Frank could feel the life draining from his brother. His heart constricted as he knew Joe had mere minutes before the last of it left him.
“Joe…” the word came again.
Ronaldo tried everything he could to close the wound so Joe could be moved. Randy moved Angel so that he could lay down the ground. He was positive Angel looked sick. He watched as the Phoenix roared into the sky and wondered for a moment where she was going before a voice in his head answered,
To get the final guardian. I just now have discovered his location. I will be back shortly.
He nodded and knew the Phoenix would keep her word. He tended to Angel as best as he could. He could hear Frank crying nearby. Taking a glance over, he could see that there was no hope for Joe’s wounds. He had already lost too much blood. He turned back his attention to Angel, setting up an IV, trying to get some fluid into him.
Frank held onto his brother. He knew it was getting close to the end when he felt Joe’s breathing start to slow. Ronaldo was working at a frantic pace, trying to do something to stabilize his condition. It was as if every major artery had been cut open and was now releasing every drop of blood.
Joe looked up at this brother with pain-filled eyes. He smiled slightly before closing them. Frank found that he had lost all his voice when his brother closed his eyes. He couldn’t scream… he couldn’t do anything. In all the powers that he had, he closed his eyes and wished he had one power… the power to heal. He imagined his life energy pouring into Joe… healing his wounds… mending all the broken bones… restoring his energy…
Ronaldo thought it was a lost cause when he saw Frank’s hands begin to glow! He watched in amazement as the gaping wound in Joe’s chest slowly began to heal itself! The cells multiplied on their own, slowly building and repairing each layer of tissue.
Randy watched from afar as Frank looked like he was some sort of trance. His eyes were staring down but seemed not to be focused on anything. His hands began to glow and the glow traveled up to his elbows.
If only my life could flow from me to him…surround him in it’s energy…heal his wounds…restore his life…
Ronaldo watched in amazement as the wound continued healing itself, layer by later, blood vessel after blood vessel, bone after bone... all slowly rebuilding.
Frank could see himself standing once again the field…. The field of bright blue sky, a light like no other, and wonderful green fields. He saw Joe was standing there looking around. But instead of having to convince his brother to leave, he saw Joe hold out his arms to him. Frank took his brother and hugged him tightly. He could feel his life energy pouring into him… saving him…
Ronaldo watched as the last of the wound healed itself, leaving no trace of a scar. The clothes mended themselves and looked like nothing had happened. Looking up at Frank, he could see his eyes roll to the back of his head.
“Big Jay!” he screamed over his shoulder as he went to help Frank.
Frank doubled over and nearly fell back. Ronaldo caught him. He looked up to see Big Jay and Little Jay coming with a couple of floating stretchers. They took Angel and Joe on the stretchers and floated them into the medical building. Ronaldo stayed with Randy to help him get fluids into Frank. As fast as they could attach IVs, his body absorbed the liquid. Little Jay came back with a floating stretcher. They gently placed Frank on the stretcher, making notes of how pale and cold his skin felt. Soon they were all inside the medical building.
Staci limped over, her ribs and right ankle having been bandage. She had been helping Big Jay look after Joe and now she was just as concerned about Frank. She was shocked at how cold his hand felt when she took hold of it.
“Staci, can you help give him warmth? I have to go help the others,” Big Jay asked.
Staci nodded and closed her hands. She increased the amount of heat coming from her hands at a gentle pace, allowing Frank to slowly regain heat. She brushed his forehead, ignoring the chaos around her. There were wounds to be dressed, sprains to be bandaged, and energy levels to be restored. She looked over and saw that Joe looked like he was sleeping peacefully. She wondered how Frank himself healed his own brother. It wasn’t known if any of them had any kind of healing power and on what kind of level. It was clear that he just wasn’t strong enough to use it on more than one person at a time. She watched his face as the pale color left, replaced by pink and beige hues. Suddenly and odd feeling came over her and a voice spoke in her head.
“The Phoenix is returning.”
She gave Frank a kiss on the forehead before letting go of his hand and limping outside. Looking up at the sky she could see the flaming form of the Phoenix as it blazed through the sky. The Phoenix landed on the ground and allowed Patrick to leave her protective embrace. She flew into the medical building and back into Cliff. Staci smiled and walked over to him. Patrick looked like he was fresh out of the army with his shaved head, freshly shaved face, and powerhouse build. His skin was pale in most places. He was wearing typical clothes on the guys she had seen on the Kane campus. He was carrying a large backpack.
“How was the trip?”
Patrick smiled slightly. “Weird. I never thought I’d be traveling in outer space let alone be on another moon.”
“You’ll get used to it. The atmosphere here is just the same as it is on Earth.”
He nodded and looked around. “Where are Angel and Noel, I have to speak to them.”
“They’re inside. Angel is not well at the moment and is sleeping, but Noel is conscious. In fact he’s helping take care of the wounded.”
“Good. We have a lot to discuss.”
Patrick came into the medical room and was unprepared for the chaos inside.
“Hey Patrick!” Noel called out, causing him to look over. “Start with the wounded. Once we’ve got things under control then we can talk.”
Patrick nodded and went about the room while Staci went back to keep Frank warm. The first person he came to was Chet, who was writhing from a case of blisters that covered his entire body from head to toe. Opening his pack, he mixed several liquids into a small glass and had him drink it. Chet smiled and thanked him for relieving the pain.
“Don’t worry, that potion will also help clear up those blisters. Just give it a few minutes to work through your system,” Patrick assured him.
He worked through giving ointments for burns, potions to help mend broken bones, and trying his best to help Ronaldo and the others get through the minutes that passed. Chet felt well enough that he helped Ronaldo with wound care until Patrick could get to them. Staci left Frank in the care of Big Jay to check on Joe. She knew Frank would be worried about his brother even in his sleep and didn’t want him to be alone.
When she came to Joe, he looked as though he was having a pleasant nap. She looked underneath his shirt and was surprised to see that there wasn’t even a slight hint of a scar. She held his hand and could see into his thoughts. He was dreaming pleasantly of an X-Games competition. She broke the link, not wanting to intrude any more. He would be fine once he had a good night’s sleep.
“Everyone.” Noel announced, “If you’re not hurt or have been healed, please leave the room and go over to the dorms to rest. I need to see who’s left to be treated.”
Staci stayed to help Big Jay treat Frank while about half the group left to go to sleep. No one could argue with him as the whole ordeal had been draining. Chet walked, trying to breathe in the fresh air. Whatever Patrick had given him had worked a miracle and cleared up his skin of the painful blisters, but now he was more tired than he had ever remembered, even from the longest days on his family’s farm. He climbed into bed and closed his eyes.
Phil Cohen watched as Frank was tended to by Big Jay. He himself had received several broken ribs and deep cuts. He wondered what it was that Patrick was mixing in his treatments. Any other time, the guy would have been seen as a quack but seeing the treatments work with his own eyes made him a believer.
“Hey how are you doing now?” Ronaldo asked as he helped to clean his wounds.
Phil sighed. “Worn out. I’m tired inside and out. I could sleep for a week straight and still be tired.”
“That’s understandable.” Noel said as he came over, “You’re body is still adjusting to the changes but you’ll find once you wake up, you’ll feel a lot better.”
Dan was sitting by Sunray watching the whole chaotic scene. He found it hard to believe that he had escaped warfare a few months ago, according to Earth time, only to face it again. His father had warned him never to under estimate the alien fighters. He knew what Frank was feeling when he saw Joe wounded to the point it was almost fatal. Looking over at the two of them, he wondered how many more hidden powers they had. He sighed and leaned back in the chair rubbing his temples trying to get the throbbing to leave.
“Headache?” Sunray asked as he held a compress to his arm.
“Yeah.” Dan answered, not opening his eyes. “I hope Patrick’s got some potion for headaches.”
Sunray nodded. “Don’t worry. He seems to have a cure for everything. I wonder why I don’t remember him either.”
Dan sighed. “It was to protect all of you. Your mom wanted you to grow up in a normal environment or as close as normal as could be found.”
Randy came over to Dan and gave him the medicine for the headache and some salve for his wounds. He gave Sunray a potion and a compress to heal the wound on his arm.
“Dan, it’s good to see you again,” he said as he helped Sunray with the compress.
“That it is buddy… that it is. How come you didn’t come during the first flight?” Dan asked, finally able to open his eyes.
“Army dude… finally got some time off. Now with my time over I can find a nice quiet job.”
“That’s good, because with our awakened awareness, we’ll have to meet a lot more once we get back to Earth.” Dan said as he sat up, “Wow, that potion was magic. What was in it?”
“Just some ground herbs, purified water, and a few plants. Lots of people forget you can tap into Mother Nature’s medicine chest and find anything you need.”
Sunray smiled. “I know what you mean.” He flexed his arm, “Good stuff. Not even a hint of a scar.”
Patrick nodded. “Now go and lay down. All this herbal stuff works best when your body is at rest.”
Dan stood up, a little unsteady on his feet.
“Whoah there,” Patrick said, holding onto his friend’s shoulders. “Your body is still recuperating. Sunray, I think you better help him back to the room. Make sure he gets a glass of water and gets right into bed.”
“Don’t worry I will. I can use a month’s worth of sleep myself,” Sunray said as he helped his brother out of the room.
Noel looked around. Most of them had already left. Now those who were left behind were the more severely injured.
Somewhere in Joe’s mind he could feel the warmth still wrapping him like a blanket. He could hear Frank’s voice calling out to him… wanting him to still stay with him. Suddenly he could feel his brother stretching out his own fire power to him… not hurting him but wrapping him in healing energy. And now all he felt like he needed was a nice long nap. Sleep…that’s what he needed……
Frank felt every pain in his body even though he was asleep. It felt like he couldn’t turn his own fire power off. He could hear voices from far away, soothing voices that tried to help him through the pain. Suddenly he felt something hit his forehead and just as fast, the pain began to leave his body… letting him sleep….
Dan found himself lying on his bed trying to sleep. The battle had been like the ones he had seen from the castle on his own planet. He never thought his new brothers would have to face the same attackers. He knew now that the aliens would be back and probably with the mother ship. If that happened, he knew they had to survive or else nothing would prevent the aliens from attacking Earth. There was some serious planning that had to be completed.
Angel sat in a lounge chair staring up at the artificial night sky. There was something comforting about that night sky that would always help him whenever he needed to think. Now, as he looked at the fake Orion, he wondered how he was going to get this group organized, trained, and ready in time for the final battle. Noel’s skills in training others would help, but he usually had people who had the mindset to be a soldier, not a group of teens. Most of their worries last week were their grades and college applications.
Noel came outside and sat down in a chair next to him. “Thinking about the next battle?”
“Yeah.”
Noel looked up at the stars. Normally he could sit and stair at the stars for hours.
“How are the others?” Angel asked after nearly an hour of silence.
“All of them are sleeping.”
Noel looked down at the dark horizon. “They’re not ready.”
Angel slightly nodded. “I know. The battle was worse than I thought it would be. Now I know they’re going to send the mother ship.”
“We’re going to have to get the other guardians together.” Noel said letting another few minutes of silence pass. “We can let the other sleep. We can map out some kind of battle plan.”
“That’s good idea. It would give us time to think and to plan more challenge to train them. We have to step up their training.”
Noel looked up at the sky, trying to picture what the golden bird looked like against the dark sky. “It’s hard to believe that the guardian bird was hidden inside of Staci this whole time. I didn’t think there were any more outside of the Phoenix.”
“We’re all still learning. Many of our memories of the past are still hidden. We all have powers we have yet to tap into.”
Noel opened his hand and a green glowing orb appeared in it. It was followed by two more. He began to move the orbs in his palm like Chinese medicine orbs. Then with a simple turn of his palm the orbs disappeared. “I know what you mean. I fell like I know so much. Yet there’s so much more I don’t.”
“I think with the training the memories will reawaken. All of us guardians are fortunate that we’ve already unlocked more of our stronger powers.”
Noel sat back and Angel settled back into his chair.
Frank found himself lost in a dream world. A world he barely recognized.
It was a field full of the most beautiful flowers he had ever seen. To the south was line of trees that seemed to stretch into the horizon. To the north was a magnificent castle of blue crystal. His brother was standing next to him. Joe was exactly as he had always known him only he was a little different. Joe smiled at him. Frank looked again and noticed that he looked stronger than he had ever seen him. His body had the form of someone who had strength trained for years. He reached out only to have someone call to him…
“Frank,” the familiar voice called.
Frank opened his eyes and blinked as they adjusted to the darkness.
“Frank,” Joe’s voice came again.
“Joe,” Frank whispered.
He looked over and saw that Joe was sitting up in his bed.
“You should be resting. Especially after what happened,” Frank said, sitting up. He could feel every stiff muscle in his back.
“I just wanted to see if you were OK. I don’t remember much after collapsing outside. What happened?”
Frank swallowed as he thought back to what had happened. He shuddered at the thought of seeing the life literally draining from his brother’s body. He took a deep breath and slowly retold him what had happened.
“He slowed down time?” Joe asked, hardly believing it.
Frank nodded. “It was amazing. I was looking at the fire and could actually see every little piece of the fire as it moved. Even my own thoughts were affected.”
“Frank, how did you heal me?” Joe asked after a moment of silence.
Frank thought back to that moment. When he thought Joe was going to die… when he was seeing the last ounce of life leaving him… he summoned everything he could and found his own powers actually leaving through his hands.
“I can’t explain it. All I know is that some how I was able to transfer my own powers, turn them into some kind of healing energy and mend your wounds.”
Joe unconsciously rubbed the spot on his chest where the laser blast had hit him. There wasn’t even the faintest hint of a burn. “Thanks big brother.”
“Anytime little brother. Now I suggest we get some sleep. If I know Angel and Noel like I think I do, they’re going to put us all through the wringer.”
“Who is this new guardian?” Joe asked as he settled into his pillows.
“Get some sleep first, then I’ll explain,” Frank insisted, looking over at him.
Joe closed his eyes. Almost immediately his breathing evened out. Frank waited for a minute before settling back and closing his eyes.
Staci found herself sitting on the ground in her dream world. Next to her Shadow was sitting and eating on a rabbit he had caught in the nearby woods. She looked in front and saw that the guardian bird of her home planet.
“Who are you?”
I am the guardian of your home planet. Like the Phoenix I too am made of light and flame.
“But why were you hidden in me?”
I was hidden to protect you and to keep the power unknown until the time was there for me to emerge. I will not harm you in any way.”
“It almost felt like my insides were being fried.”
“Your body has to grow strong and it will. Then you will not feel pain and learn to use more of my powers, combining them with your own. I know this all seems unusual. Your father wanted so much for you to have a normal life. Yet even after you return to Earth you will have the feeling to train harder than before.”
“I understand. Did my family have any messages for me?”
“There was no time. Your parents loved you very much. They wanted you to live and maybe one day re-establish your throne. I know now that might never happen. Such as it is with time… One never knows how it will play out.”
“Will I get to see my own home planet like Frank and Joe?”
“Perhaps in time you will. For now it is best you let your body rest so it may heal.”
The magnificent bird spread its wings and began to shower her with orbs of light. So many that she felt herself going under their spell. Soon her mind drifted again and she found herself on a wonderful beach about to take the next wave in…
Dan turned in his bed. Sleep was not coming to him.
He stood in the middle of a field. The field drips with blood as he tries to move around the bodies. He looked around and saw all his new friends were now dead before him. He was the only one still alive. Above him in the sky, the alien mother ship hovered. It’s mechanical presence defiant.
“I’ll kill you.” He screamed.
The machine didn’t move.
Dan took his crystal and held it high above his head. Before he could fire, the alien craft vanished, leaving him alone. He looked around and saw more bodies that were lying among the dead. He was all alone…
Dan opened his eyes, feeling the sweat all around him. Turning to his side he saw the crystal glowing on his nightstand. He picked it up and held it close to him. The warmth that seemed to come from its core, gave him some comfort as he closed his eyes.
Angel and Noel continued watching the stars as the other guardians joined them.
Derek looked up at the night sky. “It’s going to be a long week ahead trying to train them.”
“Even longer.” Rob said, “We’re looking at maybe having to spend some nights training.”
Randy looked over at the darkened horizon, trying to judge the distance between where he was standing and the mountains. “Even with all the training we could provide there’s not enough time. We don’t know how many have hidden powers.”
Chad looked over at Angel. “Is there any way of slowing down time, maybe stalling the alien fleet?”
Angel shook his head. “I can’t extend the time wave that far and not for that amount of time. Just slowing down time long enough for Frank to heal Joe nearly wiped me out.”
Noel’s gaze shifted from Orion to Perseus. “We just have to train smart. Continue doing what we were doing. Figure out who has what and train them in that element. Usually hidden powers are just amplifications of a base power.”
Chad looked over at the horizon. “I guess that sounds like a plan. We have to do something.”
Patrick came out from behind all of them. “Noel is right. It’s what we do in the Army. Figure out who is best at what job and train him in that job. We’d waste time trying to train them on everything. Amplification is not only learned through battle it’s learned through training. I’d say let them sleep then we put them all through an element test. The Phoenix told me you were working on that before the last battle.”
Angel stood up. Noel looked over and saw that it looked like he was floating just slightly above the ground.
Angel looked back at all of them. “You guys go in and get some sleep. I’ll be inside in a little while. Check on the others and make sure they’re sleeping. We need them at their peak awareness.”
One by one they left Angel standing outside until Noel was left with him.
Angel turned back to the stars. “I’ll be fine. You go in and get some sleep.”
“Why don’t you get some sleep too?”
Angel didn’t move his gaze. “I’ll be fine. You go get some sleep.”
Angel waited until he heard Noel retreat inside. He held out his arms as the winds took him to the sky. The darkness filled him with untold amounts of energy. Recharging him…soothing his nerves…calming his mind.
Angel moved through the sky as every cell recharged. He saw things in the darkness that no one else around him could see. He could see the energy moving through it… a rare form of energy that only a few could see. He could feel his body relax as the energy repaired all the injuries. Moving through the night, he felt totally recharged and settled back down to the same spot he had left. Standing still for a moment, he knew that the others had all settled in for the night, allowing him to finally rest.
Dan had finally found himself asleep again. Only now he found himself in the great hall of his family’s castle.
The great hall… As he walked down the massive length he saw the sparkling blue floor of the castle. All the pictures of the previous rulers adorned the walls… He walked towards the entrance of the throne room… Walking into the throne room he could still see some of the past glory of the room… He remembered seeing his mother in her beautiful blue as she awaited guests… All the important people that came through… Then he saw his father appear in the center, looking directly at him…
“You’ve done well my son. You have united your brothers and gathered together the other fighters. Your mother would be pleased to see all of you together again.”
Dan walked to him. “What have I brought them to? They could all be killed.”
His father sighed and nodded. “They could be killed here, but they definitely would die in the invasion of their world.”
Dan looked around again at the throne room. “Dad, will I ever be able to come back?”
The man could barely look him in the eye. “I don’t know. There’s been devastation all over the planet. I don’t know when, if ever we could rebuild the castle the way it used to be.”
The man was about to leave, when Dan caught his arm. “Do you have any advice about what’s coming?”
Dan watched as his father took a deep breath. “Never underestimate the alien invaders. Other planets did and were almost totally destroyed because of it.”
As Dan’s thoughts faded into black, he could only wonder if he would ever see his father again.
Noel found himself having trouble sleeping. Whenever he was in the middle of a battle, he could rarely if ever sleep. Looking over he saw Rob was already fast asleep, his face portraying someone who was in a peaceful dream. He went to staring back at the ceiling which had a working image on it. He watched as the ocean images tried to lull him into sleep. He had a sense that this battle would be none other he had ever faced. He had never had to throw together a battle plan like this before. At least he always had some idea of the weapons and some of the battle strategies of his enemies.
“Noel, it’s Angel.” The voice said in his head. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”
“Yeah. I guess I’m just worried. This is the first where I’m planning for a battle, and I don’t even know what the enemy will be.”
“I know. It’s like trying to drive in the dark without headlights. We do have some idea of what they’re capabilities are. I get a sense that if this is the true mother ship. We can finally stop the fleet that is trying to take over our home planet.”
Noel turned, unable to watch the ocean scene any more. “Then if it’s true, that mother ship is going to attack with everything its got. Which means that there’s a big chance these kids could get killed.”
“I know, but now that we’re here there’s nothing else we can do except fight. Besides if they fail here, what home would be left for them to return to?”
Noel turned again, now facing the wall. He closed his eyes again. He knew a tired soldier was a dead soldier.
Frank found himself waking up for a few minutes. He looked over and saw that Joe was still soundly sleeping. Joe’s face looked so peaceful in his sleep. It was hard to believe that in a couple of days they’d be in the fight of their lives. Feeling sleep come up on him again, he closed his eyes.
Joe woke up a few minutes later. Something had compelled him to wake up and make sure his brother was OK. Looking over at him, he could see that his skin had regained some color and was no longer pale. His breathing had evened out, and it looked like soundly sleeping. He knew his big brother had saved him from dying and didn’t know how he could thank him. Suddenly feeling tired again, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to take off on his skateboard down the vert ramp.
Angel found himself awakening to light hitting his face. He stretched and was surprised that he didn’t feel any pains in his muscles. Standing up from the bed, he suddenly felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time… intense hunger. After showering and putting on his clothes, he walked over to the cafeteria where the robots were already at work making breakfast. Grabbing a tray, he began piling it high with food. Just as he sat down, the other guardians came into the room.
“The others should be awake soon,” Randy said after a moment of eating.
Noel nodded. “If not, we’ll have to wake them. They need to start consuming food to replace what was lost and to prepare for battle.”
Rob looked over. “Shouldn’t we let them sleep at least until the afternoon?”
“No.” Noel immediately answered. “We have to get food in them and continue with the training. We don’t have much time left.”
Patrick nodded. “I agree we should start as soon as possible. These kids have only begun to unlock their potential. If we work hard, by the end of the day we might know a lot more of what they can do.”
“True, but that still won’t guarantee we’ll know everything. I think we’ll find out some things only through the stress of battle,” Randy added.
Noel put down his fork. “I just wish we didn’t have to. They could end up hurting themselves or each other. Do any of you know meditation or something that can calm the mind?”
“I do.” Patrick answered, “After my time with the Army I was able to study both meditation and yoga to help ease off the PTSD symptoms. They’re easy to teach and should help. How much time do we have?”
“Four maybe five days at the most,” Angel answered.
Patrick leaned back in his chair. That wasn’t anything close to enough time. “That isn’t going to be enough. I could teach all of them some simple meditation and maybe some focus exercises. I’d need at least a month to teach the basics on anything else.”
Noel nodded. “I know myself I’d need at least a year to get all the basics down. Let’s just pick some simple but effective skills and run with that.”
They continued debating which skills to teach before going finishing breakfast. They had a lot to do before everyone awoke.
Frank winced as a bright light shined in his face. He opened his eyes slightly to see the lights blinking overhead. He stretched in his bed, feeling like he had been asleep for days. Looking over he could see Joe was buried underneath a pile of pillows and blankets, oblivious to the bright light. He got out of bed, his legs feeling like jelly as he stood on the floor. Walking over he gently shook the bed.
“Come on Joe, it’s time to get up.”
Joe moaned and moved under the blankets and became still again. Frank shook the bed again. Joe moaned again and finally moved out from underneath the pile of material. He opened his eyes and immediately closed them, wincing at the bright light.
“Just give me a few more minutes,” he muttered, turning over in the bed.
Frank gently took the blanket. He could understand his brother’s need for more sleep, but this time, they couldn’t afford it. He shook his brother’s shoulder.
“Come on baby brother. You have to get on your feet.”
Joe moaned and finally forced his body to obey his commands. Getting out of bed he changed into some clean work out clothes and sneakers before following his brother to the cafeteria for breakfast. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was very hungry, he probably couldn’t have gotten himself out of bed. Every muscle ached, and his skin felt dry. He piled a tray with food and took a large glass of orange juice before sitting down. Looking around he watched as the others slowly made their way into the cafeteria, all of them looking just as tired as he did.
“Think we’ll have heavy training this morning?” Joe asked as his brother sat down next to him.
“I don’t know. My guess is we’ll start with some runs or other exercises to wake everyone up,” Frank said, then took a long drink of orange juice.
Everyone quietly ate, trying to each the calm while it lasted.
It was after breakfast that Frank and the others found themselves in one of the mediation buildings. Patrick was moving them through several yoga moves to slowly begin their workout. Joe could feel the tension leaving as he moved through each exercise. Slowly his mind began to let go of the feelings that came from his dreams. He could feel energy moving through him. An energy that was building his strength, refreshing his body, a kind of awakening he had never experienced before.
“That’s it, move with the flow… become part of it… let it move through you,” Patrick said as he moved his body through each move.
Frank could remember his sensei teaching him some similar moves of yoga. When he asked why, his sensei had told him that the mind has to be at peace with the body if they are to come together as a single entity. He knew these moves would help them focus and get more focused energy from their special powers.
Dan remembered these workout sessions back on his home planet. They were quite popular before the war. Even the king and queen had their own private yoga tutors. The king had told his people that he wanted to know what they did so he could better relate to them. Even in this peaceful state, he still missed his old life. Moving his hands and legs around, he slowly put the memories out of his mind and focused on the present. He had done everything his parents wanted. Now it was just a matter of getting through this battle. Maybe then he could finally find peace for himself and his brothers.
Sunray looked over at his other brothers, wondering what they were thinking. So far the guardians had been silent about the final battle against the mother ship. He could feel the earth opening its invisible doors to him. Slowly the thoughts left his mind and the only thing he could think of was the rivers of energy that was flowing through him, feeling like he was in a healing bath.
Noel watched as the group was taken through the paces of yoga. Once the session was over he planned to break them up into groups. They had to get them past their fears of the unknown and see what new powers were hidden inside.
Joe found himself jumping over boulders as easily as if he had jumped over a small puddle. Frank watched wide-eyed as his brother laughed as he jumped over higher obstacles that Noel selected for them. Frank jumped after his brother and before either of them knew it they were playing leap frog throughout the obstacle course.
Noel sent Dan and Sunray after their brothers, both of them leaping in large jumps. He nodded, seeing that they most likely had more duplicate powers. It was just a matter of figuring out which ones.
Chet was running neck and neck with Biff. Never before had he been able to keep pace with any of his leaner friends let alone a power runner like Biff. Now he laughed as running was easier as a short walk. Suddenly Tony flew between them. They both watched in awe as he became nothing but a blur. Chet found that he and Biff were easily catching up to Tony. They were joined by Kyle and several other people as they ran. Patrick nodded, knowing that speed would be one of the skills they’d all need.
Chad watched as Ronaldo fired laser blasts at the discs as they flew out from hidden areas. Each time he increased the speed of the discs, Ronaldo compensated by increasing his speed. Others came by and tested their powers, trying to keep with Ronaldo’s pace. Ronaldo moved faster and seemed to almost know exactly where eat disc would be before it appeared.
“Good.” Chad thought, “They’re starting to develop a sixth sense. Hopefully then can increase its strength in the time we have.”
Staci and Brian joined hands. Closing their eyes they focused on a group of boulders that surrounded them. Others in the group watched as a soft white light surrounded the two of them. The boulders began to slightly shake. Ron noticed that the air seemed to change as the white light increased. The boulders rattled violently until they collapsed into mounds of pebbles.
Randy was impressed, he hadn’t expected them to be able to focus their powers in such a short time. “Good work you two. How do you feel?”
Staci shrugged. “Fine I guess. I thought I’d be drained by now.”
Brian looked over at her. “It was like we tapped into each other’s energy source. So I guess we were just recycling everything.”
Rob nodded. “That’s basically the idea. You didn’t lose anything so you were able to destroy the boulders. Now you have to work on speed. You won’t have the time to stand still in battle.”
Derek watched as the Cliff spread out his hands and took to the sky. It appeared that he could fly without the aid of the flaming wings. He pushed a button on his wristband and lighted circles appeared in the sky. Without hesitation Cliff flew through each one as it appeared, moving with the grace of a bird. Derek was impressed as he increased the speed and angle of the rings, and Cliff flew through each one as easily as the first.
In the background, Angel watched over everything. The royal family and their friends were quick students. He had been prepared for resistance and was relieved when they each believed that they had to fight to survive. They had the will to live. Now it was just a matter of developing the skill to win.
The grueling training continued without let up. Angel knew the mother ship was on its way and wouldn’t stop for sleep. Cliff and Staci now fully understood the creatures that lived within them. For them they now had to work as a team both inside and out. They both were growing in strength, allowing them to see more of what they can do.
He thought about the royal family as he watched Frank who was protectively watching his younger brother, Joe. Those two had a connection that made it seem like identical twins. They now had the ability to unite their own ability and amplify each other’s power. Dan now had his hands full. With three younger brothers to protect, he was learning faster than everyone else how to use his stronger powers. He now could use the powers of his crystal without having to physically touch it.
“OK guys keep moving around. Only this time don’t become so tense when using your powers, try and think of them as part of you. You’re feeling it now, just work with it,” Noel shouted from the ground.
Staci looked down at the ground and could see that with a little concentration, she could see everything that was human or animal, emitting its own beating heart. Moving around through the air she could feel the guardian bird beating deep inside her, no longer was it part of her dreams, they were now one.
Joe could feel his arms starting to burn. Despite having slept for nearly twelve hours, the long shower and huge breakfast, it was still draining to use his new gifts. He didn’t want to take any energy from his brother. Yet when he and his brother touched hands he felt a deeper connection to him than he ever had before.
“Are you OK little brother?” Frank asked as Joe stopped to rest a moment.
Joe sighed. “I guess I just want to be home. My arms are hurting again.”
Frank looked over at him and noticed he did appear a little flushed. “Maybe you should drink some Gatorade.”
He nodded and took several careful sips from a bottle. He could feel his system begging for more as he took several more sips. He made sure Frank had taken some of the sports drink from a separate bottle before going back to their training exercises. He looked up and saw that Noel had turned the light rings into fire rings. Staci and Cliff were flying faster than before to keep up with them.
Noel set up more drills with the other Guardians helping. One particular grueling drill was running through an obstacle course while shooting at flying targets. The obstacle course took place over five miles different things like pits, open fields, and trees. He timed their runs and had everyone try it again. He stressed that they think with their powers and try and use them as part of their abilities and not as separate ones.
Frank knew what he was talking about. They had to think of their powers as part of themselves. The same way Staci and Cliff had merged with the guardian birds. Running through the course again at top speed, he jumped over pits, trusting his powers would work. He cleared each one easily, getting through the course faster than everyone else.
As he came back to stand next to his younger brother, Joe couldn’t help but smile. “Wow big brother that was amazing!”
Frank smiled back. “It’s just like he said. All I had to do was trust that my powers would work.”
Joe looked at a nearby pit. It was at least thirty feet across and about five feet deep. Running towards it he took a leap of faith as he reached the edge of the pit. His feet and legs carried him across the opening the other side, landing him safely on solid ground.
“Wow,” Joe thought, “I didn’t have to think about anything… It just happened!”
Noel came over to him. “You’re learning fast. The more you trust that your powers will work for you, the faster and better you can fight in battle.”
Noel walked to the others. “Just believe that your powers are there and trust in them. The more you trust, the stronger you can become.”
He had them run through the obstacle course again, only this time, not stopping at anything. He nodded his head in approval. They were fast learners. True they had a lot more to learn, but now they had reached turning point. He turned to Angel, who nodded in understanding.
Joe felt different as he moved through the field testing out his new powers. It was as if he were in a different body then the one he had before everything had happened. As he concentrated and turned himself into water, he could feel the burning sensation leaving as the cold water dulled the pain. He watched as Frank transformed into fire and wound himself like a giant fire snake around him. Ray looked over at them and felt himself becoming lighter. His entire body transformed into a gust of wind and untied with them. Dan looked up and saw the firewater tornado move through the sky.
Noel suddenly appeared next to Dan. “They’re learning fast.”
Dan nodded. “That they are. I guess that’s the reason why you’re one of the Guardians.”
Dan lifted himself into the sky, bringing with him large boulders. Harmlessly passing through the tornado, the boulders turned to metal and moved with the fierce winds. All four of them were linked into a single group.
Below them on the ground, Boomer ran after them, running faster and faster, soon everything was passing by him as it was all standing still. Staci flew down and flew next to him, keeping up with his pace. Chet transformed himself into animal that was combined out of different fast running animals, allowing him to keep up with them.
Derek was throwing out projectiles. Vanessa used her hair spikes to knock them down. Tony used his own body to deflect the energies back at Derek who tossed them to others. Maverick would use his laser staff to destroy the energy. Mike used his sonic voice to destroy the larger pieces.
Randy threw out balls of energy and competed with Ronaldo and Kyle over who was the fastest. They stopped and started competing with Ron and in a matter of moments had their area filled with destroyed targets. Rob came over and competed with them, testing them on their accuracy. He teamed up with Eric and they sky around them filled with laser energy.
Hans held out his hands, creating a wide body of confusing strobe lights. Rob and Steve combined with Hans to create a near blinding array of lights. Suddenly, Big and Little Jay combined their powers to fire lighting bolts that came through the strobe lights. To Chad who stood near by was impressed. Their students were learning almost on instinct how to combine and amplify each other’s powers.
“These kids do have potential… Angel was right, these kids will help in taking down the alien fighters.”
Loren went and joined hands with Hans. Her own energy added light colored disks to the blinding strobe lights. The light display had become hypnotic, stopping birds and other animals around them.
Walking around, Randy bumped into Angela who had blended herself onto a rock outcropping. Her transformation was so good that even her eyes had blended into the surroundings. He watched as Angela, without blinking, used her sonic voice to turn the boulders in front of her into powder.
Randy turned his attention to the twins, Ron and Steve. It was apparent that being twins also gave each twin duplicates of the other’s powers. He watched as they became more in sync with each other until their moves were identical in time. Phil began to move in between everyone’s laser beams. His moves were so fast and fluid that not even his hair was singed.
Angel looked and saw that Biff was standing alone in a field. Wondering why he was doing that, he was about to walk over when he saw him raise his fists. He clasped both of them together over his head and brought them down on the ground with a thundering boom. The shockwave flew through the ground, kicking up dirt and grass until it struck a large mound of dirt and boulders on the far side of the field, blowing it apart. He then clapped his hands above his head, sending a shockwave through the air that blew apart several trees.
“Good thing he’s standing alone. That wave could kill someone standing in the way,” Angel thought as he watched as Biff made another wave that blew up the ground from below the surface.
He glanced skyward and saw the “snake” flying through the sky. Focusing his super eyesight closely he could see the faint outline of the now fully metallic form of Dan inside of the snake. Now Dan transformed again, turning into his metallic skin into a conductor. Now the snake was emitting lighting bolts from its metallic core.
Staci looked up and wasn’t at all shocked by the snake she saw in the sky. She smiled as she rose back into the sky. Flying around it she could see that the royal family had learned to completely transform into other elements. Cliff flew in above all of them. His flaming aura spread throughout the sky.
The snake continued around the sky until the royal family decided down onto the ground. Each one materialized into a human form. Staci flew down and landed next to them, the bird retreating into her. She smiled at them. They all watched as the Phoenix continued on flying in the sky.
Frank looked over at his younger brother. “How do you feel?”
Joe smiled. “I feel great. I thought I might be drained by the time we landed. Now it feels like I was just out for a small jog.”
Ray looked over at them. “I feel the same way. I feel like it’s just been a normal day.”
Dan came to them. “Your bodies are adapting to the new powers. As you created less mental resistance to them, your mind is adjusting your body to the powers. The more you let yourself adapt to them, the stronger you’ll become.”
“How much longer do we have before the mother ship gets here?” Frank asked.
Dan shrugged. “I’m not sure. At least a day, maybe three but not more than that.”
Frank could feel a bit of fear creeping into his being. He’d give anything to take his brother home so he wouldn’t have to fight. Then he remembered what the guardians had told them. If they didn’t make a stand here and fight, the alien force would attack everyone on Earth. They’d all die there without a chance to fight back. He didn’t have long to think about that when Angel came over to them.
“That was very impressive. You’re really starting to come together to combine powers,” Angel said as he looked over all them. “You just have to remember to stay focused. No matter what’s going on in battle. The alien attack force will do everything it can to keep all of you apart so you can’t combine powers.”
“Have you heard anything from the home planet?” Dan asked, hoping that his father had sent a message.
“Nothing yet. I think communications had been stopped to try and delay the alien attack force,” he replied.
Joe looked up at the sky then back to Angel. “Do you have any idea what this mother ship looks like or what its capabilities are?”
“I’ll know more after tonight. For now let’s get cleaned up and have lunch. We still have a lot to do before night time.”
He placed a mental call out to the Guardians who stopped the exercises. In just a few minutes everyone was standing around next to the royal family. Suddenly, the Phoenix appeared in the sky above them. Cliff gently landed on the ground, and the bird retreated into him.
“OK everyone let’s get cleaned up and get some lunch. It’s going to be a long afternoon,” Angel told all of them.
Joe sighed in relief as he felt the warm shower water pass over his skin. His sweaty clothes had been sticking to his skin, and it was a relief to finally take them off. Looking around the shower, he saw the fresh bar of soap and small bottle of shampoo. Even though he had no idea what brand they were, they worked well at getting the grime out of skin and hair. After drying off and changing into clean clothes, his stomach growled.
“You OK baby brother?” Frank asked.
Joe looked over at Frank, who looked a lot better now that he had a chance to shower himself. “I’m fine. I’m just very hungry right now. I feel like I could eat a whole pizza myself.”
Frank laughed. Trust his younger brother to be hungry. “I know the feeling. I think lunch is being served now.”
Joe piled his tray high with different kinds of foods as he and Frank moved down the buffet line. They were both grateful that there was plenty of food as they would both be back for seconds. Noel had explained that they should pace themselves when they ate, and to eat when until they were full. They’d be hungry by dinner.
As they sat down to eat, the rest began to come into the cafeteria. The robotic buffet lines kept the containers full as people filled their trays with the food. The food was expertly prepared and kept at perfect temperatures.
“Hungry, huh?” Frank said as Joe was eating his second sandwich.
He nodded. “You bet. I’m probably going to go back for more after this. I guess they’re right about burning a lot of energy just to keep up.”
“Just don’t get sick. Maybe we can stop for a snack around three this afternoon,” Frank said.
“That would sound good to me,” he replied.
Just then Ray and Dan sat down next to them.
“That was a great training session,” Ray said as he dug into his pasta lunch.
“That it was,” Joe said as he added mustard to his remaining sandwich.
Frank looked over at Dan. “Did we have any more powers than the ones we using now?”
Dan shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. There was a lot hidden to protect me from the alien invaders. You needed to grow and mature in your physical and mental forms in order to fully use your powers. If the alien race discovered you before then there wouldn’t much anyone could have done.”
Joe stopped eating for a moment. “I wonder what powers are still hidden.”
Frank took a long sip of water. “I guess we’ll find out this afternoon.”
Everyone continued eating and having small conversations.
Noel looked over at all of them before turning back to the rest of the Guardians.
“They seem to be relaxing well,” he noted as he began eating his own lunch.
Angel looked over and nodded. “That they are. It’s a good thing they’re not resisting or training would have been a lot harder for all of us.”
“I guess they won’t resist the harder training Noel has in store for them this afternoon,” Rob said in his usual quiet manner.
Patrick took a deep breath after a long sip of water. “Noel and I are going to have to put in Army training if we want to get them to the next level.”
Randy turned his attention to Angel. “Is our final contact taking care of things back home?”
Chad stopped eating. “Final contact? I thought everyone was here.”
Angel looked over at all of them. “It’s another Guardian. One so secret I only know his first name of Dave. Bringing him here would have brought about too much suspicion because of where he is in society.”
“Really?” Noel asked after a bit of pasta. “You mean he’s rich?”
“It’s not just that.” Angel admitted, “He’s had a very secretive job in the military. If he disappears you know there would be an investigation.”
“I wonder why the Phoenix didn’t mention him. I wonder if there are others,” Randy asked.
“To answer the first it was to protect everyone. To answer the second, yes. There were rumors I heard that there was one other. It’s mostly a legend for their powers, because they’re supposed to surpass all of ours. Some of the stories say these two have the abilities to unite the powers of everyone here. I’ll have to look into it tonight.” Angel said then he saw the looks in their faces, “Remember it’s mostly legend on their powers. Now let’s eat lunch so we can start planning afternoon activities.”
During the afternoon, none of the warriors had any idea how hard the new lessons would be until Noel and Patrick had to run through each of them three times. Frank and Joe along with their new brothers were the quickest to pick up on the new training and in turn helped the others learn the new skills. Noel wanted each of them to learn how to switch powers in an instant and at times combine two or more powers at once. Patrick wanted everyone to learn how to power up at a faster pace.
Joe was amazed that he could power up faster but rapidly changing powers left him with a burning sensation in all his limbs. Even transforming them into water didn’t help in relieving the increasing pain. Frank came over and rubbed them, trying to transfer some of his healing energy into him.
Joe stopped him. “Save your strength for yourself big brother. I think I have to get used to the pain so I can eventually ignore it.”
Frank looked directly at him. “It doesn’t mean I can’t help.”
Joe put a hand on his wrist. “And I appreciate that, but I think you did enough for a little while. Besides you’re hands look a little red.”
Frank looked down at his hands. He was shocked to see that his hands were red to the point of nearly blistering before healing themselves. He winced as his mind caught up to the fleeting pain.
“I guess you’re right,” he admitted.
They moved back into the drills once again, trying to ignore the pain. Joe looked at his new brothers and saw that they were in pain too. He wanted to help them but just didn’t know yet how to project his healing powers as Frank had done. He wasn’t sure yet if his brother figured out how he had managed to in the first place.
“Move it people, pick up the pace,” Noel ordered.
To Joe the drills seemed endless. Just as he caught his breath with one drill, Patrick would move him straight into another one. He looked over and saw that his brother was able to keep up with him.
By the time their afternoon break came, Joe didn’t think he could move an inch. He sat down on a blanket next to Frank.
“How do you feel baby brother?” Frank asked.
Joe took a deep breath. “I hurt all over.”
Frank gave him a small smile. “That good, huh? I know the feeling. My arms feel like they want to fall off.”
Floating disks came down to them. On top they carried an assortment of fruit and granola bars. More floating disks brought in cups of water and Gatorade. After downing several whole fruits, Joe drank down what Frank had estimated to be at least a gallon of Gatorade and water.
Joe chuckled a bit. “You should see how much a Nascar driver will drink.”
“You’re not kidding,” Ray said as he sat down on their blanket. “Last time I read up on Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he could easily drink two to three gallons during a race.”
“I believe it.” Frank said as he was eating a pear, “The heat inside those cars must be incredible. I wonder why they don’t do more to keep the driver cool.”
Joe was about to answer that when Noel started going around to all the blankets.
“OK people, finish up and relax for a bit. We’ll get back to work in twenty minutes,” he told all of them, leaving no room for arguments.
Joe inwardly moaned. He didn’t think his body could take any more punishment.
Frank looked over and saw the worried look in his brother’s face. “Joe, remember when we were on the Victoria?”
Joe nodded. He thought back to that time. He and his brother had been given super fast military training so they could help rescue their father. It was during those two long weeks that he realized he could push himself a lot further than he ever thought possible.
“Baby brother, if we could survive that kind of training, we can survive anything.”
Joe sighed as he stood up to stretch. If it was anything like what he and Frank had gone through on the battleships, then they were going to have a very long day tomorrow.
Noel was watching them. An expert lip reader, he knew that they might know what was to come tomorrow, but the rest… it was going to be their version of Hell Week in a day.
After everyone had a chance to wash up, Patrick took them through the afternoon drills. He everyone running through two drills at the same time to force them to use two or more powers at one time. Noel split had everyone split up into groups so they wouldn’t be tempted to help out each other. It was something they all had to learn to do.
Joe watched in awe as Frank transformed his left arm into fire and his right arm into fire. He shot beams out of both of them, destroying a large amount of ringed targets. Looking down at his own arms he concentrated. Then he remembered something straight out of his video games.
“A sword and a shield…”
He concentrated and his left arm turned into solid but flexible metal. He transformed his right arm into a laser sword. Instantly his head began to hurt from the strain. He kept the picture of a knight in his mind and slowly the pain began to ease. Suddenly robot drones appeared in front of him. He ran forward with his sword, attacking and blocking with his shield arm.
Angel nodded to himself. “They’re finally getting it. Now hopefully the others can learn just as fast.”
Dan combined his powers of wind and heat to create a fire tornado. Ray transformed his body into a moving tree that instantly grew metallic spikes. The spikes flew from his two enormous arms, destroying more targets.
Above them in the sky, Staci had changed the color of her glow into a white light, nearly blinding when someone looked into it. Then she began firing laser balls out of the light. Cliff followed her example and soon they were competing with each other over who was the fastest.
Boomer ran along the trail, transforming again into more wolf than man. He ran faster and faster until suddenly his entire body ignited into flames. Now looking more like a streaking comet, he raced across the lands, leaving a trail of fire behind him. Chet ran next to him, transforming into a lion but instead of a lion’s mane of hair, his mane began fire a swath of laser fire in front of him, taking down dozens of target machines.
The drills continued well into the evening. Joe didn’t think he’d have the strength to eat, let alone take a shower. Frank nudged him into the cafeteria were a buffet dinner had been prepared. Joe looked around and noticed that no one was talking and most were having a hard time just keeping their eyes open. He nearly fell asleep until Frank nudged him again. He swallowed more food, not really caring what he was eating. All he wanted to do was go to sleep.
“Joe, don’t fall asleep, we still have a few more hours to go today,” Frank reminded him as he put some pasta on a plate.
“I can barely keep my eyes open,” he admitted.
Frank put a hand on his shoulder. “Just a couple more days, and we’ll be home.”
“Home…” To Joe the word meant a lot of things including his own bed, and a long night’s sleep.
Only an hour past after dinner before Noel moved the group into Tai-Chi and Yoga exercises. He separated them into groups to have more room to move around. As Angel had predicted, there was a lot more they needed to learn and not much time left. Tomorrow was going to be the hardest day as they would be going through military style drills.
Joe didn’t know how he managed to stay away long enough to take a shower. He didn’t know how much soap he had used to get the stink of sweat and salt off his skin. He did know that Frank had to almost carry him to the shower and turn on the water for him. Then he knew it had to have been him to turn off the water or else he would have fallen asleep in the shower. He had just enough energy left to dry off and put on clean clothes before collapsing on his bed.
Frank didn’t know how he had managed to get through the day. It was as if they were back in training on the battleship and it was only going to get harder. Joe looked very tired as they exercises finally ended. He almost had to carry him to the locker room to get him out of his sweaty clothes and into the shower. His clothes were crusted with salt. After showering, drying and putting on clean clothes he came back to see that Joe had fallen asleep in the shower! Turning off the water and helping him dry and get into clean clothe he led him to bed and covered him with a blanket. He kept his eyes open long enough to find Randy bring in IV lines for the both of them. Too tired to help, he closed his eyes, finally giving in to his body’s need for sleep.
As he meditated that night, Angel could see more of the mother ship. He and Dan stood side by side as their minds connected and their dreams merged. The ship was bigger than a mountain. Its shape and look was that of a beehive on its side with tight openings. The dark metal that it was made of would be almost impervious to damage. It had no central power source. There was an untold amount of drone ships that were inside of it. All the drone ships looked like metallic bees.
Despite being only in a dream, Dan could feel the sense of fear that came with the sight. “My dad sad not to underestimate this enemy.”
Angel nodded. “I know. The energy forces I can tap into all let me know that there is great danger when it comes to this mother ship.”
“I’m scared my brothers won’t survive the battle. That everything my parents did to give them a normal life would have been for nothing.”
Angel turned to him. “You must not allow yourself to think that way. If these aliens can sense any fear coming from you or anyone else, they’ll use that fear to their advantage.”
“I know, but we also can’t be arrogant. If we underestimate them, we’ll all be killed.”
Angel nodded again. “We’ll have to stress that fact. To be brave and stand tall.”
Dan took one last look at the image of the mother ship before it faded into the background. Then he allowed himself to be taken into the next stage of sleep. Angel stood still for a while longer before allowing the darkness and its power to surround him.
In a neighboring galaxy, the mother ship, ugly and metallic, hit its warp drive to its maximum output. Its occupants determined to complete their mission of destruction. The main computer talked with the aliens inside.
[Destination Milky way galaxy. Titan. Moon of Saturn. Time arrival three days fourteen minutes.]
In his room in the middle of the night, Dave could not sleep. For the past week he had been having nightmares involving an alien invasion. Through all his training with the Special Forces, he was taught to believe aliens weren’t real. Now they were evading his sleep. He was lucky that he was the owner of a corporation, allowing him more freedom to take time off of work. Walking to his personal gym, he hoped that some physical activity would help to ease his mind.
Ryan shivered a bit in the cool Canadian air. In the night air of British Columbia, he hoped after a long day at work he’d fall asleep as soon as he went to bed. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw an alien force attacking his country… ugly, mechanical robots that looked like insects. At first he chalked it up to too many video games. Then the online game, then the last alien movie he watched. Nothing seemed remotely close to what he saw in his mind. Getting out of bed he walked over to his desk and sat down. Pulling out his sketch book, he went to work drawing the images that had taken over his dreams.
Staci turned in her bed. The bird of light came to her again in her mind.
“You must prepare. Two more guardians will be arriving to help in the final training and battle.”
“Who are these new guardians?” she asked, staring up at the massive creature.
“One is a friend you have known for a while. The other lives in another country. The Phoenix has gone to retrieve them. They shall arrive in the morning.”
Staci looked over at the landscape around her before turning back to her guardian bird. “I’m scared we won’t be ready in time.”
“The training could not have begun any sooner. Everyone had to meet up and be comfortable with each other. Trust is a very big part in a strong team.”
“I understand. Do the other members of the team have more hidden powers?”
The giant bird nodded. “Many powers have been hidden within them. Some of which can only be revealed in battle. Just like you, there are powers that I can’t even begin to describe.”
Staci sat down, looking up at her new mentor. “So tonight you will be teaching me more?”
The bird spread out its wings. “Yes. Tonight I will teach you more than you have ever learned in a lifetime."
Staci braced herself as the bird began to open up new powers to her.
Angel looked out of the window to his room. Opening it up, he could feel the darkness flow around him once again. He could see the different energies flowing through the darkness. It moved around him like large bands of flowing water. Each one had a different energy, each one renewing him in a different way.
Cliff found himself relaxing for a change. The phoenix had left to retrieve the two hidden guardians. Before leaving the bird told him to take the time to relax and prepare for more powers to be revealed to him. He stretched out in his bed, feeling the dull ache in his limbs. Suddenly a small mug hot chocolate appeared on his nightstand with a small pill beside it. Taking the medicine and the chocolate, he took the medication with a sip.
By the time he had taken the last sip, he could feel himself growing tired. He could barely keep his eyes open as he placed the mug back on the nightstand. He fell into a deep sleep before his head settled into his pillow.
Ryan continued working through the night. Now passed midnight, his hand didn’t want to quit. His eyes stopped and looked down at his images. One image had a flaming bird flying through the galaxy. Another image had a metallic-like insect flying through the sky. He looked through the stack of papers and saw one image of the bird that had a girl that seemed to be engulfed by the flames. Another image was of a moon next to the planet of Saturn. Looking into that one, he could clearly picture what it would be like to be on the surface of that moon.
As Dave went into his next set of arm curls, he couldn’t get the images out of his mind. Giving up on physical exercise, he put the barbells in the rack before leaving the room. Walking past the sun room, he could see the stars were out in a new moon sky Looking up he suddenly had a sense that there was something more out there than just what he had learned from college. Going into the sun room, he could feel the stars almost calling out to him. Reaching out his hand he tried to touch one of them.
Suddenly his hand was stopped by the glass ceiling of the sun room. Looking down, his eyes went wide as he saw his feet were off the ground! Blinking again, his feet landed on the ground. He sat on the ground staring at the floor for a moment before looking up at the sky again.
“I must be drunk,” he muttered as he picked himself off the floor.
He went over to his bar to get a shot of brandy. Before he could swallow the liquid, he was hit by the overwhelming need to put on some clothes and get ready to leave the house.
Ryan looked up from his work. Going over to the window, he looked up at the sky. The stars seemed to be calling to him. Changing into his clothes, sneakers, and a warm coat, he walked outside, feeling the cold air around him. Looking at the stars, he had to blink when one seemed to be moving closer. The star came into the sky, taking more of a bird-like form. Suddenly the star seemed to shrink as it flew over his house.
His eyes went wide as a flaming bird stood before him.
“Do not be alarmed.”
“Who… what are you?”
“I am the Phoenix. The visions you have had were of me.”
“You can’t be real. You’re just a dream.”
“I am very real. The visions were to prepare you to meet me. There is much you have to do.”
“What is going on here? I must be drunk.”
“You are in the right frame of mind. You are sober and awake. What you see before you is real.”
“If you are real, then why are you here?”
“The dreams you have had of the battle among alien races are real. You are seeing a vision of the future. You are to take up and battle with your friends to protect your planet.”
Ryan was taken back and blinked again. The flaming bird did not disappear. He pinched himself. He definitely wasn’t dreaming. “So what do I do now?”
“You must trust me.”
Ryan’s eyes went wide when he saw a clone of himself emerging from the bird and go into his house. He nodded and knew if he wanted to figure out why this bird was here.
“Then I guess I have no choice.”
"If there were any other way, I would have tried it, but you are needed elsewhere.”
Ryan suddenly found himself surrounded by the bird’s flames then he was flying in the air!
“To pick up another then we shall return to Titan.”
No one saw the bird as it took the sky.
Dave found the brandy burning in this stomach. Looking at his hands, he was surprised to find them shaking. He hadn’t felt this nervous since the first day of training. Since then he had been trained not to show fear or weakness in any situation. Now as he clenched his fists, he could feel something compelling him to go outside.
Walking outside, his eyes went wide as someone who looked identical to him was standing on his patio! Going closer his mouth dropped open when the person smiled at him. Looking at the sky he could see a flaming bird flying in the sky just above his house. It landed in the middle of his vast backyard.
As if on cue, he walked until he was face to face with the bird.
“Greetings Dave. I know this is all hard to believe.”
“Hard to believe? I’m standing out here in the middle of the night standing in front of a fire bird. “
“You must understand that I could not have come at any other time. Things have to be handled carefully to avoid alerting the authorities of your world.”
Dave looked up and wondered why he didn’t see fighter planes in the sky. He hadn’t received any calls from his friends in the military. Suddenly he was surrounded by the fire and his eyes went wide when he saw another person in the flames!
“Who are you?”
Ryan swallowed. “Ryan and I’m just as confused and shocked as you are.”
Dave moved his hand through the void around them. “Amazing. It’s like being inside a ball of fire and not getting burned.”
Ryan nodded. “I know. I’ve had visions of this bird for a long time now. I knew somehow she transported people, I just wasn’t sure how.”
“Visions… of what?”
Ryan looked around. “Mostly of this bird. You?”
Dave took a deep breath. He didn’t like being vulnerable, nor did like not knowing where he was at. Looking around him all he could see was flames. “Mostly they’re of an alien attack force. They come within this solar system, then I wake up.”
“I know. I’ve been drawing a lot of things like that. A lot of the drawings were of this bird, but some of them were of metallic-like insects that attack like a giant swarm only they fire real weapons.”
Neither of them noticed when the Phoenix took the skies.
The artificial sun began to slowly rise on the domed skyline. Joe opened his eyes and looked out the window. The colors had been duplicated perfectly. The clouds were puffy and cheerful. No matter how life-like the sky appeared, he knew it still wasn’t real. Closing his eyes, he hoped to get a few more minutes of sleep.
In the other bed, Frank moved around when the growing sunlight hit his closed eyes. He moaned as he stretched his limbs. It was going to be another long day Looking over at his brother he didn’t know how he could try to wake him. He knew it was useless to try and go back to sleep. He’d only be woken up in a few minutes anyway.
Angel looked over at the sun coming through the window. His winced as the growing light hit his eyes. The dark sky had been refreshing and now he stretched in his bed. Today he was going to have to step up the training if they were to have any chance of being ready for the final battle. Getting out of bed and changing into his street clothes, he knew it was going to be a very long day.
Dave looked around in awe as he saw the planet Earth below him. He wanted to believe this was all a result from alcohol and in reality he was in his bed trying to sleep it off. He blinked and watched as the Earth became smaller and the moon became larger.
“I keep saying to myself this is all from beer,” Dave admitted as he looked towards the moon.
Ryan sighed. “I thought that way too, until I remembered that the last time I was drunk I was at my buddy’s house and I had fallen asleep on the floor.”
Dave looked as the moon passed them and Mars was coming up fast. “You know if the military ever caught wind of this, we’d both be in past our necks. Then again, I don’t think even they’d believe me.”
Ryan looked over at him. “Who are we going to tell? I just watched as a clone of myself appeared out of nowhere and walked into my house. Now I’m sitting in the middle of a fireball, flying past the planet Mars.”
Dave leaned back and found himself floating in air. “I thought I had seen it all in the Special Forces and trust me there’s a lot I could tell you that would turn you all different shades of green.”
“Special Forces? No wonder you’re hands aren’t shaking like mine were a couple of hours ago.”
Dave looked down at his big hands. He looked closer at the pinky finger of his right hand. The tip was twitching slightly, almost too slightly to be noticed… but he could see it.
“Damn, my hands are not supposed to twitch,” he thought has he mentally tried to command his hands to calm down.
He clenched his fists and mentally commanded them to calm down. Looking up he watched in awe as the planet Mars disappeared behind them and the asteroid belt come into view.
Ryan shivered as a cold feeling came over him. As the bird traveled faster through the asteroid belt he caught a small star becoming larger. He knew it could be only one thing; Jupiter.
Joe moaned and turned over in his bed. It seemed like he had just closed his eyes when Frank started shaking his shoulder. His whole body protested when he finally opened his eyes to see his brother looking down at him.
Frank tried to smile. His baby brother looked so tired. “Joe, you’ve got to get up. Angel and Noel said we’d start before breakfast.”
Joe tried to sit up, moaning as he felt a dull ache in every muscle of his back. He felt the strong grip of his brother’s arm around his shoulders, helping him sit forward.
“Don’t worry little brother. I have a feeling once we grow stronger, we won’t have any pains.”
Joe nodded as he moved his legs to the edge of the bed, sighing as his feet hit the floor.
Noel had already risen and changed into workout clothes by the time Angel came to see him in his room. He was in the middle of a set of pushups when the door to his room opened causing him to jump up in a fighting stance.
“You should knock next time,” Noel warned him.
“I’ll remember that,” Angel replied as he walked into the room.
Noel released his stance. “Are the others up yet?”
Angel nodded. “The alarms are going off now. They should be all awake within twenty minutes.”
“Good. As soon as they’re dressed I’ll take them outside for warm-ups and a run before breakfast. When will the two new guardians get here?”
Angel looked at the clock on the table. “I’d say within four hours of the time here.“
“You think they’ll be ready to help us train the rest?”
Angel thought a moment. Then the seal of the Navy SEALs appeared in his mind. “I think one of them will be more than qualified.”
“Then let’s get going, we’ve got a lot to do.”
Joe took a deep breath of the cold morning air to revive him. His brother stood next to him, looking as tired as he felt.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
Joe took a deep breath. “I’m not sure yet. I just wish I could get some more sleep.”
Frank stretched his arms out. “I here you there. After this, I plan to sleep for a week.”
The guardians were already waiting for them. They were standing together talking over something. Joe strained until suddenly he found himself able to here as clearly as if he were standing there.
“We’re going to have to step it up if we want to get them ready in time,” Chad said.
“We’ll have to watch it. They’re young and not experienced in hardcore battle. If we push too far some could collapse from exhaustion,” Rob added.
“We can move gradually starting now and maybe by the end of the day we can move into hardcore training,” Randy suggested.
Derek nodded. “Hopefully the other two will go for that. I can’t see moving any faster than that.”
Joe stopped listening as more of his friends came onto the field. They were all stretching and moving around. Everyone was quiet, waiting for Angel and Noel. He looked around and saw the pair walking towards them.
Staci stretched to try and take some of the ache out of her shoulders. Last night the guardian bird had revealed so much to her that she could hardly believe it. Despite the bird supplying her with energy, the encounter had left her mentally and physically exhausted. Looking over at Cliff, she instantly knew the phoenix had not returned.
Dave was filled with awe as the phoenix flew by the planet of Jupiter. The giant planet seemed to take up their entire view as they went past it. Each band of the surface moved in opposite direction to the next one. The giant red spot never moved from its location as it violently swirled on its own power.
Passing through Jupiter’s ring, he and Ryan could see another star in the distance. Dave instantly knew that it wasn’t a star that was growing in their view, it was the other giant planet in their solar system; Saturn. With its massive rings, he found himself growing excited to see the planet up close with his own eyes.
“Am I seeing things or is that Saturn that’s coming into view,” Ryan said.
Dave nodded. “No you’re not seeing things, though a part of me wishes this were all a hallucination from a hangover.”
Saturn came fast into their view. The rings gradually transformed from solid to broken rings.
“I think that’s our destination. Saturn was a big part in my drawings,” Ryan admitted.
Dave looked harder at Saturn. “Not exactly Saturn but I think one of its moons. Titan, if I remember my last dream.”
Their answer soon came as the moon came closer to them.
Frank took a deep breath as he tried to breathe through the pain of their early morning run. The runs he and his brother took during the morning hours were never as hard or as long as this one. He estimated they had gone at least 30 miles and half of it was over mountainous and watery terrain. He looked over and saw that Joe was breathing a little hard but seemed to be holding up.
“I’m fine,” Joe said before he had a chance to ask.
Frank nodded. “Just making sure. That was the hardest run since we trained with the SEALs.”
Ray looked over at them. “You know I have a feeling we’re going to get everything the SEALs did and more.”
Dan came over to the group. “The other guardians should be landing today, but I took a count, from what who is here and the two that will be arriving there were a couple more. My guess is the king hid them from everyone just in case we can’t stop the alien army.”
Frank thought a moment. “Could the crystals locate them?”
Dan shrugged. “I still haven’t tapped into even a fourth of what that crystal can do. I think if I had the time I could figure out how to reach them. Until then, we’re all we’ve got.”
Joe nodded. He knew from now on, things would never be the same again. In the back of his mind he wondered if he’d have to leave his home and everything he knew for the life of a prince. To him Fenton Hardy was his real father and Bayport was his real home.
Frank put an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “I say lets concentrate on training for now. We’ll figure out what we’re doing later. We need to stay focused.”
Ray was about to say something when a flaming streak in the sky distracted him. Everyone looked up to see the phoenix flying over them. The bird landed a little bit in front of them, leaving its two human occupants standing on the ground before retreating back into Cliff.
Dave and Ryan watched as the phoenix approached Titan. As it descended into the cloudy service, they looked around, shocked that the bird would be trying to get to the surface. Until the dome appeared before them and just as fast the bird passed through it. Suddenly they were surrounded by clouds, blue sky and a sun!
The bird moved through the sky, suddenly they could see trees and a real ground! A group of people was standing there. The bird landed without a thud, letting their feet gently touch the ground. The flames left and the bird retreated into one of the people who were there.
When Dave’s eyes adjusted to the light, they went wide as they saw three familiar faces standing there.
Staci couldn’t believe who the phoenix had brought to Titan. “Dave?”