Splinterbark: Trial by Gorilla

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 1: Just Your Average Bank Robbery

Cadric City: 40 miles north of that city and 30 miles west of the other city. If you wanted to know the meaning behind that statement that appears on every tourist merchandise you might come across; half of the citizens could not give you and answer and the other half would dispute the origin. But despite peoples’ differences on the beginnings of such a phrase, it had stuck to Cadric City like spandex in summer. Catchphrase aside there was a peculiar eclectic charm to Cadric. Victorian homes and businesses stood adjacent with the art deco diners and skyscrapers. And in turn Art Deco was neighbors with the modern concrete and steel towers and clubs. On your average day there would always be at least one chap with a picket sign or two declaring why they had the right to the spaces they had. Neither side every budged or exactly won an argument, but it was something of a spectacle that even some travel brochures hinted at or sold food for onlookers.

Cadric First National Bank was a mix of the old and current trends. It was one of the oldest still functioning buildings of the city. It was a massive structure of brick and marble complete with grandiose columns, grotesque gargoyles, and garish painted windows. Within its walls, the brick had been plated with reinforced steel and iron bars. The interior was a gaudy grandeur of gilded teller cages and posh carpeting. Paintings from the 40s up until now decorated the walls. Some, honestly, really could be thrown out. Dotting the painted mural ceiling, cameras were pointed at every possible angle within the lobby. The debate on that change was most popcorn worthy. Though there are reasons as to such security measures that even the most stubborn of preservationists had to budge on eventually.
Case in point was today. An elderly woman was struggling to push open the heavy glass door to get inside. A large hairy hand reached over and pushed it gently. The lady turned very slightly to see who had assisted her. It was a rather large and stout fellow; his massive frame squeezed into a dull grey frock coat. A large brimmed grey hat shadowed the man’s face and the only thing visible was the grey stubble chin and the edges of what might be mutton chops. The lady thought little of this kind fellow being all bundled up as he was; it had gotten quite cold this early into the fall season.
“Oh thank you, kind sir. They really should do something about such heavy doors for people like me.” The fellow glances slightly to his left. On the left hand side of the door was a dinner plate sized silver square with the wheelchair sign in blue engraved on it. He slightly grinned showing a row of thick pearly white fanged teeth.
“My, please madam. Yes, they really should do something for ladies of your…aptitude.” The lady seemed unware of the jab as she shuffled inside.

The fellow maneuvered his way into the center of the lobby. With one genteel swoosh he flung the coat aside and bellowed out one massive guttural roar; causing the six chandeliers to rattle and chime in sync. The percussion of two massive hands slammed upon the ground to end the primal concerto and ensure all eyes were upon him. He was a massive plum colored gorilla and had people not already been in a panic, they would have noticed certain peculiar traits of this primate-aside from the unique plum-black fur of course. His fur was perfectly trimmed and groomed from his grey wrinkled face down to his single flesh arm. The other appendage, once you gotten over the initial first shock of a plum colored gorilla in the bank lobby, was a massive mechanical marvel. It was almost impossible to tell where the metallic carapace began and the violet simian began. Completing the look the beast sported a custom tailored burgundy and silver waistcoat and brushed black top hat.
The gorilla adjusted his cravat and cleared his throat with a few growling chokes.
“My apologies for the pedestrian display just now; however it was the most efficient way of getting your attention.” The voice was composed and posh despite the slight background noise of throaty growls underlying it all. He placed his flesh hand upon the forearm casing of his gauntlet and slid it back and forth until it clicked and clocked like a shotgun ready to fire.
“Now, on the floor in you would be so kind. I don’t exactly have all day.”
A guard was slowly creeping behind him with one hand pressing against the handle of his Taser firearm. The beast didn’t even bother to turn his head to swing his arm behind him and fire a blue pulse of energy just as the sentry’s weapon had barely left its holster. In the same motion, the gorilla spun the casing around his wrist until it clicked into the place. A nozzle sprung out from the top and belched a stream of green goo. The helpless guard was shoved deep into the carpet and held firmly in place by a rapidly crystalizing slimy mass he was wrapped in.
“ON THE FLOOR NOW”, the creature bellowed with rising impatience. Again he shrugged his head and chastised himself for such uncouth behavior. The simian made his way over to the counter and politely rapped the back of his massive knuckles on the tempered glass.
A doe eyed employee slowly peeked from underneath her counter at the sound.
“The cash, if you will. 40,000 will suffice.”

He tossed a silk bag over the stall frame of the teller window and it unceremoniously fell on her head. She didn’t exactly spring into action. The teller just stood there though not out of bravery. Though it would be difficult to say it if it was out of understandable cowardice or just plain stupidity on her part. The later became more likely of a possibility when she asked again what exactly was she was supposed to do with the bag. The ape inhaled deeply though his massive nostrils and calmly explained once more the instructions. Again she didn’t quite process the request as she just dumbly opened the till and began shoving money into it.
“MADAM! *Ahem* Madame, please count the money. I would not like to be shortchanged but nor am I interested in being given extra change.” The teller stared at the fistful of dollars in her hand. There was the faint wail of police sirens in the background. The gorilla grunted in frustration at the ineptitude of this woman. He twisted his wrist once more and shot the metallic hand towards the upper edge of the glass partition. A strong coil hoisted the beastly robber up and into the gap between the top of the cage and the roof. It was a bit of a squeeze; especially with the arm, but he managed to shove himself through and landed with a loud thud behind the counter. He apologized and shoved the dense employee aside where the bag was still on the counter. He hastily shoved the money into the bag and scampered across desks and counters towards the employee entrance on the left. He called out he would return with the correct change at a later date.

The employee entrance opened out into a secluded parking lot behind the bank. As a security measure, the lot was surrounded by four high brick walls with only one place where cars could get in or out. It would take some time for the police to get in as they would have to first deal with the iron gate that closed the entrance off to pedestrian traffic (and to keep people from using it as a parking space for the convention center). He figured he had some time to make good headway as no human could scale a wall that high easily. Plus he could disappear into the surrounding brush and he out of sight from…him. And at least there, he had the foresight to cause a bit of a distraction to keep him busy on the other side of town for at least long enough.
“Hold it…right…there…oh shit.”

The gorilla looked around for the source of the small voice. He had to look down to find a curious sight. It was a girl, maybe no older than your average high school student. She was dressed in green cargo pants, a flannel shirt, and knee high work boots. Strapped to her chest and waist was a leather tool belt stuffed with pieces of wood. And to top it all was a bright yellow construction hat and lime green safely goggles. The gorilla scratched his head. This wasn’t the first youngling “superhero” he had seen before, but there was no cape, no insignia, not even a cohesive theme to the ensemble. Just what was he looking at exactly?

The girl’s slightly tanned face had flushed white as she was eying every detail of her adversary. Then she turned to her left and started yelling at the air.
“You said bank robbery. I was expecting like…oh I don’t know, some guy in a hockey mask or wearing pantyhose. Not Metilla Gorilla!”
The gorilla, named Metilla for obvious reasons, was perplexed by this imp. She seemed to have completely forgotten he was even there.
“Um, do you need a moment or…” The girl seemed to not hear him because she was still arguing with the air.
“Yes it is a problem! Metailla Gorilla, the Gentleman Cyborg Gorilla. The strength of ten gorillas AND an arsenal in that arm of his. Specialist bank robber and jewel thief. Hey don’t be lecturing me, sir! I’m not THAT stupid to go against one of Cadric’s biggest criminals who even gives the Golden Guardian a rough time.” Metilla could not resist tipping his hat and thanking for the complement. He also complemented on her wise decision not to interfere with his escape and began to bounce towards the back wall. He had just moved a car’s length when he felt a tug and then the bag suddenly jerked away from his grip. A tow strap had snagged on the corded draw strap and the girl had snatched the bag away from him.
Metilla was unsure to be amazed or perplexed at the feat. The girl was using a tow hook as a grapple weapon for crying out loud. Her attire may have looked like it was put together from the clearance rack of a hardware store, but at least she was resourceful. He had to respect her for that.
“Miss, I really don’t have time for this. Now if you could just hand over the bag…um…what is your handle if I might ask?” The girl kicked the bag of money behind her and declared proudly,
“The name is Splinterbark.” Metilla slowly said the name out loud. And odd name for an odd little pixie. He cracked his fleshy knuckles and huffed,
“Very well, Miss Splinterbark. I really don’t enjoy picking on others smaller than me, but you threw the gauntlet down. You have no one but yourself to blame for what comes next.”

He shot his spring-loaded arm towards the bag. Splinterbark rolled behind a large van and had tugged the bag away just in time with a cant hook. The cyborg simian grumbled. He would have preferred to not bother with engaging with the girl directly. Even the distraction was not going to keep the flying justice or the cops away for long. He shoved his way through a row of cars and rammed his fist down upon the girl. Splinterbark was quick and darted between the adjacent row of vehicles keeping a distance between her and the monkey. The cars being so packed together was slowing Metilla down and he heaved into the tops of the vehicles. He couldn’t fire his pulse cannon or the slime shooter as it could likely damage the money. He had to get in close and this pint heroine was taking full advantage of her stature in the enclosed space. Metailla began to heave cars aside and come began to pile up at the lot gate. He could hear the police trying to push inside. Luckily for him, a station wagon had lodged perfectly into the mechanism to open the gates.
He had finally created an open space to lumber after the girl. Surprisingly she pulled a bat from a strap on her back and was actually charging at him. What idiot goes after a 400 pound simian with a baseball bat? She swung it at his chin, about as high as she could reach, but Metilla caught it effortlessly with one hand. Splinterbark grinned sheepishly as he hoisted her up with her still clinging to the handle. Suddenly she let go and rolled back on the ground. There seemed to be a faint shimmer coming from her goggles as she pointed at the bat. Metailla barely reacted to the peculiar behavior as the bat suddenly exploded in his hands; sending shards of pine into his chin and nose. He heard wooden clattering about his feet followed by more sounds of loud popping and more timber shards piercing his toes. Metilla snarled out both in pain and annoyance. He swung his arm, making a car skid across the cement and the fender grazing Splinterbark’s shoulder. Her body spun a bit rapidly before she fell face first onto the cement. She felt weighty knuckles press against her back to pin her down and drag her closer.

“You’re a curious thing, aren’t you? But you have caused me enough trouble for today. I would rather not, but I am going to have to…” Both of them heard the loud flapping of wings faintly in the distance. Metailla removed himself from her and galloped over the fence with no money.
The flapping was now practically overhead while the heroine was content to just lie there on the ground.
“Miss, are you alight?” It was a deep voice that echoed when heard, and not because they were in an enclosed area. It was the kind of voice you heard that they use whenever representing god. A large warm hand propped her up and straightened her out as she staggered.
She had heard of the Guardian before, had even seen his picture in the magazines, newspapers, and television promos. This was her first time meeting the man in person and this close. The full name was Golden Guardian Angel, but most simply called him the Guardian. He stood at least six foot eleven and was well built like a sleek swimmer powerhouse. His moniker came from the large pair of golden wings he sported and the long flowing golden hair that seemed to operate on its own laws of gravity. He was dressed in a tight yellow suit with the letters GGA emblazed in gold across his broad chest. He also wore elbow length white gloves and knee high white combat boots. A large halberd hung from a thick leather belt at his waist.
Splinterbark saluted nervously.

“S...Splinterbark reporting, s…s…sir!” she finally gulped. Guardian raised an eyebrow and then grabbed the bag of money still on the ground. It was a bit grimy and torn but all the money was still there. The calls of the cops rose up and took the Guardian’s attention. Without saying another word he moved to the pile of cars still holding the entrance shut. Much like Metilla, it took very little effort for the hero to heave the vehicles out of the way (he was even nice enough to actually place them upright).
“Metilla got away I see”, a gentleman in a crimson tailcoat huffed. “And where were you earlier, hmm?” Guardian didn’t even seemed fazed by the obviously scathing remark.

“My apologizes District Attorney Commodore. I’m afraid I was baited across town. However, this young lady was about to recover the money. That should relieve some of…” Vincent Commodore was a tall man who was thin as a lath and as pale as skim milk. He bore a large hooked nose and donned tight black curly hair. He adjusted the reflective monocle in his right eye and scanned Splinterbark up and down.
“Surely you are joking, Guardian. This girl doesn’t even look like a superhero. And I’ve seen far better costumes at those…gatherings across the street we put up with every spring, and heard better lies from our news station.” Splinterbark glanced at Guardian who was being quite patient in this situation.
“Regardless if you believe me or not, our first priority is to secure the perimeter and do not let Metilla Gorilla get very far. He’s eluded our chases so far and I don’t feel safe with him loose; gentleman or not.” Vincent snorted and tapped the ruby encrusted spider on his polished cane.
“Indeed, we at least agree on something. Officers! You have your orders! Get to it! Find that monkey!” The Guardian had taken to the skies and began soaring towards the direction Metilla had run away. Vincent was about to leave when he turned his attention back to Splinterbark.
“And you, Construction Carrie or whatever your name is…”
“Splinterbark, your honor.”

“Whatever. I have enough to deal with that gold headed fool up there and that demon brat. I don’t need whatever you are causing me any more trouble than Cadric City gives me. Now get out of my sight and stay out Stick Trigger.” Splinterbark slinked away, though not with one little gram of pettiness as Vincent’s cane suddenly snapped in half and he almost fell to his knees. Almost. He had surprising reaction time looking as old as he was. Vincent watched her disappear from sight as his cell phone rang. He grumbled at the caller ID and answered.
“Let me guess, you saw the whole thing and whatnot. You are getting too old for that nonsense. Listen, don’t get any ideas. If this Twig Girl doesn’t get off my streets I will see to her arrest. Her and that that Hunter felon. And I won’t hesitate to add you as well.” He promptly beeped the screen closed and walked away tapping the ruby spider against his palm.

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 2: The Valdus Academy

One month earlier…
Shelly Holmes tried to tug her skirt down even further as they pulled into the roundabout area for drop off. It just felt off for someone accustomed to loose jeans and a shirt. Even the white blouse and royal blue blazer felt contracting. The only personal item she had been allowed to wear was the purple bunny hairclip that kept back that annoying lock of chestnut brown hair out of her round slightly tanned face. She blinked her large dark brown eyes over to her father who was concentrating on maneuvering the large cherry colored van into position. She was a small lass, now just entering her sophomore year. She was short (barely 5 foot) but had been blessed (she considered it a curse) broad hips from her Latino descent. Shelly shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she gripped her backpack. It would be that she wasn’t used to uniforms or the fact her father had to wrap the passenger seat in Tyvek paper before she could sit down. It wasn’t like he was a slob or anything (well maybe a little), but this was his work truck and wood shavings and dirt were bound to get everywhere.

Ordinarily Shelly wouldn’t be as nervous as she was even for her. It had already been three weeks into the school year and she was now being dumped off at a completely different school. This was no fault of her own, mind you. It’s not exactly easy to return to a school that has been half smashed up thanks to a lab accident in the biology lab that somehow combined the class rabbit, tortoise, and brain goldfish into one human sized Eldritch abomination. They may have been a staff member or student involved though they were fairly sure everyone has been accounted for. And no, they did not manage to catch the thing. How something like that could just disappear, no one really knows. Needless to say they had to put students somewhere and thus they were divided among the three other high schools in Cadric City. Shelly’s mother told her she was very lucky to have been assigned to the Valdus Academy. She would have gone there in the first place if the commute wasn’t such an inconvenience for either her parents.
Her father, Arthur Holmes, patted her on the back and told her she was going to be just fine. Shelly choked an ‘alright’ and slid out of her seat at the drop off. Valdus Academy had once been an old training base for National Guard before a more suitable modern location had been established. The place was a massive stone fortress complete with towers and sections of guard walls quartering off the various sections of the grounds. The innermost keep was a solid square building that mocked the passages of time and it still seemed brand new. Shelly turned back to see her father waving goodbye and cars behind him honking for him to move. She also felt all several eyes were on her as she made her way towards the inner grounds. After all, among the shiny SUVs and luxury cars, there stood a bright cherry red van with a few dents in it here and there and the words “Holmes Housing” painted in silver and white on the sides. No, she shook her head. She had nothing to be ashamed of. Her dad worked just as hard, if not more, than these people with their fancy vehicles. She pulled down on her back, straightened up, and began to march towards the auditorium where all the transferred students were to meet.
She had been a bit of a hurry to seem confident that she was not completely looking where she was going and the heel of her loafer caught a slightly loose cobblestone paver on the walkway. She fell forward right into the back of someone else and then rebounded backwards onto her rear. Her backpack clattered to the ground and scattered her notebooks, pencil case, and magazines. Rubbing her large crooked nose she apologized profusely to no one in particular since she wasn’t sure who exactly she had bumped in to.

The one in question turned and looked down at her. He was a lanky sort of fellow with long spindly limbs that had to bend down to even see her. Long locks of jet black hair framed his sharp porcelain colored face though most of it obscured half of his face. What Shelly would see was narrow fire orange eyes gazing back at her along with high cheekbones and a slightly upturned nose. He was wearing the male uniform or the school; black trousers with the same blue blazer with the school logo on it. However, it wasn’t buttoned up and she could see the wrinkled white collared shirt and black tie underneath. To Shelly he looked like one of those mysterious characters you see in mangas and somehow that made her feel uneasy. She couldn’t explain it really, just that he didn’t seem to belong among the other fellows that had surrounded him. He held out a pale hand to assist her up.
“A bit late to be excited to be in school, isn’t it?” His voice was rather monotone as he spoke with hardly any infection even in the question. Shelly was unsure if he was being facetious or just disinterested in general. Or a lot of people bumped into him and he just stopped caring.
“I’m sorry”, Shelly responded as she bowed again in apology. “This is my first day. I just transferred in.” The words came out a bit sputterly and she felt her face turn red in embarrassment. There was another girl standing beside the pale boy. She bore very similar facial features; the high cheekbones, turned up nose, and squinted eyes, but her skin was a brilliant olive brown and her hair was a strange red coloring. It was not fire red or pale red or even an orange red. It was an unusual shade of an intense wine color. She scanned this short, stocky little thing that had rudely intruded on their presence and judged it was not worthy of her time.

“Come on, Alucard”, she chuffed while tugging on his arm. “We might as well head for homeroom.” Alucard shrugged and picked up his book bag from the ground.
“I suppose we should”, was his response, again in the monotone speaking. Maybe that was just how he talked, Shelly surmised. And what kid names their son Alucard?

Shelly had moved her away to the auditorium. You could not exactly miss it. It was the lower of the many buildings and it had the words Auditorium emblazoned on it. It only took a bit to navigate the curtain walls and their gates to get to the center. Seriously, why keep so many darn walls and would it kill them to take them down, Shelly grumbled. They school could at least allow them sneakers if they had to do this much walking. The inside was not as impressive. It was plain with rows of raised seats and a simple stage. The only décor were national flags and the school’s dragon and bear emblem. Shelly barely recognized anyone from her school. Maybe she should have socialized more in for freshman year like her mother suggested. There were only two she knew for sure and they weren’t even friends with her.
Sierra Winters and Bruce Kane had been Cadric High School’s power couple even since their freshman year. It had practically made into a school central meme of these two becoming the next America’s Sweethearts. Sierra was a slender but toned lass with dark blonde hair spotted with a few streaks of silver grey. Her face was a slender hart shape but slightly flat. Her nose was small and pointed and her lips dark and pressed in the small shape of a ‘v’. The feathery way her hair framed her face and her large blue eyes gave the impression of a barn owl. There was a cute and inimitable quality to her especially when compared to Bruce. Bruce could have easily passed off for a 21 year old with his rugged jawline and five o’ clock shadow and the mature cut of his dark copper hair.
Shelly waved over to them and squeaked out a hello. Sierra raised an eyebrow and asked if she knew her. Bruce snapped his fingers trying to recall the name.

“Sherry Holmes, right?”
“It’s Shelly, actually. Like in Shelling, as in Shelling Ford, the original name of Sherlock.” Shelly clamped her hand over her mouth and blushed as her embarrassing rambling. Bruce just clapped his hands as it finally came to him. He patted his girlfriend’s back and gestured towards Shelly.
“Ah that’s right. Remember Sierra? She helped with our costume theme last year for that big party over at Michael D’s.”
“Oh, of course. Huh, you didn’t go did you Shelly? I don’t think I see you around a lot either.” Shelly just rubbed the back of her head and chuckled nervously.

“Oh you know, parties aren’t my thing.” A whistle pierced the ramblings of the crowd. Principal Oliver Jestro rapped for attention at the podium.
“Good morning fellow students. Now I know we’re are three weeks into the semester but I promise we will do everything to ensure you are caught up in your education.” He gestured to three students standing beside him each holding a large white sign of what grade they presented.
“These fellows behind me are from the student council and will be guiding you through the school for your orientation day. Good luck to all of you.”
“Well that was the shortest orientation I’ve ever been on”, Sierra commented.
“He seems to be in a hurry to me. But the less time we’ve got to be in these chairs, the better”, Bruce responded while struggling to push his great frame out of the tiny chair.
****

“Please to meet you all. My name is Thomas Payne and I will be your guide for today and yes it is my natural hair color.” There was nothing that really stood out about the boy save for the shapely strands of violet black hair. Indeed save for that he was average in all appearances. He beamed a toothy grin and beckoned them to follow along his route as the three guides each took spate ways.
“…and that’s the gym over there. Most of your Physical Education courses will be held in there. But you can get a pass to use after regular school hours.” Bruce pressed his hands against the glass and marveled at the assortment of high grade weight machines.
“That’s a massive pool in the back.” Sierra tugged his ear back to attention.
“Sweetie, you can play in the gymnasium later.” Shelly had little interest at the courses and services being offered. She was too enamored by the architecture of this vast castle estate. Thomas seemed to notice her distraction.
“Ah taking in the walls itself are you? I’m kinda not supposed to be talking about this because the principal would rather have us sell you this place but…okay okay but this is like so cool. *ahem* Valdus Academy was originally the home of General Valdus P. Wyrmglade and is one of Cadric City’s oldest buildings. Rumor has it he was…a bit crazy in the head. Claimed he had a vision that a terrible demon was coming to consume the town! Mwa ha ha!
So he had the place built to be the most impenetrable fortress of that time. I mean really, this place has survived three real big quakes and the fire of ’87.”
Bruce rolled his eyes. History was never a thing he was too interested in. Sierra pipped she found Thomas’ enthusiasm cute.
“So what became of Mr. Valdus, Thomas?” Sierra asked.

“Well…let’s just say there are only so many shotgun riddled bodies you can hide in here without someone noticing. Ol’ Valdus started claiming everyone who was going into his castle was an agent of the demon. He even claimed that he was visited by this spooky black winged angel, but that’s silly right. I mean, it’s not like we have an angel flying about our fair city, am I right?” Thomas laughed at his own joke despite the crowd groaning.
“But in all seriousness, Valdus got sent to the loony bin and the place just sat until his great grandson turned it into a school. He only just retired as principal last year. Oh and there is a likely chance they never found all the bodies, so you might not to be out after hours. Okay? Okay.”

Thomas had taken them down another hallway where the plaque above the door read, “Newspaper Room”. A young man was just stepping out with a large binder tucked under his arm. He was a sharply dressed lad with his suit perfectly pressed and fitted around his small frame. His dirty blonde hair had been pulled in the back but coifed in the front that frame a strong Roman-esqe jawline and cold blue eyes. Though not as tall as Bruce, he still stood plenty tall among the approaching group. Shelly noticed that there was a slight flush around Thomas’ neck and he tugged his tie slightly.
“Oh…hello Reed.” Reed raised a thick eyebrow as he looked over his shoulder.
“Ah, so that is why you were not in homeroom today. I had completely forgotten.” He sounded out each word very carefully as if he afraid to break some kind of etiquette rule.
“Ha ha, right. Well you have lots to do so it’s totally okay. Guys, this here is Reed Altamiri, ghost editor for the Wyrmglade Waypoint. He will make sure the paper is perfectly spelled and punctuated among other integral parts.” The embarrassment on Reed’s fair colored face and slight clenching of his neck showed he wasn’t exactly too pleased with Thomas’ praising.
“I just do what I can to help the paper, in all honesty. There is really nothing to be awed at. If you will excuse me, please.” Clutching the binder very close to his chest, he sped off down another all; making it clear he didn’t want to keep talking about his work. Thomas rapped his forehead with the lower palm of his hand and reprimanded himself on his words. But almost immediately when he snapped his fingers he was back to tour guide mode and unreservedly continued like nothing occurred.
****

The tours had returned to the auditorium where they were to wait until the lunch bell sounded; in which they would all be escorted to the cafeteria for the half hour lunch break. Afterwards, they were free to visit the school club fair happening in the inner quad and then they could go home. Shelly, as a habit she had since elementary school, had brought her own lunch so she need not need to wait in the cafeteria line. She glanced at the groups already comingling at their tables. She saw the usual groups huddled together; the jocks, the nerds, the girl posse, etc. The students transferred from her school were already gathering at one table and it was filling up fast. Frankly she didn’t really feel like talking to anyone. This was a lot to take in after all and she just wanted to be alone to read her book and put herself back into a state of peace. There was a table in the back that no one seemed to be using. It was not exactly easy to see as it was in the shadow of what was once a guard tower. It was a clean table too so she was more than happy to simply sit there.
Shelly had put all her food out in a perfectly neat placement along with her latest copy of Superhero Strike- a popular magazine that showcased photos, interviews, contests, and her personal favorite section: the citizen hero highlights. Shelly had just taken a large bite out of her sandwich when a voice clicked,
“This isn’t your table.”

Shelly looked up to see it was the wine haired girl from that morning. There was no one else with her either. Shelly looked to the right and left of her. There was nobody else by this table and it was a pretty big table. She forced her bite down her throat and tilted her head.
“I’m sorry, come again?” The girl placed her tray down, almost smashing Shelly’s juice carton.
“Fine I shall repeat it as monosyllabic as possible. I said this is not your table.” Again Shelly glanced around her and once more no one else was coming to the table. She had not even taken up that much space with her food. Also she was getting annoyed with the tone this wine topped girl was using.
“Miss, the table is big enough for the two of us. We don’t exactly have time to be wasting arguing and frankly I’m starving.” Shelly’s stomach grumbled loudly in agreement. To prove her point, Shelly chomped another purposely large bite of her sandwich and began chewing it disgustingly, an act even she personally found annoying. She was starting to rub her fingers together and Shelly thought she saw something start to spark.
“Who do you think you are? Do you think you can just come in and…”
“Lynn? What’s going on?” The two girls snapped their heads simultaneously to the right. Alucard was standing there with his food tray in hand and looking confused; the first look Shelly saw other than disinterest. Lynn put her hand behind her back.
“I was telling this girl to leave your table, obviously.” The nerve of this girl, Shelly sneered. She pulled back the sides of her mouth and stuck her tongue out, sans chewed up food of course. Alucard seemed to almost chuckle, but was consciously forcing himself to not laugh.
“She can sit there if she wants.” Lynn’s eyes went as wide as the saucer plate on her tray.

“W-what?”
“I said she can sit there if she wants. You don’t even sit here anyway. Now go on. You know father does not approve of skipping meals.” Lynn snatched up her food and stormed off to the girl posse obviously.
“Um…thanks”, Shelly squeaked. Alucard’s face just snapped back to that cold disinterested glare.
“I don’t have time to put up with people making petty arguments”, he snapped and seated himself on the far edge of the table. Shelly went back to her magazine and hurriedly ate her food. She glanced over every now and then, but chose to not say a word. Alucard seemed to be engrossed in sketching something on a large pad of paper. The warning bell rang for the end of the meal period. Shelly resisted all the temptation to know what Alucard was drawing. She knew how annoying it could be for onlookers to watch over your shoulder or ask what you’re drawing. She had just finished tossing her food wrappers away when he had gotten up from the table and walk in her direction, presumably to the same door she was using to leave.
“Thanks”, he said gruffly to her. Shelly scratched her head at his thank-you reply, not exactly getting what he was thanking her for.
“Thank you for not talking to me”, he finished and hurried out the door. Shelly wasn’t sure if she had been praised or insulted.

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 3: The Orb

Shelly seated herself towards the back of the auditorium. She hadn’t wanted to admit she had gotten lost on the way back. The uniforms had made everyone seem similar to her and the fact she had been distracted by Alucard’s rather tact remarks. Sure she was an introvert herself and had trouble stirring up conversation, but she was not that crude. Well, nothing to do about it, she supposed. Shelly had just managed to slip in when the principal was continuing his speech. Again it was a short one; basically reminding them that they were free to peruse the club fair and that their parents could pick them up in an hour. Schedules had been mailed to everyone so there should not have been any problems.
The club booths sported your standard fare: biology, anime, environmental, news, chess, various sports, etc. Shelly gripped the straps of her backpack tightly as people shouted from their booths to come join them. She saw Bruce and Sierra had already began mingling with booths opposite the sidewalk. Well at least they were fitting in just fine. Her first say she trips onto a possible supernatural beast posing as a high school student. Or a robot. Either way worked for her.

Shelly felt a hard tug on her Werehog keychain that almost made her trip back again like this morning. Someone from the anime club booth had grasped it in his hand. Perhaps it also didn’t help that she had the logo of a mechanical owl, the symbol of the long retired hero Songbird, painted carefully on her backpack.
“So, do you like anime”, the boy asked. He was what you typically hear about on the internet. Fat, sweaty, and pudge-eyed. The other two from the booth were now exiting from behind the stand to pull him back.
“Now Fred, we talked about this.”
“Aw I’m just making conversation.” He was pulling the keychain closer making the bag starting to unzip open. A fair hand grasped his wrist and held it firm.
“The lady said to let go, Fred.” Reed snarled at him. Shelly had no idea where Reed had come from. The other two suddenly let go and was starting to back up, leaving Shelly even more confused. Fred sneered at this intruder.
“Back off, Reed, you traitor. I ain’t doing nothing wrong.”
“She does not seem to think so. Now let go of her backpack.” Fred did, but attempted to throw a punch at Reed. The fist didn’t even connect close. Instead Reed had caught Fred’s wrist, and twisted it behind his back. Fred started screaming something about assault, though no one seemed to do anything. Reed let him go and grabbed Shelly’s hand to lead her off.
****

“Wow, how did you do that?” Shelly exclaimed once they were a few booths away. Reed fixed his tie and dusted off the minute dust on his shoulder.
“I partook in the self-defense club last year. It is not that big of a deal. And, it keeps people like Fred off your back.”
“He called you a traitor.” Reed nervously rubbed the back of his head.
“Let us just say we make bad friends sometimes.”
“Amen to that. Oh, um…I’m Shelly by the way.”
“Right, you were with Thomas’ group this morning. I am Reed. Just Reed, if you please.”
“You got it, Just Reed. Heh heh right, bad joke. Whoa, what’s that?”
“Hey wait! Shelly!”

The tent was a royal purple and crimson trim and dotted with small golden tassels above the opening. In block letters were the words “Magic Club” stenciled on the whiteboard leaning against the ruby table. Set about on the table were various magic looking trinkets: wands, cards, some handkerchiefs, and a few oblong orbs. There was only one girl monitoring the stand-whereas other booths had two or three representatives. She had her back to Shelly at the moment as she seemed to be gathering more flyers to put out on the table. Shelly started poking at the objects on the table. She was not sure what drew her to this booth. Magic was never her thing.
“So, is it like stage magic or the spoopy hocus pocus stuff?”
The girl was flipped her head over her shoulder like Shelly had blustered some derogatory slur at her. There was heavy dark makeup around her eyes and lips and Shelly noted a small pentagram pin under the lapel of her ascot. The girl learned in forward, pressing her eyes uncomfortably close to Shelly.
“Do you mock the great forces all around us? Do you doubt the means to guide that force for good and for ill?” Shelly pressed her finger against the girl’s forehead to maneuver her back out of her comfort bubble.
“Lady, we literally have a guy flying around on golden wings and carries a giant axe. Magic isn’t exactly something out of the realm of possibility.” The makeup girl’s despairing mood suddenly flipped to a giddy excitement.
“Oooh, you are a believer then? I can tell. Oh our president is gonna be lit if we get a real new member. So tell me, what sort of path do you have or…” Reed had finally caught up with her, slightly winded and trying to scrape off someone’s churro dust off his jacket.
“You are quicker than you look. I would not be here for too long because…”
“And what is SHE doing here? Oh, hello there Reed. Getting material for the paper on the fair?” Lynn and another girl who could pass off got the booth girl’s twin were approaching the tent carrying a half-empty box of bottled water. Shelly was impressed that this gal could switch between venomous and honeyed in the same breath. Wonder why she was not in the drama club.
“Shelly and I were just looking around like everyone else.” Shelly peeked around his shoulder dispute him desperately trying to keep between them.
“He’s not wrong. But honest answer. What kind of magic do you do here in your club?” Lynn squinted her eyes at her.
“This is club is for people serious about serious magic, and it’s obvious you’re not. So run along.”

Shelly snorted and slowly starting rolling back her sleeve.
“Look, I don’t know what your beef is with me, but I ain’t…LOOK OUT!” Shelly grabbed Lynn’s shoulders and jerked her down hard to her knees. A football had some flying from across the quad and skidded across the Magic Club’s table. The items went scattering about and Lynn shrieked for someone to catch the green orb before it hit the stones. Shelly used Lynn’s shoulders to push herself backwards and caught the orb on her chest. Her backpack had managed to cushion some of the fall. Maybe it had been the impact of her books kind of ramming themselves into the base of her spine or she had misjudged and hit her head slightly on the ground, but she felt a sudden rush through her body. It was like some kind of minty wind has swirled up just in her veins before suddenly and completely leaving in a sharp exhale. Reed propped her up to a sitting position and asked her if she was all right.
“Y-yeah I guess. Brr, it’s gotten pretty cold early this year hasn’t it.” Lynn’s mouth was stuck slightly open even as the two other girls in the club booth were helping her to her feet. She inhaled a long struggled breath and let it out slowly as she ran two fingers down her face. Lynn took the orb from Shelly’s grip.
“Thanks. Though I still think you should look somewhere else.”
“Man, you and Alucard have weird ways of showing gratitude. You two related or something?” Lynn’s eyes seemed to widen slightly.
“He is my step-brother.” She put a strong emphasis on the word ‘step’. “And if you know what is good for someone like you, stay away from him.”
****

There was little else exciting occurring for the rest of the fair period. Shelly followed close to Reed as he mentioned the various booths and a brief description. Also where and where to not join. She had seen the other transfer students mingle about with the clubs and seemed to be fitting in just fine. There were a few disinterested members and they just sat on one of the benches until they could go home. Bruce was enthusiastically chatting with the zoology club about terrariums for reptiles. Rumor had it he had at least three or four reptilian pets, not that Shelly knew for sure. Sierra was over by the Self-Defense Club booth across the way. Reed suggested to Shelly she might consider it a practical investment. After all, superheroes could not be everywhere. There was a certain sharp and disdainful tone the way he said it and Shelly pulled her backpack close to her.
“You seem to know a lot about the clubs around here,” she hastily said to lighten the mood. Reed just casually shrugged.
“You notice stuff being the background editor of the paper. Oh. So he did get the booth set up in time. Hello Thomas. Hopefully you have not caused property damage this time.”

Thomas’ booth was a simple table with a tri-fold diorama and portable DVD player playing the club skating and crashing into each other on roller skates to some kind of generic sounding rock music. Thomas himself was wearing a skate helmet and fingerless gloves. Elbow pads were wrinkling up his blazer.
“This coming from the guy who nearly broke his nose off last year when he came to write an article on our school match.”
Reed’s hand unconsciously pressed against a clear crook in his nose. Before Thomas could regale on the unfortunate woes of the misadventures of Reed Morgan Altamiri, Shelly began to stagger and nearly collapsed into the diorama. Reed quickly explained how Shelly had hurt herself from dodging a stray football. Thomas, despite his average appearance was apparently the physically stronger of the two, took Shelly’s arm over her shoulder and escorted her to one of the chairs behind the booth. He offered her water and asked Reed to see if he could get some ice and towels from the sports booth.
Shelly was not even sure why she suddenly felt so faint like something had been drained from her.
Who are you? a condescending voice whispered in her ear. Shelly tried to look about for the source of the voice. However; Thomas insisted she look straight forward while he wrapped ice in a plastic bag and then a towel.
How did you wake me up? the voice questioned this time with even more of a patronizing tone. Shelly seemed to pass it off as delusions brought on by concussion, instead focusing on Thomas the nursemaid. When she commented on this, he laughed saying that roller derby was a hobby of his and you tend to pick up on things after your mother stitches you up so many times. Principal Jestro was making his rounds through the fair; and reminding everyone that the fair would close in 15 minutes. The new students were to comingle at the turn off area. When Shelly’s father had come to pick her up, he asked the usual questions of how her first day went and if she made any friends.
“Yeah, yeah I guess I did.”

Holmes Housing was a sizeable shop just off one of the most traveled main streets of downtown. It was no Home Depot but it wasn’t some hole-in-the-wall stall either. Her father had built the place up from scratch and it sold the usual hand tools, nails, screws, and other general D-I-Y items. He also carried a few things from outside the US such as Japanese carpentry sets and pruning toolkits and UK leather crafting tools. He hardly ever sold any, but they did make people curious when they walked by the cherry red window display. The van pulled around the back where they had an on-site carpentry area where her father crafted custom furnishings. Right now he had a big order of custom newel tops for a refurbishing of one of the biggest hotels in Cadric City: The Dougal Regal Arms. So, Shelly would need to find a space to keep to herself until her mother got off work so she could take her home. And no, she could not continue her practice with the lathe machine while she was still in uniform. Her mother would kill them both.
There was a small patio area to the right outside of the store where her father housed the garden fixtures such as pots and statues. One area had a raised planter box behind a cage wall. Here Shelly had made a small garden using the pots that they sold as demos to show customers what they might need. Neither her father nor her mother were very good with plants, but Shelly was. Their only other employee, a Samuel Flagg, had noticed her talents when she was helping with the flower shop next door with their float for the Founder’s Day parade and suggested it to Arthur. Samuel was not the handsomest person to look at. Despite being only several years older than Shelly, his hair was almost completely grey and his youthful face was hard and cold. There were noticeable scars around his neck and chin that he tried to cover with a high collar or scarf when he could get away with it. Not to mention his piercing blue eyes sometimes made customers uncomfortable. He had been recently discharged from the army though he never really shared if it was honorable or not. Samuel had met Arthur because he had caught him breaking in to the store. There was quite a fight and by the time the cops arrived, both had practically exhausted themselves out and were sitting on the floor talking to each other in gasping breaths. There was a long discussion in and out of court and Samuel was given a job at the store in order to pay for the damages despite Shelly’s mother’s hesitation. He has been loyal to Arthur ever since. Shelly viewed him as a big brother.

Right now Samuel was busy stocking a new shipment of nails that had just arrived so there really was no talking with him. Shelly decided to check on her plants just to keep busy. She donned on her heavy garden gloves and her favorite pair of safety goggles. Her father had given them to her as a Christmas present when he had noticed her fascination with the workshop. They were custom fitted to her face and she treasured them greatly. She had just finished trying the apron on when she chanced to look up. The sky was a bit grey suggesting more rain that night. Suddenly streaking across the sky she saw a green light and it was speeding directly towards her! Instinctly Shelly grabbed one of the shovels from the rack and swung blindly at the approaching emerald orb. A brilliant light erupted from the blow and engulfed the patio in verdant flame. She heard something shatter and felt shards of cold glass against her bare arms where she had rolled up her shirt sleeves. Something fast and heavy struck her glasses and she reeled back at the impact. Shelly really had to stop falling like this.

She pulled her glasses up and rubbed her eyes with an ungloved hand. When she got her sight back, something was staring right at her. It was not much bigger than your average guinea pig and it was hovering right in her face. There was a loud buzzing sound coming from it. Her eyesight was still a little hazy and she slammed the droning thing downward with her shovel.
“Must you do that you barbaric harlot?” the thing screeched. Shelly shook her head until the daze had finally cleared from her vision. The thing stamped its back hooves and whirled right back to her eye level.

It was a curious looking creature. Its head was elongated like a rabbit’s and even more floppy ears like one. Its eyes were huge and took up most of the sides of its face. The beast’s body was long like a mongoose but it had the legs and antlers of a deer, the tail of a lion, and the forearms of a mantis. Long shimmering dragonfly wings kept it aloft. The whole animal was covered in an insectoid carapace- even its floppy ears bore scales.
“Well, are you going to just stand there or are you going to apologize properly to your partner?”
“Wait, partner?” The imp rolled its eyes as if this was obviously common knowledge.
“Companion, ally, partner, affiliate, cohort, must I keep this up? You created the bond. And therefore I am your…ugh…guide.” It suddenly grabbed Shelly by the hair and jerked up her bangs to completely show her forehead to the thing.
“Hmm no witch’s mark. No spark of magic in your eyes. No charm whatsoever. Nothing! What horrible curse have I been given to? I have been chosen to guard some nobody? Not even the one actual witch in that pathetic little play group could…” Shelly grabbed the pixie by the ear.
“One: I am standing right here. Two: who and what are you and what’s going on here? And three: what did you do to my glasses?” She pointed to a green glowing shard embedded firmly in the rubbery plastic of her headgear just at the bridge of her nose. The beast howled and tried to jerk the goggles from Shelly’s hands.

“The stone! What have you done with the rest of the stone?”
“Was the stone the flying green thing? Because I hit something with the shovel.” The animal grasped and tugged at its ears and wailed.
“You smashed my power stone?! All of my beautiful talents of the forest and you go and smash it?!” Shelly had put back on her goggles once she got them free from the imp’s grasp.
“Oh I am sooooo sorry. Next time I’ll let a strange flying meteor hit me full in the face next time!” Shelly began to feel really frustrated. It was bad enough she kept making an idiot of herself on her first day of school, but now this thing was blaming her for something she was not even sure was her fault to begin with. Something started stirring in her; perhaps frustration, rage, embarrassment. Whatever it was, it was swelling up in her body until it suddenly burst out in one concentrated blast. The wooden handle of the shovel in her hand abruptly shattered; sending splinters of hardwood out in all directions and the metal blade clanged loudly on the ground.
Samuel shoved the door open and hollered if she was okay as he had heard her muffled yelling from the far end of the store followed by a loud sharp crack. Shelly was shaking where she stood. Splinters had gouged themselves into her arms and face; and her bare legs had been cut up as well. She was trying not to cry despite how much it hurt and how rotten her day had been. Samuel called her father from the back and yelled for him to bring the first aid kit. Shelly didn’t really hear him. Part of her was trying to piece together just what happened and the other was how to explain to her parents and Samuel. She hadn’t even bothered to see if the impish thing was still there. Eventually she just went numb as Samael took her to the back and get help. No one else saw the rodent sized creature hovering in the garden who had finally shut up.

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 4: Frix

Shelly just stared down at her now blistered legs. Despite the numerous attempts her father and Samuel had asked her what happened, she could not give a straight answer. How could she? She had no idea herself what had happened. Arthur placed a call in to Shelly’s mother, Vivian, seeing if she could get off work early and pick her up. Samuel had offered to take her home, but Shelly made it clear she was not sitting on the back of a motorbike with a skirt. This made him laugh and he joked how she much be feeling better.
They were just leaving when Shelly saw the viridian imp hovering in the doorway. She was about to mentioned its presence, but stopped. Arthur and Samuel walked right through it. Great, she knew she had hit her head on the quad but Shelly did not think it had been that great of a concussion. The thing hovered closer and Shelly just had to poke it to see if the thing was real. The creature was cold and smooth to the touch.
“If you must know, I cannot be seen or be interacted with those who do not have some sort of connection to the magical spectrum.”
“So, in other words, I get to deal a voice in my head and it’s a pompous insectoid chimera.”
The imp tapped the tips of its talons together and the tail curled underneath its legs.
“Yes, my…manners were…unacceptable. Oh believe me, I am still very upset you broke my stone into pieces that seemed to have just vanished save for the one there.” He pointed to the goggles resting on the bench next to her. He grabbed them and tried to shove them back into place.
“What are you…”

“I want to know something for certain.” The sprite fluttered around the room until he found a scrap piece of wood from the trashcan.
“Try to make it shatter.”
“What you want me to do what now?”
“Try to make it shatter”, the creature repeated, this time with urgency. Shelly shrugged. Might as well continue to play with her delusions. She strapped the goggles on and stared hard at the piece. She sent mental commands to make it explode, but all it was doing was giving her a migraine from heavy squinting. The beast seemed disappointed, but determined.
“Think about what happened with that shovel. Right before. What did you feel?” Shelly inhaled deeply as she thought back. She pretended the wood was that Fred guy who was clutching to her keychain. The memory of that incident made her frustrated. She felt that same rising feeling of anger and she directed it all at that wood. There was a faint sound of cracks and pops and then the piece fragmented from the center outward. It was a much smaller explosion than the shovel though she was not exactly feeling as energetic or ireful as before.
“So, it was not a fluke. You invoked a power of destruction. And yet you obviously have no ties to the magic order, despite what that painted prima said. Trust me, I’ve heard her make that speech so many times.” Shelly snapped her fingers together.
“That green orb thing I caught. That was you?” The pixie bowed.
“I won’t bore you with my story nor do I think you are worthy of my harrowing history. However, I shall say this. I am now bonded to you and thus you are now blessed with my gifts of the forest. Or what is currently left of it. I am Frix; your guide and familiar. And what handle have they given you?”
“Shelly. Shelly Holmes.” She reached out and shook Frix’s talon. Frix seemed puzzled by the gesture.
“It’s a handshake? You know, like a greeting?”
“I know what a handshake is! I just…I am not accustomed to it, that is all.”

Vivian Holmes had entered the store. She was much shorter than her husband and bore every aspect of a tough Latino matron. She was wearing jeans, a polo shirt, and a navy blue overcoat with the CCBC logo on the back. One shoulder had been worn down smooth from her days as a camerawoman for the local TV station.
“Alright, where is the little troublemaker? Shelly Johanna Holmes, what did you do to your uniform? Please don’t tell me you got into a fight…again.”
“No, ma’am!” Well it was technically true. She hadn’t used any fists. Vivian smiled and rubbed her daughter’s head like a puppy.
“All right then. Let us get you home and I’ll fix those good as new. We kinda of could only get one in the petite size at the last minute.”
They were driving home and Vivian was chatting away about the latest big crime in Cadric City. Metilla Gorilla, the cyborg gorilla, had returned to Cadric City after almost ten years and had been the first major supervillain the city had in that decade. Songbird had practically chased out or jailed most of them. Any stragglers had been taken care of by the Golden Guardian since his first appearance five years ago. The gorilla had been busy robbing smaller banks but only taking odd amounts. Her boss wanted video of the latest heists.
“And get me pictures of that menace Golden Guardian while you’re at it, Peter”, Vivian mimicked by deepening her voice and making a fake mustache with her hand. It was always good for a laugh. Shelly nearly jumped from her seat because Frix was also laughing in the back. Of course her mother could not see or hear him.

Their house was a modest home out in the suburbs of town. Shelly had given her uniform to her mother and was now comfortable in a pair of sweats and a hoodie. Frix scuttled about looking at the décor in her room. The walls were plastered with old posters of heroes from both Cadric City and beyond; Songbird, The Silver Lion, Solarix and Luminux…alongside smaller artworks of fictional heroes like Batman and the Fantastic Four. Perfectly catalogued magazines of various heroes lined the shelves. One table hosted a sewing machine and a pile of sketchbooks. Frix perused through them and appeared to be swishing his tail like a clock pendulum.
“Have you considered taking on a heroic mantle, yourself, Shelly?” Shelly glanced at the stuffed binder that she kept the Citizen Heroes’ excerpts in. Frix began to circle her and rubbed his scythes in excitement. Something seemed to be brewing in that little carapace of his as his crooked maw forced an unsettling smile.
“Perhaps my dear, this is your chance. Think about it! The city writing stories of your exploits. Posters of your own image. The heroine inspiration of all children.”
“Hold it! First off, I’d be helping people because they need help, not some kind of glory hunt. And secondly, there is no way I could do it. I’m a coward and practical.”
“You seemed pretty brave against that harridan…I don’t even remember her name. The red haired one.”
“That’s because Lynn isn’t holding a gun to my face nor is she a gorilla with a blast cannon for an arm…at least as far as I know.” Frix began to pace in the air and circled about the posters. Shelly sat back and toyed with the goggles in her hand. The green shard shone as brilliantly as before. Could she really be a heroine herself? All she could do it seems was make anything wooden go boom if she got mad enough. She thought about the posters on her wall. She doubted she could really be on their level of adoration; but she could at least try. Metilla Gorilla was still on the loose and even the Golden Guardian had failed to stop him completely on his own.
“Okay, I’ll give it a try, Frix.” Frix spun in a twister and it was the first time he seemed elated. Shelly cleared a spot on the table and plopped a sketchbook down.
“Okay, let’s see if we can get us a design and name.”

****
Shelly did not like the idea of Frix following her all the way to school. She would have preferred for him to remain at home. Unfortunately, that seemed to not be possible. Frix was bonded to Shelly and he could not stray too far away even if he wanted to. Shelly did not exactly take him at his word. So he decided to remain behind until they were two blocks away. The result was him smacking right into the back of her head and nearly knocking her face into the dashboard as he bungeed back. At least he could remain in her bag and keep quiet.
It was her first day of homeroom. She saw that Reed, Thomas, Bruce, and Sierra were there as well. She had to stifle a laugh at the situation. Frix failed to see the humor.
“Oh, you know, meeting all these people in the same room and that old trope of being tied together by destiny. You’ve heard of that one right? All that we need to make this complete is…”
“Are you just going to stand there or will you actually take your seat?” Lynn and Alucard were standing behind her. Alucard barely said a word and just maneuvered his way towards the back row. Shelly apologized and hastily next to Sierra.
“Sweetie, what happened to you?” were Sierra’s first words. Shelly hadn’t really given much heed to it, but there were still noticeable cuts on her face and hands.

“Oh, I…had an accident with a shovel.” It was not a lie. Bruce, who was sitting in front of the girls and gave her a once over from his seat.
“How did you get cut up like that from a shovel? I mean, I’d believe you if you said a rake.” Shelly felt like melting into her seat. What could she possibly say? That some green rock and this bug thing gave her superpowers and she made a shovel handle explode because she got mad? Even in a world were a there was a radioactive man-toad with laser vision, and yes that does exist, her story would sounded implausible. The first bell rang and the teacher began roll call. During announcements Frix seemed to keep peeking out of Shelly’s bag and complaining about various things. First he was hungry, and then bored, and finally kept pestering her with questions of when they could be heroes. Shelly was trying to ignore the little beast. She felt people starting at her because she was occasionally kicking her bag.
Shelly had been assigned to the morning exercise period which meant she could feel sore all day for the rest of her classes. She had never been very good at Phys Ed. She wasn’t really all that fat or anything, but physical exertion was never something she exceled very well. Only half of the homeroom class was assigned to the morning PE class. That group included herself, Thomas, and Reed. Sierra, Bruce, and Lynn were given the afternoon session. Alucard had joined neither group. Shelly asked Reed if he knew why. Apparently Alucard was part of the school’s baseball team and their practice was during the morning courses. Frix jibbed that she might consider trying out with her natural inclination of swinging a shovel at moving objects. She grumbled with a threat of next time using him for the ball.

She barked for Frix to wait out on the outside bleachers while she was in the locker room. The familiar huffed insultingly at such an offensive implication, but obeyed the order. He sat down on the bleachers and waited patiently. A bunch of students were gathering around the field area marked for baseball. One of them, carrying a large sack, was loudly explaining the rules and conditions of the tryouts. Frix had little interest and proceeded to stretch himself out in the morning sun. Suddenly he felt a cold gaze bearing down on him. Someone was fully aware he was there and had their eyes on his presence. It was a cruel and hungry ambient feeling he felt. It was not the harridan. This was something else. It was dark or primal; Frix could not figure out which. It was also coming closer to his position. He let out a yell, not that anyone could hear him, and he darted back towards the locker room doors.
The gymnasium doors swing wide open and knocked Frix to the ground. Shelly was the only one who heard him and picked him up asking if was alright. A few girls began to giggle. After all, all they saw was some side eyed girl in loose sweats picking something invisible off the ground and talking to it.
“S-something is here. It wants to eat me.”
“Well Thomas did say this school might be haunted.”
“Bah, you think I’d be afraid of some ghost? This was no specter I can assure you.”
“Whatever, look you can sit on my shoulder and keep quiet.”
After stretches, the teacher had them run laps on the track. Frix began barking for her to run faster even as she gasped for breath harder each time.
“You want to be a hero, you have to be able to move quickly”, was his reasoning. Shelly sneered she was not built to run for long periods of time. Thankfully she was not the slowest person in her class. Reed didn’t run much faster than her. He was quite scrawny outside of uniform. Thomas was the second fastest. When he had done his mile run, he staggered back to the stragglers and encouraged them to finish, especially towards Reed. Reed just grumbled for him to shut it.

Their mile trek had just finished and they were allowed a five minute breather underneath the shade of the bleachers.
“We are going to have to improve your running”, Frix commented. Shelly was about to snap back, but was interrupted by a loud crash. The sound seemed to come from the baseball area. There was a long period of silence before the ground began to rumble and grew in intensity; shaking the whole exercise yard. The bleachers began to creak and groan above their heads. The teacher ordered for them to move out towards the open area. Most of the students had gotten out of the way before the wooden supports started to buckle and snap down around their heads. The shaking had ebbed just a little though now it seemed to burrow about the field. The opposite bleachers were also now shaking but not as much as the older wooden ones they had been near. Some of the students of the baseball class had run over to see what was happening. By now most everyone had run to the open area. Reed, Thomas, and a few others were not among them.

Reed was trying to move some of the supports from the rubble. He yelled out to the others some of them were stuck underneath. The reverberations raised louder around where he was standing and no one heard him. Suddenly a shadow drew from behind him and he felt hot, sticky breath on the back of his neck. Something spiny grabbed his leg and jerked him down into the dirt. A swarm of dust had begun to accumulate around the area so no one could clearly see what was happening. The breath was advancing ever closer to Reed’s face as saliva dribbled onto his bare skin.
Suddenly the thing lurched back and released Reed from its grip. He couldn’t see what was going on save for the hazy silhouette of some kind of raggly beast was flailing about. Frix was trying to pull Shelly into the action urging her that this was her big chance.
“Yeah great except the goggles are in my locker and everyone is going to know it’s me.”
“Well think of something! Or were you just all talk yesterday?” Shelly huffed a fine. Shelly shouted she was going to call the police and made a beeline for the gym. Thankfully her locker was on the end of the row. Frix asked for them saying he might have a solution for the identity issue. The gaps in his carapace shell began to glimmer as he concentrated his magic into the goggles. While they were still pulsing he gave them back before collapsing on the floor exhausted. He insisted he was perfectly fine and told her,
“Now when you have them on, call my name and give it some kind of command. And please choose something at least decent and not corny.” Shelly smirked as she snapped them back on.

“Frix: time to shatter some bark!” The goggles pulsed and began to change shape. The odd shaped goggles formed themselves into a sleek green visor. From the sides a pink shell formed about her head. Green antlers twisted from the top followed by her hair tying itself into two ponytails. She was still dressed in her gym uniform.
“Sorry”, Frix wheezed. “That’s the best I could do with what magic I have left.” Shelly was already moving out the door.
“We’ll make it work. Right now, they need our help.”

The creature was still kicking up swaths of dust, but Shelly’s vision was crystal clear through the visor. By now other students and her gym teacher had begun to move some of the rubble. Whatever was keeping the mysterious thing occupied, they were grateful for. Shelly kept close to the door.
“Now hold on. We can’t just blast these boards. You might hurt someone.”
“Well making it explode seems to be the only thing I can do.”
“Not if you control it. Now, breathe deeply and focus on one board at a time. Just imagine splitting it like a banana peel. You will need to concentrate on this or you will make a wooden bomb. Try the top one.”
Shelly concentrated hard on that single board. She tried to imagine just peeling it, but nervousness took over and the board popped loudly. The sudden blow make the whole pile shudder.
“Shelly, careful! Don’t worry about making it shatter like that. Forget all about it. Just try splitting it.” Shelly gulped and attempted with another one. This one creaked but it was splitting right down the middle. She got excited and it again detonated.

“I…I can’t do this. I might hurt someone!” Frix grabbed her cheeks.
“Listen you, I don’t have time for this nonsense. And since I am stuck with you I…your power is tried to your emotional state. Just focus on the task and just the task. Get it done! Because if you think I am annoying now…” Shelly growled a ‘fine’ and had a go at it once more. The smaller boards were easier to move and they cleared the students out. The thing had also scurried away. Shelly shoved her goggles back in her locker and joined the rest excusing that apparently her phone was dead and she tried to find an outlet to get it working. Alucard was heaving and seemed to be focused on the back fence that led out onto the street. His face was twisted into one of annoyance and anger.
“Stupid little insect. I swear I’ll…”
“Um…Alucard?” Shelly inquired.

“WHAT?!” he snapped at her. Shelly was a bit taken aback by his sudden outburst. He seemed to startle himself because he retracted back to his emotionless state in a snap.
“I…just wanted to ask if your arm was alright.” Alucard tugged at the sleeve of his jersey which was now greatly torn and slightly bloodstained.
“It’s just a couple scratches. I’ve had worse. Looks like everyone else is good too.” Some of the students who had been caught by the bleachers were being taken to the nurse’s office for examination along with members of the rescue party. Apparently a couple had splinters in their hands and arms for no explicatable reason.
The rest of the day went by very uneventfully save for other students asking them questions about what happened that morning. Frix told her they would really need to up on her training and for once Shelly agreed with him.
****

Reed had done his best to hide the stinging pain in his ankle where the thing had grabbed him. The chauffer didn’t even notice him limping when he had come to pick him up after school. The Altamiri Estate was an Italian style villa that his father had commissioned roughly ten years ago. His father, Morgan the 1st, was a self-made man who had built a successful advertisement company from the ground up. Frankly, Reed still had never gotten used to the upper crust.
Lenora Altamiri was waiting for him at the door. She was a petite woman, much smaller than her son, but the resemblance between them was strong. She was also confined to a wheelchair. Reed did his best to suppress his anger every time he saw it.
“Good afternoon, Reed. How was school?”
“….fine, mom.”
“Dear, why are you limping?”
“I’m not limping.” Lenora pushed her wheelchair in his path as he tried to maneuver out of the way and bent down and grabbed his leg. Even the paralysis in her calves didn’t stop her from knocking him into a chair so she could shove back his trouser leg. She tapped the swollen scratches and wagged a finger at him.

“I may not be active anymore, but I am still a nurse even in my own household. What have I told you about lying to me when you get hurt?”
“I…I’m sorry, mom. I just did not want you to worry. I’ll talk.” He told her everything that occurred as far as he knew of that morning as she wrapped his ankle in gauze. She seemed quite angry about the thing.
“I will talk to your father about this.”
“Mom, no. It’s fine, really. Dad has bigger things to worry about.” As if on cue, the second car pulled into the driveway. Reed could see from the window his father and older brother exiting the black sedan and chatting away happily. He tried to reason with his mother that it was not anything to really be upset over, but Lenora was having none of it.

Morgan and Marco were both tall men with the same Romanesque features that dominated the family line. Marco was Reed’s older brother by seven years. His dark blonde hair was cut shoulder length and flayed out like the crest of a lizard. And unlike his anemic appearing brother, had a lean athletic build. There was a strong cheeriness about him that seemed to brighten areas wherever he went. Even, now walking up the steps to the front door, he strode with confidence. The father, Morgan, was a bigger man whose broad chest and arms just fitted in his suit. Unlike his son, his face was hard and craggy and impressed people the image of some mob enforcer rather than the head of an advertising company.
The door swept open as Morgan was patting Marco on the back and bellowing out big boisterous laughs.
“Lenora, you would not believe today. Marco has outdone himself this time. It took a year, but he finally got that contract from the Kieran Publishing House.” He continued to heap praise onto his eldest son while Reed was trying to sneak away towards his room.
“Hold it, right there young man. And Morgan, we need to talk.”
“Mom, really, we do not need to…”
“Reed, are you limping?” Marco inquired. Morgan rolled his eyes.
“What? Did he sprain his ankle in PE? Really Lenora, you can’t keep…”
“Reed was attacked.” Marco and Morgan raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean by attack, mom? Bullies? Is some little punk messing with my brother?” Lenora inhaled to contain herself.
“Morgan dearest, Reed was attacked by some kind of monster.”
“A monster? In Valdus Academy? You’re joking right? That place is built like a fortress and then some. I know, I wrote my senior thesis on it.”
“And a most excellent thesis it was too”, Morgan added.
“Morgan, focus!” Morgan began to rub his temple with his hand and shake his head.
“Lenora, now is not a good time. With Metilla on the loose…”
“But what is it was that gorilla that attacked your son?”
“Lenora, he does not…”
“But nothing! Reed is your son too. You can’t just…” Marco grabbed Reed by the shoulder and suggested they get out of the room for the time being. They went into the kitchen and Marco started raiding the fridge for a sandwich. He insisted that Reed tell him exactly what happened while he prepared the sandwiches. When he had finished Marco started reaching for his phone and started looking for a number.

“I know a guy who might be able to help. He can be a bit of a jerk, but he’s good at what he does.”
“Do not bother.”
“Reed…”
“I said do not bother! I do not want your help! Or Dad’s! Or mom worrying about me all the time when she should be worrying about herself! Dad could not even help her when she needed him.” Marco was steadying himself by focusing on building the sandwiches.
“So that’s it, is it? Reed, I’m calling that friend whether you like it or not. Dad can’t be everywhere and there is only so much he can do. Don’t you get that?” Reed just tsked. Marco shoved Reed’s hoagie in front of him.
“Well, eat something at least. You get unreasonable when you’re hungry.” Reed sulked on the barstool but bit the sandwich anyway. Marco knew exactly how to prepare his sandwich and he was not sure if that made him happy or bitter.

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 5: The Black and Gold Guardians

One month later…

Metilla Gorilla had managed to elude his pursuers once more, if only just barely this time. He had stuffed himself through the bars of a maintenance entrance down to the storm drain system. From there, it was only a manner of finding the old entrances to the original underground tunnels that sprawled out through Cadric City. There had been long stories of the fabled catacomb systems beneath the city though, much like it’s catchphrase, were heavily disputed of their purpose. Most of the ancient tunnels had either been blocked by cave-ins or torn down to lay out new sewer systems. If you knew your way around, there were still larger channels that had stood past the testament of time.
Cyrus Simmons was rumored to be an eccentric millionaire who never left his home despite his occasional donations to art programs. Metilla shoved the heavy door to get in and forced himself into his large custom chair. Today had been quite a nuisance from that idiot bank teller to him being chased out by a rookie heroine. The idea of being bested in any way by a simian infant was embarrassing. Metilla turned on the TV and sure enough the news was documenting his latest spree at the bank. The reporter though, claimed that it was the Golden Guardian who had chased him off. Well, the news was never accurate anyway. Even so, the Guardian was becoming quite an annoyance. He could see why most villains of any salt had long left even after the Songbird had completely retired from service. Metilla wondered what Songbird was doing with himself these days.
The buzzer rang on the dashboard of his chair and the camera feed activated in the corner of the television. Someone was at the door by the mail slot. He was dressed in the light blue uniform of the postal service, but this was not his usual mailman. The hat was pulled down low and the face was obscured by thick sunglasses. This could be a trick, the gorilla thought. It would not be the first time someone attempted to see the elusive Cyrus Simmons. This mailman spoke into the microphone by the mail slot.

“I have a telegram for Cyrus Simmons. Shall you accept it?” People still used telegrams, Metilla questioned.
“What is the message”, he grunted over the intercom.
“It is merely an invitation”, the mail carrier responded casually.
“I request you leave. I have no interest in mingling with the public.” Metilla’s hand hovered over the switch to eject this postal worker off his premises.
“Oh this is a private party…Metilla.” Metilla held his hand in mid-air.
“That got your attention, didn’t it?” the man at the door spoke only second later.
“You can refuse it if you want. I’ll just slip it right into your little box here…and done. Perhaps we shall meet later, hmm? Bye.” The post office carrier was gone as quickly as he had appeared as Metilla pulled a secondary lever that sent the mail straight to his desk.
It was a cream colored envelope with his name and address written on the front in ink in cursive. The letter was closed with a wax seal with the image of a winged devil inside a ring. Once he opened it, a card fluttered out. The card had been printed on heavy cotton paper with gold edging. On the front were the words:

I, the Black Guardian, cordially invite you; Cyrus Simmons aka Metilla Gorilla to tea in the Cadric City underground. The location will be the old Brewery Chamber beneath Ian Street. 9 promptly.
There were large cavernous “rooms” strewn about the Underground. The Brewery Chamber was called so because it had been once home to an illegal distillery and bar during the prohibition era. It had still operated under the Alamiro mob until little over the decade ago when most of the major tunnels to it had fallen in on themselves during a mutant mole invasion. Now the bar and the rest of the furnishings just sat there crumbling from the dust and damp. Metilla had been able to clear a way thanks to the jackhammer function on his arm and was surprised to find the place well lit. The floor had been painstakingly swept and all furniture that was still intact had been wiped clean. The lanterns were lit and a slow jazz melody was creaking away from the jukebox. There was only one occupant other than himself inside that room.

It was difficult to tell his height as he was seated cross-legged on a bar stool. He wore a tight black leather pantsuit and high platform shoes. Long silver talons hugged around his ribs and shoulders emulating a skeletal pattern. He bore long fingerless gloves with metal greaves emblazoned with the images of fire. His host also bore a mask with a pair of long curved horns that obscured the top half of his chalky white face. The mask flared out like the spines of a dragon. Even his icy orange eyes were like two stones of living fire. He also had a pair of long, shimmering, black wings. He slid off the barstool and glided ever so gracefully to the only table that had a tablecloth on it. He gestured for his guest to sit down.
“I am so glad you came, Mr. Simmons. Otherwise, I had done all this for nothing and that would not be very pleasing for me.” The chair the host beckoned to was a much larger chair than his own; practically customed for his guest. As Metilla seated himself he saw that the plates and silverware before him were in perfect arrangement and were even large enough for himself to use.
“Tea? Coffee?” his host offered. “And do help yourself to the tea cakes. Baking is a hobby of mine, you see.” Metilla gingerly picked up a little pink cake and tucked it into his mouth. He hummed at his pleasure.
“As much as I am impressed by your formality and talent for pastries, you did not bring me here for commentary of your baking.” The host grinned as he sipped down an entire cup of coffee.

“I would have not have made as much of a cleaning effort. You see, I would like to conduct a business transaction with you or rather your services.” Metilla’s forearm began to hover over the gun barrel.
“I am not some street gunsel you can hire, mister…”
“Oh yes, my manners. I am the Black Guardian. Black if you want to be informal.”
“Oh how an original name.” Black Guardian laughed heartily.
“It is an apt title. And you misunderstand me, my good sir, I am offering a trade: a service in exchange for a service.” He offered another biscuit to his guest who politely refused it.

“Just what sort of service would you be offering me, exactly”, Metilla inquired.
“I can get rid of the Golden Guardian.” Metilla laughed and banged the table in his amusement. The idea was preposterous. He had been around the block enough to know it was better on focusing on getting away rather than removing a hero from service in a permeant manner. Not to mention Metilla had seen enough news reports on villains bigger and stronger than this glam-rocked up Bowie wannabe who had trapped, confronted, assaulted, and ultimately lost to the Guardian. Black Guardian did not seem amused by this ridicule. He was quite annoyed.
“You doubt I can? That is fair enough to believe. But I know a few things and I can guarantee his removal.” Metilla asked for proof and Black Guardian waved his probe away stating that even if he told him, Metilla would not have the means to do it himself. His deal was simple. The Black Guardian would remove Golden Guardian from hero work indefinitely and in exchange he wanted a favor from Metilla Gorilla that he could collect at a later time of his choosing. Furthermore he would not impose on this favor until Black Guardian had completed his part of the deal.
“Since you doubt my abilities, what do you have to lose?” He placed a contract before the robot simian with the Black Guardian’s signature on the dotted line. He liked to do things in a business-like manner. Metilla Gorilla perused the document carefully before finally signing it. The Black Guardian grinned maliciously.
“Well, I guess it is time to perform my end of the deal. But first…would you like some cake to take home?”
****

Shelly’s social science and history class was taking a field trip to the Cadric Heroes Museum. While the title of the building suggested a broad spectrum, most of the exhibit spaces were occupied by the Golden Guardian’s exploits. There was a half melted statue of the Guardian taken from the fight with Magma Max and a piece of crushed concrete from when Bulldozer Betty and the Sandhogs robbed an armored convoy of forty million dollars before being stopped singlehandedly by the town’s savior. Civilian heroes were regulated to the back wall with mostly their pictures and a paragraph, if that, underneath their name and what they did. Shelly had found Reed there who seemed to make an actual effort to not even look at anything Guardian related.
“They are real heroes”, he said to no one in particular. Shelly just stood there and tilted her head. Reed seemed to be somewhere else far away right now.
“The Guardian does not deserve the praise he gets. And they just ignore his failures or those he could have helped by didn’t because he was somewhere else.”
“Even superheroes can’t be everywhere, Reed. That’s why we need people like these.”
“He should still priotazie those who are close to him. If I was the Guardian, I’d crush anyone who hurt those I care about.”
“My my my, such shadows within someone so young and pure”, chortled a voice above them.

The Black Guardian was crouched above the glass case like some form of insidious gargoyle. He flapped his massive wings, creating a gust that blew Reed and Shelly back towards the others. He leapt from his perch and dug his nails into the floor. Shadows rose from around the doors and windows blocking any possible way out. Frix urged Shelly to do something. And just how was she going to do that with no wood that she could break wantonly? The Black Guardian strode casually towards the others and paused to look at Shelly. He smiled bemusedly and moved on.
“Now this will be over quickly. I’ve already put in a call to the police so our erstwhile Guardian should be arriving shortly. You are simply a means to get his attention, provided there is nothing else to distract him. In the meantime, just stay where you are and don’t try anything yadda yadda yadda.”
Fifteen minutes had passed and the museum was already surrounded by the police and they were demanding the Black Guardian to release the hostages. The ebony angel drummed his fingers on the armrest of a mechanical chair exhibit completely callous to the activity outside.
“Let us make this a little fun, shall we. Time to count down. Ten…Nine…Eight…Seven…Six…” He had barely began to spoke five when the Golden Guardian had forced his way through the ceiling above. Spiraling downward, he thrust a fist across Black Guardian’s face. The onyx spirit twisted out from his chair and bounced across the floor before crashing against the glass window of the gift shop.
Black stood up casually and brushed the glass from his shoulder.
“I hope that was not your best shot, Goldie. Now let us see how fast you can keep up.” A violet orb of energy swirled about his hand before becoming solid. This he tossed up in the air and cracked the ceiling above. Black soared through the gap like mist up an air shaft and cackled for Gold to chase him.
Black swung through the buildings of downtown, darting each way and that but making sure no one really noticed him. He turned around the corner of CCTV station and paused. He saw no sign of Gold anywhere. Perhaps he had made it too difficult of a chase. Black flapped up higher to get a better vantage point and a gold streak collided with his left wing. Black beated his wings clumsily trying to stabilize and landed face first across the roof of the building. Gold hovered above him, now with halberd in his hands. Black’s heart began to race and he beamed. He laughed in excitement and dove backwards off the roof.
He could feel Gold hot on his heels as he sped towards the old districts of the city. They were approaching an old brick manor that had been cordoned off as historical monument. Black made his way down into the cellar and towards the back wall. Shoving the stone wall aside he danced downwards deeper underground until he was back in the Brewery Chamber. He heard the timely flap of his opponent’s wings. Spinning on his heel, Black summoned forth a shield and deflected the incoming slam. Gold was quick to recover and was already back on his feet. Black snapped his fingers and the entrances sprung forth iron bars trapping them both inside.
The Golden Guardian held his weapon firm ready to the next strike. Black tossed his shield from one hand to the other.
“Tell me, Goldilocks, do you know who I am?”
“Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure.” Black chuckled at the response.
“I see. Well, then I don’t have anything personal against you. But I will be taking your Guardian Ring.” Gold glanced at the ring on his hand. He then noticed there was a ring shaped bulge under Black’s glove as well.
“Do try to make this at least fun”, Black announced.

Black swung his shield forward towards Gold’s head. Gold ducked and jabbed the handle of the halberd right at Black’s solar plexus. With the momentum he forced Black upwards and airborne. As he fell down, Gold rolled over and horse kicked Black across the room. The dusky demon pulled himself from the entanglement of a table. He had to roll forward to avoid a ground strike from Gold. The two pair clashed repeatedly in the cramped space of the chamber; their wings beating frantically to stay aloft in the stale air of the area. The hall reverberated with the sounds as the shield and halberd clashed against one another. Neither weapon could touch the flesh of the other nor disarm the other. Black snapped his fingers and summoned forth more orbs of energy. He bounded into the air and fired them downward in a carved arc around Gold. Gold swung the halberd in a wide arc as each orb became absorbed into the blade. One hefty swung shot all that collected energy forward across the room. Black snapped one wing around him to deflect the oncoming shot. As the magic skirted around him, he snapped his wrist and shot forth a tether formed of magic around Gold’s leg. He snapped the tether with a massive wave and repeatedly slammed Gold into the ground and walls.
With the final slam, Gold jammed the blade of the halberd into a crack on the floor and jerked free of the binding. Black stumbled forward and Gold rebounded by ramming him with his shoulder into the wall. He gave the demon no chance to recover and rammed him repeatedly until he finally collapsed. Gold pinned him down with one foot on his hand and the handle of the halberd holding the other. He didn’t like knowing that Black was still smiling.
“You’re good”, the Black Guardian panted. “I can see why this city adores you. Fighting the mortal threats by day and taking down my monsters at night.” The Golden Guardian pressed down his weight.

“I don’t know who you are, but I won’t let you continue to threaten this city!” The demon choked out a wheezing laugh.
“Well, when it comes to pugilism you win. But I still have one little trick left.” The Black Guardian summoned all his energy in one spot and created one massive blast that threw the Gold Guardian off his body. Black pulled a small ivory box from his pocket and snapped it open.
He tossed it onto Gold’s lap. Something black spilled out over his shoe. It wriggled slightly and suddenly began to spread up his leg. It bubbled and frothed as it continued to grow and coat the angel’s legs. Gold tore frantically at it only to have gobs of the black ooxe slip through his fingers and spread further. Black Guardian pounded the floor and clutched his abdomen as his laugh rose higher.
“Well well well, our little angel has some big shadows in his soul, does he? I wonder what it could be. Heh heh heh, your ring is going to soon reject your corrupted body and pop, it’s all mine.” Golden Guardian frantically tried to fly away even as the ooze spread down his back and swallowed his wings. When the gook had coated his head, he collapsed back down to the ground. The Black Guardian caught him and gently laid the mire mucked figure on the ground. He waited a moment as the sludge absorbed into the Guardian’s skin. He was no longer in Guardian form once the muck had finished dissolving. He bent down to help himself to the ring. The ring was gone.
Black Guardian latched Gold by his suit lapels and shook him demanding the ring. Gold was still slightly conscious.
“I…sent it away. You thought I was trouble…” He had passed out. Black slammed his unconscious body back on the floor in frustration.
“You made a big mistake and your precious city is going to pay for it.”
****

Marco and Reed were at the dining room table alone. After the experience at the museum, the school thought it best the students went home for the rest of the day. Marco was tapping on his laptop for the next day’s presentation while Reed was going his math homework. Marco saw that his brother kept erasing and his pencil was almost a nib the number of times he kept sharpening it.
“Do you want me to help you with that?”
“I can do this on my own”, Reed snapped. Reed’s homework was covered in eraser dust and pencil marks.
“Come on Reed, there is no shame in asking for…” Something bounced on Reed’s worksheet and scattered them across the table. A few tink sounds and the thing settle between the two bothers. It was a gold ring. Both of them knew it for what it was.
“That’s dad’s ring! It means father is in trouble!” Reed grabbed for the ring, but Marco snatched it up.
“Hold on, something isn’t right here.”
“But…what if something happened to father and…” Marco grabbed Reed’s reaching hand and gripped it; perhaps a little harsher than he meant to.
“Reed, just wait a minute. Besides, do you honestly think the ring would even work for you? You, a scrawny little coward who can’t even do a simple math problem?” Marco’s phone rang to break the silence as Reed just went limp on the table. Marco answered the caller with a few “yes” and “okay” before hanging up. He exhaled with relief and tossed the ring into his shirt pocket.
“That was Dad. He’s a bit beaten up, but fine and on his way home. I’m putting the ring in the safe until he gets back.” As he walked away, he stopped and sighed.

“Reed…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…but you know how the ring works. Not just anyone can use it. Hey, how about you take a break and I’ll fix you up your favorite dessert?” Reed just glared back at him, rubbing a slightly bruised wrist.
“Just leave me alone”, he snarled before burying his head in his textbook. Marco exited the room and twirled the ring between his fingers. Sometimes he wished his father never found the thing in the first place.

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 6: Rise of the Silver Guardian

It spread quickly. No one was sure how it started, but it reached the masses faster than a plague throughout the city. Maybe it was a tweet or an anonymous blog post somewhere, no one could say for sure. It was simple and to the point: The Golden Guardian was gone. At first half of the people did not believe such a story while others ate it up and posted it to every social media in their roster. The first week of the news, no criminal dared to make a move. Perhaps this was a trick to lure them out and the Guardian only appeared when there was crime. It was not like he patrolled the city looking for trouble. At last someone decided to test his luck. A disgruntled office worker attacked a high rise office building while riding on a mechanical lobster he bought on the internet. The man tore up through the floor and nearly bisected the CEO in half.
It was by sheer luck of a quick thinking security guard that had distracted the man long enough for the police to arrest him. It had taken almost an hour to deal with the unhappy fellow and yet no Guardian appeared. Then a few days later a trio of has-been debutantes demanded tribute by holding up a stage opera. They managed to escape with fifty thousand in total. Again, the Guardian made no appearance. The news surged though the criminal underworld. With no Guardian, they no longer needed to work as sly as they had been before. There was only one other hero in Cadric City, but it was only rumors he even existed at all.

Shelly had to shut off her social media because it was being flooded with panic and speculation about this now rising crime wave. Frix saw an opportunity.
“You could be the city’s new hero! Wouldn’t that be so pleasant?” Shelly closed her phone once he had finished regulating the social media apps to the back page.

“I don’t think this is something I can handle. Plus, unlike the Golden Guardian, I have school and you are going to make me late.”
The quad was already buzzing with the news as Shelly’s dad had dropped her off. The conversation continued even as Shelly took her seat in homeroom. She happened to glance across the aisle and noticing Lynn was texting furiously on her phone. Cell phones were allowed to be out until the first bell rang. Her eyes were squinted tight and her brow heavily furrowed. There was faint heaving through her nostrils as if she was trying to keep composure together.
“I am amused so see the harridan flustered for once,” Frix commented. Shelly snarled for him to shush and shoved him inside her backpack. She walked over just as Lynn was putting her phone down and staring at the screen. Shelly did her best to avoid peeking a glance at the conversation she was having and asked if she was okay. Lynn’s eyes were the only thing to turn in her direction.
“Why don’t you go back to your seat where you belong?” Lynn snapped. There was a slight cracking noise in her voice like she really did not feel like putting in the extra effort to be her usual high fluting self. Still, she could have put it a little more nicely.
“Well excuuuuuuse me, your majesty. Forgive me for trying to be nice”. She tried to say it as quietly while still having the effect as to not signal the entire classroom. There were some who were starting to turn their eyes towards them. Either that or they were awaiting the latest spat between the two since club day. Sheesh, Shelly thought, it was not like I was dating her brother or anything. There was slight pop in Lynn’s throat.
“I’m fine”, she said in a tone that was both tactless and apologetic at the same time.
“Worried what might happen now that the Golden Guardian isn’t here?”
“Something like that.” Lynn withdrew her attention to her book and made a gesture for Shelly to leave. Shelly decided further confrontation was not worth it and returned to her seat.

“Hey did you hear what happened at Cadric State High”, Sierra asked her from her seat behind. Shelly looked back at Sierra who had her Facebook page opened to a photo of a girl who had been scratched on her arms and face. They were almost identical to the one’s Shelly had seen on Alucard a month ago.
“She is not the only one either”, Sierra continued. She cycled through more photos on her timeline; showing students with similar wounds-some worse than others. Shelly recognized a few of them even though she did not know them personally. She had pretty much spent her freshman year to herself.
“According to the posts, some giant beast attacked them and then disappeared. But it only went after the students who had come from Cadric City High after the…incident”, Bruce commented. Sierra grabbed Bruce’s bicep and hugged it tightly.
“It’s pretty scary isn’t it? It’s been happening all week? What if we’re next? Didn’t something happen last month? You’ll protect me, right Brucie?”
“Of course, sweetie. But not if you cut off all the circulation in my arm and it ends up being amputated”, Bruce joked with her. The two had a shared laugh and resumed talking to each other. Shelly hummed a little as she turned to face the front of the classroom. She was not jealous or anything.
It was the afternoon period and Shelly’s science class was outside in the garden to look at the special insect greenhouse they had on campus. On the way from the upstairs classroom, Shelly noted the afternoon PE classes making their way out onto the field. Frix hovered about and cooed at how warm and comfortable it felt inside. The butterflies just passed through him.

“Oh, what a lovely place this would be in that yard of yours. Just imagine all the butterflies and flowers and nice soil…” This his said as he began to snuggle himself in a pot where a citrus tree was planted in. He was not exactly being subtle in what he wanted, Shelly reflected. Then again, maybe it was something a forest familiar needed. She would have to ask her dad about it.
The assignment was to find and observe the insect on the card the teacher handed out. Everyone had barely started when they felt a slight rumble. Suddenly there was a loud crash outside by the track. The crash was followed by loud screams and some strange gurgling squeaky bellow. As one does, the science class raced out to see what was happening.

A mound of earth had risen from the football field and emerging from the dirt was a terrible creature. It was a strange hellish thing that was approximately the size of a large bear when standing at full height. Its body was wide and bulbous at the chest but sleek as it tapered at the waist and then broadened out at the end to form a long hefty fish tail. Its forearms were thick and shovel-like similar to those of a turtle. Thick rabbit legs and feet supported the thing with an awkward swaying gait. The head was somewhat humanoid save for the massive gaping mouth and large pulsing red brain that spilled out from its cranium. Gills flapped furiously along its thick wrinkled neck and thick armor like plates dotted its hairy back. Snapping its toothy mouth it dove back in to the ground again and burrowed its way to circle the panicked students who were trying to escape back into the gym.
The science teacher yelled for her class to get back inside to safety. Other teachers who happened to see the commotion, also were now barricading the doors and windows and frantically calling the police. Those not present were Reed and Shelly. During the pandemonium it was easy for both of them to slip away and no one had noticed. Reed slunk into the boy’s restroom while Shelly grabbed her gym bag from her locker. Shelly wisped into a restroom and summoned forth the helmet while she hastily outfitted herself in her makeshift costume. Unfortunately she had not yet figured out how to pack enough scrap wood or her cant hook without anyone noticing.

Shelly moved out towards the quad area where the beast was grabbing each student with its rodent talons and examining each one as if it was picking an assortment of flowers. It got excited when it caught sight of Bruce and Sierra. Sierra had sprained her ankle and Bruce was trying to carry her off. The creature hooked one of its shovel-like claws onto Bruce’s shirt and held him up.
“Cadric High brat pay!” it gurgled.
Shelly had not recognized it the last time when it appeared in a dust storm, but she definitely remembered it now. It was the thing that wrecked her old school.
“Hey! Teacher’s Pet! Time for you to split before I split you!”
“Teacher’s Pet? Really?” Frix groaned.

“Well it sounded good in my head.” Teacher’s Pet still held Bruce as it charged towards Splinterbark. The girl rolled to the side kicked the ball cart into its patch. The cart unfortunately hit a bump and veered off course and only struck the heel of the horror. All it did was make it mad. It held Bruce over its mouth and was ready to slap its protruding lips about him. Suddenly an orange cord wrapped around Bruce’s leg and jerked him out just in time. He bounced a bit on the floor on impact while Splinterbark was trying to drag him out of the way. She apologized the whole time while trying not to say his name.
Teacher’s Pet craned its bobbing head towards the camo clad girl.
“Cadric High must pay!” it screeched again. It bounded across with its wide rabbitian appendages and pummeled the earth where Splinterbark was. The girl was hoisted in the air by the blast before being smacked in the back by the fishy tail. She spat out some dirt and pushed herself up. Her shoulder was still aching from her encounter with the gorilla and now it stung even worse. Just putting any measure of pressure on it caused it pain.
“What are you doing? You have no issue with that ape”, Frix barked.

“This thing is bigger and I had more tools to work with.” The thing was fast approaching her while spitting out the same phrase repeatedly. Splinterbark grabbed a piece of pine from her bag and heaved it at its nose. She commanded it to explode and it stunned the beast. It frantically tried to remove the slivers from its nose, but its paws were too broad and clumsy. This only made it even more violent. The brain shaped mass on its head began to hum and illuminate. Suddenly a ruby red bolt pulsed from the giggling mound at its enemy. Splinterbark just barely pushed herself back as it struck a clod of dirt and it fizzled from the head. She began to run cursing her luck as she tried to run and put distance between them. Thankfully the monster could not shoot and run at the same time. Instead it burrowed and cut Splinterbark off. Heaving its weight forward as it emerged, its meaty claws plunged down and caught her between its nails. She couldn’t move and Teachers Pet was now increasing the pressure to pop her like a grape.
****

Reed held the ring in his palm. He had helped himself to it the night before when Marco had forgotten to put it back. Reed had not tried it on yet. His heart had been jumping frantically ever since he had stolen it. What if it didn’t work? How was he going to explain to his father if he got caught? He remembered his brother’s words. Maybe a scrawny whelp like him was far from worthy. Reed shook his head. He had to do something now. He thought of how Thomas and the others were trapped once before and how he could not save them. He had the perfect opportunity now. And if it did work, he was going to do what his father should have done and make a certain devil pay. But right now, his classmates needed him.
The ring was loose on his tinny finger and he had to make a fist just to keep it on. Recalling what he heard last night, he shoved his fist in the air and called out,

“By the ring on my hand, grant me the guardian form!” He waited. Nothing. There was no magic, no fanfare, absolutely nothing. Maybe his brother had been right. He heard a terrible scream from outside. He heaved himself up to glance out the window and saw a girl with a pink helmet and camo outfit being pummeled by a giant abomination.
“Fine!” he barked at the ring. “Your help or now, I have got to help her.” The ring faintly glowed and suddenly shrunk to fit his finger. As the band illuminated brighter, the luminesce began to travel through his skin and up his arm. Reed was starting to panic a bit as a surge of energy pulsated though his body. His heartrate increased dramatically and his body began to sweat and shiver at the same time. He felt the power begin to expand inside him and swell outward against his flesh. His bones creaked and groaned like they were being stretched and the pain was torment. Reed dropped to his hands and knees unaware his irradiated form was growing and reshaping to a new body. Then, as soon as Reed thought his whole body was going to fall into pieces, the pain stopped. His heart quieted and his breath became regular.

The light had faded and he pushed himself from the floor. Everything seemed a bit smaller for some reason. He felt a weight on his back and he stumbled against a stall. A large silver wing flapped him in the face. He had wings? He turned and sure enough, there he boasted a pair of long silver sparrow like wings that glistened even in the florescent lighting of the bathroom. As he tugged on one to make sure it was real, he saw his hands were larger and his arms now packed with muscle.

“It…worked? My voice! What is wrong with my voice?” He staggered towards one of the mirrors over the sink and almost shrieked at the reflection staring back at him. It was not exactly his face anymore. It was older and sharper. His flaxen hair was white and the coif and ponytail had grown exponentially into long floating strands that reached his lower back. His uniform was also gone. It had been replaced by white pants and silver boots decorated on the side with silver swirls. His blazer had transformed into a white double breasted rider jacket with metal shoulder guards and greaves around his wrists. He wore no shirt underneath and it exposed his now washboard chest and abdomen. His horror melted into joy as the reality had sunk in. He had done it! He had really done it! A loud crash outside reminded him this was no time to be adoring himself in a bathroom mirror. Someone needed saving.
****

Splinterbark dug her fingers into the turf as Teacher’s Pet continued to apply pressure. Any minute now her spine was going to snap and that would be the end of it. Frix was desperately knocking his little body against the beast, but a guinea pig sized forest sprite was not exactly going to take down a colossal amalgamation of science animals. A curious sound began to fill the air. It sounded like the rapid beating of large wings against the air, but then twisted into a whistling cacophony as something white collided with the monster. Both beast and white blue tumbled across the football stadium until the white shape crashed into the goal post and the creature continued until it got tangled in the bleachers. The white blue was a silver winged angel who was stretched out his wings and rubbing his head from the impact.

Splinterbark and Frix caught up to the angel and offered to help him up. When he grabbed her hand, though she winced as he nearly crushed it in his grip.
“Sorry! Sorry, I’m kinda still getting used to this.” Teacher’s Pet rose up from the metal cage of the seats and galloped towards the pair.
“Hi, I’m Splinterbark and MOVE!” The two dove to the opposite side; just barely missing being trampled upon by mismatched feet. Teacher’s Pet grumbled and burrowed back into the ground. There was no sign above ground for them to see, but they could hear low rumblings under their feet. On some kind of instinct, the angel reached for his hips and his hands grasped the handles of a pair of blunderbuss pistols in holsters.
“Huh, well I thought I was going to have an axe like…”

“Like what? Come to think of it, you do look like the Guardian.” The rumble increased beneath their feet and the earth started to upturn. The angel grabbed Splinterbark in his big arms, being much more mindful this time and just managed to carry her out of the way of a giant flapping mouth attempting to swallow them both.
“Thanks for the save, Silver.” The angel tilted his head.
“Your outfit and wings, obviously. And it’s clear you are not our lord and savior Golden Guardian.” The angel mused. Well it was a name, even if a downgrade from gold.

The beast seemed to have lost interest in them and was heading for the school doors still cussing out its single sentence of Cadric High must pay. It crashed headfirst into the gymnasium doors where most of the Phys Ed students had holed up. It tried to reach for a girl who had tripped trying to run and was just stopped. Silver held firm its tail and was dragging it outside. The beast snared and dug its fore claws into the wooden floor. Splinterbark slid under its stomach and got the girl out of the way. She tried to focus solely underneath the monster. If she could break the floor just enough, they could get it back into the open. A scream from the crowd, not helped that it echoed inside the large space, distracted her and instead she caused the molding around the doors where Silver was to shatter around him.

Silver let go to shield himself out of sheer instinct not realizing that the shards just harmlessly bounced off his skin. The sudden release jerked the monster forward and it collided with Splinterbark. She skidded across the sleek floor and forced into the hallway. Seeing a way out the creature now scrambled towards the hall hoping to continue its single minded hunt. Silver drew out one of his firearms and fired two shots aiming for the monster’s feet. Both shots nearly caught Splinterbark; once in the shoulder and another in the leg.
“Hey! Some of us aren’t invulnerable!”

Teacher’s Pet was forcing itself through the hall towards a row of classrooms. Some students, who had been curious as to what was happening, had wandered into the hall and were now in the path of the monster. Splinterbark hurled a tether and managed to hook the tail. Feeling the pressure on its appendage, it began to swing its tail wildly trying to shake it off. Splinterbark was barely holding on and was rammed repeatedly into the walls. She finally managed to maneuver her weight with the next thrust and swing around one of the pillars and hook the tether tightly. She could barely hold on and the strap was starting to cut into her wrists. The creature slashed at the walls and hurled debris towards the pupils and barricading them in. Then it latched its claws into the roof and pull down a section to smash upon the students. They were just saved by Silver catching the heavy panel and was holding it in place. Teacher’s Pet thrust its weight onto the slab determined to turn the kids into pulp. The only thing keeping it from applying full force was Splinterbark holding its tail. Her feet were starting to slip against the column as the monster was continuing to pull forward. It didn’t help her bruised shoulder was screaming in pain.

“A little help here, Silver!”
“I’m kind of busy at the moment”, Silver grunted back the slab reaching ever closer to the crowd. Silver’s boots were slipping on the slick tile floor and he was losing ground fast.
Then there was loud shrill and a boom. Two shots were fired from behind Splinterbark and hit Teacher’s Pet squarely in the back. The monster screeched in pain as dark colored lightning sparked and arced all around its body; sending it into frenzied spasms before it finally collapsed on the floor. The two approached it slowly and poked it. The thing was motionless but alive. Students were now gasping and chattering excitedly. Some had already drawn out their phones and were snapping photos and video.
The sounds of police sirens could be heard outside. Splinterbark suggested they get out of there before they got into the building. Silver hesitated as people were now approaching the pair with both questions and adoration. No, he thought, he did not quite deserve their praise just yet. He scooped up Splinterbark and whipped her outside.

They stopped on one of the old guard towers. The police were already filing inside.
“Well, that wasn’t too bad.”
“Who fired those shots?” Silver mused. Splinterbark glanced over at Frix. The spirit shrugged saying he had been focusing on the monster the whole time.
“Whoever it was, we owe them for stopping that monster, because we certainly didn’t.” Splinterbark laughed and slapped him on the back.
“What are you going on about? If it weren’t for us, a lot of people would have gotten hurt and…”
“And people almost did. For the love of…I almost shot you!”
“And I made a door explode in your face. We’re even.” Silver grabbed her arms and she winced.
“I’m the nigh invulnerable one, remember? I…I need to think about this. Maybe we’ll see each other again?”
“Uh…sure.” Silver leapt down and disappeared through a window underneath.

When Shelly had removed her outfit, she noted all the bruises and scratches she got from this morning. Maybe that angel had a point.
Reed had transformed back to his scrawny self and was emerging from the restroom. Thomas ran over from down the hall.
“There you are Reed! I was looking all over for you!” Thomas gripped Reed in his arms and squeezed tightly. Reed gasped for air and had almost forgotten he was not invincible in this body. He wheezed for Thomas to stop. As he heaved for air, Thomas excitedly told him how this monster came out of nowhere and then a silver angel and a girl in a pink helmet appeared and saved the say. He even sheepishly admitted he snuck a quick selfie with the angel’s back to him.
“I heard the girl call the angel Silver. I don’t know the girl’s name.”
“Splinterbark”, Reed answered flatly.
“How…how did you find that out?” Reed’s face flushed realizing his mistake.
“I heard it while I was hiding in the restroom”, was his answer. Thomas seemed to fully accept the answer as he clapped Reed’s shoulder and sighed greatly.
“Silver and Splinterbark. You think they’re going to fill the gap left by Golden Guardian?” Oh you bet I am going to surpass him, Reed thought to himself.
“I…do not really know. We shall see…I guess”, was his outward response.

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 7: Master Songbird

The news crew did not take long to get to the school. They had just arrived as the police had strapped down the still form of Teacher’s Pet onto a stretcher and heaving it into a police van. CCTV was the first to arrive on the scene. Vivian Holmes was among the crew. She did not exactly place getting the scoop her priority and was frantically calling for her daughter. Shelly was just leaving the locker rooms where she had hastily changed back into her uniform. She just managed to pull back on her blazer when she had heard her mother calling in the hallway. When Vivian saw her, she embraced her daughter tightly sending a bit of pain though Shelly’s newly acquired bruises. Vivian was not oblivious to Shelly’s pain and she let go and began to examine her; asking her rapid questions of where she was hurt and what happened.
Shelly replied how she had gotten caught by the monster and tossed aside when the silver-winged angel appeared. She was not entirely lying and it seemed to convince her mother.

“Holmes! Get over here! We go live in five!” The reporter Vivian was paired with was impatiently tapping her mike on her shoulder. Vivian excused herself from her daughter and went to work.
Only a handful of students were interviewed. One of them just happened to be Alucard. Shelly, like some others, stayed to watch out of curiosity. Actually she was surprised to see him out in the quad anyway. As far as Shelly remembered, Alucard was the only one who was still in the greenhouse when everyone else had gone out to see the crash. Or maybe it was because a pallid faced, tall, dark, and mysterious teenager just stood out in the crowd.
The reporter’s first question, surprisingly was asking if Alucard remembered her and then went on chatting about some interview they had last year with him. Shelly vaguely remembered her mother once talking about an interview with a middle school genius some years back who had won the inter-city trivia competition. Alucard smiled pleasantly and chimed that he did recall the interview and this made the reporter happy. Someone barked into her earpiece and she went back on track.

“Do you think this monster is a sign of further trouble to come now that the Golden Guardian is missing?”
“It is possible but…”
“But two possible new heroes seem to have appeared to take his place. Do you think are cut to fit the role our great hero has left behind?” Alucard seemed to pause.
“I suppose so.”
“Indeed. After all, from the video it looks like they did more damage than the monster. This Silver Guardian better step up his game if he thinks he’s going to be Cadric City’s savior from here on out.” Shelly saw Alucard’s smile twitch like a crack was forming in his genteel mask. Suddenly there was a small poof of brownish powder that appeared over her nose and the reporter started sneezing. She signaled for them to cut the camera feed and they would resume after the break. Alucard saw his chance to slip back into the crowd. Shelly slipped the goggles back into her bag. No one had noticed that she held them in her hand and she had tossed a small piece of redwood chipping in the direction of the reporter. But as Alucard was walking away, she could have sworn he was looking in her direction and smiling at her.

The following week was filled with more sightings of the Silver Guardian. Some just saw him flying by in the late afternoons while actual criminal encounters were few and far between. There was not anything that stood out like supervillain battles or the like. It was mostly ordinary people who decided to test their luck. The Guardian was able to stop them although just barely as he did not seem to be fully in control of his abilities. Splinterbark also made a few appearances here and there wherever Silver was. It seemed to be when the two were together, they performed better than solo if only slightly. The Silver Guardian also seemed to be seen patrolling the skies at night every now and then. Why no one knew as he did not seem to do anything but just fly around. Some claimed they thought he was searching for something, or someone.
Public opinion was turning from hope to uneasiness. It was clear these were amateurs trying to fill the shoes of what the citizens of Cadric City revered almost like a god. Also there were concerns that this might encourage other people to take up cape. The media was not helping much either with repeated coverage of the near failures of the duo.

Shelly could not avoid the headlines. Granted, most of them were about the Silver Guardian and Splinterbark was typically a footnote in the article. Still people were eating it up and agreeing these so-called heroes were making things worse. She had even happened on a conversation between Sierra and Bruce having a debate on whether or not their new heroes were making the situation better or worse. Either way, neither were impressed by the “girl hero” as they put it like it was some kind of derogatory term.
She was seated by herself as usual when both Thomas and Reed approached her table. Apparently neither of them were interested in hearing any more complaints about the new duo. Alucard hadn’t come to the back table as yet, so she thought it would be okay.
“Citizens can be real jerks sometimes”, Thomas chimed in. “They are at least trying to do good. You can’t exactly be a Bat Man overnight.”
“The original Guardian was perfect so naturally they expect this copy to be as well”, Reed mused with a rather harsh growling tone Shelly didn’t know he was capable of.

“Well I dunno. I think the Silver one is more handsome”, Shelly grinned.
“Ah you and me can agree there”, Thomas chirped and the two fist-bumped. Reed turned up his collar to hide his embarrassment. He tried changing the outfit to something more modest, but there was nothing he could do. Still, he thought, the ring did activate for him and no longer accepted his father for an unknown reason. Anything to one-up his big brother was a plus in his eyes.
Shelly saw that Alucard was approaching the table and made an expression other than cold bemusement. He seemed to be more confused that Reed and Thomas where there more than anything. Shelly expected him to sneer at them at why they were here.
“If you are going to blather on about the Silver Guardian, please take it somewhere else”, he hissed. He took his tray to the far end of the table where he usually sat.

“Well maybe if a certain so-called genius hadn’t harked on how incompetent…” Reed started.
“Reed, that wasn’t Alucard. The reporter said that”, Shelly interjected. Alucard’s eye went wide for a moment in genuine surprise. Reed slowly sat back down and apologized.
“Do you…want my honest opinion”, Alucard asked them. The question had a strange to it. He seemed uneasy to ask. Shelly told him he was allowed.
“They need training”, Alucard said flatly. “It was stupid of them go present themselves if they have no idea what they are doing.” Shelly rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled nervously. Reed wanted to rise from his seat again to argue with him once more. Thomas grasped his shoulder and shook his head mouthing that was not worth it.
“True. Too bad the Songbird retired five years ago”, Shelly interjected, trying to deescalate the situation.
“Who?” the boys asked. Shelly rolled her eyes and pointed to the logo painted on her backpack. Then she opened up her phone and pulled up Google images. On the screen there was what appeared to be am anthropomorphic mechanical owl. Some of the images were older and appeared to be scans of photos and older comic books.

“Songbird”, Shelly began.
“Was a big time hero back in the 50’s. His suit had propelling rockets, grapple gauntlets, and fired metal feather shaped projectiles with incredible accuracy. Some variants had a shield and sword or were more inclined for high altitudes. He practically single handedly dealt with the massive crime waves Cadric City used to be plagued with. Unfortunately he lost his arm in a big fight with a giant mutant gorilla back in ’87.”
“89”, someone coughed behind her.
“Oh right. 87 was when he lost almost half of his face in the Big Fire. Anyway, stories go he went to become a trainer for young heroes like myse…the Celestial Calvary and the Arachnidia.” The boys blinked at her. Shelly tilted her head at their response.
“What? I think superheroes are cool.”
****

Both Reed and Shelly came home to a bit of a surprise the following week. When they got home, they both were greeted by irate parents. The Holmes and Altamiri family had received letters from the school and the messages were not pleasant.
“Chrishelle Marie Holmes, would you care to explain why you have been fighting in school…again?” Shelly blinked at her mother. Neither of them ever used her full name, lest the full version of her first name in years. At least not since the last time Shelly really had gotten in a fight at school; the reason for that fight she did not really remember clearly.
“I have not been in any fights”, Shelly answered. A semi-lie. She hadn’t gotten into any fights in school. Vivian grabbed her arm and pulled back the blazer sleeves to show bruises around Shelly’s knuckles and palms as one gets when you are being slapped around by a giant fish tail. Admittedly, they were from the cant hook and straps she used as Splinterbark not that she could tell them.

“It’s from PE. I was careless and played a bit too roughly.” Bad mistake on her part and she knew it the moment she spoke. She had flapped it rapidly and it seemed too ridiculous even for her. Samuel just happened to be at the Holmes house delivering some tools Arthur needed to make a rework order. And in a manner he typically saved for troublesome customers, he took her excuse apart with cold precision.
Reed had a different sort of problem. Apparently his grades were below average and he was missing classes. Reed protested this. He was not the prodigal son of the Altamiri family, but as far as he knew his grades were at least an 80% average. And he had not missed any of his classes. Morgan showed him the attached report card. It was mostly D’s and there were tardy or absence notes. Reed once again protested that there had to be some sort of mistake. Morgan grasped his son’s wrist and jerk toward so Reed was almost on his knees.

“Don’t lie to me you miserable worthless little punk! You think I am going to let you get away with that kind of excuse.” This reaction surprised both Marco and Reed. Sure, he often compared the two boys; but never to anyone’s knowledge would he never berate his younger son with such language. Marco pushed his father back and yelled at him on what he was doing. This seemed to snap Morgan out of whatever dark mood he had been expression. He let go and staggered back like he was coming out of some kind of fog and profusely apologized. Still, he made it clear that failing grades and attendance was not going to be let past.

By coincidence, the letter suggested that the pair see a counselor and an appointment had been scheduled for each of them. Both students hoped that they could clear this up and avoid being grounded. The offices were held towards the back of the school in what was formally a bunkhouse when it was used by the National Guard. It was an impressive fortified structure with its own iron gate and small guard towers. At one time it originally also held the teacher’s lounge and mail office, but teachers complained about the time it wasted walking between the bunkhouse and main building. So almost all the offices had been resituated to the main castle-like structure of the school. The only offices left behind there were the principal’s and vice principal’s offices and the guidance counselor’s office.

Frix grumbled the entire trek to the building; saying how it was unfair and that they should not be punished in such a manner for the good they were going for this city. Shelly just grunted and nodded her head a few times. Honestly she spent more time being the distraction for Silver to come in and somehow save the day; and he was the nigh invulnerable one. They approached the door on the appointed hour. Painted on the glass were the words, “Michael Blackbird: Guidance Offices.” This, Shelly found odd since every other teacher’s office she had seen on the initial tour had a slot to fit a name plaque. The painted letters also seem to have faded a little too.
“Shelly” What are you doing here?” Reed had arrived there at the same time. Like her, he was holding a letter.
“I’m here because the school said I was getting into fights. You?”
“I am here due to a grading error”, he huffed. Both of them glanced at the door and then at each other. Then they compared letters. Sure enough both were stamped with the same date and time.

“Aren’t counseling sessions usually like private and stuff”, Shelly questioned.
“I believe that is how it is supposed to be.” Then he stopped and stared at Shelly, particularly her shoulder. Frix was sitting on her shoulder and rocking impatiently.
“Um, Shelly, what is that one your…”
“Are you two just going to stand out there or are you coming in?” barked a gruff voice from inside the office.

Michael Blackbird’s office was a grand space that was quite sizeable for an education office. Glass cabinets filled with stuffed birds lined the lower half of the walls. On the upper half were shelves stuffed to the brim with books of every size and binding. The desk was a massive oaken piece of furniture ornately carved with birds as well. Sitting in a high wing backed chair was the counselor, Michael Blackbird.
Mr. Blackbird was an older gentleman roughly in his late 60’s early 70’s. His gaunt and wiry figure only just fitted the chair he was seated in. His face was rough with a broken nose, a slightly twisted lip, and an eyepatch over his right eye. Jet black feathery strands of hair strung about his shoulders and seemed to rest about his neck like a scraggly lion’s mane. His hooked nose and white mustache gave him a liking to a screech owl. He was leaning forward on the desk on one good arm. The other was a stump that ended just before the elbow.
“Sit down”, he croaked but in a welcoming tone. Reed and Shelly uneasily seated themselves in the two chairs on the opposite side of the desk. Frix hid himself in Shelly’s bag. Something about this man worried him. Mr. Blackbird rose from his seat. Even at his age he stood proud and seemed to have a reserve of hidden strength about him.

“Well well well, you two are in quite a mess. And if you continue down this way, things will only get worse. We certainly cannot have that, now can we?”
“Mr. Blackbird sir, about my grades I…” Blackbird suddenly burst out laughing and it was a terrible laugh to hear. It screeched and cracked and wheezed like he really was a screech owl taken humanoid form. Reed’s fair face bled red and he sunk in his hair hoping it would swallow him up.
“Oh right, I did write that didn’t I? Very unsporting of me I know, but expedience is imperative right now, is it not? You two are very naughty children and it is up to me to fix that problem. Follow me and do not dawdle.”
He tapped one of the bookshelves with the back of his knuckles until they heard a chime. The bookcase sunk into the wall and then slid to the left. Blackbird spirited down the stairs with the two pupils just barely behind him. The stairway was long and dark with only the wall to the side of them to show the way. The bookshelf had closed behind them and they were left in complete darkness. All any of them could head was the sound of their shoes clicking on the hard stone. Shelly unconsciously grabbed Reed’s hand and apologized. Reed muttered it was fine. Surprisingly the air was still fresh and cool. At least they felt something like sturdy floor.

Blackbird clapped his hands and a few lights flickered on above him. The way the light seemed to be swallowed up around the edges suggest they were in a larger space than what was illuminated. Behind Blackbird was a wall of computer screens.
“Now then, what shall we do with your neophyte behavior, Silver Guardian and Splinterbark?”
Neither seen tried to react. Shelly gripped Reed’s hand tightly for a flash and his eyes widened for just a moment. Shelly laughed nervously.
“Really? Him as Silver Guardian? No offense Reed but…well…” She gestured a figure in the air that had considerably more bulk than he did. Reed scratched the back of his head and chuckled uneasily. Why did he keep glancing at her shoulder? Blackbird snapped his fingers and the monitors came to life. Stills appeared on the screen and not like anything that had been flying though online. One had Shelly wearing the Splinterbark helmet on her head. Another was a loop of Reed in a supply closet flashing a ring before becoming his alter ego. The rest of the monitors had them sneaking out through the halls as their supers.

“You…you’ve got spy cameras thought the school?! Ew ew ew!” Shelly cried out and mechanically covered her chest in response. Blackbird wheezed out that screech laugh again.
“I have better things to do with my time then look at little boys and girls in…compromising positions. Also, do you think you’re the only supers to have come though this academy?” There was a long pause as they all exchanged glances at each other.
“Now, why don’t you show me your other selves? Splinterbark, you can just show the helmet or would you prefer a changing room?” Reed thumbed his ring uneasily. He did not know this person and this could be a trick. He could just as easily be working for whoever took down the Golden Guardian.
“I am telling you, I am not the Silver Guardian and I am leaving this room.” He spun on his heel and started marching upstairs. He glanced back to see if Shelly was with him and that was a slight mistake. He bumped into a heavy metallic object standing on the third step upwards. The mechanical golem grabbed Reed and shoved him across the floor. Shelly caught him from hitting the stone floor on his back.
“You are not leaving that easily”, Blackbird grinned. Wings sprung from the motorized monster; effectively blocking what seemed to be the only way out. It rose up its left arm and a coil shot from its clawed appendage. Both of them instantly rolled away and the coil caught a crag in the floor. Shelly didn’t think about what she was doing from there. She snapped her goggles on her head grabbed a logging hook from her back.
“Frix, time to split some bark!” Reed watched the pink helmet he become familiar with form about Shelly’s head. And now she was charging right at the robot. Shelly rammed the hook into the base plate of the robot’s and bounced out of the way as the robot’s coil began to retreat. The hook jammed itself during the recoil and it made the thing smoke a little. She seemed to have forgotten it had another arm because now that one coiled about her leg and dragged her along the floor. It even snapped its mechanical tether and made her bounce. The chest cavity was starting to open and a large snapping claw was emerging.

“Guardian, arise!” Silver’s fist contacted with the robot’s chest and he ripped it open with his bare hands. He proceeded to untie Splinterbark’s leg from the decommissioned mechanical beast. Blackbird clapped his chest slowly as he was still sitting against the computer desk.
“Well, I have seen worse. Oh so much worse.” Silver snarled and pointed one of his pistols at the gentleman.
“You tricked us!” he declared.
“I won’t deny it. I also needed to know something.” He quickly typed a few keys on the console and the screens changed to the headlines that had been circulating of late. While there were a few hopeful passages, most were scratching criticisms of the pair’s performances.
“This”, Blackbird began as he pointed to the screens behind him with his thumb. “This needs to change. You little twerps cannot go on in this fashion for both your sakes and the sake of this city. You two were idiots to go out publicly without some notion of what you’re doing. Then again, that seems to be the creeping trend.”

Silver clenched his fists and headed back to the stairs telling quite blatantly he was leaving. Splinterbark slid between him and the door and held her hands in front of her. This was something of an amusing sight as the Silver Guardian was of a significantly greater height than herself (and she was already dwarfed by him in his normal state).
“Woah there, pretty boy. He kinda does have a point.”
“Seriously? We don’t even know this guy and I am not putting up his insults.” If I wanted that I could just stay at home. “How can you even trust him?” Splinterbark raised up a finger to counter him and then paused. She really did not have any sound reason at the moment.
“Well he does know our secret identities. We might want to hear him out fully.” Frix huffed and slid over to Silver’s shoulder.
“I am with the shirtless seraph here. We are doing just fine on our own.”
“YOU are not the one getting slapped around like a toy in a toddler daycare! And I would so slap you two right now if you weren’t two feet taller.” Blackbird just sat back in his chair and watched the two arguing. It reminded him of a certain duo he once mentored back in the 80’s. Wonder what ever became of them?

“IF you two are done bickering like the Celestial Calvary, there IS a way you can prove it to me and not further waste my time.” Silver grumbled but asked just what he had in mind.
Blackbird twisted a few more dials on the console and the rest of the lights flickered to life. If Bruce had been down here he would have collapsed into a heap of pure existential joy. If you had thought the Valdus Academy’s weight room was well equipped, this made that room look like someone’s living room. In additional to the standard weight machines and treadmills; there were also various obstacle courses, a boxing ring, and even a kitchenette. The obstacle courses appeared to a combination of military courses and those overelaborate training rooms you see in old kung-fu movies. Quite a lot of it seemed to have a fine layer of dust all over like it had not been used in a few years or so. Blackbird typed in a few extra commands and a string of green lights lit up along one of the courses. On the ground a series of walls began to slide back and forth at various speeds. From there pillars with prods and spikes began to whirl to life. From there you had to follow a ramp with rocky footholds upwards until you got to a platform. On the ceiling were a series of various sized hoops. Along the edge of the hanging rings was rungs for those who didn’t have flying powers. At the end was a series of pipes that ended on a platform that had a timer attached.

“The goal is quite time. Get through the course. And…” Silver was already cracking his knuckles eager to start.
“AND”, Blackbird emphasized. “You cannot be hit more than three times.” He pulled some stickers from a drawer and stuck one directly on Silver’s chest.
“It’s an impact sensor. My eyes are not exactly what they used to be.” He peeled off another to give to Splinterbark but she soundly declared that she would not be taking the course. She might be a little crazy, but she was not stupid. She was more than happy to accept the training. Silver scoffed at Blackbird and declared himself more than capable of this.

Blackbird pulled a chair behind the console and offered Splinterbark a seat. She could not help but notice his smirk as he began to countdown timer for the course. Why was Silver being so adamant on not getting help?
The old man pressed the buzzer and both of them watched Silver take a flying start over the moving walls. He had barely reached above them when a barrage of lasers streaked above him and forced him down to the ground. He barely missed being smacked in the nose by a roving wall and had to practically crouch to keep below the volley of lasers above him. Moving between the barricades was not easy with his bulky body and he had to pull his wings in with his arms to keep anything from touching. He had gone above halfway through the moving maze now without a scratch. A series of walls had parted leaving a clear path and he took it. Silver had almost reached the end when the tiles underneath his feet jolted upwards and he spiraled into the laser bombardment above. The marker on his chest buzzed and a third of it turned red. The sudden shock against him and he tumbled back into the halfway point.

Silver cursed at the marker but kept moving. He just barely made a few steps when a wall to his left slid into his path and caught his arm between who panels. The marker buzzed again. Cursing, Silver wrenched the panel of its railings and hurled it across the room. Now he was at the spinning pillars. He leapt upwards to test the open space above and sure enough there was a system in there to keep him grounded until the final section of the stage. He maneuvered his way though, stopping the swinging clubs with his hands whenever he could. He could not stop them all as a hooked arm snagged him by the wing and flung him into the center of the section. The marker chimed for the third time and the pillars began to slow down to stop.
“Turn it back on!” Silver demanded.
“You’re done, kid. Three strikes remember?”
“I said turn it back on! I’m finishing this now!” Blackbird leaned back and chuckled. He flicked the program back on.

Splinterbark watched as Silver forced his way through the constant slamming of the blunt weapons against his body. As much as they tossed him around, he finally emerged with only a few scuffs. With some painful wincing, Silver hefted up the rock wall to the rings. He flapped though the final section even as vents of smoke spat in his face and lasers clipped at his wings. Finally he just fell though the tubes and they saw the pipes shake and bang as his body tumbled though. Finally Silver crawled to the platform. He collapsed to his knees and he reverted back into Reed-sweating heavily and gasping for breath.
Blackbird offered out his hand to help him up. He was smiling.
“You fumbled though that like a naïve moron and further proved you are not ready. And it was so hilarious to watch.” Reed might’ve responded with a snarky remark but he was still trying to put air back into his lungs. Blackbird stood him up and patted his shoulder.
“But you finished. You’re stubborn, you’ve obviously have something to prove, and bull-headed. Ha ha ha, we’ll make something out of you yet.” Reed wheezed a ‘thanks’ and coughed a relief guffaw. Shelly just stayed there on her seat and started fiddling with her goggles. Her heart had done backflips watching Reed get pummeled around and he could take the hits. There was no way she could even cross the first part.
“Hey Shelly, aren’t you going to give it a try?” Reed asked. Shelly cackled nervously.
“No I…maybe I’ll just hit some weights first”, she answered.

With Reed finally consenting to the training, Blackbird submitted paperwork for the pair to see him every Wednesday after school for ‘further counseling’. As he watched them leave to the school pickup area, he put in a call on a separate line.
“Hey, it’s me. I know it’s been some time since we talked, but I need to place a clean and repair order. I’ll play the expedite charges. Yes I know if he ever finds out…also you still have that weapon specialist number? I need some…custom items. Yeah I think he’ll love the challenge.”

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 8: Hunter

Two weeks had passed since that fateful day. Neither family really suspected anything. As far as they knew their children needed extra help and they were glad they were getting it. Blackbird was not the easiest person to work with though. To keep up appearances, they had to complete their homework before even being allowed into the training room. Reed was somewhat vocal about this, but quickly learned his place when he had no idea how to even get into the room below.

At first the news and internet were abuzz with speculation since neither had been seen for some time. After a while they had forgotten they even existed save for a few internet trolls and self-righteous journalists claiming it was their efforts that drove the menaces away before doing any real damage. The school was similar. Reed and Shelly had to listen to homeroom buzz with all the theories going about on what happened to the new heroes. Most held the belief that they were not necessary and it was better they had disappeared. Those who will still in favor for them were few and mostly silent out of terror of social ousting.
It was a cold night in late September. Shelly, in full Splinterbark garb, was standing on the roof of the apartment complex near her house. While they spent most of their time inside the training cellar, Blackbird had them go out and do minor field exercises and to familiarize themselves with the city. Today was a bit different. Blackbird decided that the duo were to go on to night patrol. He did not forsee them being crime fighters of the night, but the practice always helps.

Splinterbark tapped the earpiece Blackbird had given her to confirm she was at the location.
“Guess it’s just you and me, Master Blackbird”, Splinterbark quipped.
“And blondie is not with you because?”
“Um…he did mention he works most nights.”
“The son of the self-made Morgan Altamiri having a job? What does he do? Count the money bin?”
“Beats me. I tried asking him and he got sore at me. Thomas won’t tell me either.” There was a pause and then a long sigh over the radio.
“It cannot be helped I suppose. I don’t expect full time supers of you two. Trust me, it’s not something you want dominating your childhood.”
“Yeah, until we can figure out what happened to the Golden Guardian, myself and Reed is all the city has.”
“Not exactly true, but he’d have to care first.”
Splinterbark wanted to ask who he was talking about, but her master interrupted that her assignment was just a basic night reconnaissance-no getting into fights. Just observe certain areas and report back. She did have a math quiz tomorrow.

Forty minutes had passed since Splinterbark was following the directions of her master. She stopped on a park terrace for a quick snack and maybe a coffee. The café down below was one of the few bright things she had come across tonight. The jazz band was playing nice and loud and people were enjoying the discounted booze they were serving tonight. Frix clapped his hands the best he could around his floppy ears.
“The music isn’t that bad. That trumpet could shut up though. Can I make brass explode?”
“I wish”, Frix snarled. The trumpet noise was getting louder though. It was followed by screams and a crash as the band was trying to scramble away. Splinterbark slid down a pipe and maneuvered on over to see just what was happening.

The band area was being engulfed by the biggest copper colored slug abomination she had seen to date. It had nozzles dotting its entire body that wheezed out a trumpeting wail as it exhaled. The boils about its body blinked as it looked about the area.
“Any suggestions, boss?” Splinterbark squawked into the intercom. Blackbird barked for her to get some distance and see if she can get people away from the area. He was going to try and contact Reed and get him over to her as soon as possible. Splinterbark acknowledged the order and pulled out the cant hook from its holder.

“Hey Eye Slug! Over here!” Splinterbark banged her weapon on a trash can. The slug flipped its every sliding eyes over towards the direction of the noise. It did not exactly turn but began to just roll like a soggy hot dog bun towards her. Splinterbark had to run as the thing gained speed even if it had to plow though all the patio furniture to do it. The door to get inside was, surprise, stuck and the thing was almost on top of her.
“Tally ho!” was the cackling cry of someone from up above. A blur of black and purple leapt down from the roof and a blade sliced across the gullet of the slug. The giant gastropod gurgled as it reeled back slightly and knocked into a broken light stand. It shocked itself dazed and it wiggled on the floor. The welder of the blade fluttered down with his long cape trailing behind him. He was a tall humanoid creature with long gangly limbs and a sleek elongated body. He sported a black formal military style coat, black slacks, and formal shoes. The breastplate he wore on his shoulders was a dark iridescent purple and looked like it had been taken from a giant insectoid creature even the pauldrons on his broad shoulders. His arms were elongated and the tips of his long segmented reached just past his knees. His face was grey and concealed underneath a helmet of the same violet color. A pair of long bone-like horns were fastened to the front and curved back and twisted akin to a goat. His eyes were concealed beneath a dark visor save for the slight glow behind it. On the left side of the helmet there was a long crack that reached down his chin and all the way to the base of his neck like some sickle had cut it. Completing the look was a long black cape cut similar to ragged dragonfly wings. In his hand was a strange green colored sword. The blade was not metal and appeared to be a strange mix of crystal and bone. It was slightly jagged and rough but glistened like a gemstone. The handle was also bone-like but carved into the shape of a segmented dragon.

This buggy demon didn’t seem to notice Splinterbark was even there and was just flicking some slime of his shoulder armor. He probably would not even observed her there at all until she shouted for him to duck and jerked him to the floor the best she could. A slimy tentacle had slithered out from the slug’s body and had managed to sneak behind them. Instead of latching onto either of the two, its suction-like appendage grabbed the wall behind them and jerked it down. Both braced for the impact of debris though it never happened. A pink barrier had encased them and the wall had bounced harmlessly off it.
“Really now, the great and powerful Hunter can’t even see an obvious blindside attack like that?”
Their savior was a young woman hovering in the air on a long black staff with two orbs on each end that seem to hover about the ends. She was dressed in a short purple and pink dress with ragged edges along the skirt end. Her long sleeves billowed out from her elbows like pink glittering buttercups. She wore long black gloves dotted with pink and purple rhinestones. A glittery pink domino mask concealed her face. She wore striped knee-high socks and dark colored curled toed shoes. The girl was rocking playfully on her “broom” as if watching this was amusing.
Hunter made a sweeping bow and he knocked Spliterbark upside the head when he did so.
“Aw, you’re my biggest groupie, Jin. You wouldn’t let anything happen to me.” Jin turned a beet red.
“For the hundredth millionth time, I am NOT your fan!”

The slug had swung the upper part of it body towards them. Hunter wrapped an arm around Splinterbark and made a bounding leap out of the path. He playfully patted her head and told her to stay put. He called her Stick though. Hunter walked casually in front of the annoyed gastropod and taunted it with his sword.

“Do try to make it fun for me”, he quipped.
More appendages sprung out from the beast’s body as it attempted to crush the amethyst demon. Hunter laughed as he bounced from wall to wall with the speed and coil of a cricket. He continued to laugh and taunt the creature.
“Come on, all those eyes and you can’t hit little old me?”
“Fifty arms and you have lousy aim.”
“Oooh so close. Need some salt for that wound. Oh right, that might make it worse wouldn’t it?”

Hunter seemed to be enjoying making the thing madder. Jin landed beside Splinterbark and seemed to to just casualy take a seat.
“You’re not going to do anything?” Splinterbark asked her. Jin signed and motioned for her to be seated as well.
“You are better off not getting in Hunter’s way. If you’re too stupid not to move out of the path of danger, then it is your own damn fault. As for you, this is not any of your concern, knave. So why don’t you two just move along and let us professionals handle this?” She said it so casually and coldly. Frix puffed up at the remark.
“All right harridan! We’ll show you! Let’s go Splinter!” He dove straight at the best before Splinterbark could stop him. Frix spun like a corkscrew and rammed his little body against one of the larger eyes of the beast. The slug, aroused into a fuming mood already by Hunter, snatched the little imp with a tentacle and applied pressure to squeeze the life out of it. Splinterbark suddenly cried out in agony and clutched her chest as she fell to the ground. She could feel something cold and slimy squeezing her heart. This seemed to spur Hunter into retaliation. His sword sliced away at the various limbs until he could finally reach the spirit. Cupping the creature in one talons hand, he drove his blade deep into the monster’s neck with the heel of his boot. Using his weight and the momentum of the hilt, he forced the monster down until it was pinned back on the floor. The creature gurgled and flopped around before it finally stopped moving.

Splinterbark’s heart just finally getting back into normal rhythm. A flap of wings could be overheard that was growing closer towards them. Silver had just arrived, a bit short of breath and his appearance a little harried from the rush.
“Splinterbark, boss just got ahold of me and I got here as fast as I could. I hope you’re…YOU!” Hunter was standing over Splinterbark with Frix still in his hand and Splinterbark herself collapsed and wheezing at his feet.
“What did you do to her?!” Silver rammed his body into Hunter and pummeled him into the still body of the slug monster. One of the boils burst and oozed its contents all over his suit.

“Hey! What is your deal?” Silver did not respond and tried to pull a right uppercut at Hunter’s head. Hunter ducked and let Silver get his fist stuck in the slug. The plum demon kicked up his sword from the floor and leaned on it.
“Aw, is the widdlest angel stuck?” Silver snarled as he flapped and twisted trying to break loose. Even supposedly dead, this thing was a nuisance. Hunter leaned against Silver’s shoulder and starts picking his nails on his blade.
“If you want out, say please.”

“Like hell I am, you devil!” Silver removed one pistol with his free hand and aimed directly at the mass he was entrapped in. Hunter tilted his head wondering if the guy was going to shoot his hand off. Silver fired off a few successive blasts which sends pieces of the creature all over the patio. Now free of both hands, Silver drew out the other firearm and shot two blasts directly at Hunter. Hunter managed to get his sword between one blast while the other grazed his side. Silver hurried at him and slugged Hunter across the helmet. Hunter spin back but was quick to regain control. A large crooked grin spread across his face and he cackled in delight.
Now, Jin had actually lifted from her seat this time. She was shrieking out to Hunter that he did not have time to be toying with the “grey meathead” and that he had a job to finish before the cops arrived. Hunter was deliberately ignoring her. He heaved his blade over his shoulder in a downward cross chop. Silver caught it against the face of his metallic greaves and deflected it away. Hunter stuck again repeatedly and each time he was intervened.

No one had been paying attention to the goldenrod pieces of the gooey giant. A ruby red rock was pulsing with increased fervidity and small black tendrils called out to its separated pieces. They were shuddering and slowly pulling itself back together. Though it only managed to retrieve half its bulk, it was enough to get it mobile. It was starting to move out from the patio and towards the street.
Jin saw it first. Again she called out to Hunter who was still busy trading blows against the Silver Guardian. She started to run off after it and Splinterbark followed her as Silver was not listening to her either. The slug was not much bigger than a small elephant, but it rolled at a rapid pace towards the storm drain. It had already melted most of the way through down below. Jin darted towards a sewer cap. She pointed her staff and purple mist began to curl about the heavy steel rim. With some effort she managed to wrench it off and followed down below.
Splinterbark was just behind her. Frix huddled inside her breast pocket as they traversed down. She could not entirely blame him either. The tunnel was cramped even for her size as the two girls forced their way out into the underground. There was no trace of the creature save for a few slimy drippings still clinging to the grate above. Jin cursed loudly and shouted that this was all Splinterbark’s fault. If she had just hung back like she was told to, then Hunter would not have been distracted and done his job. Now Hunter was preoccupied thanks to as she called it “Splinterbark’s lug headed boyfriend”.
“First off, Silver is not my boyfriend. Second, your manner suck. And three, why don’t we focus on finding Eye Slug and then point fingers later?”
Splinterbark tapped the earpiece and called Mr. Blackbird for suggestions. Luckily for them, according to her boss, he doubted the slug had gotten too far away. The tunnel could only go in two directions and there had to be some trace hinting where it went. Splinterbark asked Frix if he was well enough to fly. He was still a bit winded, but assured he could do that much. The two went in opposite directions, glancing very carefully for any signs. Splinterbark’s hand graced a small bit of yellow mucus just along the edge of an archway. They were faint, but a few more droppings were ahead. She signaled to Frix and Jin and they chased down the trail.

The slug was hanging from an old pipe above, its gelatinous body heaving and oozing like an air filled bladder. It just hung there and seemed to be unaware of the girls’ presence. Jin plucked the red orb from one end of her staff and fiddled from her bag until she produced a purple stone. Splinterbark asked what she was going to do.
“I have to contain it and drag it back to Hunter.”
“You can’t just blast it?”
“If I could that I would not have to lower myself to being an animal trainer for that devil above us.”
“Are these monsters a new threat or…”

“They’ve been roaming about for at least a year as far as I know. For some reason, Hunter’s blade is the only thing that will vanquish them. The best my magic can do is incapacitate them. And the sword won’t respond to me if you must know. Ugh why am I even telling you this? You couldn’t even handle a moral monstrosity forcing me to save you two’s sorry hides. And you! It’s clear you have no magic ties. How did you even awaken and bond with that forest spirit? It’s not fair!” Her yells increased in volume and the sounds made the slug shudder. Its pores opened out and the trumpet like spines emerged. Honking at the annoyance it struck at the sound it thought its enemy was. Thankfully, its exhaustion from just pulling back together made the blows less severe. It latched onto the stones and its body released from the ceiling. It used the momentum to swing its body around in a wrecking ball fashion hoping to encase the two inside its body to feed on. The area was small, so there was little room to keep out of its way. Jin kept attempting to encase the gastropod in a bubble but the constant moving shortened her concentration. She could not get a bubble large enough to encompass the whole thing.
Splinterbark managed to get her moving straps and hook free and was starting to spun the hook to get some drive going. Jin shouted that there was no way her measly little hook was going to tie up the whole thing. Splinterbark hurled the thing and aimed for a reddish boil that was slithering about along the slimy form. She managed to get the hook caught on the edge of the spot and she tried to pull it free. The cyst was trying to get loose from the catch as it spun around the main body and the strap was slipping from Splinterbark’s hands. She yelled for Jin to help her.
“This pimple was the only thing that kept dodging yours and Hunter’s strikes. I think is its brain or something.” Jin grabbed the slipping end of the strap and both of them heaved as best they could. The ground was slightly slick from both the slug’s increase drippings of mucus as well as traces of the mildew around them; so it was getting harder for them to keep their footing. Spinterbark asked if it was possible Jin could use her ‘magic flying stick’ for some extra pull? Jin remarked that it was not powered by rockets. Frix darted out of there and squeezed himself up to the surface.
Neither Hunter or Silver had gotten the upper hand on the other. Hunter was too fast for Silver to land an effective blow on him; and by contrast Silver was able to deflect away most of Hunter’s strikes from his sword. It was only because Hunter’s cape had caught on some debris that Silver managed to get him on his back and was pinning him under his boot.

“I don’t know what your problem is; but this is the most fun I’ve had in a while.”
“Fun? You think this is fun?!” He mustered up the energy for another shot. Frix rammed his body into Silver’s forehead and he shot the sky instead. Silver grabbed the imp.
“What are you going, you little shrimp?!” Frix bit his hand for all the good it did.

“Splinterbark is down there all alone with that slug!” Hunter wrenched himself from the floor and ordered for Frix get moving. Silver was dumbfounded at first on what exactly was happening. Like a semi-truck, reality snapped him back to the current situation and a horrible panic churned in his stomach as soon as he realized what he was doing.

Splinterbark and Jin could just barely hold onto the tether for much longer. The cherry boil was jerking and twisting all about its blonde mass trying to break free from the hook still embedded in its crags. In desperation it released one appendage from the walls anchoring it in place and stretched out towards it’s would be captors. The thing successfully managed to latch onto Splinterbark’s wrist and lurch her from her stance. The slimy vine bungeed back and slammed the girl into its body. As she fell, it coiled about her just before she hit the floor and was now drawing it towards a mouth-like opening that was tearing free from the main body.

A violet bubble enveloped around her and it struggled to pull her back. Jin tugged and pulled with her staff trying to get Splinterbark away. The tether, now free, was flapping about her ankles and slapping her in the shins as the heart of the beast still squirmed about. The creature was holding firm and fighting back against her magic. The handle of the tether, now drenched in water and mucus, slapped Jin in the face and her bubble broke loose.
A dark insectoid form skirted along the walls at a blinding pace and its talons lashed at the tendrils holding Splinterbark. A silvery feathered blur caught her and enveloped her in its wings as they dragged along the ground. Hunter hacked away at the blubbery flesh of the slug as fast at could reform itself. The thing tried to take advantage of the smaller space by seeping its gooey flush between stones and blindsiding Hunter. These attempts were shot away by Silver’s pistol. Jin yelled at Hunter to strike at the crimson heart swimming inside the slug. Hunter dug his talons deep into the slug’s oozing matter until he was able to rip open a sizeable cavity where the heart was trying to defend itself. The tether was still lodged in it and the strap was tangled up in its insides making it difficult to move out of the way. Grinning, Hunter waved his finger at it as if shaming it before plunging the sword right through the heart. The beast shrieked and wailed and its body rippled. The golden mass began to turn black and oily as it pooled at their feet before completely dissolving away.
Splinterbark was still somewhat dazed from the impact; but enough to know Silver was holding her a bit too tight. She slid out of arms and assured him she was fine despite his frantic questioning. The victory was a bit short lived as the sound of clapping filled the small area.

“Well well well, what do we have here? So you’re the ones Goldie was talking about.”
Black Guardian was leaning against the entrance to the larger chamber. It was unclear with his half-smile if he was annoyed, amused, or disappointed.
“I’ve been wondering whose been committing the terrible crime of murderer against my little beasties. Up until now, you’ve managed to keep yourself under my sights. But thanks to the Guardian here, I can finally see your face. Won’t you come out into the light?”
“Ooooh those are youuuuuurrrsss”, Hunter crowed. “I hope you start stepping things up. I’m starting to get bored. No really, it’s not as much fun anymore. And if you want a look at my gorgeous façade, you’re going to have to come over and see for yourself.” The curious attitude of Hunter raised an eyebrow. He then turned his attention to Silver.
“And you’re the new Guardian in town I hear. I better put you out of your misery now.”

His body became enveloped in a violent purple haze that spiraled from his body and lashed out at the group. Jin was just barely able to pull forth a shield that took most of the blast. It was not exactly enough though and some silvers of magic pierced though. One grazed across Frix’ head and both he and Splinterbark yelped. Splinterbark could feel a slight trickle of blood pooling against the sides of her helmet and dribble down one eye. When the smoke had cleared, Black Guardian was seen running off into one of the side alleys from the central hollow.
He had not completely let go of his animosity of Hunter, but it was clear this black winged angel was the greater threat at the moment. Silver dashed after the Black Guardian even as the other three were yelling for him to halt. The tunnel that Silver had followed Black into was a bit wider and the walls taller than where they had encountered the slug. There was no sign of the Black Guardian and the area was eerily silent.
“You were actually stupid enough to follow me”, Black’s voice echoed inside the space. Black thorns shot from the ground and barricaded both sides of the tunnel. Silver felt chill gust of wind rush past his shoulder. There was a slight sound of metal against stone before he felt the impact of something thin and round against his abdomen. Black dove in front of him, effortlessly catching his shield as it fell and then decking Silver with a left cross to the head. Silver’s body spun in the air for a moment before Black kicked him hard into the walls. The gray angel bounced against the stone and crumbled to the floor. Black stood over him and grabbed the boy by the collar.

“Why would the ring choose a whelp like you? Anyone can see you’re stubborn, prideful, and selfish; absolutely unworthy of being a Guardian.” Silver fired a quick shot in the air though he missed Black entirely. A small bit of rubble collapsed above and stuck Black in the wings. It was just enough to tilt him back so that Silver could grab him around the chest and hurl the angel away across the tunnel. Silver tried to belt him, but Black was quick to catch the blow. He forced Silver forward and rammed his elbow hard into Silver’s chest.
“You can’t even survive against me. And you think you can protect this city?” Black had Silver pinned down and rammed his shield hard into Silver’s wrist where the ring was attached. Even with his durability, he could feel Black applying the pressure to try and sever the bone.
“You are just a feeble little child playing dress up in daddy’s clothes.” Silver cringed and tried to wrench himself from the floor, but Black had him restrained too well.

“Oh ho, did I touch a nerve? I will have your ring, boy. Even if I have to sever it from your dislocated hand!”

There was a flash of green and something knocked against Black’s eyes. He barely opened them when something shattered before him and he grasped his face as something stung his eyes and nose. A burst of magic blasted before him and forced Black to stagger back. He heard the shuffling of feet splashing of water; but the stinging sensation blinded him. When he could finally open his eyes, Silver was gone. He glanced at his gloves to see specks of pine clinging to the cloth. Black Guardian howled in frustration. He was not through yet. He had one more trick and this time the city itself was going to bring that Silver Guardian down for good.

Silver bowed an apology to Hunter. He still hated him, but there was little excuse for his behavior.
“Yeah sure fine. But let me make one thing clear; we do not need you around here. Jin and I can do just fine without your help. Do not spoil my hunt again”, Hunter threatened. Silver took Splinterbark home; apologizing the whole time. He would not tell her why he acted the way he did, despite her pressing. Eventually she gave up. When he had left, Shelly asked Frix about the peculiar thing that happened that night. Why was it when he got hurt, she felt it as well? Frix shook his head.
“I am afraid I do not know why to that one. You are not the first mortal I’ve bonded with. Perhaps it is because the stone was shattered in such a way that there is no safeguards. Or our bond is corrupted in some way. Either way, I shall make sure keep myself out of harm. It’s not like I can use what was formally my magic myself at the moment.”
****

Mr. Blackbird had sent notice to their homeroom teacher that he wanted to see them right away. As soon as the pair sat down, Blackbird slammed the palm of his hand on the desk and demanded to know what happened. Reed just squeaked a ‘sorry’.
“Sorry? Sorry?! That is all you have to say? Both of you disobeyed my orders. You, Shelly, were supposed to hold back until Reed could get there. And Reed, you let your emotions run off and it almost got you and Shelly killed! What the hell happened?”
“Y-yes sir. I…I should not have done what I did”, Reed gasped again.

“You were lucky this time, but next time you may up paying a price you cannot undo”, Blackbird bellowed. “Until I give the word, there will be no field work for either of you. And if I find out you disregarded my orders I will personally see to it Caine takes you down! Do I make myself clear?!”
“Yes sir”, Shelly and Reed acknowledged. Blackbird dismissed them to their next class and slowly lowered himself back into his chair. From a drawer he pulled out a photo of a girl dressed in a spider pattern mini dress and standing gleefully next to a suit of bird-like armor. He inhaled deeply and swallowed a couple upcoming tears. He was not going to let it happen again even if the city paid the penalty for it.

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 9: Round Two

The next couple of days were uneventful. The pair went to school and to Blackbird’s office afterwards for couple hours of training. Reed’s heart just didn’t seem to be in it however. It was most notable when Mr. Blackbird was running a target practice drill and Reed missed just about every shot. One shot went wild and almost struck Frix in the back. When that happened, the boy practically froze and almost huddled into a panic state. Later his time was double his record he managed last time. The biggest hint was when the two were going over their literature homework and Reed actually let Shelly help him; a habit usually he seemed quite adamant about up keeping. Shelly attempted several times thought the day to get him to tell her what was going on through his head, but he just answered with snapping terseness that it was none of her business. Shelly didn’t think it would do her any good, but she asked Thomas anyway.

“What’s wrong with Reed, huh? I was going to ask if you knew honestly”, was his response. He did admit though he had only seen Reed in this kind of monotone state once before.
“It was about a year ago around the same time too. It took him two months to get over that funk.” Oh great, Shelly thought. We don’t have two months for Reed to be mopey. Metilla Gorilla was still out there and now they knew that there were monsters and a peculiar black winged felon who would be more apt in a Aerosmith music video. Shelly made this clear to Mr. Blackbird on the second day. He told her this was something that he needed to sort out himself. Shelly had a feeling Blackbird knew full well what was going on and why, but he was not going to tell her. Frix wanted Shelly to force him to talk and was shot down. Technically, Michael Blackbird was the school guidance counselor and had to uphold a vow of confidentiality.
****

The CCTV Broadcasting station was a towering monolith in the heart of downtown Cadric City. It was one of the modern structures that dotted the skyline as the city had grown up from its mercantile days. Vivian was guiding everyone in Studio 4 for the upcoming interview that morning. She was no producer, not that she necessarily blamed anyone for not wanting to handle this one. The anchor who was presenting this piece got in the ratings but was hell for anyone else outside of the camera. Vivian was just glad to not be running around for once chasing any possible lead on Silver Guardian and the girl sidekick after the media backlash those two got. She wondered if it really was their fault they had not been seen as of late. The social media director had posted a few quick tweets about them being spotted at a café downtown and being responsible for total destruction of the patio stage. She could not entirely blame them. Everyone was still praising and hoping for the Golden Guardian to make a triumphant return and scare these brats back into their holes. But what if he doesn’t, Vivian often thought to herself. Should they have spurned these two who were honestly trying to help?

“Viviaaaaaannnn, darling! Como over here, por favor”. Vivian swallowed the rising groan in her throat and plastered a big smile.
“Yes, Miss Monkrey, how might I assist you?” Suri Monkrey was CCTV’s top news anchor. She was a small woman, even shorter than Vivian, and slightly portly in her arms and legs. However, her rounded dimpled face and large eyes impressed people as a young, adorable, and innocent child who was very enthusiastic in delivering Cadric City all its needed news. Her bubbly voice and endearing way she bounced about often took people off guard. Vivian had worked there long enough to just tolerate whatever ‘helpful advice’ Suri cried about this time.
“These flowers, why they just don’t match the book spines. And the couch needs to move a bit to the left. The books are blocking me. Arora arora, darling!” Give it up or at least come up with new material, Vivian sneered in her head as she did what she was told. The books on the table had to be turned just so and the flowers had to match her color specifications. Vivian was almost wishing she was back out on the field even if it was freezing outside. Better to deal with the cold autumn weather than hell inside the studio.

“Excuse me, is this where I am supposed to be for the interview?” Both Vivian and Suri raised eyebrows at the woman standing in the doorway. Irene’s hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and she was outfitted in a white blouse and grey slacks. The look was a bit off putting by the slightly muddy work boots. There were also a few specks of bark debris and some dirt under her nails.
“Ah, Mrs. Dougal. Please do come in and have a seat.” Vivian wanted to vomit in her coat at how syruply Suri was talking.
“Oh dear darling, you’ve got a bit of a smudge on your cheek there.” Suri wouldn’t touch it herself but pulled a tissue from one of the approaching makeup ladies. Irene glanced at a mirror the artist handed to her.
“Jings! I could have sworn I got it all. Bit of a huddy ain’t I? Desmond isn’t gonna like it.” Her soft cultivated voice had hastily dumped into a thick Scottish drawl for the moment, only to switch back to a much more Americanized sound.
“Oops, sorry, ya never really get rid it don’t ya?” She was so cheerful and casual about her slightly ruddy appearance that Vivian actually saw wrinkles forming about Suri’s eyes as she tried to keep her mask on. She was starting to like this Irene woman.
****

The homerooms of the Valdus Academy were permitted to watch the news broadcast since it featured a local celebrity. Shelly noted a stark contrast in the Dougal siblings as the previous news was being played before the special. Lynn was buried face deep in her textbook while Alucard was actually being attentive for once. Typically it was the other way around. Reed was only half watching the broadcast as well. Shelly grumbled that he was just spinning his pencil on his notebook with very little interest in the news. Frix popped his head out asking just what was so special about this interview. Shelly shrugged. Her mother hadn’t said anything, but then again she was typically out with the reporters.
“Good Morning Cadric City, darlings! I am your host Suri Monkrey. With me today is a rising star in our fair city. Won’t you join me as I have the first interview with author Irene Dougal, children’s novelist of the quickly rising Pagemasters series and wife to hotel magnate Desmond Dougal. Pagemasters, in which the fourth installment hits shelves next week, was originally penned under the name Athenos Morphi. But the books have started to gain national attention…”
****

Suri held up the book for the camera to see and gave a quick summary about the series. Vivian doubted Suri even read anything that did not have her name in the picture.
“My word, you come from quite the accomplished family, Mrs. Dougal. Your husband owns at least a quarter of the hotels in this city and you have a prodigal genius son, Alucard.”
“Yes, I’m quite proud of them. But you forgot to mention my daughter, Lynn. She has quite a few talents on her own. You see…”
“Oh I am quite sure, but your son…” Vivian rolled her eyes. She was amazed at Irene’s patience.
“So tell me, Mrs. Dougal, your stories are so detailed it is almost like you were there yourself. I cannot fathom how intricate your tales are. But there really aren’t any snake pirates or a demonic angel who tempts people with favors and then curses them into monsters is there?” A bit of color flooded Irene’s pale face and she tapped her fingers together anxiously.
“Yes, of course. I have just a crazy imagination that’s all.”

The camera feed started to shake just as Suri was announcing the commercial break. There was a cacophony of shouting outside the hall followed by dull roars. The doors crumpled inward on their hinges and a large lumbering form forced his way into the studio. Metilla Gorilla was busy flinging off the security guards and tossing them out into the hall. He grabbed the camera that Vivian was controlling and snarled that they went into commercial break and be ready to broadcast again.
****

The homeroom class was staring at the television as the jingle for Mary’s Muffins started playing. Alucard gripped the desk until his pallid knuckles became practically translucent. He glanced down towards his sister, but she just sat there leaning back in her chair with a closed expression. Damn her, he knew she did not like them, but could she at least show some concern? The next three commercials finished and the logo for CCTV came back on.
Suri, Irene, and Vivian were tied up backs together on the coffee table while Metilla was seated on the couch.
“Citizens of Cadric City, for the last few weeks you have heard stories of your precious Golden Guardian disappearing for good. I can guarantee that is indeed the case. And now two little primates have attempted to be your saviors and you ungratefully chuck them out like spoiled children getting off-brand cereal.” He stood up and started to encircle the three women tied up.
“You’d like to think you are the heroes, that you’ve saved the city from menaces. But I wonder how right you are. Silver! Splinterbark! You have one hour to come and face me right here before this city! If you fail to appear, then this news channel will have to change their rating.” Then the feed cut out to another commercial.

The teacher announced for the students to head for their first period and that the school would keep them updated if anything happened. Reed saw that Shelly was not heading for the gym lockers but spiriting outside towards one of the alcoves in the inner wall that faced the rec fields. Reed had caught up to her just as she had snapped the goggles on her head.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Uh…going out there and saving the day? Now can you like not look and go transform into Silver so we can get there in time?” Reed gripped her shoulder and tried to pull her out of the alcove.
“Are you out of your mind? Mr. Blackbird forbade us to go out.”
“Yeah I know. But I am not going to hide in here while my mom…while those three are prisoners! Now let go and hurry and suit up!” Reed’s hand was shaking as he gripped the finger his ring was on.

“I…I can’t. What if…what if we mess this up? What if we make a mistake? What if someone get’s hurt because I couldn’t…” Frix jabbed him in chest and wrenched Reed’s hand open to show the ring.
“Listen you blond butterbrain, the Guardian ring chose you for a reason. Whether you like it or not, you are the Guardian now. How quit acting a petulant child playing dress up and own up to that role!” Reed cringed and retreated back.
“I…I can’t do it. I just can’t!” He ran off without fully realizing he had left Splinterbark behind.
****

It took almost twenty minutes by bike for Splinterbark to get to the CCTV tower. Admittedly she really was starting to wish she could fly or leap tall buildings in a single bound. Or at least have Blackbird fix her up some kind of jetpack for crying out loud. Her in superhero gear flying waywardly through the Cadric City downtown on a pink and purple bike was just humiliating. Thankfully most seemed glued to their screens to not really notice her.
The police had already surrounded the building. Splinterbark rode to the side of the building that faced away from any of the main streets. There was another building that was quite close and created a bit of an alley between the two. She tossed a logging hook over the brick wall and scaled the gate. Once over she brushed against the furthermost side of the alley until they reached a fire escape. Frix helped get the ladder down and together they climbed up until they had passed four floors and to the door for it. She shoved the door forward slightly until she could reveal the catch. Splinterbark jammed a nail between the latch bolt and the strike plate. With a bit of wiggling of the nail, she was able to slide the catch in and slip inside.
The news hall was mostly empty save for a few guards patrolling the area for any rival reporters sneaking in or any other own trying to do something stupid. Splinterbark tapped her forehead and began counting imaginary numbers in her head. She nodded to Frix and motioned for him to follow. She slid along the wall and turned left. The hall split into three ways this time and she went right. Then another split and they went to the left. The hallway they needed was clear enough. The doors to Studio 4 were still wrenched from their hinges and had been tossed out into the hall. Metilla Gorilla was pacing patiently before his captives. Splinterbark retreated back until she found a utility closet. She started searching the walls and shoving aside shelves and tapping with her hook.
“You seem to know your way in this building”, Frix commented.

“You’d be surprised the secrets in this building not even the big brass don’t know about. Mom’s side of the family have been newshounds for years. Now I could have sworn, ah ha!” She fitted her hook into a thin crack in the wall pried it open. The door creaked a bit but opened to reveal a shaft with a ladder inside. The pair pressed inside though her cant hook proved difficult to fit inside the cramped space. They had to maneuver it straight up ahead of them and then Frix had to carry it just above Splinterbark’s head as she climbed up into the vents. The vents were wide and thankfully nice and cool since heating the building was expensive. Plus the stage lights gave off enough heat as it was. The two shimmied their way until they reached the vent right above the studio.
Metilla was still keeping an eye on the door and the vent was just far back enough to put room between her and the gorilla. Irene shifted where her seat was and managed to get the gag off.

“Hey! Yeah you ya big hairy can opener! Why don’t ya lossen these ropes on me and I’ll batter ya six weeks from Tuesday!” Metilla Gorilla turned and started shifting back to her and the vent. Splinterbark backed up slightly hoping he did not look up. The purple primate leaned down and took a big whiff above the girls. Suri squirmed as moisture from his hot and heavy breath graced her face. Vivian cracked a smile underneath her gag. Metilla was about to say something when the jingle ‘This is Halloween’ came buzzing from Irene’s pocket. Metilla gingerly picked up the phone with his mechanical appendage and glanced at the caller ID. He grinned and answered’
“Ah, Monsieur Dougal. How nice to call your wife to make sure she is okay.”
“What do you want?” the yelling on the other line was loud enough for even Splinterbark to hear. Metilla was moving back towards the door now, phone still in hand.

“That is up to the town saviors, if they show up and they only have fifteen minutes left.”
“Metilla so help me, if you harm a hair on her head…”
“Or what? You’ll give me a bad room in your third class suite?”
“You wish that was the worst I could do to you.”

Metilla bellowed with laughter at the threat. His eyes were closed and his back completely to the vent. Frix pried the grate open from the outside and Splinterbark leapt, a bit gangly, down on the floor. She got up and rushed right up to the beast and yelled out, “Surprise!” before swinging her bat right across his face and shattering his monocle.
The strike only stunned him temporarily but long enough for Splinterbark to leap back and keep distance. Metilla snarled and his metallic hand shot out trying to grapple the girl. Splinterbark dodged and weaved the first three attempts. On the forth she caught the hand with her hook and hurled it like a spear at the wall. She did not knock over the creature as she hope but it was enough to twist the gorilla around with his back towards her. From her pouch she tossed the hook and tether and lassoed his leg. Using the momentum of her rolling back, she knocked his legs together and forced the beast to topple over.

Metilla pulled himself from the floor and ripped the tether with just his hands.
“You’ve gotten better since we’ve last tangled. But where is your partner hmm? You know, the only one the city can remember the name of.” Splinterbark tossed a piece oak from her pouch and started tossing it to herself.
“You and I have a score to settle”, she declared. Metilla spun the greave on his wrist and a nozzle popped up.
“If that is what you wish, my dear. As a gentleman, I shall oblige you.” He fired three consecutive blasts at his target. The dark colored ooze splattered about against the walls and floor when Splinterbark ducked and rolled her body behind the couch. She tossed up a piece of wood in the air and smacked it with extra force with her bat. She had timed it to make it explode with as close proximity as possible and hopefully blind him enough to get the hostages out of the way. Her plan did not exactly work as Metilla tapped his hat and a face shield dropped down.
“Did you really think you could use the same trick twice?”

“Honest answer? Yeah kind of.” Metilla lunged towards her and snatched up the couch she had been hiding behind. Splinterbark just barely ducked under his grab and pulled herself underneath the coffee table the hostages were still attached to. She swung towards the end of the table and tried to kick it out of the way before being smacked in the chest with the end of the couch. She careened across the room and topped unto one of the camera stands. The hefty device topped over but she managed to roll between the space between the camera and the tripod base. She was still pinned and made sure as the gorilla placed his foot on the tripod legs.
“You were a fool to face me alone, little girl.”

A dark colored orb of energy stuck itself to his broad chest and unleased a massive energy blast that sent him staggering back. Among the smoke, Splinterbark could feel the camera stand being lifted off her and spiny hands hoisted her to her feet. They then grabbed her by the hand and jerked her back towards the set. The smoke settled to revel Hunter at her side, blade ready and now pacing in a wide semicircle with his eyes on the target.
“What the heck are you doing here?”
“I told you I was getting bored. Oh and by the way, you’re welcome.” Metilla Gorilla rubbed the smoke from his eyes and glowered at the insectoid imp.
“And who are you supposed to be? The Black Beetle?” Hunter slapped his knees and chortled.
“Finally! Someone actually gets my costume. I mean really, do I look like a butterfly or a damselfly? Honestly.” Metilla turned the only working camera towards his face.

“Well well well, it seems the Silver Guardian is too much of a coward that he sends the Black Beetle to face his defeat and save his sidekick.” Metilla’s speech was interrupted by the rolling laughter from behind him. Hunter was clutching his abdomen and cackling himself into tear. He pounded the table and gasped for air between giggles. With a big inhale he centered himself and straightened out the collar on his jacket. With a jaunty twirl he faced the plum primate and leaned on his sword like a gentleman’s cane.
“Everything you just said right now…is wrong. Avanti!”
Hunter bounced up and off the light railing and struck with the butt of his sword against Metilla’s forehead. While the gorilla was only stunned for a brief moment and snatched up the broken camera stand and swung it like a club. Hunter parried the first strike with his own blade just enough to not be crushed and attempted to maneuver around him for a quick strike to the side. Metilla dropped the camera in front of him and let his weapon hate the hit. With the sword stuck in the metal, the gorilla was able to wrench the sword from Hunter’s grip. With his flesh hand, he back smacked Hunter across the room. Hunter twisted his body in the air and plunged his talons into the ground to stop himself. Metilla grinned and attempted to wrench the sword from the camera.
“Oh you might not want to touch that, Mr. Monkey,” Hunter warned him. Metilla spat at him and grasped the handle of the blade. The sword hissed and then erupted into flames around Metilla’s hand.
“See, you try to be nice and people just don’t want to listen to you.” The inability to not use the blade was not going to stop the titan terror. He still had the camera for a weapon and he charged at the bouncing bug with it swinging above his head.

Splinterbark was busy untying the three hostages. Hunter was playfully swing about and was getting a bit careless where he was aiming those magic blasts. When she ungagged Suri, the woman spat,
“This is all your fault! If you hadn’t shown in the first place.”
“Oh shut up, Suri”, Vivian and Irene snapped. She grabbed Suri and Irene and tried to lead them out into the hall to escape. Metilla fired a few blasts above the doorframe and made the exit collapse in front of them.
“No one is going anywhere until Silver shows his face and I’ll break everyone’s legs if I have to!”
****

No one was really paying attention to their academics. Even the gym teacher had his phone turned into the news broadcast while everyone was doing their stretches. Thomas had noted that his best buddy seemed quite distracted. Twice he had mistimed the warm-up counts. Reed was no muscular mastodon, but he will had discipline. Even during their push-ups his arms were quivering even more than usual during exercise. As the teacher was leading them towards the track, Thomas brought up they thought it strange that Silver was not there facing Metilla Gorilla himself.
“I…I don’t know. Maybe he’s having second thoughts about being the hero?”
“Yeah being the city’s protector has to be tough. You don’t know if people are going to love you or hate you.” They had just started on the track when the cackle of the Hunter could be heard from the speaker. Reed’s eyes went wide and the color drained from his face. Then the Metilla announced that a black beetle had come and how much of a coward the Silver Guardian was. He couldn’t see the phone where he was but he knew that laugh all too well. Suddenly there the sound of a crash and Metilla demanding for Silver to come or else. The teacher blew the whistle for everyone to start the run. Reed stumbled as usual but got going. Then halfway through the first lap, his right leg kicked out from underneath him and stuck the ankle of his left leg. Reed tumbled and a straggler fell right on top of him. Reed grasped his swollen ankle as he tried to get up. The coach halted the run and carried Reed off the field. Thomas volunteered to take him to nurse’s office and picked up the blond boy with both arms. Once they were inside, Reed was shocked to find they weren’t heading towards the nurse’s office but one of the dead end halls to the side.
“You suck at trying to fake an injury.”
“What are you talking about? I think my ankle is actually swollen.”
“And that is going to stop the Silver Guardian, how?” Reed was about to shout all manners of denial but Thomas put his finger to Reed’s lips and shushed him.
“You’ve got a partner to save, remember?”
****

Metilla’s makeshift hammer kept Hunter from getting back his weapon. To make matters even more infuriating, every time he tried to destroy the camera with his magic, the sword would draw the power away and absorb it. He mused how unfair this fight was getting, but his heart was racing with the excitement. He could not remember the last time a fight was so much fun. Splinterbark and Frix were trying to remove the debris to escape, but the stones were packed tight. Plus it was mostly steel and plastic; making her power useless. Hunter maculated a strike and Metilla grasped him by his cape. Like a ragdoll Hunter was swung and smashed about like a dog toy. The hammer came crashing down to finish the job. The camera shattered on a pair of silver greaves that came between him and the sprawled out Hunter.
Silver snatched Metilla by his waistcoat and spun him about like a discus before hurling against him the broken furniture. Silver kicked Hunter’s sword up in the air and caught it with ease. He handed the blade to Hunter who was surprised to see the angel not catching fire.
“I had it under control you know.”
“If becoming a beetle pate was your intention, then yes you had it under control.” Hunter couldn’t frown at that comeback. Hunter was ready for a rematch when Silver stood in his way.
“This is my fight. I’m the one he wants.” He half expected Hunter to protest, but was astounded to see the demon step back and bow with a sweeping gesture towards the gorilla.
Metilla wiped a bit of blood from his lips and cracked his knuckles.
“So you at last show up. Good. I wanted to personally teach you a lesson.”

He swung his arms downward and sent a wave of debris towards the angel. Silver pounded though until he could get close to the beast. Metilla shot both arms against him and Silver held them firm. The two tried to push back the other with little side budging. Silver was starting to buckle under the continued weight of the titanic primate.
“Even the Golden Guardian and that beetle boy gave me more trouble than you. The city was right, you will never be like your predecessor. You’ll never live up to his image.” Silver held fast in his position and was slowly gaining ground.
“You’re most likely right. I can’t be like him…ever. But I know one thing for sure, I will protect this city from you and others like you!” Silver threw his weight back and the sudden loss of balance threw Metilla off his own. Silver tucked his legs in front of him and kicked hard upwards. The impact tore up the flooring and revealed a wooden and steel framework underneath.

Hunter was trying to leave when Splinterbark grabbed his cape.
“And where you going beetle brain? I thought you were having so much fun.” Hunter shrugged and tugged his cape out of her hand.
“I don’t take away fights that belong to someone else. So I have no reason to stick around.”
“Ooooh I see. Well could you at least unblock the door? Or is that too hard for the great and powerful Hunter?”
“Oooh no, don’t you try goading me into your work.” Splinterbark put her hands behind her head and started to walk away.
“Okay then. Guess you don’t want to be in on the finishing blow since you did help with the hunt. Bye bye.” Hunter grabbed her and spun her around to face him.
“You are a wicked little harlot you know that? I really like you. So what do you have in mind?”
“Quick question, how sharp is your sword?”

Silver was starting to gasp for breath right now. He and Metilla had traded several hard blows and neither was ready to fall. Suddenly he saw the ground crack in a circle just behind the gorilla.
“Silver! Get Metilla in the middle of the circle!” Metilla had charged up his goo blaster to keep Silver pinned. Globs the sticky stuff gummed up his wings, but Silver kept pressing forward. He used his tumbling weight against the beast. The gunk cannon discharged and slurped about his feet-effectively planting him inside the circle.

“Hunter, now! Low and high!” Hunter bounded forward and dug his blade between the crack formed in the floor. Almost skating on the ground, he sliced his weapon along the line where his magic bored a hole in the ceiling above. The ground plummeted underneath the gorilla while the celling sandwich the beast between two subfloors of steel and timber. Metilla hurled himself from the rubble and then collapsed unconscious on the heap. Hunter held his blade above the neck of the sleeping beast, but Silver gripped his wrist hard.
“He’s not one of your monsters. Don’t even try it.”
“You sure? It’s a talking gorilla with an arm canon. Kinda seems in line with the spooky scaries I deal with.”
“I said, don’t…try…it”, Silver threatened.
“You…did it? Oh my god, you guys did it!” Splinterbark chirped. Hunter and Silver looked at each other and the back at her. Their conversation was interrupted by sounds below of the police trying to get in to the studio they were now in. Hunter saluted them and headed for the window.
“I ain’t sticking around. Getting dragged into the spotlight isn’t my thing. See ya peeps. It’s been fun. I’ll stick to the nightly ghouls if you won’t mind.” He cut a hole in the window and bounced out across the rooftops below.
“We should get going too”, Silver remarked.
“Yeah, I’m not ready to be live on television just now”, Splinterbark agreed. Frix whined that they weren’t sticking around, but the magical tether that bound him to Splinterbark dragged him away regardless.
****

Blackbird paced back and forth as Reed and Shelly sat in his office after school. For almost fifteen minutes he did not say a word and just walked back and forth between the walls of his office. The teenage pair kept glancing at each other and wanted to be the firstr to say something only for Blackbird to glare at them to silence them. Finally the counselor slammed his hands on the table.
“So let’s run it down shall we? One, you both skipped class. Two, you disobeyed my orders and went out into the field. Three, you caused massive property damage to the television station. And four…you worked together and took Metilla Gorilla down.” He said all with such a serious tone that neither student was unsure if the counselor was pleased or not.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Blackbird. I’m the reason Reed went out there…and sprained his ankle to do it”, Shelly admitted. “But I could not just stand by. I had do to something!”

“And it had nothing to do with the fact that it was your mother as one of the hostages.”
“Well…just a little. But I would have done it regardless! It was kind of a stupid move though. Hunter and Silver had to save me. ” Blackbird sat down and drummed his fingers on the table.
“You’re right. It was a dumb move on your part. But I am impressed none the less. Despite the structural damage you two accomplished, you got a very dangerous field off the streets. A lot more would have gotten hurt or worse. Still, you disregarded my orders. Now get into uniform and I want five laps around the jogging course. Then we’ll start your regular training.” Reed and Shelly stood up and saluted with a ‘yes sir!’ before being lead to the training ground underneath. Reed stopped and snapped his fingers.
“Oh uh, Mr. Blackbird sir, one little thing I forgot to mention. Someone in school deduced I’m Silver.”

[Lovetheangelshadow]

*Long chapter and I am ALMOST sorry*

Chapter 10: Metilla’s Invasion
King’s Island Prison was not exactly on an island as you’d might think. The island was in the middle of a vast deep lake that had long since been uninhabitable for living creatures. Once it had been a farming colony as the island was once abundant in fertile land. But early industrialization and crowding had polluted the area leaving the city abandoned and the lake little more than a still body of water. A couple decades after the colony had left, some genius found the island to be a suitable place for a prison for the rising tide of super powered criminals that were becoming a bit more common. It was a massive state of the art prison-a cold bleak castle like structure with walls coated in barbs and cameras. Towers stretched the sky and burned brightly as the sun went down.

Metilla Gorilla had been shuffled into his old cell. The power core had been wrenched from his arm while under the lull of sleeping drugs and was now little more than a dead weight. The mechanical piece had been grafted directly to his flesh so it was impossible for them to remove it. Now he was stuck in a plastic and steel cage with his arms bounded to the wall with thick cables. His luxurious vest and tie had been taken away and an ill-fitting prison uniform had been forced on him. Metilla had been running what happened thorough his head. Not even the Golden Guardian had managed to capture him. The only one who had ever been able to do that was the Songbird, though he had gotten some victory by taking his arm.
A guard rapped the glass and told the prisoner he had a visitor. Metilla did not recognize the man who had come with the guard. Nevertheless, he was curious who this devilishly handsome fellow was. The guard went over the usual speak about the rules of the prison before returned to the outside of the room and shutting the door behind him.
The man had taken a seat and interlaced his fingers as he made eye contact with the primate.
“Having a bad day, Mr. Simmons?” Metilla Gorilla’s eyes widened and he jerked towards his visitor. His arms kept him just shy of the glass.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped.
“I have come to collect my favor”, the visitor grinned simply. Metilla tried once again to each the glass with his one useable hand and the coil snapped it behind him.

“I owe you nothing! You failed your end of the bargain!” The visitor pulled out the contract and pressed it against the glass.
“The contract, the contract you signed, stipulates clearly that I was to remove the Golden Guardian from action. There is nothing about a Silver Guardian or a deer girl or a demon bug man.” Metilla just wheezed and laughed as he turned towards the back of the cell.
“Well, demand all you want. I am not helping you and I can’t get out of this cell anyway. You are at a loss.” The visitor smiled and he pulled a small black box from the inside of his coat.

“Then you really should not have made a deal with a devil.” He opened the box and a small gooey slug slipped out. It pressed its way between the minute pores between the plastic panels and lurched its way towards the gorilla. The visitor knocked on the door to leave and casually exited.
The slug was too small for the cameras to see so on the monitor looked like Metilla was trying to get away from some kind of dust speck. The ooze latched itself onto the primate’s toes and the parasite spreaded itself out at increasing speed. The goo wrapped itself about though every follicle of Metilla’s fur and surged though the mechanical apparatus. Gears, wires, circuit boards, pistons all became encased within the slushy mass.
The doors to the cell burst open. A massive black gorilla had emerged. Its eyes dilated and blazing red like the exhaust of some internal machine. The guard, on instinct, fired his gun. Long silky tentacles sprung from the gorilla’s back and smacked away every bullet that came near. With a jerky motion, the beast raised up his canon arm and fired several black blobs at its attacker. One shot managed to catch the guard in the leg as he fled. The blobby substance coated the guard and forced him to collapse in terrible agony until he was fully cocooned. Suddenly his muscles began to swell in size like a balloons and his gut popped a few times its original size. His head widened and the face flattened. His hands creaked and groaned as they transformed into large paw-like appendages. Standing there now was nothing human-but a large inky gorilla with hollow eyes and a gurgling screech.
More guards had filtered in upon hearing the commotion. The pitch-black beast lumbered forward and sunk its squishy fangs onto the shoulder of another guard who had foolishly gotten to close. Ink stained the wound that spread through the poor man’s body. He screamed in agony as he too transformed into one of the slaves of the gorilla master. Metilla and his two new minions stormed though the compound and infecting every guard they came upon in their escape. Black Guardian hovered above the island laughing gleefully as the ape army came pouring out of the main gate. Even the water did not seem to stop them. They lashed and thrashed at the water until they had finally reached the shore, not one drop of ink washed away.
“Now my little circus chimp, bring all who stand in your way into your thrall! That silver whelp doesn’t even know how to stop you and his ring will be mine!”
****

The following day had Shelly and Reed waiting nervously inside the counselor’s office after school. Finally Thomas had entered and waved cheerfully as he casually walked in. He spun the extra chair at the desk before sitting down with his arms resting crossed on the back of the chair. Mr. Blackbird tapped his beak-like nose and raised an eyebrow as this pleasant fellow.
“Sorry I took so long, guys. I had to call mom first so she’s not waiting in the parking lot. She kinda doesn’t have a parking pass and Headmaster Jestro…oh right, I’m in trouble aren’t I?” Thomas cleared his throat and turned the chair around to its proper position. Blackbird narrowed his eyes.
“So Mr. Altamiri, this is the civilian you were talking about? Tell me, boy, what made you deduce this?” Thomas put his arm around Reed and patted the shoulder furthest from him.
“Well Reed and I have been best buds for like two years now and you kind of notice certain…things. Certain tells I guess. Look I swear I have not told a single person. If there is one thing I know, it is how to keep something secret.” Reed rolled his eyes.
“And yet you like sharing stories of humiliation regarding me no problem,” Reed groaned.
“That’s because I like seeing you flustered every now and then”, Thomas jibed and ruffled Reed’s bangs in playful jest. Blackbird squinted his one good eye at Thomas.

“You look familiar”, he mused.
“I don’t believe we’ve met, sir. I’ve only lived in Cadric City for two years.”
“What’s your full name?”
“Thomas James Payne, sir.”
“Payne…are your parents James and Elizabeth Payne?” This made Thomas stand straight up in his seat.
“Y-yeah! You know them?” Blackbird smiled gently.
“More or less though I have not seen them for almost ten years. How are they these days?” For the first time to Reed’s memory, Thomas actually seemed to cringe at the thought of answering. He rubbed his wrists rather nervously and squeaked out a,
“They’re good.” Shelly raised her hand.
“Okay so as much as this crypto conversation is interesting, do we like need to mind wipe Thomas or something? Wait, can we even do that?” Blackbird wheezed a laugh.

“Unfortunately I no longer have privy to that kind of tech anymore. But, we need not worry. He’ll be silent on this matter. However, this is not the sole reason I called you. Come!”
Blackbird revealed the passage to the training grounds down below. Thomas snapped back from nervous depression to kid in the candy store mood in less than three seconds. He darted around with all the machines and courses with absolute glee and shouting that he knew it all along. Thomas even examined the walls themselves and babbled on how perfect and solid they were. Then went on a tirade of the architect who had the brilliant idea of breaking the original tunneling underneath the school stadium in favor of a ‘modern’ one.
“How else you think that Terror-Fin got inside Valdus Academy?”
“Terror-Fin! Gah, why didn’t I think of that?” Shelly groaned.
“If you are done touching everything, come to the monitor. I have something to show you”, Blackbird barked.

Blackbird pulled up the monitor and revealed a still image of a black colored Metilla Gorilla breaking out of his cell.
“This was pulled from King’s Island Prison’s cameras last night.” Reed and Shelly performed a combination of groans and ‘are you kidding me?’. Blackbird pulled up a few more phones on the screen both before and after the break. Metilla had received a visitor, but the camera seemed unable to identify him. Even when they were leaving, the face somehow managed to remain obscured by either a shadow or a passing guard. He then played the footage of Metilla attacking the guards and turning them into syrupy simian monsters.
“You have access to the prison cameras because…” Reed inquired.
“I like to keep an eye on things. For now the police has kept a lid on this incident, thankfully. The last thing we need is to give people ammunition against the two of you.”

“That’s true enough. Trust me Reed, you don’t want to know the things people say about you online. Also Rule 34”, Thomas chimed in.
“Rule thirty what?” Shelly patted his shoulder.
“Trust me, sweetie. You DON’T want to know.” Blackbird pulled up a few more images. This time it was a combination of less than quality camera footage or photos of people.

“It took some late night digging but I was able to find something of a trail. According to police reports, Metilla has been spotted at the Firebringer Gym where most of the patrons have disappeared, the Cadric Arms hotel where a visiting football team was staying, and the cheerleader squad from Cadric State High.”
“I get the gym and the hockey team, but why turn cheerleaders into monkey monsters”, Reed asked.
“You kidding? You’ve never been around them, have you? Those guys can be mean”, Shelly exclaimed.
“I can attest to that. I still have scars to prove it”, Thomas chimed in. Reed buried his face in his palm.
“I really do not want to know the story behind that, Thomas.” Thomas and Shelly burst out laughing at Reed’s discomfort. Blackbird rapped for order.
“Since then there hasn’t seemed to be further activity though I think I know why.” He pulled up the footage from the school parking lot. When Metilla had completed his task of conversion, he seemed to collapse for a moment in exhaustion before slowly lumbering back into the shadows with his new minions in tow.

“It’s most likely this new power of his wears him down after converting so many people.”
“Oh great, so in other words, wait for him to make more monkeys and then drop a building on him”, Shelly piped up.
“You can’t win all fights dropping them though floors”, Blackbird retorted, though there was no ire in his tone.
“You sure?” Shelly quipped playing along.
“You are standing to sound like Hunter. Cut it out!” Reed snapped.
“Fine fine. So Thomas, you gonna don some tights and fight crime? You can be…Skater Boy! Oh wait, that song doesn’t really fit you though…” Thomas waved his hands and shook his head.
“Whoa ho no, I don’t have a nigh impregnable bod or magic wood powers. I…super hero stuff isn’t for me. But I’ve got your guyses back none the less. You can count on that!”
“That and his mother might have my neck”, Blackbird added.

The plan was for Blackbird to keep an eye out and deduce where Metilla might strike next. If Reed could squeeze it in, he would fly above the city and see if he could spot things from there. He really couldn’t do it tonight. He had to attend a grand opening party with his family. For now all Shelly could do was sit tight since she really didn’t have a way to cover the city. She seemed a little put out not being included, but her master did have somewhat of a point. Also she had to also attend a high rise party as well. She wondered if it was the same one?
****

The news of the impending simian invasion did not just reach the ears of the police and Blackbird. Down below under the Altamiri estate, Morgan and Marco were looking at the same prison footage Blackbird had…helped himself to. Morgan cringed as the gunk that transformed the gorilla into this unnatural abomination and infected all who stood in his path. He began to feel a familiarity with that gunk. He hadn’t told about that to his son either since he still wasn’t sure what it was himself. The film was not perfect, but it seemed similar to whatever Black Guardian had used against him. An anger was slowly rising in his throat as he stood helpless watching people cry for help before being taken. What was worse there was nothing he could do.
“There is some kind of magic at work here. Didn’t you take on a witchy like person who did something similar last year? The one who turned everyone into cats?” Marco asked his father.

“Yeah, and I was able to free the victims thanks to being able to exorcise the curse from them. I could take care of this problem now, but SOMEONE managed to get the ring stolen.” He jabbed Marco in the chest and he nearly fell back in his chair from the impact.
“Hey, I put it in the safe like you told me to! I don’t know who took it. Besides, neither of us could get it work for either of us anyway. We should be considered lucky someone out there can. I’m going to see if I can contact Silver Guardian and telling him how to purify.” Marco started to head upstairs when Morgan grabbed his arm.
“You will do no such thing!”
“Dad, are you nuts? We got to help any way we can.”
“That brat is no Guardian! He’s a coward and a thief who’s only going to do harm to my city!”
“It’s not YOUR city, dad. And you’re not the Guardian anymore either! Now let go, you forget we have a party to attend at the preview of the Grand Dougal Regal Arms tonight?”
****

The Dougal Regal Arms was the largest hotel in Cadric City. Resting across from the Cadric Convention Center, the hotel had been given the façade of a fantasy castle with a slightly pink tone to its stone walls and weather resistant colored flags dancing on blue tinged spires. Inside the lobby was carpeted with pink and purple floweret designs and large wall paneling on the ceiling. Pictures of influential Cadric City residents through the years donned the walls in gilded frames. Along the stair spires, hand carved mythical creatures danced on the spires and along the safety railing upstairs.
Desmond Dougal was a large man standing by the door and greeting the guests into the preview party. He was not quite as tall as his stepson, but was still a man of considerable presence. Not very muscular, but had broad shoulders and meaty arms that suggested he could throw you across the conference table should he so please. Like his daughter, he boasted the unusual wine colored red hair that was tailored into a sizeable beard. His barrel like chest just fitted into his tailored blue suit. Irene was snug in a dark green velour dress that complemented her braided red hair. Alucard in a tuxedo jacket worn casual style while Lynn was in a pink and purple evening gown. The children were hovering close to the entrance but not near enough to actually greet anyone.
“Ah my good fellow Arthur Holmes and family! Welcome welcome! They are just loving the spires.” He shook hands with Arthur and Vivian vigorously.
“Oh no I can’t take all the credit. Those designs you gave me were most excellent to work off of.”
“Between you and me, you can thank my daughter for those. Got an eye for design she does.” Shelly had already started to wander inside the lobby. Frix sat on her shoulder and was humming in tune with the band. He mused how he once attended grand parties such as this where he basked in the glory of opulence and people threw gifts at his hooves. Shelly was pretty sure he was exaggerating but let him go along since it seemed to make him happy. She had almost bumped into Lynn as she was reaching for a roving tray of garlic shrimp.
“Oh hi Lynn. You look really pretty today. Ha ha it’s like so weird seeing you out of uniform”, Shelly chuckled. Lynn’s eyes examined Shelly’s attire which was just khakis and a ¾ sleeve blouse. Shelly seemed quite aware because she admitted out loud that parties were not really her thing.
“I just heard your dad say you designed the spires daddy made. I’ve seen the drawings. You’re really really good. And now everyone is going to see them. That’s awesome!” Lynn’s olive face turned pale and she couldn’t respond.
“You know, Shelly, you’re the only one I know to make my precious step sister speechless”, Alucard chuckled. Lynn frowned and then huffed while rolling her bare shoulder back.

“Well I am just getting the respect I deserve dear step brother.” The tray of garlic shrimp had come back and Shelly snatched two. The server offered some to the Dougal siblings. Lynn helped herself to one while Alucard hissed but politely declined. He did, though grab a cracker with steak tartare topping.
“So is your brother an actual vampire that uses SPF 1000 sunscreen or what?” Shelly ribbed Lynn. Both the Dougal children almost choked on their appetizers.

“The Dougals actually getting caught off guard? I almost wish I almost wish I could record it.” Reed had changed from his typical school uniform to a white business suit. Truth be told, aside from the colors he did not look that much different outside his school uniform. His clothes were still professionally pressed and his hair impeccably tailored. Shelly just wanted to commit just a bit of sprezzatura on his appearance-a little loose lock of hair there and maybe one button undone at the top. It was hard to believe his Silver form was a shirtless biker seraphim.
“Fancy talk for someone not a social butterfly”, Alucard nipped.
“My dad’s company did the advertising designs and marketing for the hotel, hence the invitations.” He glanced up the stairwell where his dad and older brother were chatting it up gleefully with a few members from city hall. A woman in a wheelchair had maneuvered towards them. Lenora Altamiri smiled and waved hello.
“Oh Reed, are these your friends?” The Dougal children simultaneously responded with a no and they were just classmates. Lenora responded with an ‘oh’ and was about to apologize when there was a loud clatter at the front door.

Metilla had smashed over the registration podium and was surrounded by his vassals. With gruesome gurgles and growls he snarled and grunted and bellowed orders to attack and ensnare everyone inside that lobby. He fired several shots in the air and they bounced and splatted across the space. The hall, once filled with jazz music, was now occupied with screams of terror or torture as the black morass gobbled up any living thing it touched. The four had been lucky from the first volley as they had been behind a sign stand that had been up for advertising rates.
Reed grabbed his mother’s wheelchair and was trying to shove her out into one of the lower halls and out of sight. A gloppy gorilla snapped him by his still slightly swollen ankle and jerked him off his balance. The creature was dragging him back across the carpet and bite his leg with intent to spread its disease and induce him to their cause. The only thing it succeeded in doing was make four nice bloody holes in his lower leg. The beast was confused and frustrated at the same time. The only thing drumming through its mind was the sole order to capture and transform. This situation was not in its programming. It started to heave up Reed and take him towards its master to show the problem. A lamp smashed against its face and it dropped the boy. Lenora now had the broken lamp stand in her hands and the broken light bulb aimed right at the creature’s chest. She lurched forward using the lamp base as a paddle and struck the broad side of the stand against the throat of the monster. The monkey grabbed the stand and tried to wrench it from Lenora’s hands. She wouldn’t and now the two were playing a push me pull you game with the rod. She barked for her son to get out of there. Reed was just numb with dread. Suddenly the ape was able to jerk his mother out of her chair and chomped on her shoulder. The ooze was spreading even as Lenora was still yelling for her son to run. Reed watched in horror watching her body stretch and balloon out before screeching in his direction to entrap him as well.
Reed tried to run, but the wound in his leg impeded his movement. He felt large hands grab him and heave him away as the transformed Lenora’s fist almost collided with his stomach. Marco had hurled Reed over his shoulder and was barreling through the infected throngs towards one of the side halls and into the restroom. Reed was shaking uncontrollably and could barely choke out that their mother had been taken.

“Let’s take care of your ankle first, okay.”
“W-w-where’s father?”
“And I got split up when some baboon got us on the stairs. A folding chair saved us. Hold still will you?” He had torn the sleeve off his suit and was wrapping it around Reed’s leg to get the bleeding to stop. The bandage was a bit clunky, but it worked. Marco was now heading back outside to see if could find their father and for Reed to lock the door behind him. Once Marco had gone, Reed knew the Silver was needed on the scene. Thank god wounds as Reed did not transfer over.

Alucard and Lynn were back to back fending off the incoming horde with serving platters and utensils. Their parents had already been taken the moment Metilla had declared his invasion of the hotel party. When one had been grabbed by a monkey, the other bashed it away before it could poison. For the moment they had forgotten they were step siblings and were just trying to get out of there. They whipped and lashed until they had finally gotten to the emergency exit. Lynn had just gotten outside when a speedy screecher had leapt down from a lighting fixture and snapped Alucard by his shoulders. The emergency door slammed shut between the siblings when Alucard had let go to try and get the thing off. Of course the door could only open from the inside, but Lynn still tried. The monkey chirped and snapped its little jaws on Alucard’s neck and pumped the contagion into his veins. Suddenly the screeching beast howled in agony and lurched away. Black foam was pooling about its mouth and it was frantically scraping its muzzle clean. Wrapping his tie around the two pricks in his neck, Alucard had staggered out to join his sister outside. She saw there was bleeding about his neck and demanded to know what happened.
“I…I’m not sure. Maybe it didn’t like tartare.”
Shelly had ducked under the table. It wasn’t like she could stuff her costume in her slacks. So far the beasts didn’t look underneath and the tables were such a way most adults could not fit under there anyway. Her hiding would not last long though. Metilla Gorilla had tossed the table aside and now had his cannon aimed right at her.
“What are you doing Metilla?” Shelly cried out at him. The beast paused as if some dull concept of something besides attack and entrap was buzzing in his brain.

“This isn’t your style at all! The Metilla I know wouldn’t just bash his way into a place like this like some plebian rat. Nor would he put anyone not attacking him in intentional harm. Seriously, you’d be chilling out in the top royal suite enjoying the comforts of the elite!” Metilla Gorilla’s arm was starting to quiver. Then he held his head in his hands and shook and thrashed about. His meaty paws tried to tear at the oozing mass seeped in his flesh, but no avail. Then his form twisted and limped like a puppet on strings and he jerkily aimed his weapon at her. Shelly tried to run only for the ooze to stick to her heel. The ooze was not climbing about her skin as fast as everyone else, but it was not letting go either. Metilla was going to shoot her again and a silver blur whooped him across the room.

Shelly cried out to Silver to help. He tried to pull away the ooze but it was still growing now taking her left leg completely. Morgan and Marco saw this yelled for Silver to bring Shelly up to them on the second floor balcony.
“So…you’re the Silver Guardian, are you? You could have had the decency to at least put on a damn shirt, you damn little thief”, Marco snapped at him.
“Not a good time now, Dad! Silver, you’re going to need to purify the ooze.”
“I..I’m not sure how to do that,” Silver stammered. Marco shot a glare at his father. Morgan inhaled and swallowed hard.
“As a Guardian you have the power to dispel dark enchantments. You have to concentrate your energy and think of thoughts of serenity, purity, resolve, and all that.” Silver nodded and whipped out his pistol. The three shouted at what the heck he was thinking.
“This is the best way I can concentrate.”

“This isn’t like your energy blasts, boy! Those come from righteous fury! If you lose concentration, you could do more harm than good! Don’t be an idiot!” The ooze was at Shelly’s waist now.
“Give it your best shot, Silver. I trust you”, Shelly said to him. Silver exhaled in relief. He raised up the gun above his head and then slamming it down on his palm.
“Shine of Silver”, he shouted out the moment he pulled the trigger. The light that pulsed was not the same golden color as his usual repulser strike. It was a curious swirl of blue and silver. Shards of light struck against the ooze and it shrieked and shriveled as it had been expelled from Shelly’s flesh. The ooze tried to crawl away only for Silver to execute it permanently with a swift gunshot. Morgan lightly smacked Silver’s shoulder with the back of his hand.
“What the hell was that? Shrine of Silver? How corny can you get?” Silver clenched his fist but he knew enough it was not worth it. Plus he could snap Morgan in two if he wanted to.
“It was the only way I could concentrate, honestly. Heads up!” Silver fired two more shots as two monkeys had made their way up to the second floor. The ooze shriveled away from their bodies revealing Arthur and Vivian Holmes inside. Shelly raced up to them and hugged them. Silver tried to fire a few more purification pulses down below, but it was barely enough to make a dent in the growing army. He was started to feel a bit exhausted as well and beads of sweat were starting to form about his face.

“Purifying someone uses up the energy that gives you your Guardian form”, Morgan informed him.
“Now you tell me!” Silver gasped. Shelly suggested that maybe if they cut the power at the source, everyone else would follow.
“If you’re gasping now, you don’t stand a chance against Metilla”, Morgan sneered.
“For once you and I are in agreement. Can you get out on your own?” They said they could. Marco brought up that his brother was locked in the bathroom downstairs. Silver assured them he’d get Marco’s brother out and that they should escape while they could.
Reed had joined them later, still limping from the wound in his leg. He told them Silver had carried him outside and then went back in to hold off the army while he could. Arthur offered to drive them out of there since the company van had been parked in the back instead of the front parking lot with the other guests. Force of habit. Morgan wasn’t too big on the idea and was barely convinced by Marco to accept the ride.
The army had dissolved out by this point. No one human had been left in the building and as far as Metilla knew, he had succeeded in his mission. The army had quadruped what he had taken the night before as he had both guests and staff under his rule. Black Guardian entered the room and applauded.
“Very well done, by little primate pet. Now get some well-earned rest and tomorrow we shall move on to phase two. Hmm? What’s wrong with that one?”
On the floor one of the chimps was still slightly frothing at the mouth begging for someone to end its misery. Black snatched it up and twisted its head examining the spume. This was a magic both familiar and foreign to his own. Either way, he had no use for the beast and swiftly twisted its neck clean. He dumped the body on the floor as the ooze retreated back into Metilla’s cannon. The remains left behind was just some nobody who had just wandered in to the invasion. Black wiped his hands with a kerchief and told them they were leaving. Tomorrow was a very big day.

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 11: To City Hall!

They had driven three blocks away by now. So far there had not been anyone following them and the streets were mostly empty even at this hour. Vivian had dug out the first-aid kit they kept in the truck and had sterilized and wrapped Reed’s bite wound. He was gasping and wheezing though more of it was the spent energy as Silver. He had not counted on purification being so taxing. Twice he had slipped into unconsciousness during the last half hour and hadn’t even realized it. Shelly told her dad she thought they were safe for now as she kept watch out of the back window. Morgan and Marco were a bit cramped inside the back of the van and Morgan complained about it. Shelly told them they should consider themselves lucky. They had to clear out a good chunk of their tools for that delivery. Vivian scolded her for her manners.

Reed’s phone buzzed and it was Thomas on the other line.
“Reed! You okay man? I just saw the news on my phone!”
“Yes Thomas, I’m fine. Though I don’t think coach is going to be happy with me not running track tomorrow. Shelly’s okay too.”
“Shelly’s there? Ah man, I never get to do anything fun.”
“Right…what’s the news right now? They stop anyone?”
“There wasn’t anyone at the hotel once the cops get there. Well save for a dead body.”
“What about Alucard and Lynn? We didn’t see them when we got out”, Shelly exclaimed. Reed had placed the phone on speaker since his hand was still shaking.

“Mmm, nothing so far. You want me to try calling Lynn?”
“And you have Lynn Dougal’s phone number, why?” Reed inquired.
“You forgot she was my partner in that big literature project last year?”
“Oh…sure, see if she and Alucard are okay. Text me back if you get anything.”
“Will do, best buddy. You take care, alright?” Thomas hung up and none too soon as Reed had passed out again.

After a quick scouring of social media, they deemed it safe for them to get back to the hotel so the Altamiri’s could take their own car home. Reed was still conscious when they got back there. Shelly didn’t know if Thomas had any luck in calling Lynn. The next day, she found her parents arguing whether or not she was going to school. Arthur was all for still taking her to school declaring that it would to cower in her room while Vivian was of the firm belief Shelly was too mentally scarred for the trip. Shelly cleared her throat and placed her backpack on the table. Sure she was almost turned into a goopy gorilla and had to put faith in a visibly shaken Reed to NOT shoot her legs off, but she had to get to campus. It was the only way she could know if the Dougal siblings were fine. She really should get Thomas’ number.

The compromise was that Samuel would take her and be on standby in case anything happened. At least, that was the only way they could placate Vivian. Shelly wasn’t sure if they really could get away with Samuel loitering about the outside of campus. I mean, a 6 foot 7 grey haired guy with a scarred up face and dressed in biker duds on his day off was not exactly the most not suspicious character hanging about a high school.
“I really don’t see why your mom is worried. This place is a damn fortress”, Samuel commented when he pulled up into the roundabout. Shelly popped off the bike helmet and smoothed down her skirt as she hopped off his bike.
“YOU want to tell her that?” Shelly chirped. Samuel shuddered and shook his head.
“I’ve learned early on in the army never piss off a Latina. But keep your phone on, okay? I’ll be downtown if you need me.” He patted her head playfully before revving up the engine and got out of the way of a honking sedan.
Shelly had seated herself in the homeroom. Lynn and Alucard’s seats were empty. Everyone was buzzing about the hotel attack. Some were in a near panic that they could be next. Others were criticizing that the Silver Guardian should have come and done something. And still more were uttering how this would have never happened if the Golden Guardian was still with them. Reed had come hobbling in just before the first warning bell had rung. Shelly saw that there was a slight budge under his trouser leg where the bite mark had been made. She had half expected him to be back into that depressed mood of his since his mother had been one of the victims. He sat down, yawned, and took out his book. His bangs had a few split hairs and his jacket slightly rumbled on the sleeves. She asked him how he was feeling.

“Didn’t get much sleep honestly. I couldn’t get what happened last night out of my head. I’m starting to wonder if…I’m really cut out for this.” He was pressing his thumb and forefinger against the ring.
“What about your dad and brother? How are they taking it?”
“Rough, but the show must go on I guess. I think they were headed to the police station to give testimony.” He couldn’t exactly tell them that they had spent a good hour or two arguing about the situation. His father in particular was ranted how he could have prevented this from happening. Marco reminded him that he hadn’t been successful when Metilla had first reappeared. Also Silver’s method of purification was plebian according to his dear father. Reed couldn’t help it, it really was the best way for him to focus. Sierra and Bruce was just about to take their seats behind them.
“Oh, Reed I heard what happened! I’m so sorry”, Sierra apologized to him. Reed assured her she was fine, though it was interrupted by another yawn.
“You look like crap”, was her response. “Come lunchtime I am fixing you up and getting you a double shot coffee.”
“Better do as she says. You’ll live longer”, Bruce chortled when Reed started protesting. He too, had just now noticed the Dougal siblings’ seats were still empty. When Thomas filed in they wasted little time asking if he had gotten anything back from Lynn. He shook his head and he assured them he left her both a voicemail and a text message. Sierra had been listening. She also had Lynn’s number and offered to send a couple of messages just in case Lynn hadn’t recognized Thomas’ number. The trio were thankful for her offer.
****

Cadric City City Hall
Deputy Mayor Foxwell had gathered a session of the city officials, or what was left of them, inside the conference hall. He was a small man with long red hair that had flecks of white and grey were and there and had a habit of floofing out while he paced from side to side like a predator waiting for the rabbit to come out. He wrinkled his long pointed nose and then slapped his small rounded hands on the podium.
“Well gentlemen, I have told Mayor Ambrose time and time again that we should not be relying on supers to solve our problems. And now look where we are eh? Half of our most prominent citizens get turned into zombies! You agree with me, don’t you Vincent?” Vincent was seated on the front on the table with his eyes closed. He was trying to hide the smalt bit of cringe he wanted to express. Like, don’t lump my opinions in with yours, kind of cringe. Foxwell seemed oblivious to this.

“I say we find that Silver and his gal Friday and arrest them. We can get them for the damage they did to the tv station. It’ll show all wannabe heroes what Cadric City can get just fine without them!” Vincent raised an eyebrow. He wants to try and arrest someone who could very likely bench press a police van and then shout put it across the city stadium? He had learned it was best to let Foxwell run out of steam otherwise nothing would go forward.
“IF you can capture him, I’ll press the charges. But be warned Foxwell, if you use this for your mayoral election next year…”
“Okay, okay. Commissioner Riley Kent, do you think you can get together an S.W.A.T team just for the sole purpose of capturing those two?” He raised an eyebrow. Cadric City had enough problems rising without wasting resources on trying to capture supers trying to help. After all, though not public, some of the super powered villains who had been in the lower security section of the prison had been marked as missing when Metilla had broken out and recruited for his army. Frankly they should be devoting time to finding them and Metilla’s army.

Finding Metilla’s new army was not going to be hard. They were already pounding on the front door of city hall. The police line that had formed around the building had hesitated for the moment when they first came pouring out of the aqueducts on either side of the building. After all, they had been told how all the zombies were still people underneath all that muck and no one was sure what bullets would do to them. The moment’s hesitation was enough for the army to overwhelm them and bring them into the fold. Metilla himself had pushed his way up the front; leaving the army to surround the building and block off all the roads and spread the poison to anyone getting close.

The maddened monkey pushed his way into the lobby with one particular ape beside him. He slammed his fists on the reception desk and demanded she page the mayor’s office. The girl stood there flabbergasted unsure to press the buzzer for the office or the police. Metilla, frustrated at her paralyzed incompetence, shot her face first with the goop cannon. While she was gurgling for help, he snatched her by her head and tossed her over his shoulder. He barked for the minion he had brought inside, to page the Mayoral office and then lead him to where it is.
The doors burst open inside the conference room.
“Now now, no need to get up Deputy Mayor Foxwell. See, we need you and your…human face to send a little message”, Metilla growled as a slew of monkeys had made their way into the lobby and were now filling up the hallways. “Now then, you have an emergency broadcast system, don’t you?”
****

The lunch hour had rolled around though it seemed like forever. It seemed most of the people on campus, teachers and students alike, were not entirely focused on academics. Shelly twice noted her math teacher glancing at her phone during the test when she normally had her phone put away. In the cafeteria, Sierra had already kidnapped Reed for his makeover over to her table. Reed pleased silently for Thomas and Shelly to save him. Neither Shelly nor Thomas came to rescues. When he was finally free, poor Reed had the curious combination of both haggard and restored. His hair had been completely redone by it being pulled completely back, slightly tussled on the sides, and then tied up in a high ponytail. His sleeves were now straightened out, tie slightly slack, and the top two buttons on his blazer undone. His face though one was of panic and confusion like he had seen things he did not want to see again. Thomas raised his eyebrows and glad that Reed finally did something different with his hair. He almost mentioned Silver Guardian out loud and got an elbow to his side from Reed.

“Which reminds me, Miss Sierra got a text back from Lynn. She and her brother got out, but Alucard was in no shape to get to school.”
“Thank goodness for that. Hopefully we can get this thing resolved before all of Cadric City becomes the Cadric Jungle”, Shelly sighed.
Suddenly Shelly’s and Reed’s phones buzz with two text messages. One was from Samuel telling her he was going to make a quick stop at city hall to visit an old friend. The second was from Blackbird asking her to come to the office immediately and that he could send notice to her next teacher to cover her absence.

Blackbird had the monitors up with the Cadric City symbol before a neon stripped screen and below in white where the words CC Emergency Broadcast.
“This just came up ten minutes ago while I was looking for possible locations Metilla might show up next. I keep forgetting this currently is not the same Metilla I…that once terrorized this city twenty years ago.”
“I was not even aware we had this kind of system. At least, I’ve never seen it used during Golden Guardian’s time”, Reed commented.
“It’s an old system put in place in the late sixties. Cadric City used to be a lot worse than it is now, believe me”, Blackbird explained. He pressed a button for the recorded broadcast to play.

Metilla was sitting in the mayor’s chair, arms casually folded before him. Beside him was a swaying ink minion and Deputy Mayor Foxwell.
“Citizens of Cadric City, while I may have lost the bout the day before, it has proven one point. Why don’t you tell them, Deputy Mayor Foxwell?” Mayor Foxwell moved closer to the camera.
“The Silver Guardian and his pink sidekick are a menace to this city! Look at the damage they did to our fair news station! They destroyed a café downtown! And caused destroyed Valdus Academy’s new football fields! Are these the kinds of heroes we want?! We never had a problem with the Golden Guardian or even Songbird!” Metilla cupped his flesh hand on Foxwell’s shoulder and pushed him aside.
“As demonstrated, these fools are unfit to protect our city. But I am a fair minded simian-if those two surrender to me before sundown I will leave and release everyone I have captive. After all, there are a few…renegades roaming about now as we speak spreading my image to your friends and loved ones. Come now Silver Guardian and Splinterbark, for once do something the town will be thankful to you for. Maybe you’ll get a nice little photo and placard in the Heroes’ Museum when all is said and done. Adieu.” The screen flicked back to the emergency broadcast title card. Frix puffed up and snarled.
“Why the nerve of that pointy nosed little elf beet! If I was at full strength I would…”
“Take it easy Frix. At least we’re not being hunted down by the police…yet. But I don’t like this either. This isn’t Metilla’s style. We’re being baited”, Shelly said. Reed was wringing his hands about his ring.
“Reed, now isn’t the time for one your for ‘I can’t do this’ spells. We’ve got to focus here!” Shelly barked at him. Reed’s breathing increased as he slowly steadied himself.

“I’m sorry. I was just trying think this all through. We can’t disregard his threat though.” Blackbird nodded and pulled up a few camera feeds from around downtown. Various footage of the inky gorilla army spreading its venomous reach played back. There were cops doing their best to hold back the horde even if they were slowly falling.
“So far they’ve stayed mostly downtown but the cops won’t be able to hold them back from reaching the suburbs for long. And you’ll have an army to fight regardless. What do you intend to do?”
****

Silver and Splinterbark stood on one of the high rise buildings opposite City Hall. The plaza in front of the building was swarming with the simian soldiers all pacing rhythmically in circles down below. It was a bit creepy to see something that resembled the wild walk in such rhythmic fashion. Suddenly Splinterbark giggled and Silver failed to see what she found so funny.
“Your hair, it’s still in the way that Sierra fixed it.” Silver hissed as he rushed his fingers desperately rubbing away the stylized tussle that was even more accentuated as the guardian. He snarled for her to focus on the moment.
“I am. I was trying to alleviate the mood. Frowny wrinkles don’t look good on you. So do we like go through the front door or some underground tunnel?”
Splinterbark quipped.

“Unfortunately City Hall isn’t connected to the underground network. And breaking through the roof won’t be easy either. They reinforced the thing to hades after the fire of ‘87”, Blackbird squawked over the radio.
“Well we know the best way to take out the army is to take out the general. Silver, can do you think you can hit Metilla with your ‘Silver Purification Shot’ from here?” she offered.
“I told you, it’s the only way I can focus! And it’s Shine of Silver. Besides, I don’t have that kind of range.” Splinterbark shrugged.
“Well we could just casually walk in with intent to surrender. Beats fighting a whole army.”
“I am not trusting a word of that..thing! We’re busting in the way Golden Guardian would.” Splinterbark exhaled a long defeated sigh. He wasn’t the Golden Guardian not matter what he was trying to convince himself. But they did not have time to argue and possibly shatter his much needed confidence now. Guess the only thing they could do was fly as close to the front door as they could and bust right in.

Splinterbark hopped onto Silver’s back and held her cant hook close beside her at the ready. Silver aimed himself in direct line with the front door and held a small compact burst of magic between his hands. The plan was straight forward getting inside. Once in was going to be another problem entirely. With a bounding leap from the building, Silver plunged full speed towards the two large wooden doors of city hall. They were almost at the door and Silver braced himself as he prepared to hurl the magic bomb to get inside. Suddenly he felt a sharp prang in his right wing. The following jerk threw him entirely off balance not helped that he was also carrying someone on his back. Silver was then lurched a complete 180 and he was spun into a twister in the opposite direction of the store. More prangs of agony stung his wings and he plummeted to the ground. Instinctually Splinterbark had leapt off him and just scarcely managed a rolling landing beside him.

Silver saw that harpoon barbs had lodged themselves in the radius muscles of his wings and the tethers was that black gooey ink the gorillas were encased in. Following the paths of the reins lead to four gorillas; each with their jaws almost completely slack and a long proboscis swaying grotesquely from their mouths. Frix and Splinterbark, knife in her hand, slashed at the ropes until Silver was free. This did not stop the approaching army. While the girl and her familiar had been busy freeing the downed angel, several members of the army had quickly formed into a circle. Their necks snapped upwards towards the sky and they coughed up more of the sticky web above their prey. The gloppy threads criss crossed each other until it formed a massive next and it plummeted down upon the trio.

The two pushed against the netting and had almost managed to escape from it. The ape army grasped the ends and tugged tautly against the ground; effectively pinning them down. More were now rambling towards them basically ready to pummel them to paste. There was a dull roar approaching from one of the side streets. The sound was growing louder and sounded like a caravan of lions stuffed into a RV with steaks that had been taped to the side windows. Splinterbark knew that sound anywhere and she told Silver to brace himself if he could.

Samuel’s bike bellowed ferocious grunts as he had revved up the engine and sped directly towards the cluster of gorillas holding them down. He twisted his bike and the machine drifted sideways turning the bulky machine into a wide battering ram. The motorcycle then pulled a donut around them and collided with the minions holding Splinterbark and Silver down. He had only gotten half but it was enough for the pair to break loose. Samuel looked down at them as they got back to their feet.
“Huh, you’re not as impressive up close.”
“Time and place, Sam…sir! But thanks for the rescue.”
“Right! Hey pass me that hook thing you have and I’ll help you get to the door.” Splinterbark was tempted to correct him on the right term for her weapon, as he bloody damn well knew what it was, but now was not the time. She tossed it over to him and he twirled it over his head before locking it in a position not unlike a jousting lance. He signaled for them to get running while he revved the motorbike forward towards the approaching crowd. Samuel swiped the leg of another and used the momentum to hurl it against a few more and forced more of the throng to part. Silver fired several shots keeping any that attempted to attack from the higher vantage while Splinterbark just did her best to hold onto Samuel while the bike screamed ahead. They were just at the door and both he and Silver lunged against the entryway to smash them down.
The lobby was not as heavily patrolled as the exterior. There was soldiers to be sure and they were quick to make their presence known. They came pouring in from the second floor railings and hissed more netting to entrap them down. Samuel sped up and snatched an edge of the netting to keep it off Silver. Silver took a cue and grabbed the netting himself before chucking it at several members of the simian squad. One of the beasts was able to grab the handles from the bike and wrench it from Samuel’s hands. The ape twisted the barely balancing bike towards the reception desk. Samuel turned around, grasping Splinterbark, before leaping off before the bike crashed headlong into the furniture. Frix yelled for her to grab the pieces and hurl them into the crowd. Splinterbark followed his order even if dodging monkeys at the same time. Samuel guessed what she was trying to do before be managed to heft up the broken remains of the desk and hurl it in the center of the room. Splinterbark yelled to take cover before making the broken pile of wood explode into countless shards. The creatures yelled and howled as they scrambled outwards; now covered in mahogany slivers and dust. Samuel yelled for them to get upstairs and to the third door on the right while he kept below.
Finding the door wasn’t hard considering it was right open. Metilla Gorilla was sitting casually behind the mayor’s desk while spinning the greave of his mechanical appendage.

“Having a bit of trouble are we?” he mocked.
“No thanks to your soldiers outside!” Splinterbark snapped. The onyx primate cackled as her response.
“I told them to attack if you did, so really it was your own fault. None of this would have occurred if you had just calmly surrendered at the front door.” Splinterbark jabbed Silver in the ribs and whispered a ‘I told you so’ under her breath. Metilla Gorilla leapt onto the top of the desk and the gauntlet expanded to reveal a ring of purple energy cores. He snarled for them to perish and blasted a massive energy pulse directly at them. The pair just about hardly ducked as the energy screeched just above their backs. A few of Silver’s alula feathers got singed though and there was a nice sizeable hole in the opposite wall.

“What the hell was that for? Killing isn’t your thing, Metilla!” Splinterbark shouted as Metilla warmed up for another shot. Silver leapt to the side and took her with him as he blasted another charge; this time in the floor where they initially collapsed.
“Splinter! Focus on NOT getting vaporized, will you? He is intending to kill us here!” Splinterbark hissed she knew full well, but she had to try something to get through to the beast. She caused the desk to split into two pieces and then smashed the front legs so it fell on Metilla’s feet. His shot sheered upward and the decorative wood and plaster crashed on his head. Plaster and wood dust got in his eyes and he was blinded frantically trying to rub the pieces out.
Splinterbark ordered for Silver to take the shot as Metilla’s back turned while he stumbled. Silver forced all his concentration into the purification shot. Calling out the words that made him focus, he pulsed a single ray of his energy right between the shoulder blades of the ape. The black ooze was just starting to retreat away and revealing the original purple color underneath. However, Silver was quickly finding out this was harder to expel than some random gorilla grunt and he had to pour more force into the beam. Metilla’s back was almost completely exposed from the ooze when Metilla spin around and his metallic arm slipped in between the beam. The light bounced away and nearly clipped Silver in his shoulder. Silver skidded around the right and he tried firing again, and the monster’s mechanical carapace once again got in the way. The ooze he had just banished had snapped back to complexly concealing the purple in his fur as well. Metilla’s arm cannon fired in retaliation and Silver was only just saved by collapsing in exhaustion in front of the window. He could already feel his Guardian form start to fail holding together and shrinking back into a scrawny teenager would not do him any good. The gorilla hefted his meaty hands over Silver to hammer drive his skull in when Splinterbark leaped onto his arm and slammed a magnesium flare into his forehead. She was just able to shake loose and crawl towards the weakened Silver.
“Can you fly out of here at least?” she whispered, pointing at the now large melted gaping hole in the window. He nodded silently and Splinterbark suggested they retreat while they still could.
****

They had just barely made it to another building before Silver transformed back into regular Reed Altamiri. Large beads of sweat were dripping down his forehead and his hair was practically undone save for a few locks just barely staying inside the hair tie. His body was red hot when Splinterbark had patted his back to make sure he wasn’t going to have a heart attack. He promised her he wasn’t going to pass out, but he needed time to catch his breath before Silver was coming back out.
“Silver! Splinter! The comm went static for a bit. Are you do alright?!” Blackbird bellowed frantically into the radios in their ears.
“We’re alive. But Reed needs three cups of extra strength coffee before he’s back in action.”
“You couldn’t purify Metilla then.”
“Metilla’s arm deflects my shot”, Reed gasped into his radio. “Unless we find a way to shut it down long enough for me to get in a concentrated shot, purification is shot.”
“I think I know a way”, Splinterbark interjected. Both Reed and Blackbird asked how.
“I’ve got an idea, but how we do it-you’re not going to like it.”

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 12: Splinterbark and Friends, Assemble!

Metilla Gorilla stood there staring at the massive hole in the glass as Silver and Splinterbark had escaped. He did not move from that spot. Just stood transfixed as if trying to compute what to do next and any operations outside of basic functions had been shut off.
“Well why are just stand there? Go after them!” Black Guardian’s voice rings inside his skull. Black Guardian had been sitting back in his dwelling watching a mirror and seeing only the window and the shrinking shadows of his prey.

“They have been chased off. They are nothing to my power”, Metilla grunted though with some difficulty.
“That is not what I want, you stupid excuse for a Tarzan set piece! I want them dead! Now get out there and crush Silver and his little pink power ranger too!” Metilla stepped forward towards the window but halted. He struggled to not move forward and began scratching at the ooze slithering on his chest.
“Oh ho, resisting are we? Now we can’t have that happening right now, can we.” Tendrils burst from Metilla’s back and jabbed themselves into his arms, legs, and head. These branched outward until more had coiled themselves about his fingers and mouth. Metilla screamed and cried out as he felt every flesh and gear losing his control and their mastery being forced outside his body. His squeals fell silent as the ooze clamped about his voice box. The massive marionette now danced downwards into the lobby and picked up a few loose boards that it started to clap together like one of those old toy monkeys with the cymbals. Black Guardian giggled with amusement sitting in his chair and danced his fingers about moving his new puppet in various entertainment poses. Finally he had Metilla bark to get the rest of the army to stand at attention.
“Now then, my little monkey marionette, let’s have ourselves a little scavenger hunt.”
****

Hunter and Jin were racing between the alleys trying to stay one step ahead of the oncoming horde. Stragglers from the hotel invasion had stumbled between the streets of populated with clubs and restaurants and had spread their sickness inside the crowded buildings. An ape tore its meaty paws into Hunter’s cape and reeled him in like a bass on a hook. On impulse Hunter had grabbed his sword at his hip and swung it with intent to decapitate the creature. Jin snagged his left sleeve and he missed the killing blow. The blade sliced easily through the goop and the ooze dissolved from its victim. Another monkey hurled its hands down on Hunter’s shoulders. The insectoid demon braced the flat edge of his sword between them and let the beast grab his weapon instead. Whatever this gunk was composed of, it expelled away in agonizing death throes when the attacker’s hands cut on the edge. Hunter and Jin didn’t stick around was the crazed mob was standing perplexed at the morphing of their fallen member.
The duo scrambled up to one of the roofs of one of the older churches downtown and heaved their lungs full of much needed air.
“That slime must be the same stuff that those monsters are made from. At least we know a way to save them”, Jin gasped when she could finally form a sentence without having to run.

“Nuh uh, no good. This blade can still kill non-spooky things too. I mean, it would be a pretty dumb sword otherwise.”
“Your point?” Jin snapped. Hunter twirled the blade on one hand and then slipped it back into its scabbard.
“You’re expecting me to cut down practically a whole army, and NOT kill anyone while doing it.”
“Oh ho, and here I thought you were saying you were bored. What’s the matter? Is that too big of a challenge for the great and powerful Hunter?” Hunter leaned over her to spit back a response until something had snagged his leg and tugged him off balance. He landed face first on the shingle ceiling before being raked across the tiles and over the edge. Hunter gained some sense of awareness back and dug his talons on the rain gutter before he was completely taken to the floor. A long black tongue had coiled about his slacks belonging to one of the bigger simian slaves. Hunter loosened one hand and tried to reach for the sword. There was a bit of struggle getting it free while trying not to drop it into the open air below. Even with his elongated arms, he could barely reach the rope still winding him down. A pink bubble formed about his slipping hand and was now pulling him in the opposite direction. Jin was grasping her staff and could just barely hold her stance on the roof.

Now the buggy fiend was being town in two directions and the side that was winning was the side interested in making him into an after lunch snack. He managed to glance up and see a hulking shadow start to lurk up from behind Jin without her even noticing. Hunter tried to call out for her to turn around, but he felt the coil sleek up higher up towards his waist and it pulled his attention away. He tried to slide away at the rising goop without cutting his own leg off but he was being tugged and bounced like a jump rope and it made it hard to be accurate.

Four bursts of light plummeted down from the sky. One struck the fishing money in the throat and another before the feet of the beast who now had his hands on Jin. Jin was spun around and her hold of Hunter slipped. The insectoid imp plunged to the street below and he braced for to be the next topping of street pizza. He felt a pair of large muscular hands snatched him under his arms and he soared towards the rosy witch. Hunter snatched her hand and the pair were hoisted rapidly into the air and well out of the way of the screaming squadron.
Silver gently placed them down on a high rise office building. Hunter swept some of the still clinging goop from his pants and straightened out his slightly rumpled coat.

“If you start singing ‘here I come to save the day’ I swear I’ll…” Silver grabbed Hunter’s bolo tie and lurched him upwards to meet his eyes.
“If you think I am going to let a bunch on monkeys beat me to personally pounding you to a pulp…” Two purple blasts knocked their heads together and the reeled back complaining how hard the other’s skull was.
“Thank you very much Jin”, Splinterbark complimented. “IF you two are done acting like two children fighting over the same blue ball; can I have your attention please?” The two men huffed a fine and then sidestepped further away from each other. Splinterbark walked before the monster hunting duo and bowed.

“We need your help”, she stated simply and sharply. The two dark clad heroes and raised an eyebrow at each other confused. Then Hunter drove into a guffawing fit.
“You mean…ha ha ha…the all mighty Silver…heh heh…needs…needs…my…ha ha ha…my…” He rested his head on an ac unit and was trying to steady himself back from his amusement.
“Man oh man, I haven’t laughed this hard all week. You and that gorilla are bloody hilarious at how stupid you are. Sorry, but I’m no hero like you two. This is your issue, not mine.” Silver’s hands rose up as he braced his knuckles ready to knock some sense into him. Splinterbark snapped her hooked staff for him to halt.

“Well it is kinda your problem too, don’t ya know? I mean if you want to do your little monster hunting thing without having to keep dealing with all these apes going around…oh that’s right. You’re bored aren’t you? You should be relishing this challenge. Silver, let’s put Mr. Hunter back on the church. I’m sure he’d be so appreciative of us spicing his humdrum routine.” A cruel and smirking grimace spread on Silver’s face as he slowly stepped forward to comply with Splinterbark’s request.
“Okay! Okay! You win you a malicious, conniving, little pixie! But really Silver, you can’t handle something so minor as this?”
“Actually, we need you two because YOU are faster and have better accuracy. And you’re good at getting people mad”, Splinterbark explained.
“She has a point”, Jin agreed.
“Just whose side are you on?! But albeit for me to deny such glorious qualifications. So, what do you have in mind, little pixie?”
****

Metilla Gorilla was prowling down the main street, his janky head swaying back and forth as the Black Guardian used his eyes to see about him. The streets were practically deserted by now; either having being taken into the thrall or shutting themselves up tightly in their homes. The Silver Guardian could not have gotten this far as they had passed two blocks already. Or had he underestimated the capability of this fledgling? A shrill chorus of whistling pierced the air-making the gorilla general and the soldiers spun in their tracks frantically looking for the noise. A low tenor voice echoed thought the street from all directions.

“Five little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor
And the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed.”
Hunter was alone on the street, gleefully spinning his sword beside him.
“Why Metilla Gorilla, fancy seeing you here today. Quite a chilly afternoon isn’t it? Perhaps we could do…with a bit of sun, eh?” Metilla felt a blast of energy strike him on the back of his neck. Black Guardian winced as he felt a slight burn on his own skin. Silver Guardian flew in from behind and he and Hunter raced down the street.

“You want us, monkey butt? Come and get us!” Black Guardian’s brow furrowed even as the corners of his mouth were turned into a gleeful grin. This Silver brat was nowhere near the league of his predecessor but at least this boy was making it so much more fun. Taking his ring was going to be his sweetest victorious revenge yet.
Silver and Hunter twisted and turned down alleys and side streets though just fast enough so that the gorilla army could still see them but not quite catch them. Twice they had gotten close, but they still pressed on. The walls of Valdus Academy were finally coming to view. Once they were just at the outer barricade, Silver yelled into his earpiece, “Thomas, now!”
The iron gates in the front of the school wheezed a bit, but speedily slammed into place effectively blocking the horde. The bars were too close to pass through and the stone walls too smooth to get a foothold to climb up. Metilla rammed his fists in rage trying to break the bars down. Hissing and spitting he leapt back and converted his metallic sleeve back into its cannon mode. Two ropes, one of magic and the other a hook and rope wound themselves tightly around his feet and elevated the beast high above the wall. He was slung across the barricade and chucked unceremoniously onto the exercise field that had been blocked off for repairs. The four reconvened behind some of the wrecked bleachers while the dazed ape roared for them to show themselves.
“What now, pixie?” Hunter hissed. Splinterbark tossed him a green piece of wood.

“When we were fighting him in city hall I noticed his arm sheath cocks back before he fires that cannon. There’s a gap just at the elbow that gets exposed before the shot is released. If Hunter can get that piece into that gap I can shatter it just enough to jam his arm. Then Jin and I can tether him just long enough for Silver to produce a concentrated purification blast. Got it? Good? Okay, let’s make him mad!” The quartet emerged from their makeshift bunker and out onto the field. Hunter grabbed Jin’s shoulder and held her back.
“If that ape’s shot discharges, protect the pixie”, he said sternly.
“That is…very unlike you, Hunter.”

“Tch, I don’t need Silver putting a bounty on my head. That’s all.”
“Humph, that sounds much more your way. Fine. But do try to not get killed, sweetie.”
The four stood before the black behemoth armed and ready.
“We’re taking you down, Metilla Gorilla”, Silver declared. The possessed primate sneered and slapped his hands on the ground.

“Cute little statement coming from you when you need to make a bargain with a devil to solve your problems. You are not worthy of that ring and I will gladly show you why!” The massive feelers burst from the gorilla’s back and thrashed the team apart off their feet. Hunter was the first to rebound back even as a coil had burrowed underneath the grass and slammed him in the back. The next volley curled backwards trying to slap his helmet clear from his neck. Silver fired several hails into the body of the tendril until it retreated hastily back to its host. Hunter thanked him with a wave of dark fire that emblazed another slimy armature sneaking from behind. Though the shining seraph would have liked it if the fire had not come very close to his own face. Metilla vaulted upon the stunned angel and attempted to ram his knuckles towards Silver’s spine. A shout from Jin gave him the impulse to spin around and meet the monkey’s hands with his own. The unexpected force drove him back if just for a moment. The two pressed their stance against each other. Metilla was far stronger this time though and Silver could feel his legs buckling underneath him. The simian spat and hissed further insults towards the boy. A sudden shriek of surprise distracted the beast giving Silver the opportunity to hurl the ape upwards high above the field and then plummeted back down to ram the beast’s face hard into the dirt. Chunks of earth sprayed about and had splatted on Splinterbark and Jin.

“Hey! Some thanks for us saving your shining butt”, Splinterbark snipped.
Splinterbark and Jin had been sprinting in from behind while the grand gorilla had been focused on the angel and hunter. A large bulging eye slurped out between the muscles and commanded two of the lower coils to attack.

Splinterbark swung back the strikes with her hook trying to close some gap between her and the beast. She still had a few pieces of wood left and tossed a sizeable piece of redwood right into the eye. The following shards of feathery threads and irritating powder sprayed the eye even as it tried to retreat back inward from the blast. There was just enough irritation to cause agony for the opening Silver needed. Even as his face was caked in dirt and turf, Metilla was still pumped and fighting back. His form twisted around and grasped his fleshy hand towards the pink pixie. His fingers just managed to coil about her arm and it was enough to drag her back. Splinterbark was turned to her back and forced to face the grinning maw of her adversary.
Jin sent a series of bubbles trying to push the simian back and dislodge his hands on Splinterbark. Metilla used his metallic cannon to fire quick bursts to shield himself from her magic and several more in her direction. Silver threw himself and brunted most of the impacts. Some of the shots bounced wayward and scorched the ground around him. Small pits of fire were starting to stretch along the grass and towards the students gathering at the edge of the exercise yards. Silver signaled for Jin to focus on the flames while he drove Metilla further back into the stadium area and get Splinterbark loose. Metilla had tossed Splinterbark a bit so now he was holding her firmly about the waist. Silver had skirted to the side attempting a side blow to stun the ape. Metilla raised up his arm and shoved Splinterbark in the path of the fist. Silver had to grasp his own wrist and force it down into the ground to keep from hitting her. The gorilla took advantage of the upset to snatch Silver’s face with his foot and bounce him repeatedly into the dirt before kicking him in the stomach.
Hunter sprang upon Metilla’s back and raised his sword above his head to cleave the arm clean. Metilla was aware enough of the buggy Beelzebub that he started hopping about to dislodge him Hunter grasped a handful of fur, just barely holding on, and his sword rocked about in erratic fashion as he held it for dear life. The blade, in its frenetic dance, diced about and struck several of the stringier coils that commanded the monkey marionette. Metilla’s arm drooped into a limp the more threads Hunter’s weapon cut away. Splinterbark was able to slip out of his grip and stumbled on her own shoes before him. Sprawled out on her back, Metilla pressed his foot against her chest. His arm cannon was moving towards her face and she could see the faint glow of the coils warming up for the blast. Splinterbark’s eyes met with his in sheer panic that he was about to ready her for cremation.
Metilla paused and she saw his face become more wrinkled than it naturally was. His fleshy arm sprung to life and began shoving away his own mechanical limb as it continued to power up. The robot appendage pushed back and inched back to its target. Time seemed to almost freeze for Splinterbark. The sheath was recoiling back and covering the elbow joints and exposing the cavity underneath. She tried to see any sign of Hunter from where she was planted on the earth. There was a dark colored blur hurling itself over Metilla’s shoulder before it bounced up and collided with the mechanical marvel. The arm hissed and groaned as gears became jammed into the soft, soggy wood. The ape waived its arm upward and the blast soared into the air. The flare caused him to recoil up and off Splinterbark. Hunter grabbed her by her utility belt and hurled her some distance away from the stunned monolith. The wood was starting to buckle even as the arm was beginning to smoke from the blockage. Jin enveloped the mechanical arm with a violet spectral rope and kept it from moving further.

“Hey pretty boy, get your part done already!” Hunter barked at Silver. Silver grunted but obeyed. He trained his gun dead center on Metilla’s chest. He slowed down his breathing and tuned out everything. He concentrated every good will, every uplifting thought, and every desire to save this beast from a force obviously using him as their toy. His energy began to pour into the single firearm he pointed at his target. Something else seemed to take over from that point. It was comforting and warm, but determined and willful. His arm began to draw an image before him. His gun traced out an image of light that formed into a circle. Three rings forced inside and intersected in a simplistic flower-like pattern. Then the end of his pistol glowed with the rising energy.
“Shine of Silver!” his voice echoed out and a massive beam of light engulfed Metilla. Dark colored ooze slithered and bubbled on the beast’s flesh forming a growing bulbous monstrosity on his back. Desperate to try and flee the concentrated searing heat, it’s tentacles made loud pops as it dislodged from the host and tried to escape. By now, Silver’s light had fizzled out and the bloody substance was attempting to run. It collided with a rose pink barrier courtesy of Jin. Hunter wagged his talon at it and stabbed it repeatedly until the thing had stopped wriggling and dissolved.

Splinterbark hinted for Silver to make a quick exit as his form was already starting to turn into disbanding light. He flapped away exhausted and disappeared over the south wall of the school. With the mortalized angel out of sight, Splinterbark gingerly approached the fallen ape. He was back to his previous state and half conscious.

“Mr. Metilla? Are you…okay?” she asked. The gorilla slowly raised his face in her direction.
“The…Black Guardian…he’s really…” Suddenly the simian howled in torture as dark lighting struck about his head before releasing him and he fell flat on the ground. His eyes glazed out and a thin line of drool was now pooling from his lips. Splinterbark gasped in panic. Jin put her hand on the beast’s neck.
“He’s still alive. But I don’t think anyone is home, at least not for a while.” Frix hovered close around Metilla’s head and nodded.
“I’ll have to concur with the harridan. I’ve seen this kind of magic before. The ape is essentially a prisoner in his own mind. And don’t ask me how to undo it. Even if I was at full power, I wouldn’t know anyway.” Hunter yawned and cracked his sore neck.
“Well it’s been fun but I suggest we leave before the authorities come nosing about”, was his response. Hunter dropped Splinterbark off a block away.
“Oh and by the way, tell your boyfriend to step it up. I don’t have time to clean up after him.” Then he and Jin took off into the shadows of the downtown alleys.

Reed was collapsed on the opposite side of the wall. All around him he watched as the inky monkeys shuddered and liquefied away; freeing their victims from its control. One of them just happened to be his mother. Though his whole body ached, Reed staggered over to Lenora and he caught her before she could fall to the ground. Still hugging her tightly he gently eased her onto the ground as her weak legs lost their possessed strength.
“Reed? Why are we at school? And why are you so sweaty in your school uniform?”
“I’m…I’m just glad I could save you this time”, he uttered under his breath. Before she could ask him to repeat himself, Reed had completely passed out in her arms.
****

The Black Guardian was half slumped over his desk; holding his body tightly in his arms trying to shake off the pain. There were no visible signs on his being, but he had felt that scorching light under his skin and it was torment. He was still quivering as he staggered over to the bathroom sink and doused his face in cold water trying to sooth burns that weren’t there. And to think he once coveted that light and loved being enveloped in its euphoric warmth. Any other time he could at least have a bit of a chuckle at the irony. This time that brat’s light only stirred up memories and feelings he wanted buried. That silver brat was better than he thought. He needed time to regroup and think. Once he had that opportunity, he was going to kill that Silver Guardian personally.

[Lovetheangelshadow]

Chapter 13: They are Here to Stay

The school homeroom the next day was the same as any other. Students were gossiping about the latest exploits of Silver Guardian and his pink sidekick and arguing their validity. Shelly squealed and sighed as the Dougal siblings were filing in.
“Oh thank god, you guys are alright! I was freaking out about it for the past two days!” Frix confirmed this even if the two could not see him.
“Yes…we’re just fine. You need not be concerned for us”, Lynn responded aloofly.
“Lynn, don’t be rude. I believe Shelly is being sincere. After all, she looks like she’s been dragged around like a cat with a mouse.” Alucard jested. Shelly was in too relieved of a mood to be angry and stepped aside so he could hide himself in the back row.

As she took her seat Reed and Thomas were quietly taking amongst themselves. It turns out sneaking in to the principal’s office and turning on the emergency lockdown system is a very detentionable offense. When Reed asked just how he even got in to that room, Thomas joked that everyone’s privy to a few dark secrets. He ended that with a playful wink and Shelly and Reed chuckled nervously.
“Speaking of, how did you even know how to find…them?” Reed whispered to Shelly. Shelly paused and glanced briefly at Frix who was making himself comfortable in her bag. Thinking back on certain things made her hesitate. She couldn’t tell him that Jin used the same kind of magical energy that the stone in her goggles did. And because of that, Frix was able to sense that energy and track it.
“Like Thomas said, I have a few little secrets you are not privy to.”
****

At the Altamiri residence, the four were eating dinner when Marco tossed the newspaper into the center of the table.
“It looks like our Silver Guardian is here to stay after taking down that gorilla. Not too mad for his first super villain, eh?” Morgan knocked the article to the floor with a Scroogian ‘bah’.
“After he nearly got the city turned into monkeys and caused a lot of collateral damage. Plus what about these other three? If this Silver Guardian is so great, why did he need help from these rag tag ruffians? I don’t trust the Black Beetle or his witch. And what about that girl, Shard or something, does she even have any powers?”

“Morgan, sweetie, you weren’t perfect your first year either or would you like me to remind you of the candy factory incident?” Reed sunk unto his chair and started sliding under the table as his parents were still arguing.
“You still sick, little bro? You’ve been fainting a lot recently.” Of course Marco would notice. He was practically the only one who seemed to be aware he even existed sometimes.

“It’s…just been a long week. I’m going to bed.” Reed started hobbling up the stairs.
“Reed”, Marco called after him. Reed paused to look down.
“I meant what I said before. I’m glad the Silver Guardian is here. He may never be as good a fighter or as strong, but maybe he can do things the Golden Guardian never could.” Reed shook his head and wished his brother good night. Marco was wrong, he thought to himself. He had to be just as good as the Golden or this city or even his father was ever going to recognize him as somebody. He wasn’t going to need anyone to protect this city. If his father didn’t need a partner, why should he?
****

The Holmes residence was stuffed to the brim with the aromas of fresh tortilla chips and two hefty bowls of cheese and salsa. Vivian insisted that Samuel join them after the beating he took down at city hall. He had a few more cuts to his face and arms to add to his marred appearance, but was otherwise mostly unscathed. Arthur proposed a toast.
“To the Silver Guardian and the Daring Deer! May their victories be true and this city be damn grateful!” Everyone laughed at the second half, even Vivian who had been growing weary of the less than favorable buzz at the station. After Arthur and Samuel had chugged their glasses of beer, they happily feasted themselves and talked excitedly about the new heroes.
“Frankly, my dear, I’m glad those two picked things up when they did. The city is too big for one super man alone.”
“Hopefully, this won’t encourage others to play dress up hero though. Or bring back all the super villains.” Vivian spoke up. Shelly almost choked on her ice tea. Right, she didn’t really think about that. She was aware there had been some real nasty ones out there before Songbird cleaned things up.
“Maybe we’ve gotten too fat on the Golden Guardian’s protection”, Samuel offered. “If this encourages people to stand for themselves when they need to, I’m all in. Still, I saw those two fight at city hall. They’re nowhere in the league of Gold yet-but they were giving it everything they’ve got. And that deer girl, she’s got brains. That’s something special.” Shelly again glanced at Frix confused. Her have brains? That’s a silly thing to think. She could just barely make 80% on her math quizzes. Though to hear Samuel, who thought very little of most people, say that was quite a compliment.
As she and Frix were preparing for bed, Shelly was looking out at the night sky while dressing in her pajamas.
“What are you thinking about, Shelly?”

“Nothing much. I really didn’t help a lot in defeating Metilla. No one can even get my name right!”
“Ungrateful harlots, is what people are. Must be the washboard abs and that luxurious hair what make people remember Mr. Silver.”
“He’s also stronger, faster, and more durable than I am. I don’t know, Frix. I mean, even Hunter and Jin seem to know their power and purpose. What can I possibly offer to people who can leap tall buildings in a single bound or shoot magic bubbles or bring on the holy light can I get an amen?” Frix coiled himself on the throw pillow Shelly had made for him.
“You heard Samuel, you’ve got brains. It was YOUR plan after all.”
“It…it was just a bunch of ideas. No big deal. Frix, you might want to find someone else.” Frix shook his head.
“Unfortunately, I am bound to you for the time being. I may not have all my powers anymore, but we’ll make the best of it. Even the smallest twig on the branch has a purpose. You’ll see. Now don’t be slacking in your training, understand?” Shelly smiled weakly.
“Yeah I guess you’re right. Besides, what would the silver seraphim do without me?”
****


Michael Blackbird and Vincent Commodore were sitting before the fire. A platter of tea cakes and a large pot of Earl Grey had been prepared for the pair of them inside Commodore’s penthouse. There had nearly been an hour of silence and almost all the biscuits gone before either one spoke to one another.
“You still make some of the best steeped tea, Vincent, old friend.” Commodore grumbled.
“I never could get these cakes right. She…she always knew how to make them the way I loved them.” Another long pause.
“It’s been almost a week now since Metilla was arrested the second time”, Blackbird commented. He remembered how his heart fell into the pit of his stomach as it took nearly five men to hoist the limp body of Metilla Gorilla onto the stretcher to take him away.
“I just got the reports back from LeBatte Laboratories. Based off the original reports on file when they acquired GeneCo, there don’t appear to be additional genetic anomalies aside from the ones that originally created him. His mind just seems to have completely shut down aside from basic functions. He almost a normal purple gorilla who just happens to have a mechanical limb”, Commodore exposited. Blackbird nodded thinking about how he saw the gorilla just pace back and forth and aimlessly toss around a ball without even bothering to catch it.
“Let us not beat around the bush any longer, Michael. You know why I called you here.”
“Do I?”

“Do you think I don’t recognize your training? I’ve seen the videos online. Those two are under YOUR wing.”
“I figured you would. And I figured to save you the trip of sending your goons to arrest me. But I won’t divulge their identities, you know that, Vincent.”
“I know, but that is not why I called you.” Blackbird tilted his head like a puppy trying to listen better.
“Foxwell has convinced Mayor Ambrose to start working on a squad to arrest the Silver Guardian and any other vigilantes who start popping up in Cadric City. And as District Attorney I have no choice but to make the charges stick.”
“Vincent…they’re trying to help.” Commodore slammed his cup on the table and tea splattered over the sleeve of his coat.
“Damn it Blackbird, I know that! But if we do not set an example, we’re going to have lunatics dressed in hockey pads going around under some delusion they’re fighting for justice too. Didn’t you think about that? Weren’t you even aware some of the super powered inmates haven’t been found yet since the prison break?”

“Vincent, I can’t stop them from doing what they do. All I can do is guide them.”
“Don’t delude yourself. You’re just trying to cover up your mistakes. But no matter what you do, it won’t bring her back from where she is now. And if throwing those two in King’s Island will save them, I’ll do it.” Blackbird leaned back in his chair and ran his thumb over his long beaky nose.
“Vincent, you’re not as single minded as Foxwell. You saw what happened to Metilla. Whatever drove him was something you and I have never dealt with before. It’s been over twenty years since I’ve been in the saddle, but my instincts have never failed me yet. Something big and bad is brewing in our city. Something worse than the gangsters and the super villains this city has endured before. I’m not saying we rely solely on them, but they might be our best hope in fighting this thing. I can tell you sense it as well. But I won’t stop you from doing what you feel like you need to do.”
“Three months.”

“I beg your pardon.” Commodore rose from his seat and pressed the tip of his new cane staff against Blackbird’s chest.
“You have three months to change my mind, Blackbird.” He chortled a little.
“Two stubborn men who feel what they’re doing is right for this city. Will you take my wager, old friend? Can you change this spider’s shriveled heart and bring all the hope and inspiration you claim these four waifs can offer? And if you fail, can you live with damning them as criminals that this city is convinced they are?” He held his hand out to his friend waiting for the answer. Blackbird hesitated only for a moment, and then grasped the hand of his old partner.
“They are here to stay, Vincent Commodore. You and I shall both see what they can do.”

The End