expected the full force onslaught at the very beginning. They should have saved that for later when their numbers were few.
Of course, that's if they lasted that long. He reminded himself.
But he had to admit, their attack was affective. The men that weren't electrocuted to death were scared out of their minds, though they stayed in rank, but only because of his commanders that threatened to do worse if they didn't.
"Felix!" He called. His second hand man came running up next to him, standing at attention.
"How many men down?"
"About twenty men down sir."
"About?"
"Had to do a rough estimate sir, since some of them are...no longer distinguishable."
The young leader nodded and ran a hand through his hair. A habit that tagged him still as a boy, but no one dared to bring that up. After all, his father was the CEO of the entire enterprise.
"Well get the rest of them moving." Sage commanded. "The old man refused our generous offer, so we now will take them by force."
"Do you want them alive, sir?" Felix asked. But Sage was already shaking his head.
"No. But if you see Stryder send him to me. He has a special punishment waiting for him."
Felix nodded and made to leave when Sage stopped him.
"And also..." He added on second thought. "Spare the sister."
Felix hesitated before nodding in understanding. Feeling extremely sorry for the poor girl. None of the things Sage could want with her could be any good.
   He walked off a little ways from the general, and radioed all the other commanders, ordering them to move out.
They answered back with the usual 'sir, yes, sir' and everyone began to move toward the mansion in one big mob.

.:+++:.

"They're coming." Terra's calm voice sounded through the ear piece they all wore.
Kaleigh's heart leapt as she looked up at the bar that showed how much longer for the machine to be ready.
"How long?" She asked, her head jerking up as she suddenly heard footsteps marching above her head.
"Just a few minutes." Terra answered. "And can I ask again, why Venn, did you put a blind girl in the computer room? You do realize I can't see a darn thing but life energy blobs right?"
Kale chuckled as they waited for her brothers answer.
"Kaleigh they're almost on us, how's that machine coming?" Venn asked.
"Uh...it's at seventy percent." Kaleigh replied, chewing on her bottom lip.
"Oh God help us." Venn muttered. "Okay, apparently Cliff's out of commission -"
"What?!" Both girls screamed, causing Venn to say a few choice words that Kale would have to get onto him for later.
"Yeah, he's apparently knocked out no thanks to your new boyfriend Kaleigh."
"What boyfriend?" Brandon's voice piped up for the first time.
Kale groaned and hid her face though no one was there to see it.
"Venn I am going to kill you in a very slow and painful way if you cant keep your mouth shut." Kale threatened. Dodging Brandon's question as skillfully as she could at the moment.
"Snappy. Okay moving on," Venn stated. "How is the power coming Kaleigh?"
"Fifty percent. Terra where's the enemy line at now?"
"Uh...They're on the front steps."
"Brilliant. Now would you all stop chit-chatting so we can get to work?" Stryder's voice sounded harsh and annoyed.
Kale nodded and quickly tried to see if she could do anything to hurry up the process.

.:+++:.

Venn watched with horror as the dark line was stepping closer and closer to the door of the mansion. For a heartbeat, he questioned everything they were doing.
What are we doing here?
Who are these people?
Why do they hate us so much?
What gave us the idea to fight them?!
But just as fast as those questions came, the answers came flooding in even faster.
We're fighting for our lives.
They want to kill us.
They hate us because we're different. They're scared of us.
We're American's, we will always fight for freedom. It's in our way of thinking.
His expression hardened as these answers came to mind and he was reminded of what he was doing this for.
I don't want to loose my family.

A man in a trench coat called everyone to halt. Safely he guessed he was in charge though he couldn't be older then twenty.
The trench coat stepped forward and started talking to the door.
"Who ever is in there you had better come out unless you want a fight. I'm only going to give you one chance. If you all come out with your hands up where I can see them I swear we wont harm you."
Venn scoffed. Like that's going to happen.
Venn don't do anything stupid. Terra's voice rang through his head. He could hear the worry in her voice and couldn't stop the smile cross his lips.
I'll try not to. He replied.
I'm serious Venn! Be careful.
He nodded and then turned to the trench coat.
"Yeah that's not happening." He shouted down to him.
The guy with the greasy hair looked up. After a minute he smiled.
"Are you sure you want your entire family to die Vencint."
Venn cringed slightly at the sound of his full name.
"Well that's the funny thing." He stated with a grin. "It wont be us dyin' today."
The boy raised an eyebrow and the smile left his face.
"You don't realize who you're challenging." He said, his face turning to stone.
Venn shrugged.
"You don't realize what family you tried to destroy. You're not ripping us apart." Venn stated, shoving his hands in his jean pockets. His lazy appearance was deceiving. His face showed his real feelings. Stone hard, and unmovable.
His eyes never leaving the boy on the roof, Sage made a motion with his hand.
One of the rifle men aimed and shot quick.
Sage grinned as the bullet ripped through the air like a knife, until it suddenly hit something hard, and invisible to his eyes, right before it would have hit the boy's chest.
The boy didn't even flinch.
He looked down slowly, and picked the bullet out of the air and looked at it as if it was a leaf that had fallen off a tree. Then he slowly looked at the trench coat.
"Nice try." Then he flicked it towards the rifle man that had shot it. Sage watched in horror as the bullet picked up speed and dug it's self into the man's forehead.
Anger seeped through his being at this arrogant sixteen year old.
"Enough of this." He hissed. "March!!" He shouted, before breaking down the door himself and running across the broken boards.

Venn ran to the other end of the roof and slapped Brandon's shoulder.
"Thanks bro. I thought I was a goner." He said as he jumped down from the roof.
"I got your back." Brandon said, landing lightly next to him.
"Alright. Kaleigh how's that machine coming, they're inside the door."

.:+++:.

Kaleigh spun on her heel and slammed her fist into the big green button. Electricity zapped through the body of the cylinder before it was pumped up into the tubes.
She then ran to another control and pressed the fire alarm for the mansion.
"Okay, it's activated. Phase one is a go." She reported.

.:+++:.

Venn glanced in one of the windows, and saw the water sprinklers were going off everywhere in the mansion, drowning the people inside. Luckily they were all invaders, and they hadn't gotten past the front door. Then the electricity coursed through the pipes he had put through out the house, shocking everyone that wasn't yet wet, and then burning everyone that was.
He cringed at the screams and then gave Brandon a signal for the 'go ahead.'
Brandon threw the back door open and focused on the closest people to him. The deadly zing could be heard, barely over the screams, as his stars flew through the air, digging themselves into their targets.
"You have to get them outside!" Venn shouted at him.
Brandon glanced at him and nodded.
Careful Brandon. Kaleigh warned, knowing what he was going to do. Don't exhaust yourself too soon.
Thanks mom.
He could hear that laugh that only belonged to Kaleigh. Dang, I'm an awesome mom. I mean what mom would give her son fighting advice?!
He shook his head at her random statement.
Okay, now shut up. I'm trying to concentrate.
Sheesh, touchy. She stated, hurt in her tone, but she kept quiet. Though he did feel a little guilty for snapping at her
The wind picked up, becoming harder and stronger, eventually getting them off the ground and pushing them out the door and back into the open.
"Okay. Go! Go! Go!" He yelled at Venn.
Venn scrambled around the corner and saw the mess of men lying in heaps on the ground.
He pulled on the grass with his Element and wove it around the men.
They couldn't move, couldn't get up, and most importantly couldn't fight.
"Okay, they're down, what the heck do I do now?" He asked, stunned and not sure what to do.
Then one man cried out as his back arched in pain. Venn jumped and looked around.
All the other men were stunned into silent, as they watched their fellow solider cry out in pain over and over again. His body seemed to be disforming, lumps appeared everywhere, red like welts. But when they got bigger, the more dried up his skin appeared around them. Then finally they came to the point they burst, water spewed out, water and blood. when Venn looked back at the man, he was dead. Nothing but a dried up carcass.
"Now, who's next?"
Venn's head jerked up and he was never more relieved to see his brother.
"I'm out for a couple minutes and you guys fall apart!" Cliff yells, walking through the stunned crowd lying on the ground and smacking his brother upside the head.
"What the heck is wrong with you people?!" He hissed. Then shaking his head and ignoring his brother, her addressed Kaleigh and Terra. "Girls you need to get out here and do some damage, but I'll tell you when to come out here got it?"
They both replied. And he turned to his brother again.
"Now, we're either going to tie 'em up and let them get us latter, or we deal with them now. This is no time to break down."
A chilling voice made them both stop in their tracks and glance at each other before turning around.
"Your powers are impressive. I might reconsider killing you all and take you to my father."
A cold metal sliced through the back of Venn's legs, causing him to cry out and fall to his hands and knees, tears blurring his vision. He lost his grip on his Element, and the grass blades fell away from the men lying on the ground.
Cliff turned to see who had attacked his brother, and met a blade slice to his arm and the hard hit of something blunt to the cheek, sending him flying.

Brandon jumped onto the roof after he saw the brothers fall, and tried to create a distraction for the rest of the men.
He used the Wind to mess with them, pushing them around and ricocheting their shots as they tried to shoot him down.
But then they started to flow onto the roof.
The first one came up the elevator. He could hear the ding as the doors came up. Diving from the open area, and landed with his back against one of the walls of the elevator. He pulled a star out of his clip and waited quietly as he heard boots shuffle out of the elevator.
Everything was quiet for a split second before he jumped them.
The star sliced the barrel of the first man's rifle. The man yelled in shock as Brandon pulled the gun out of man's grip, spinning into him and rammed the butt of it into his stomach, sending him stumbling into his friend right behind him.
Brandon quickly dropped the useless gun and jumped over the first one and brought his boot down on the second man's face, with a satisfying crunch of the man's nose breaking.
He turned his attention to the third man as he made a grab for him. Catching him in a iron hard grip. Brandon grabbed a short knife from his pocket and held it blade down as he dug it into the man's leg.
The sheer pain of the wound, coursed up the man's body and his grip loosened enough for Brandon to weasel out of it and quickly came back with a second and third hit with the knife. Each in a devastating area that the man fell to the ground, bleeding out and unable to move.

Only three had come up in the elevator, so Brandon leaned on his knees to catch his breath. The Wind wall he had made a few minutes ago down stairs, plus the teasing and shield up here had him drained to the point he was going to be running on fumes soon.
Ding.
He looked up at the elevator doors in front of him through the sweat dripping into his eyes.
"Aw crap." He groaned for a moment before shoving the small knife into his pocket again, and grabbing more stars in his hands, he braced himself for another wave.
When it crashed, he met it with a flurry of silver as his stars flung through the air, taking down the first several men before they could even get out of the elevator.
But then the ones in the back came out guns blazing. Brandon pulled up a shield as he dove over the air conditioner, panting as he waited for them to calm down a bit.
When they did more stars flew from his fingers as he followed them and dove his knife into the ones the stars missed. But this wave wouldn't stop coming, and he was getting more and more tired each time he killed another one.

He aimed at another solider, but he saw it coming. The solider dove behind the elevator and the star bounced off the wall.
Brandon swore as he reached for another one, only to find that he was out.
He ran across the opening, and attacked the man using the small knife he had on him.
But this soldier was an eel. Slipping out of every pin Brandon had.
Brandon fell to the ground when the man punched him, but quickly turned on his back and swung his foot out, catching the man's leg and sending him to the ground as well. He quickly jumped him, but the man rolled, so only his arm was slashed instead of his chest.
The soldier moved behind him and brought down his own knife, grazing his back. Brandon cried out and spun around trying to get the man in the chest, but he was already gone.
Brandon glanced around, and suddenly became aware of the noise to his right. He quickly dove left and landed on his back, facing the soldier. Cringing his teeth, he threw the knife that lodged it's self in the man's shoulder.
The man was obviously in pain, it showed on his face, but didn't let a sound escape his lips. He pulled the knife out and tossed it angrily to the floor.
Brandon's eyes grew wide as the man came to him. He was running on fumes, and worse, unarmed.
Purple light crossed his vision, as it streaked across the air and engulfed the soldier. The light grew brighter and brighter, to the point Brandon had to look away.
Then it was gone.
He looked back and saw that the man wasn't there anymore, just a pile of ashes.
Kaleigh's black hair whipped into her face as the wind hit it, making her look like some sort of angel that walked around with machine guns in hand. Which was exactly what she was holding.
"What is with boys and never asking for help?" She asked, offering him a hand. He took it gratefully and let her pull him up to his feet, which she did easily and with little effort.
"Here. Looks like your out. You should be glad I had the foresight to stop by the arsenal." She said with a sarcastic smile on her face as she handed him a belt loaded with stars and knives, all made out of ealantean.
He buckled it on and nodded in her direction.
"Thanks. You have no idea how glad I am to see you."
She gave him a weird look like he'd lost it, but it was the honest truth.
"Come on, before my brother's get into too much trouble." She said, jerking her head to the edge of the roof.

No. 23: Negotiations gone South

No. 23: Negotiations gone South

It didn't take long to get the boys to their positions at various points in the house.
Cliff and Stryder were standing down at door, watching the Professor making his way to the line of black. Venn was positioned at the roof with a control panel in his hand, when Terra came bounding up behind him. He glanced at her, then took a double take.
"You went and changed?!" He gapped.
"Well yeah! I can't very well fight in a skirt now can I? you idiot!" She remarked with a grin. Venn shook his head in wonder. Never had he seen her in jeans before, though if he allowed himself, he'd admit that she looked good in them.
Kaleigh had given her a change of jeans and a pair of boots she had found in one of the various rooms in the mansion. At first Terra didn't understand the how Kale could think of clothes in their situation, but when she pointed out she was in a skirt it fell in line.
So here she was, in jeans for the first time in years, about to fight for her life.
"You ready for this?" Venn asked.
She glanced over at his dark green energy mark and shook her head.
"Nope. Not at all. You?"
He chuckled nervously, but agreed with her whole heartedly.
"Yeah...Same here."

.:+++:.

"Can you hear anything they're saying?" Cliff asked.
"No." Stryder said. Cliff rolled his eyes.
"Some Savior you turned out to be." He grumbled.
"But I can read their lips." Stryder added.
"Ah! Well that's something we can use. Come on, lets get closer."
Just then Kaleigh bounded around the corner.
"Oi! what are you two doing? Where's Brandon?"
"We're just going for a stroll," Cliff said with that stupid grin she'd learned to be wary of.
"Oh yes, with fifty armed men out there. Lovely time to have a stroll." She stated, faking a British accent.
"You two I swear! Where's Brandon?"
"He's in the Professor's room remember? He's got to watch the Professor to give the rest of us a signal."
"Okay, I've got to go see if he needs any help. You two stay out of trouble got it?! If I see you two doing anything remotely suspicious I will blast you off the ground."
Cliff rolled his eyes again and nudged Stryder's arm, and then the two were off. Kaleigh sent up a prayer of safety for them and the rest of their team.
Then she bounded off again for the Professor's office.

Cliff led Stryder down the fields through the trees that lined the property.
"We close enough now?" He said in a hushed whisper.
"Yeah, should be fine." Stryder mumbled. "You don't happen to have binoculars do you?"
"Um...no I don't happen to have binoculars. It's not something I carry on my person all the time. Though now that I think about it I probably should because it would be so useful in situations like this, or keeping an eye on my sister, or making sure no one steels my food."
Stryder rolled his eyes and completely ignored him half way through Cliff's rambling. He concentrated on the Professor, who was addressing the line of fifty men.
"What's he saying?" Cliff cut in.
"He's asking for the leader to step forward."
They waited anxiously for someone to do as the Professor said. And when he did, Stryder almost choked.
"You okay?"
He nodded hastily and gained composure again.
"Yeah. They're introducing themselves. The guy in black's name is Sage."
Cliff studied the enemy closely, but wasn't impressed by much.
He was tall, and sort of gangly looking. He had black hair that hung in his dark eyes that looked like black holes. He wore black combat boots and some sort of black armor that wasn't as big as the normal armor Cliff had seen police men wear in TV shows and such. But covering the armor, was a trench coat, making him stand out against the others who just wore the uniform armor.

"What are they saying now?" Cliff asked quietly.
"Professor is asking for them to just leave. He's trying to deny the fact that there is anybody here. He's trying to say all the kids are gone on holiday." Stryder answered.
"That's a reliable excuse."
"Yeah. Except it didn't work."
Cliff sighed. "What'd the trench coat say?"
"He's had the school under surveillance for weeks, and knew we were here." Stryder said, chewing on his bottom lip.
"Well we're not surprised. That's a reasonable step to take. Plus they had a freaking spy in the school so yeah that's to be expected."
"Why do you have to be so reasonable." Stryder muttered.
"Huh?"
"Nothing." He said quickly, rolling his eyes before turning his attention back to the two figures in middle of the field.

"Sage is now asking for him to hand over the Elemental's and promising he wont hurt the Professor, or anyone else that's on campus."
"Yeah well the Professor's obviously going to refuse." Cliff mumbled. Stryder nodded in agreement as he watched the Professor do just that.
"He did. Now they're glaring at each other and he's walking away."
Cliff inhaled sharply at the Professor's daring move by turning his back on the enemy. But when he watched the guy in the trench coat give a hand signal, a cold chill ran down his spine.
There was a single bullet shot, and the Professor was thrown to the ground.
"No!" He cried.
Stryder jumped on Cliff, trying to keep him back in the cover of the trees.
But Cliff's Element took advantage of his emotional state and burst forth like a dam had broke.
Stryder swore as he heard the thunder clap loudly above. He glanced up and watched as black clouds rolled in fast, as if he was watching it through a sped up camera. Rain poured down violently, soaking everything in a few seconds flat. But what he didn't expect, was the sudden crack of lightening that exploded the ground in front of the enemies line. A scream pierced the silence, and the ground rumbled.
"You have got to be kidding me. Just my luck get stuck with a bunch of freaks who can't control anything." Stryder muttered under his breath as he struggled to keep Cliff where he was. Stryder knew that Cliff wouldn't stay where he was, and knew that he'd pick a fight if he let go.
Stryder saw the Professor shift in his peripheral vision, and knew he wasn't dead yet.
He made a split second decision and threw Cliff against a tree, causing him to hit his head and pass out.
"Stupid idiot." He grumbled, then turned back to the enemy line.
The ground was still moving under them, and the rain prevented much sight to be had.
He ran out of the safety of the woods and to the Professor.
Stryder slipped on the wet grass that he realized was mixed with water and blood. He turned Wallace over, he saw that the bullet had gone through his shoulder, severing an artery, which would account for all the bleeding. Stryder's hands came away red, but he ignored that fact.
"Come on Professor. We've got to get you out of here." He said, straining to pick up the Professor's weight.
It was a struggle to get the Professor to the woods with the fear that the enemy would shoot at him, or worse.
But Kaleigh, and Venn made sure they were occupied. The grass under them grew into vines, wrapping around their feet. The lightening and water electrocuted them extensively, agonizing screams filled the air, the smell of scorched skin filled his nostrils, making him nauseous.
The strain of keeping the Professor up right, and moving was an impossible task. But the knowledge that Kale and Venn couldn't keep the attack going forever, kept his burning legs moving.

Once in the cover of the forest, he dragged the Professor deep into the trees. He pulled off his jacket and ripped it into strips, winding them around his shoulder as tight as he could, hoping it would stop the bleeding.
Then he ran back to get Cliff and drag him into safety as well before running through the underbrush and back to the mansion.

.:+++:.

Kaleigh had seen Stryder drag the Professor into the forest, once she saw that they were clear she let go of her Element and collapsed on one of the vast balconies on the front of the mansion.
Terra fell to her knees next to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulders.
"He's not dead, Kale." She said in a firm tone. "Not yet anyways. The Professor has a lot of fight in him. It's going to take a lot more than a single bullet to take him down. Now come on, you've got to activate stage one, while I smack Venn out of his daze."
Kale ran her sleeve under her nose and nodded as she crawled to her feet and headed to the basement while Terra headed to the roof.

Terra's life vision swept the floor above her as she made her way up the stairs as fast as she could, glad she had changed into jeans so her legs weren't restricted in her skirts, allowing her to move faster than she normally could have.
Once on the roof she saw the heap of green near the edge of it, she hurried to reach him before he did something stupid.
"Venn! Venn get away from the edge before you kill yourself." She cried, grabbing his arm and pulling him away.
"Why, why does everyone always have to leave?" She heard him mumble.
Her heart broke for him, as she pleaded with her Father to ease his burdens.
"We all have our time Venn. It's part of life, and yes it's hard, so, so hard, but everything that happens to us, falls from God's hands after her personally sees that it will benefit us in some way."
"How? How could this possibly benefit us?" He asked, looking back up at her with red eyes. He was leaning back against his arm, his back against her chest where he had fallen when she pulled him back. Her feathery touch was still on his skin, but he wasn't focusing on any of these. It was the way her face showed a feeling he hadn't seen in her. Like she understood something that he couldn't have hopes of understanding.
"Ever heard of that saying 'God never gives us more than we can handle?'" She asked.
Venn nodded, and shifted so he was sitting up straight, and on his own.
"Well it's garbage."
His head jerked up. That was not what usually followed after that statement.
"God gives us  more than we can handle so we learn to call on Him for strength. 'Cause we'll never make it through on our own, end of story." She stated bluntly and with such a dead pan face it was probably one of the most bizarre things he had ever seen.
"The Professor isn't dead yet, so stop moping and lets go, we've got jobs to do and your sister is already on her way to start phase one." Terra said gently as she tugged on his arm firmly. He got up to his feet and got a grip with reality, he couldn't afford to fall apart now, not when they were about to get into what could possibly be a full fledged battle. He'd deal with emotions at the end of the day when it was over.

No. 22: Battle Plans

No. 22: Battle Plans

"Terra!"
She turned towards the sound. Venn grabbed her wrists and turned her hands palms up.
"Take this to Cliff, he said he needed it." He said, placing something cool and large in her hands.
"Where is he?"
"Check the roof."
She nodded and spun on her booted heel and ran off in the direction of the mansion. Her life vision told her that Cliff was indeed on the roof.
She focused on the earth beneath her, and let it raise her to the roof level.
Cliff looked up just in time to see the ground rise up, she stepped onto the roof like it was all no big deal and it all happened everyday. He shook his head in mild disbelief. Sometimes, even though he had super powers, it was hard to wrap his mind around it.
"Here's the...thing you wanted." She said, handing him the metal box.
"Thanks. Could you do me a favor?" He asked. Terra nodded readily, her dark curls bouncing in her messy ponytail.
"Could you bring Venn up here, and tell him he needs to wire this to the security system?"
"Sure thing. Anything else I need to do?"
He rose to his feet and over looked the campus.
"Yeah..." He said slowly. "Make sure you're knives are sharpened. We're going to be in for a whole heap of trouble."
Terra nodded grimly then dove off the roof, making the earth bend under her to soften her fall.
"And they say boys show off." Cliff muttered to himself as he climbed down the ladder.

Kaleigh pulled her hair up off her sweaty neck before leaning into the ladder again as she wired up new security cameras.
"Hey can someone hand me those wire cutters?" She asked, reaching out of them, while yanking a cord out of the tangled mess. The cutters were placed in her hand and she cut off the end of the wire.
Don't hurt yourself.
She rolled her eyes at the voice inside her head.
I'm not a little girl. I can take care of myself.
So I heard. You didn't tell me you jumped the guy.
Well sorry! I was a bit of a wreck and it slipped my mind.
The cutters pulled the wire covering off, but also the skin on her palm.
"Ow, crap!" She growled.
"I told you not to hurt yourself."
She wanted to slap him, and if it weren't for the fact that her hand hurt, she would have.
Kaleigh jumped down to the ground and let Brandon pull her hand from her chest.
He wrapped a strip of cloth around it gently, she wasn't all sure where he got the cloth from, but was thankful for it.
"I swear sometimes you act like my sister." He grumbled.
"Yes, but I'm older than you sister, so I'm allowed to act like that sometimes."
He paused and looked at her to see if she was being serious.
"You do realize that is the most messed up logic I have ever heard right?"
"Well it's not as messed up as wanting pistachio ice cream in November." She shot back, refusing to meet his stormy blue eyes.
"Yeah but that's a quirk, not logic. And quirks vary from person to person, logic should make sense to everyone."
"Well maybe my quirk is that my logic makes no sense to anyone!"
His rough hands weren't as gentle when he was agitated. When he tied the knot, he pulled tighter than he meant to.
"Ouch." She muttered, jerking her hand back in surprise.
"Sorry." He mumbled.
Kale let out a deep sigh and new that part of it was her fault.
"No...I'm sorry. I'm stressed and worried about what is going to happen, if we're all going to live through the night, and not to mention all of the things I have to do in order to get ready for this, and it's just -" She stopped herself and took a deep breath, gazing off into some point in the distance, trying to calm herself down. "I feel like I'm in a room, and it just keeps getting smaller and smaller. Suffocating me slowly, and then when I think I got a break, it squeezes harder." A tear slid down her cheek and she brushed it away impatiently.
"And now I'm falling apart. That's just awesome." She grumbled.
"Hey." Brandon took a hold of her shoulders, gaining her attention, and forcing her to look at him. "You're allowed to fall apart. In fact it's expected! You're suiting up for a war, your brothers have already mentioned they expected you and Terra to break down a while ago."
"That's not comforting Brandon." She stated with a discouraged tone.
He gave her a look but went on as if she hadn't said anything.
"You don't have to hide how you feel, that's all I'm saying." He dropped his arms and struggled to win the battle ragging on in his soul. It was a war that he had to fight every time he was near her, and it seemed that God was laughing at him when she became his Partner. He heard her sigh and watched her as she rubbed her eyes with her palms.
"That's probably not the best pick up speech, but I guess it'll do." She said.
Kale moved to go up the ladder again to get back to the security camera, when Brandon gripped her wrist and pulled her back down a rung. She let out a squeal when her foot slipped and she lost her balance, falling into arms ready to catch her. Her back slammed into Brandon's chest, his arms wrapped around her waist, protectively pulling her closer. Before her mind could catch up to what was happening, Brandon twisted his head around and planted a kiss on her cheek. The usual zap of electricity was there, only slightly stronger, making her jump. But then he had pushed her back onto the ladder, right back where she had started.
She looked back at him in shock with wide eyes, not sure how to respond to that. Brandon just shrugged and shoved his hands in to his pockets with a grin directed her way.
"Just incase we don't make it through this. I just thought I'd let you know." He said with that stupid half smile that sent the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzy.
Her brain was all haywire, as she fumbled with the wires. She wanted to growl at him for doing that, but in reality, her brain was far, far away from growling.
Stupid boy. She thought to herself, not allowing it to be heard by Brandon. If you want me to get a job done you shouldn't go do stuff like that!
But she couldn't keep the smile from creeping up onto her lips when she thought about his words.

.:+++:.

That whole day was spent running around for everyone, doing what they could to make sure they had the upper hand. Cliff was never really happy with what they had done, but by then it was too late to do anything about it, and they all decided to get what little sleep they could.
They did another camp-out in one of the sitting rooms in the mansion. Everyone collapsed on the couches or floor.
Kale curled up next to Brandon and fell asleep as soon as she sat down. Terra did the same right next to Venn on the floor, but wasn't as close as Kale was to Brandon.

Cliff watched Kaleigh sleep for a moment before addressing Brandon.
"Do you know what it feels like to have all the water in your body suddenly leave?"
Brandon's head jerked up at the question, not quiet sure how to take it.
"Uh...no?"
Cliff looked him in the eye with such a calm and collected face that Venn was scared what he could mean by his question.
"Well that's what you'll find out if you hurt her in any shape or form. Got it? You respect her and don't make promises you cant keep."
Brandon nodded his head, trying to keep from moving too much so he didn't wake up Kale who had fallen asleep on his arm.
"So wait..." He said, suddenly realizing why Cliff was saying anything at all. "Does that mean I've got permission?"
Cliff hesitated for a moment, his dark blue eyes gazing at his sister's sleeping form.
"Yeah."
"No." Venn said in unison. The two brothers looked at each other in confusion.
"Maybe." Cliff said in a minute. "Why can't he?" He asked Venn.
"Because!" Venn struggled to find a valid reason for not letting Brandon date his sister, other than the fact that he didn't want any more changes happening.
Both Brandon and Cliff gave him expectant looks and he finally growled.
"Fine."
Brandon nodded in understanding, and the room returned quiet again until Cliff fell asleep and started to snore. With Venn following close behind.
Brandon knew it was hopeless to even dream about sleeping so he just watched over Kaleigh, making a vow to himself he wouldn't let anything happen to her tomorrow. Even if it meant dying himself. He'd rather die so she could live, then the other way around.
He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, sealing his vow.
"I won't let anything happen to you." He whispered to her. "I promise."

Stryder watched the idiot kiss Kaleigh's forehead and died a little inside. He argued with himself that he was being even more idiotic then the idiot. He hadn't even talked to the girl until a couple months ago. She wasn't his to loose, and if he was being truly honest, he knew the idiot would do everything in his power to make sure she was happy.

.:+++:.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The rapped fire of machine guns shocked the kids out of their sleep and got them to their feet in a heart beat. Kaleigh was the first to the window.
"Kaleigh! Get away from there." Cliff hissed. When she didn't respond, he joined her at the edge of the window. Followed by the other three close behind.
"Guys." Venn said slowly. "We are in some serious trouble."
"Terra, how do many do you think are out there?" he went on to ask.
"Um..." Terra concentrated hard and expanded her life sense. "I count about half a hundred." She reported, nodding as she did.
"So... fifty?" Kale asked, looking at her.
"Yup. Fifty."
"Well why didn't you say that?" Stryder asked a little put off.
"Because half a hundred sounds more daunting." Terra stated matter-of-factly.
Cliff nodded in agreement.
"Good way to mix up your vocab. I'm going to have to use that sometime."
"Cliff! This isn't a book!" Venn reminded.
Cliff shot his brother a look and then turned back to the sea of black.
"Kids," They all jumped a second time in the past minute and turned to find Professor Wallace standing in the door way.
"Wait here, get to your positions and make sure you are ready." He was about to walk away before he hesitated and turned back again.
"And wait for my signal okay? Don't do anything stupid."
Kale couldn't stop the smile when he eyed the boys in particular. Then he was gone before they could say anything else.
"He kind of freaks me out." Stryder stated quietly.
Kale rolled her eyes and tugged on Terra's arm.
"Come on." She said, guiding her out the room.
"Wait were are you going?!" Brandon called after them.
"Just get to your positions!" Kale called over her shoulder as she took off running through the mansion with Terra in tow.

No. 21: An Unexpected Knife

No. 21: An Unexpected Knife

Cliff was running hard, his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to over come his fear.
He ran into the garage to find Terra and Venn almost having a moment, not that he really cared at the minute.
"Guys, we've got a problem. A really, really big problem." He panted.
The two jumped, slightly embarrassed that he had walked in on them, but when Venn looked at his worried face he nodded.
"Come on." Cliff urged, running back the way he had come.

The three made it over the dead grass, Cliff's legs burned and his chest felt like it was two times smaller then usual, but he never slowed and never stopped.
They met Stryder and Brandon on the way to the mansion. They fell in step with Cliff easily and kept their breathing even.
"What's going on?" Brandon asked.
Cliff stopped running at the door and tried to catch his breath. Brandon becoming impatient turned to Venn with a questioning look.
"Don't look at me dude. He just said that something bad was happening."
"It's Kaleigh...and Crystal..." Cliff gasped.
Brandon got serious and his ears perked up.
"What about Kaleigh?"
Cliff couldn't say anymore, he just ran into the mansion.
"You guys have got to keep quiet alright? Don't say a word."
They all sensed his urgency and they kept quiet despite their burning curiosity.

The mansion was deserted, as it usually was over Thanksgiving break. But because of this it made it both easier and harder to sneak around the place.
Finally they made it to the steps of the Professor's office.
None of them dared to say a word, so they motioned to each other through hand gestures.
Cliff crept up the stairs quietly, using his new training to his advantage.
"...We have terms Wallace." A sweet voice said. Cliff wanted to punch Venn in the gut when he took in a sharp breath, scared that it had made too much noise.
Everyone looked at him in confusion.
"It's Crystal." He mouthed. Then sent the same message to Terra telepathically since she couldn't see his lips.
"I know how dearly you hold onto your precious Guardians, so don't agree to our terms, and she'll die."
They heard a muffled groan and the brother's had to use a lot of will power to keep on the spot.
"Please, Crystal," The Professor's voice was surprisingly steady. "there is no need to hurt her. Just tell me what you want."
"The Savior. Hand him over and we'll give the rest of those pathetic teenagers a head start."
"Okay I've had it." Brandon stormed into the room before anyone could react.
He was quick, his blades whizzed through the air as soon as he had a line of sight.
Crystal let out a scream of surprise and pain as she let go of Kaleigh, who turned in shock. Crystal fell to her knees, gasping for air that refused to come. Her eyes were cold as she starred at Kaleigh.
"You wont succeed." She spat, blood spilling out of the corners of her mouth. "We'll kill every last one of you. And then some."
Brandon knelt behind her and drove a long knife in the one spot in her back that severed the spine, and went strait to the heart.
She let out a gasp before he pulled the knife out and let her fall to the ground.
Everything was silent except for Kaleigh's ragged breathing.
Brandon looked up at her and slowly placed the knife down on the floor.
"Kale you need to calm down okay?" He said in a calm tone.
Kaleigh's eyes flashed from the dead body to his face.
"You just - you j - just -"
"Kaleigh," The Professor came up behind her and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "we don't have time to go into shock we have to move, fast before Interficio moves in when they haven't heard from they're little spy."
The others who had been standing outside the door nodded gravely and looked to the Professor.
"But what are we going to do?" Terra asked.
"We have to start preparing him."
All eyes fell on Stryder, who shifted uncomfortably.
"Preparing me for what?" He asked.
The Professor took a deep breath.
"Lets go back to the observing room and we'll talk there."
The observing room was the second room in the pyramid building. When ever there was a meeting in that room it meant something bad was going to be told. And even though Stryder was still new, he knew something was wrong by the way Kaleigh walked over slipped her arm through his, marching him outside and back into the sunlight. He did his best to ignore the idiot's glare.
"Try to keep a cool head." She said slowly as they walked up to the weird building. "I have no idea what he's going to tell us this time."
Stryder nodded silently and followed her through the doors, squeezing her arm when he felt it shake against his.

Sooner than any of them would have liked, they were sitting on white chairs facing the Professor with sullen faces.
The Professor wore a grave expression that made everyone feel nervous, as they exchanged glances.
"Okay, so you have us here," Brandon said hesitantly. "what do you want to tell us?"
The Professor took in a deep breath, and looked at everyone.
"It's not very good news. And it's not something I particularly want you to know, but it's not something I can keep from you. You have to know what you're going to go through." He was starring strait at Stryder. It wasn't the others he was talking to, he was talking to Stryder and Stryder alone. But the other's had to hear it.
"Stryder you are going to find that you are different from other Elementals. In ways you wont yet understand, and in ways even I don't understand. But there will come a time when you have to make a decision. A big one that could change everyone's lives for good..."
"...I sense there's a really big 'but' coming here..." Stryder said hesitantly. Kaleigh could tell he didn't really want to know what the 'but' was, but hated to have it hanging over him.
The Professor inhaled deeply and they all knew that by the look on his face that what he had to say wouldn't be good. He had become the grim reaper, and didn't look like he was happy about it.
"The decision is up to you, only you can make it, but I want you to realize the scale of what will come to pass if you chose to deny it."
"Deny what?! What decision are you talking about?!" The Professor's words made Stryder nervous, he sensed this decision he was suppose to make was a grave one, but he didn't know how grave, or why the Professor wouldn't just say it.
"You will know the decision when you face it." The Professor replied, then he turned in his chair and began typing on the keyboard that appeared on the glass topped desk.
Stryder starred at his turned back before exploding.
"Cryptic answers do not help anything! In fact, they never help! They just lead to more confusion, which leads to more mistakes, and more wrong answers, and dead ends and lives get messed up and it's not pretty. So why can't you just give me a strait answer?!"
Kaleigh realized this could get ugly. He was going in overdrive, she could see it. As could everyone else. Brandon was rising out of his seat at the sense of her uneasiness. But she, personally, could not make her muscles move. It had taken every ounce of will to get her to this chair. But now all she could see was the look in Crystal's cold dead eyes haunting her.

It was like everything was happening in a daze. She could see everything happening, but it was like she was seeing it from outside her own body. Stryder close to exploding, Brandon jumping up and wrestling him to the ground.
Terra warning that wasn't a good idea, Venn and Cliff jumping in before the two could hurt each other. Then there was the Professor who was watching with sad eyes, but seemed to have no notion of doing anything.
   Finally she saw what he had pulled up onto the screen on the large wall.
Buildings were on fire, people were screaming, running everywhere like an ant hill when someone steps on it. Two armies were facing each other, she could tell that humans, normal people were on one side, and then Elementals were on the other side. By all that was going on she could see that they were going to engage in a battle, but then the camera zoomed out, she saw the extent of the armies. It was so vast she couldn't believe that there was actually that many Elementals in the whole world.
"What - what is this?" She asked.
Her shaky voice broke through the shouting that everyone was making. The Professor turned to her, and looked at the video. Terra, who had been less engaged in the boy's fight, walked up next to her, and asked her what she was talking about. When Kale started to describe the video, the boys gradually quieted down at the heavy words that left her lips. Their eyes were on the video, as they got up from the floor and stood behind the two girls.
"This is what the world will look like soon. Very, very soon." The Professor explained. "This is what the world will look like if the Savior does not do his duty, does not fulfill his destiny and save mankind from it's self. The humans will turn against the Elementals, and the apocalypse will happen. The war wont end until one of them is either dead completely, or has surrendered to a life of servitude under the other."
No one said anything as the scale of how large their roles were sunk in.
Especially Stryder's.
"Now do you see? Do you see why you are so important Stryder?" He asked, turning to the young boy. "Do you see that you are so important that a girl, a teenage girl was willing to kill to get you to Interficio. Do you see Guardians?” He turned to the rest of the group. “What you are up against? why it is so imperative that you protect the Savior until he completes his mission?”
Cliff was the first out of the stunned silence.
“How long until Interficio comes poking around?” He asked.
“That depends on when she last contacted them. But I wouldn’t give them more then a day.” The Professor answered.
Cliff clapped his hands together, getting everyone’s attentions.
“We can’t space out guys.” He said, his tone stern. “We have got to focus on the here and now. And that here and now is making sure we live through tomorrow. Okay? We don’t have an army, we don’t have numbers. And I’m sure Interficio does. so we have to get the upper hand. Like what Stryder said about Kaleigh. We have to know our own limits, and decide what we have to do to get the jump on these guys that’s in our grasp.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, but kept silent so he could continue.
“So we have to come up with a battle plan. We know this place pretty well, including this building. We have to use it to our advantage. And then of course, we’ve got super powers so that automatically gives us a plus.”
Kaleigh couldn’t suppress the smile that crept onto her face. Nor could she not help but think that her brother was a complete dork.
“So let’s get to work.”