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.”