The Elemental Guardian

[WeirdRaptor]

Hello, gang. I know this isn't an update for my Tolkien or movie papers, but this is a fictional work I've been pouring into because I suddenly felt my creativity tickled by my old Mutants and Masterminds Tabletop RPG character and decided to write proper stories about her. So here goes. Please leave some feedback.

Elemental Guardian:

Notice: This story is an original creation of mine, and as such, all the characters belong to me. Please do not steal this fic.

Prologue

The Guardian's First Ascent

The rhythmic rumble on the L-Trains cut through the air of the Chicago night. In with the other sounds of the city, one would hardly call it peaceful, but it was home to the Chicagoans all the same. A man sat on a bench on the sidewalk under a streetlight reading a newspaper. He lowered the paper and looked across the street at the bank. Then he looked at his cellphone, checking the time. He grinned, and raised the paper again. The last of the civilian workers left, leaving only the security guards. They were visible from the front heading off to make their rounds.

"All clear in these back offices, Bob. I'm going into the right hall and the break rooms."

"Alright, Larry, thanks," Bob replied.

Bob glanced at another one of the small monitors, and then brought each feed into the larger center view right in front of him. He could see the other guards scanning the halls, but nothing was amiss. So far so good, then.

"Huh," he blinked.

The screens foggy for just a second, but they cleared quickly. He tapped the screen.

"Ugh. I hate technology. This crap never works the way it's supposed to," he muttered.

He leaned back in his chair and began filling out the hourly chart, giving everything the 'clear'. When he was done, he put it back in its file and turned his eyes back to the monitors.

"Oh man, this is going to be boring next several hours. Oh well, at least I don't have to walk all over the whole damn place," he thought.

He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. A slight crackle at his eye piece brought him upright.

"Hello," he said into the mouthpiece.

No answer. He looked at the monitors and fed everything through the larger screen again. Everything seemed fine. No one was acting like they were alarmed by anything, so it must have just been static. The door into the security room opened to his left. He glanced over and saw a tall broad shoulders fellow named Alex come in.

"Hey, Alex, get finished you first rounds already?"

"Oh, yeah. Everything's great. How do things look from the bird's eye view?"

"Nominal and boring, just the way we like it," Bob looked back them.

"Good, good," Alex said, stepping up behind Bob.

"Oh, yeah, there was bit of static over the earphones. Was that you trying to…" Bob never got to finish.

Alex took out his club and smacked Bob on the head with it. His eyes rolled up in his head as he grunted and slammed into the desk before falling onto the floor. Alex raised his own mouthpiece to his lips and spoke into a closed frequency.

"Congratulations, Mouse, your masking program worked great. He never saw a thing," Alex said.

"Switching back to live feed," Mouse's voice crackled over the line.

When it did, Alex saw the real story of tonight's activities within the bank walls. The guards had all been either knocked unconscious or otherwise been incapacitated. They were all tied up in the locker room. Alex's eyes scanned the feed and saw eight of his black mask, clothe, and Kevlar clad cohorts searched the back offices. Four more searched the break room. Another six worked on opening the vault, and last dozen were clearing out the front. The back exit into the alley hung with a man watching.

"You sure you intercepted the silent alarm to the cops," Alex asked.

"No problem, I'm done up here," Mouse replied.

"Okay, I'll be right out. Just make sure no one sees you leave the roof."

"Over," Mouse said.

Alex handcuffed Bob to the door and left the monitoring room. He took the right hall past the break rooms. He glanced in and the four were helping themselves to some of the fresh coffee meant for his "coworkers". He went straight to the back where he opened the door in. The eight men were already packing up. A few looked up at him and nodded in acknowledgement. Alex's wide, rounded jaw curled up into a smirk as he nodded back.

"You guys almost done? I'm getting' nervous back here," the man at the back door called.

"Oh, calm now," one of the others replied. "The cops aren't coming. We'll be out in two minutes. Speaking of which…"

He held up his mouthpiece.

"Yo, Hardcore, are you almost done in the front?"

"Sliming through the locks right now, we'll be heading back in a bit."

"Alright. Hey, buddy, we'll be out of here in just a sec," he called to the watcher.

"Hey, shouldn't Mouse be down here by now," Alex asked.

"Hey, you see him…coming…"

They turned and saw the lookout lying unconscious at the door. They swore and pulled their handheld guns. They hadn't been intending to actually kill anyone, preferring to just take the money without any unnecessary losses. However, now an uninvited third party just made its entrance.

Several black balls bounced and rolled into the rear office. When they slowed, they burst and smoke filled the room. The men started coughing and trying to wave the smoke screen away. Now they couldn't even see a few feet in front of them.

"Hey, what the he-Rrhk!"

The man grunted and the other heard him fall to the ground. Then they could hear the rest of them falling rapidly and their vision was still at zero. It was all happening in just a matter of seconds.

"Wolf! Trang! Frakes! Ro-grrk!"

Alex could hear his co-conspirers falling all throughout the room through the denseness of the smoke.

"Screw this," he uttered.

He turned tail and ran towards the front.

"Hey, Alex, what gives," one of the guys in the break room asked as he raced by.

The man stepped out into the hall just in time to see Alex go through the door into the front of the bank. Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw something come up next to him. He turned just in time to see a small slim figure about five and a half feet high, dressed in all black head to toe. The clothes were somewhat form fitting, and covered every inch of skin. He didn't get to make out anything too specific, though. The figure was already pivoting on their left foot, twisting their body around to bring the right foot up in a side kick by the time he spotted it.

He tried to raise his hands to defend himself, but it was too late. The kick caught him on the side of his face and slammed his head into the doorframe. He was out instantly. The other three men drew their guns, but the person's arm whipped out, throwing three objects through the air at them. They struck the men's guns, knocking them out of their hands.

The figure rushed in, running low with their arms spread far back. The first man whipped out a knife and slashed at their attacker, but the assailant dropped down with both hands on the floor. In a single fluid motion, the left leg came up and the back of their boot smashed the man's nose. The robber screamed as he fell back onto his rear on the hard floor, holding his broken nose in both hands.

The other man swiped with a fist through the air when the figure flipped upright again, but the person brought their arm up and blocked the attack. The other man left standing came in the side. Their attacker dropped and swept their legs, slamming both men onto the hard floor. The person in black stood again and looked around satisfied that everyone was down. Everyone save for that one guy with the broken nose.

He cowered flat against the wall, inching for the window. One arm was stretched out towards the window while his other covered his nose with a cloth. He now had a good look at their thwarter. He could tell it was some kind of old-fashioned black ninja outfit. The figure wore boots that came up just below the knees made of some kind of flexible but protective material that allowed for movement. They wore tight pants and a typical robe-style karate shirt that was tied at the waist with a simple belt. Their assailant had another dark shirt on underneath that went all up over their neck. The figure wore guards at every joint and gloves.

Lastly, their face was hidden by an overlapping mask that covered everything except for the eyes, and the face covering was augmented by some kind of plain metal mask covering the lower half of the face. The rounded curves of it came along the top of the cheeks and over the nose. It mask was a single piece of plain, flat metal with small round holes cut into it. It looked like the holes had some kind of screen just underneath, almost like a gas mask. It fit perfectly around the person's face coming to a dull point at the middle in front.

The person's eyes were covered in some kind of goggles or visor that went over the exposed part of the mask. The glass, at least the outside, was black, so the eyes weren't visible. They glasses, they fit over the person's covered nose. The top rim was flat with the lower part curving up to a point at the straps holding it to the person's face.

He could make out the shape of breasts in the chest area. So their uninvited company was a woman.

"Who…" the would be bank robber asked.

She didn't answer, and instead rushed in. The man braced for another blow, and instead only heard a single "click". He opened his eyes and found that he had been handcuffed by his free hand one a pipe on the ceiling.

He looked back down and the woman was gone.

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"Hey, what was that," someone asked.

The robbers that had just cracked the vault combination suddenly heard the groaning sound of metal on metal. They spun around just in time to see the vault door close on them, trapping them inside.

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"Alright, men, that little rat will come through here any second now," a said a large man.

Unlike the others, he wore a plain white T-shirt and jeans. He was a tall, muscular man with a buzzed dark hair. His most distinguishing feature was that he was coated in black ooze. He was known as Hardcore, a local petty criminal that had been blessed with a super power. He smirked confidently. He looked to Alex, who stood next to him. On either side, the other seven men stood lined up with their guns ready aimed at the back doors.

"Good thing you warned us, Alex. Looks like we'll be able to salvage this operation after all. We'll have to settle for less than we originally wanted," Hardcore said.

"No prob, man. Just…"

They were interrupted by the sound of something smashing through the front windows of the bank, behind them. The alarm blared at ear-ringing volume.

"S%!$," Hardcore yelled, surprised and angered.

They all spun and spotted the unwelcome guest. She was crouching low on the floor. They opened fire and she just ducked behind a pillar in time. Hardcore growled. The black ooze covering him sloughed onto the tile floor at his feet and rolled over the ground quickly. Strands of it shot up in tendrils, lashing out at the pillar. Chunks of plaster scattered everywhere and the entire thing came crashing down, but the attack came up empty. She was gone.

"Whoa, calm down, man," one of the goons shouted. "You'll bring the whole ceil…"

A glob of slime shot out from Hardcore's hand and slammed the man through the glass of a teller station.

"Well, that's not very nice," a voice from above said.

They looked up and saw her clinging to a corner of the ceiling using some kind of hooks she held with her feet also braced the walls. They raised their guns to open fire again. To their surprise, she simply pushed off the wall right at them. She fell towards them with headfirst. She brought one arm up in front of her and slashed it back again. They could hear the sudden rushing over air and suddenly they were all hit with what could only be described as a powerful blast of wild.

Everyone except for Hardcore was swept back over table and into wall or cabinet. Then she flipped herself around coming done feet first while still manipulating the air around her. Hardcore lowered his arms when the last of the air died down just in time to see her boots smack right into his chest. As he fell back, she pushed off and flipped through the air again, and landed on her feet. She landed upright and her arms wide above her head.

"Tada," she cried.

Hardcore grunted painfully as he slammed into the floor. He hadn't been expecting that and had lowered his guard. He glared up at her as she went back down into a fighting stance. He rose to his feet with the help of his slime and lashed out at her again. She dodged, flipped, and somersaulted away from each whip from the tendrils. Then they all came at her at once. She jumped back and into the air, breathing in and then out heavily. She whipped both arms out with her fingers wide apart. Ten waves of fire flashed out in front of her, driving away the muck.

Air blew up underneath her, keeping her suspended. Hardcore punched out at the air, and unleashed a volley of black junks of slime. She spun around where she was, bringing both hands together. With one rigid and strained motion shove-like motion, a section of the floor lifted up in front of her. It absorbed the hale intended her.

Then the slab of concrete flew right at him. Hardcore summoned up every ounce of strength his goo allowed him and intercepted incoming object. He managed to shove it off course through the wall behind him.

By this time, some of his men had picked themselves up off the floor and trained their weapons on her again. They fired and she kicked out a sweeping kic. A concentrated wall of fire and air formed in front of her. The bullets it and exploded prematurely and the splintering bits were blown away by the dense air pressure.

She flew across the room and landed next to the water fountain. With a fluid and smooth motion with her arms, the fountain shook and the nozzle broke off. Water gushed out, which she formed it into a chunk of ice. They flew through the air and bombarded Hardcore and the others. The recovered men either collapsed onto the ground in a new circle of unconsciousness or her took cover behind the teller desks.

The ice chunks bounced harmlessly off Hardcore's body. He roared in frustration. The black ooze surrounding him sloughed out in a twenty foot radius, making anyone nearby slip and fall.

"Ack! Pull back some, man," Alex said, clinging to a desk to avoid slipping and hitting his head on the floor.

"SHUT UP," Hardcore bellowed.

A sizable tendril slammed Alex against the wall while Hardcore slid across the floor with blinding speed. The unknown woman managed to stay to upright, but struggled to maintain balance on the slippery floor. Hardcore zipped forward, straight arming her across the chest. This knocked her onto the ground.

He started to turn around again to crush her under a huge fist of the ooze, but then found he couldn't. He shivered. Why was he so cold, too? He looked down at himself and the floor. Both him and his ooze had been frozen solid. He glared at her through the corner of his eye as she leapt to her feet.

A guttural growl pierced the air as the ice around him cracked and he broke free. She drop kicked him, which made him stumble, and then she twirled around to let him have a back hook kick. This time he caught it and used the slime he secreted to spin around, swinging her around. She cried out, the whole thing happened so fast that her body snapped around painfully. She then flung her into a pair of potted plants. She let out a painfully grunt upon impact.

She climbed onto all fours and tried to stand. He rushed her again with both hands raised high above him, ready to slam her back with two fists. Her hand shot out at the last minute and he lifted off the ground by a powerful gust. The secretion of fluids on the floor receded the instant he was in the air. He let out a cry. The air stopped and he screamed before slamming into the floor.

"I thought so," the woman muttered in a hoarse whisper.

She stood up, painfully holding her side.

"You thought what," Hardcore asked.

He got back up and readied another attack. She went into a low stance with her right arm held tightly against her arm side. The palm was turned up and positioned like she was holding something. With one, strong heft as if lifting something heavy, her arm shot up and a pillar of earth came up through the floor underneath Hardcore. It grabbed him by the middle with a massive hand and held his feet up off the floor. He struggled and grunted against the restraint.

The woman put her hands on her hips and looked up at him, seeming very pleased with herself.

"You bitch! You bitch," Hardcore roared. "You…! Mmmmfff!"

Suddenly, his mouth and head were encircled with some kind of vine. He looked to his right. A potted plant next to him had reached out and gagged him, doubtlessly under the control of his unknown captor.

"Your mother should wash that mouth out with soup," she said with a pouting tone.

Sirens could now be heard.

"Oh, look, the cavalry's arrived," she said light-heartedly.

Ah, f*%$ this," she heard one of Hardcore's men swear as he started running out the back.

"Oh, right. I should probably take care of those guys," she muttered, just now remembering them.

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The police cars and a S.W.A.T. van pulled out front of the bank and cars blocked off every alley exit. A detective climbed out of his car and ran up to the nearest officer.

"Witnesses say they saw Hardcore on the sign," the detective asked.

"Yes, sir. We've already prepared for him. Right, guys?"

Officers pulled tanks filled with liquid nitrogen out of one vehicle and began strapping them on. They then gripped the nuzzles of the hoses that were attached. Johns took a megaphone in hand and began speaking into it.

"This is the police. Detective Johns speaking. We have the place surrounded. Throw down your weapons, and put your hands in the air."

The S.W.A.T. team filed in around a protective corner. When they saw no one was surrendering or coming out, they got the order to enter.

"Alright, our best vantage point is the fire exit. We're going in through the second floor," the commander spoke to his crew. "Move out!"

While the rest of the force kept up the protective barrier at every entrance, the SWAT entered into the alleyway, armed with automatic rifles for any regular hostiles and liquid nitrogen for Hardcore. They came to the stairwell and ascended it, slowly and carefully.

"Anyone by the windows," the commander asked their sniper through the mouthpiece.

"Negative."

They entered the structure and checked the entire floor. No one. Well, no one except for a skinny young man found bound, gagged, and unconscious on the floor. He was carrying a laptop and several other pieces of electronic equipment.

He was tended by a two squad members while the rest went downstairs. They came down in the back office. They stopped and stared. All the would-be-bank-robbers were already tied back-to-back in a circle in the center of the room.

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The two radio crackled.

"Yeah," Johns said into the speaker.

"Detective. Someone has already taken care of all the hostiles," the squad commander's voice said.

"What? Who?"

"We don't know, but…"

"Hey, boys," a voice called from somewhere overhead.

"Sir? Sir," the squad commander called through the other end.

"Yeah, hold on," Johns replied.

The lights all turned to the woman that thwarted the bank heist. She stood poised atop a street light.

"No need to thank me, and you never will," she said. "These bad guys are courtesy of the one and only, Elemental Garduian. Tell your friends! Seeya!"

She blew them a kiss and was suddenly enveloped in smoke.

"Where'd she go?"

"There!"

The police barely saw her leap up and over onto a rooftop and into the night.

"Johns," an officer asked.

Johns just sighed.

"Oh, just what we needed. Here's another wannabe vigilante crime fighter in a growing list of freaks. I need a freaking drink!"

[WeirdRaptor]

Elemental Guardian:

Notice: This story is an original creation of mine, and as such, all the characters belong to me. Please do not steal this fic.

Chimera Rising

Chapter One

Mostly Mundane

"Hello, this ABC-7, your local morning news. We're broadcasting live here with the 10 O'Clock news with anchors Chad Letts and Paula Angel*," the announcer said as the program began

"Hello," Chad Letts said. "Today, viewers, you're in for a treat. The top story of the day is a very interesting one. It seems that the Chicago area has a new superhero that just became active last night when she thwarted a bank robbery at the local Bank of America, located at 4500 W North Avenue. She identified herself as The Elemental Guardian after handing perpetrators over to the police before vanishing from the scene."

He turned to his co-anchor and said:

"Over to you, Paula."

She smiled back with the standard overly pleasant look all news anchors seem to have, and turned back to the audience to speak.

"Thank, you Chad. The bank heist was orchestrated by none other than Lucian Owens. You probably know him as the superhuman felon 'Hardcore', currently guilty of repeated accounts of theft, breaking and entering, arson, and several instances of manslaughter, including police officers and last year, Police Detective Charles Hobson. The police have already taken him into custody, for the fourth time. According to the report, they're going to be putting him under into suspended animation until they can design a cell that can hold him indefinitely."

"Hardcore is not known for being a pushover for even the toughest of superheroes, like The Prime Paragon, who assisted in his previous incarceration," Chad added.

"We're now going live to the scene of the crime with Ash Gibson," Paul said. "Ash, what can you tell us about the robbery and how it was thwarted?"

The view cut to a reporter standing out front of the bank. Behind him, not even a foot away, was a line of police tape with the broken front window of the bank also visible behind him.

"Hi, this is Ash Gibson live at the sight. Let me tell you, I have not seen a bank heist this elaborate in quite some time. This was an inside job. The plant was Alexander Winston, a security guard hired seven months ago. He'd been memorizing the layout and the technical aspects of the security since the beginning.

"Winston even managed to sneak Michael "Mouse" DiMaggio, a small time cyber hacker and embezzler, onto the roof to intercept the silent alarms and hack the feed of the security cameras. From there, it was simple for them to gain entry and dispatch the rest of the overnight personnel."

"So how did this robbery get turned on its head," Chad asked.

"My guess is that our new hero spotted Mouse on the roof," Ash replied. "That this scheme was thwarted may have been by happy chance. Mouse was found unconscious on the second floor by the SWAT team. She then took out most of the rest before they even knew what was happening."

"Ash, what exactly were the Elemental Guardian's powers?"

"According to Hardcore, Winston, and the other criminals, her abilities were simple martial arts augmented by Elemental Manipulation. Their testimony said that they witnessed her using air, fire, water, and earth before she successfully stopped their heist. Here's Officer Trevor Murphy to give his thoughts of this new face."

Gibson held the microphone up to an aging police officer.

"Officer Murphy, what is your take on this new hero in Chicago?"

"Morning. You see a lot on things as a policeman, especially since Supers started showin' in in the 80s. I haven't quite seen this before, though. Um, sure, sure, you get fire starters, wave surfers, mud slingers, and windbags, but all four? Not around here. I can't really figure her yet. We'll just have to wait and see. You get a lot ego-tripping "heroes" and few men and women that're the genuine article as far as Supers go. Time will tell."

"And there you have it. The Elemental Guardian: Hero or Ego-Stroking Menace? Back to you, Paula," Ash replied, facing the camera again.

"Thank, you Ash. And this is the only photo of the Ele…"

"Ego-stroking menace," the girl in question exclaimed angrily. "No one would even have known they were stealing all that money until they were long gone if I hadn't broke up their little party!"

She chucked her empty coda can at the TV screen. She crossed her arms and pouted where she sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Now, now, Peanut. You're just going to have to expect this kind of suspicion. Unauthorized superhero work is a very divisive issue right now," her father replied matter-of-factly.

"But daaa-aaad," she whined.

She turned partially around to face him while speaking. She sat cross-legged on the floor while he was sitting on the couch.

"Ugh. Stop whining, Lisa. You'll live," her father replied becoming somewhat annoyed.

Lisa blew him a raspberry. Her dark brown eyes still looked upset, but then she sighed in resignation, and raised both arms in a shrug. She tangled a hand through her black hair, which has tied back in a ponytail and draped over her shoulder. Hanging straight down, it came halfway down her shoulder blades. She had a thin yet somewhat rounded face thanks to her high cheekbones.

"Oh, I guess you're right. But I was really hoping for a warmer welcome, you know. Especially after I got hit by the big guy not just one, but twice. It still huuuurts and already left bruises."

"You still did the city a service by stopping those men. You couldn't do better than that. In all, I'd call your first outing a resounding success," her father replied without looking up from his paper.

"I guess," she replied doubtfully.

She turned back to the TV and picked up the remote to change the channel.

"Now you mean to tell that this she isn't the first Elemental Gua…" She heard the anchor start to ask some expert they had contacted for an interview.

The channel flipped it over to cartoons.

"…Big adventure, tons of fun, a beautiful heart, faithful and strong, sharing kindness is an easy feat, and magic makes it all complete…" The theme song sang. She set the remote down and settled in. Her father lowered the paper for a second. He grinned, shaking his head and pushed the transparent frame of his narrow lenses up to the top of his nose and went back to reading.

He took a sip of his coffee. Sans his usual gray jacket, he was already in his business suit and black power tie, ready to tackle the horrors of patents and all the procedures relating them to law and practice. Lisa actually thought he had the more dangerous job. He was an unathletic and skinny man that stood no more than 5'5", the same height of his daughter, no less. Lisa largely shared his Asian features and tanned skin. Her mother, Madison, or "Maddie", was blue-eyed brunette American.

The home phone on the table next to the couch started ringing.

"Hello, Ellison-Shirakawa residence. Koji speaking," he answered.

"Koji, we need you in here at your usual time. Do you think you can make it," the voice on the other end said.

"Gary? What's this about?"

"Look, the client, the one patenting the Nanofilter wants to move the hearing up. She's not taking no for an answer," Gary replied.

Koji sighed and gripped the ridge of his nose, clenching his eyes shut. He spoke again.

"I'll see what I can do, but everything's already been scheduled. Gary, my daughter is heading off to college today! You know I'm taking a half day. Huh? Yeah… Yeah, I'll see you later Gary."

He hung up the phone and turned to Lisa, who returned his gaze.

"Getting called into work, dad?"

"Yeah, but if those pencil pushers think I'm going to miss giving you a proper sendoff today of all days, they have another thing coming," Koji replied and then grinned. "I wouldn't miss seeing you off into a bigger world for that bigger world."

Lisa smiled back at her father.

"Thanks, dad."

"It's nothing. Speaking of which, though, shouldn't your friend be getting here soon?"

"Rain," Lisa laughed, and rolled her eyes. "You know Rain, dad. She'll drive up with all her luggage squared away perfectly and make sure mine is, too, before we hit the road."

"Hit the road," Koji asked light-heartedly. "In that van? More like tapping the road. Just make sure you make it by tonight. Since you're just starting out, you'll have to arrive on compass a few days ahead of time since you don't know your way around yet."

"Well, if you and mom had donated a little when we were fixing it for the last two years, we might be able to make it go faster than 40 miles per hour on the best of days," Lisa chided him blithely.

"A young person's first car is supposed to be a piece of junk," Koji argued playfully. "It'll make you both appreciate the first decent one you can get. Besides, you can only do so much for a rattletrap you bought by pooling 700 bucks for two years."

"Yeah, but it's our rattletrap," Lisa replied proudly.

"Yes. Yes, it is, and you can have it," Koji replied.

"Lisa."

"Yeah, Grandma?"

Lisa leaned over to look past the couch into the adjoining rooms beyond. There her grandmother stood, in full karate uniform. It might seem a humorous sight perhaps. The stocky and doughy form of the elder would not exactly inspire fear to anyone who didn't know her.

"Before you go, how about one more lesson?"

"One more lesson? I guess I could…but why, you told me I was ready yesterday?"

"Oh, so you're a big girl now? No need for old granny?"

"Whaóno, no! I didn't say that! I'm just saying I took out my first super villain and everything! And today's going to be busy enough as is."

"Is that so," Yuuka answered her granddaughter thoughtfully.

"Yep," Lisa replied, sounding very pleased with herself.

"So you don't want that final round?"

"Not really. I'm going to sitting a car for an hour and then hauling things into a dorm room. So I'll pass, thanks, anyway."

"You sure, Lisa?"

"Yes, Grandma. Why?"

Then Yuuki smirked mischievously and laughed at her granddaughter.

"I'm calling beginner's luck! It's probably just as well, anyway. A person too lazy, or scared, to spar with an old woman can't be that challenging of an opponent."

"Heyóhey! What'd you just say? I could take five of that guy in a heartbeat."

"Oh ho ho ho ho, you could, could you? How about you put your money where your mouth is," Yuuka replied. "What's a pup like you going to do, eh? Just going to sit there and let the carbs go to your hips like other kids? Kids these days, you just aren't good for anything other than getting fat."

"Mom, don't tease Lisa like that," Koji said while turning the final page of his newspaper.

"Oh! IT. IS. ON! You are going down, Grandma," Lisa yelled.

She leapt over the couch with a determined grin and ran after the elder into the back yard. She'd beat that old bat and make her eat those words.

Koji just sighed, shaking his said.

"Honey, was that Lisa just now chasing Yuuka," Lisa's mother called from elsewhere.

"Mm-hm," Koji hummed back.

He took a sip of his coffee.

"Okay. Just wondering."

"Need any help putting together that presentation, Maddie," he called.

"No, I've got it, but thanks, honey," she called back.

Meanwhile, in the back yard, Lisa and Yuuka circled each other. Lisa glanced down at herself. Oh right, she had on a pair of jeans and a 'Bears' T-Shirt.

"Hey, should I get chang…" she started to ask.

Yuuka suddenly blasted her with a wall of air, sending her granddaughter across the yard and rolling down into the ditch beyond.

"On the streets, you might be fighting for your life in whatever you're wearing at the time. Crime doesn't wait for you to get ready," Yuuka called. "From now on, your fights won't be sparring with me. Remember that next time you wear that little blue number."

"Arrrgh," Lisa screamed.

Lisa came into view again. She stood atop a tree branch that bore her to the top. When she hopped off, it promptly returned to its original state.

"For the last time, it was prom! I was not the only girl in a dress that didn't cover my knees! Would you let that go, already?"

"How shameful, my only daughter dressing like a…"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Lisa said severely.

She rushed Yuuka. She didn't use anymore Elemental attacks, despite what Yuuka had done. They couldn't have the neighbors seeing them in action.

She let loose with a mad flurry of strikes. Her leg snapped up in a simple forward kick, followed by a spinning roundhouse, and drop kick. All of these Yuuka dodged or blocked with ease. In fact, she wasn't even cracking a sweat, where Lisa was beginning to breathe hard with the amount of energy she was exerting trying to corner the elder. Yuuka caught the last punch and pushed Lisa away with a light kick. Yuuka yawned as if this bored her.

"Is that really the best you can do I guess you really are my son's daughter," Yuuka saidked, uninterested. "He brought shame to our family and you'll do no better."

Lisa growled in rage and punched at her again. Yuuka grabbed the strike, turned so her back was to Lisa, and then pulled with all her might while ducking down. Lisa cried out as she thrown onto her back at Yuuka's feet. She leapt up again and began a new string of attacks. Her movements became even more frenzied and chaotic. She was knocked down on her rump next. When she tried again, Yuuka grabbed her by the arm and twisted it behind her back.

Lisa let out a pained grunt as pressure was applied to the joints. She tapped her leg frantically.

"Okay, okay, I give, give," she said.

Yuuka released her.

"Good. Now let's go in and get some…"

Lisa slapped her across the face then knocked her over with a push kick. Yuuka landed with a strained 'oof'.

"Hey! What the hell was with the bad-mouthing, eh? And leave dad out of this next time," Lisa shouted angrily.

"Oh, yes. Please do forgive me for that, Lisa," Yuuka replied apologetically.

She held up both hands in surrender. She got up and dusted herself off. Lisa crossed her arms irately. In all their time, the teasing from Yuuka had never gone beyond that. Today she had outright slandered her own grandchild, and the younger woman had no idea why.

"But…" Yuuka added. "I had to make a point."

"What."

"When we last sparred yesterday, you easily beat me, on your eighteenth birthday, no less. And then you had a taste of victory on your first outing as the first American Elemental Guardian. Why was today any different?"

Lisa puffed up like an angrily bird for a second, but then she deflated when she realized what happened. She slapped her forehead with a distasteful groan.

"I let you taunt into a fight," Lisa moaned. "Then I guess anger took the steering wheel."

"Now why was that any different from what that man at the bank did?"

"That guy at the bank doesn't have a thing on me that he could use. So what? You didn't have to talk that way about dad."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but the point still stands, dear," Yuuka explained. "There are people out there that can deduce things about their enemies in a frighteningly short amount of time, and they will say far, far worse to get you good and angry, right where they want you. Today, you learned that you can still fall victim to yourself. So take that lesson and never forget it."

"Heh heh, kinda harsh how you did it, though," Lisa replied, mildly.

"It's a harsh burden we've been charged with, dear," Yuuka said back. "I wish that the agreement was finite, but no. As long as we Shirakawas endure, so does our burden."

Yuuka stopped, as if remembering something very important.

"Oh yes," she said thoughtfully.

She turned to Lisa.

"Lisa, dear, tell me, why do we control the elements?"

"Eh?"

"Just think of this as a final test."

This had all been stuff that was grilled into her mind ever since the time her grandmother came stateside when her powers manifested on her fourth birthday. Thankfully, when the water suddenly lifted out of the kiddie pool and drenched everyone, the guests believed her parents when they claimed it was a 'freak accident' thanks to 'unusual moister-precipitation ratio'. From then on, Yuuka had been Lisa's trainer.

"Fight the evils of the world wherever we find them and protect the innocent, preferably from the shadows like right ninjas," Lisa answered, still not quite getting it.

Lisa chuckled then.

"Guess I blew the pooch on that last one, huh?"

"That's quite alright, dear. While it's true we always did our duty away from prying eyes in the past, but this is the present and many miles away from our relatives. It's entirely fitting that you've decided to go about our business in your own way. As long as you never lose sight that we're gifted with this power for a very specific purpose, it should be alright," Yuuka said.

"Yeah, yeah, with great power comes great responsibility and all that jazz," Lisa said growing disinterested with the history lesson. "I get it, grandma. I'm not…"

She stopped when she happened to see her father when he passed one of the rear windows passing through the kitchen, likely heading down to the basement. Her eyes fell downcast, her entire demeanor becoming saddened.

"I'm not going to falter," she finished.

She shook the feeling off and faced her grandmother with a determined smile.

"Hey! I've waited all my life to put my power to the test against slime balls like that that Hardcore guy! Lisa's got this town covered," Lisa declared.

"Good," Yuuka smiled back. "That's all I needed to hear, Lisa. Let's back inside now."

They both went back in and entered the kitchen. Lisa's mother, Maddie was sifting through her briefcase.

"Hey, mom, what's going on," Lisa asked.

"Just putting my presentation together for tomorrow."

Maddie held up a disc before stuffing it into her briefcase.

"This being the most important piece."

"Ah," Lisa replied.

Maddie looked at Lisa with a concerned expression.

"You sure you girls don't want us to come with? We'll be more than glad to help you get settled in over there. Moving out of your parents' place can be a difficult jump, you know?"

Lisa regarded her mother with affectionate humor.

"Oh, not again," she said. "Yes, I'm sure, mom. Rain and I are eighteen, not eight, and we're going to on our own at the dorm until the holidays, anyway. Besides, I don't want to be a bother to you guys."

"You are never a bother, sweetheart," Maddie assured. "It's just one afternoon. We'll be more than glad to see you all the way to Northeastern if you want."

"I know," Lisa replied. "Really, mom, we total have this!"

"Alright," Maddie replied. "If you insist, we won't follow along for the ride."

They heard a car horn blaring from the front yard. Lisa went over to a window and pushed a curtain aside. Rain was sitting on the open window of the faded, pale brown mini-van and waving to her. Lisa gestured for Rain to come in. She looked back at her mother and grandmother.

"Rain's here," Lisa called.

She opened the front door for her friend. Rain stood maybe an inch taller than Lisa. Standing at the doorway, Rain brushed a blonde lock out of her sapphire eyes. It didn't hang past her neckline, and was cut asymmetrically in one spot next to her right eye. The strand of longer hair hung down to her cheek. It was hastened in place out of her eyes with a clip. Rain also wore glasses upon her round face, with narrow lenses and transparent frames. She had on a navy blue tank top and knee-length skirt and sandals.

"Come on innnnn," Lisa sang.

"Ready to go," Rain asked flatly.

"What? That's it? We're about to embark into the next stage of life, and that's all you have to say," Lisa pretended to chide, but for the cheerful tone in her voice.

"So are you ready," Rain asked again, not breaking tone even slightly.

"You're no fun," Lisa pouted.

Both teens chuckled. Lisa stepped out of the way, letting Rain in.

"So how's our wreck behaving today," Lisa asked.

"Appalling. The ignition doesn't want to turn over and I think the gas tank is leaking," Rain replied, and then added wryly: "So it's been on its very best behavior."

"At least the brakes work now!"

Rain half-laughed and half-shuddered at that one, and remembered to thank whatever deity that saved them that they hadn't been going any over 10 MPH that day.

"We won't be laughing when it refuses to start again," Rain then added.

"Just as long as it gets us to Northeastern," Lisa shrugged.

"It'd be a start," Rain replied. "Well, we better your stuff carried out."

"Hello, Rain," Koji greeted. "How are you today?"

He shook Rain's hand.

"Just fine, Mr. Shirakawa," Rain replied warmly.

"Good, good. You know, you girls were standing right here in this exact spot the first time Lisa invited you over. How old were you? Four…five? I know it was either preschool or kindergarten?"

"Kindergarten, dad," Lisa corrected. "And I'd just found out that Rain lives four blocks away."

"How time flies," Koji muttered, melancholically.

"I know, our baby is all grown up and stubbornly refusing our help," Maddie added.

She had just followed her husband into the living room.

"Last chance," Maddie offered.

"Mom, it's only an hour drive if traffic isn't too bad," Lisa exclaimed, laughing.

"Alright, if that's how you want it," Maddie replied.

She rolled her eyes at her daughter's stubbornness. She was fully anticipating a phone call begging for help later in the day.

"Time to pack up," Lisa announced.

Lisa grabbed her purse off the dining room table, and looped the strap over her shoulder. She then picked up two large suitcases set alongside the stairwell. Rain grabbed 1'-2' plastic container and followed. Lisa out. Koji grabbed the last two, a carry on and her laptop, and followed suit. Then Yuuka , and then, Maddie.

"I've pushed all my things into the back. So we don't have to try to open up the back," Rain told Lisa.

"Thank you," Lisa replied.

The last thing either of them wanted to was figure out how to open up that back door which seemed to have fused itself shut.

When they loaded the baggage in, Rain walked around to the driver's seat while Lisa pulled the door shut. She turned to face her family.

"Why does it feel like I'm going halfway across the States," she asked.

She leapt forward and caught her mother in a tight embrace, which was returned. When they broke it off, she turned to her father.

"Now, it's just an hour away, so we will be seeing you before the holidays, right," Koji asked.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Weren't you the one who said you'll be glad when I stop eating all your food," Lisa cracked.

"Oh, right. Never mind, then," Koji smirked.

"Oh, dad," Lisa said as they also embraced.

Lastly, Yuuka. She gave a standard bow, which Yuuka returned.

"Thanks for everything, teacher."

"You're welcome, and don't forget."

"I know."

"Lisa," Maddie said. "If you're going to go out again tonight, just be extra careful."

She leaned in and whispered in her daughter's ear.

"They know about you now, so the next crook might not be so surprised."

Lisa padded her mother on the shoulder, reassuringly. She gave them one final goodbye and climbed into the passenger side. With a loud crunching sound, the van started, and the Rain maneuvered it onto the road despite the slack steering. In a few minutes, the cumbersome vehicle was going 25 MPH.

"Oh, man, I'm so glad we live in Naperville. Northeastern would be a real pain to get to otherwise," Lisa said.

"Going to Kendall would've been a hassle, too," Rain said.

"Bleh. I already know how to cook, wait, and keep a restaurant clean. I just need to learn to how to run one."

"Well, I'm glad we're going together," Rain said truly.

"You betcha," Lisa nodded.

"What classes are you taking, again," Rain asked.

"Hang on, they're in my purse," Lisa replied.

She opened up the simple white bag and rummaged through it. After a moment or two, she pulled up the folded piece of paper in question.

"Let's see… Intro to Business, 9:55AM-10:50AM, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Intro to Accounting, 11:55AM-12:50PM, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Culinary 101, Mondays at 5:00PM-8:00PM."

"There's a cooking class at Northeastern," Rain asked, confused.

"It's there just for this semester. I figure even if I'm not attending Kendall, I need to take something like this. And lastly, Hospitality Management, Wednesday evenings."

"No computer classes," Rain asked curiously.

"No need, I've been learning from Mr. Hargrove and mom on my off time," Lisa replied.

"For free? Now that's just cheating, Lisa."

"Ha! Ha, Rain has to paa-yay," Lisa joked with a chiming tone.

"Brat," Rain grinned.

"Meany brainy," Lisa said in a faux childish tone.

"Hey, if you want help learning how to use one practically, I can help," Rain offered. "Your plate's going to be full, especially with business. Well, as long as it doesn't cut into your study time."

"Ugh, and I hate studying," Lisa said.

A glance over at a surprisingly stern look from Rain made her back-peddle immediately.

"Ah, but I know I don't have much of a choice. As it stands, business and accounting just looks like a confusing mess of numbers to me."

"That's because that is exactly they are."

"Well, duh," Lisa laughed.

"Hey, wanna see something neat," Rain asked.

"Sure, what," Lisa replied.

Rain clicked the power button on the radio.

"This is KMMI, your station for light favorites," it crackled.

"Oh, cool, you got the radio to work," Lisa exclaimed.

Lisa began playing around with it trying to find a station she liked.

"I've barely seen you all week," Lisa stated. "Has Dr. Ferrell really been keeping you and the other lab assistants that busy all week?"

"I've been putting in overtime over at Ferrell Labs," Rain replied. "Even with a little money stored up, classes are going to start cutting into my work schedule on Monday."

"Ditto," Lisa agreed. "Gotta earn those extra bucks. We'll be paying for everything, ourselves, on campus. Heh! Mr. Hargrove's just happy to have a worker going practically from dawn past dusk!"

"Oh, what're you doing this semester," Lisa jumped subjects.

"Science, science, science, and more science," Rain replied.

"Oh, right, how could I forget your goal of becoming a mad scientist and taking over the world," Lisa teased, then added in a scratchiest voice muster. "WITH SCIENCE!"

"Goal? I'm already mad. I just need those suckers at the Pentagon to let me in the front door and then I'll finally have access to their legion of killbots," Rain deadpanned.

"So what made you choose Anthropology over Archeology," Lisa asked.

"Well, I love both just about equally, but my best friend got into a college that only has Anthropology classes," Rain replied.

"I'm the scale-tipper," Lisa was very surprised. "Er, you sure about that? I mean, I don't you to restrict yourself…"

"Ah, don't worry about me," Rain insisted. "If you hadn't gotten into Northeastern, I'd have decided with a coin toss!"

"…elieves this Elemental Guardian is not a part of Generation-E," a voice on the radio asked.

"Ooh, that new superheroine from last night," Rain said with interest.

She turned up volume slightly and listened. Lisa cleared her throat uncomfortably and went silent, not sure if she wanted to hear what they had to say about her.

"Well, that's difficult to say at this," another voice answered. "There are legends and rumors of people able to manipulate the natural world around them going back centuries, most of them coming from the Far East, in countries such as Japan and China. This is just the first time we've ever seen one go public like this."

"So it's entirely possible that her powers have nothing to do the '79 bombing?"

"Let's watch something else," Lisa said, wearily. "I'm not into that Super stuff."

"Aw, just a little longer," Rain begged. "I find Supers fascinating! After hundreds of years of minute change in mankind's development, we suddenly have variants jumping ahead and becoming capable of things no one else is! Oh, the evolutionary implications are endless! Even though most Gen-E only have mild physical advantages, it can still lead to bigger, better things do us as a race."

"Well, okay…" Lisa started to reply.

Suddenly, the hood of the van flew up, completely obscuring their vision. Both girls screamed, and Rain slammed on the breaks. She peaked through the narrow gap at the base to see the road.

"Pull over," Lisa shouted hysterically.

"I'm trying," Rain cried back.

Rain finally managed to park it next to a sign telling them not to. Lisa breathed in and out heavily a few times holding her hand over her heart. She climbed and shut the hood.

"Please don't do that again," she said.

She was about to walk back to hop back in when the engine stopped. Lisa looked at Rain and could see she wore a surprised expression, too. She tried restarting it a few times, but it wouldn't quite get turned over for them. Rain leaned in defeat over the steering wheel. Then she reached back and pulled out the tool box.

A while later…

"Alright, try again," Lisa shouted from under the hood.

With a lot of resistance, the engine sputtered into gear. Laughing triumphantly, Lisa slammed the hood down again and climbed back in.

"Quickly, take off before it dies again," Lisa ordered.

"On it," Rain said.

The thing crunched into forward drive and they were off.

"Let's hope it doesn't do that again," Lisa breathed.

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"Rmmmmm-clunk," the engine died.

"Oh, just perfect," Rain huffed.

"Well, at least we're in the parking lot," Lisa shrugged. "Welcome to Northeastern Illinois University."

"Barely. We haven't even fully turned in yet," Rain replied.

She tried restarting it to no available.

A car horn honked behind them.

"Let's get out and push it out of the way, and then worry about getting it started," Lisa suggested.

"Right," Rain replied unhappily.

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Both girls huffed as they pushed the heavy metal machine the final stretch into the nearest parking space available. Lisa pushing from the back, and Rain pushing from the driver's side, still steering it. It had been slow going for what seemed for perpetuity. After putting it into Park, Rain slide down and sat next to it on the grass just beyond the edge of the lot.

List wiped the sweat from her brow and leaned over to see Rain.

"Well, we're here. We better carry our stuff in and get settles," Lisa said.

Rain looked at her, and then at daunting distance to the Richardson Hall Dormitory doubtfully. She shook her head.

"Why? We have a whole parking lot of empty spaces a lot closer to the buildings. Why walk all that distance when we could just get the engine running again?"

"That could take hours, and I'd rather not be out in 80 degree weather and under the hot sun that long," Lisa said firmly.

Rain looked up at her friend's unflinching expression.

"Alright," she sighed.

"Great," Lisa replied relieved that Rain had actually given up without an argument for once.

They retrieved their belongings and started the long walk to the front office of the college. Mercifully, they each had a suitcase with wheels. So, with one hand holding both the carry on and the wheeled case, with the plastic container under her armpit, and the other arm carrying the other case, Lisa was walking.

"We can come back for the mini-fridge later," Rain said.

"But not too much later," Lisa pointed out. "I don't fully trust a hunk of metal we got that cheaply."

"Not anywhere than the other hunk of metal we got a bit too cheaply," Rain said, eyeing the van reproachfully. "I swear the next time mom and dad want to help me move, I am totally taking them up on that offer."

Lisa laughed guiltily, and looked away, knowing full well that this had been her idea.

"Well, too late now. Oh, well, look on the bright side. This is great exercise."

A moment of silence passed.

"Yeah… No," Rain said flatly.

"If you were actually in shape, this wouldn't be so hard," Lisa chided half-heartedly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Rain grumbled.

"I did offer to take you on morning jogs all the time growing up, which you always refused," Lisa replied.

"Yeah, really regretting that now," Rain admitted with a sigh. "And no more rubbing in, alright?"

Lisa giggled devilishly.

After a long walk and several breaks, they finally arrived at the front desk. A receptionist looked up at the pair that just walked in the door.

"Hello. How can I help you," she asked pleasantly.

"Hi. We're freshmen, just getting moved in," Lisa greeted.

"Alright, I'll need your names," the receptionist replied.

She twirled the chair around facing the computer and checked.

"Lisa Ellison-Shirakawa," Lisa said.

"Rain White."

They gave her their address information.

"Okay and…you're both registered with us. Looks like you placed in a request to be roommates. I'll just punch in confirmation that you've arrived. Your room number is 3-18, on the third floor. I'll get your keys."

She got and went into another office.

"I hope they have an elevator," Rain muttered.

The receptionist returned with their keys shortly later.

"Here you go. You can just head on over now and get settled in. Your floor's RA should be in right now. There's a tour of the dorm in about an hour."

"Thank you," they both said.

They started to leave the building.

"Oh, where is my head," the receptionist suddenly cried. "Ladies, I almost forget to mention, the third floor is Co-Ed!"

A few minutes later at Richardson hall, they stepped through the front door of the unadorned pale gray building.

"Finally," Rain grumbled.

"Oh, come on, the walk wasn't that long. Hey, at least you're getting all kinds of exercise today," Lisa teased.

Rain responded with a sour look.

As expected, the inside was drab like the outside. White tile floors, punctuated by gray ceilings and walls were what passed for any kind of furnishing. Aside from some simple wooden furniture and potted plants, that is.

Rain set her things down and sat on a nearby sofa while Lisa walked off a ways to look around.

"Hey, Lisa, is there an elevator," she asked with a tired voice.

"Nope. It looks we've got stairs to climb."

"Wonderful," Rain muttered.

They found the stairs at the far left end of the building, and the climb bearing luggage turned out to be every bit as much lacking in fun as Rain feared. When they came to the third floor, they were greeted by a young man maybe a few years older than them. He was holding a clipboard and pen. He was about six feet fall, medium build, blue-green eyes, brown shaggy hair, and had a broad square face that remained angled at the chin. His features were rugged.

"Hello. Randy Strong," he greeted nicely. "I'm your floor assistant. Looks like I have myself some early birds here. Most of the other Freshmen won't even be arriving until later."

He stuck out his hand and shook their hands. The twosome introduced themselves.

"Well," Randy said. "Well, since I don't have anything else to do right now, I can give you two an abbreviated version of the tour right now."

"Sure," Rain shrugged.

"That is, as long as our room is the first of the many wonders," she added dryly.

Randy laughed, but was understanding. He had noticed that Rain did seem bushed.

He took them down the hall towards their room. Along the way, he stopped and pointed out an alcove right before the hall split in four directions where the vending machines and restrooms were located. He rounded the right corner, leading them halfway down that way.

"3-18, here we are," he announced.

He produced a key ring from his pocket, and then unlocked and opened the door for them. He stepped away.

"Thank you," they said, greatly appreciating his politeness.

Lisa went in first, followed by Rain. They beheld their new abode, feeling very underwhelmed.

The room was small. Enough so that it seemed intended to house one, but ending up serving two instead. It was ten feet across and twenty inwards. On the back wall was a window, a table big enough for one with one, and a chair. To either side of the girls were two single size beds with a small dresser each at their feet and a shelf thee feet overhead. Closets lacking doors were at the corners.

"Cozy," Rain said.

"Left or right," Lisa asked.

"Right."

Rain then went to the back and stuffed her bags into her closet while Lisa just stacked hers' on her bed. After that, they were ready for the tour. As promised, it was over quick. Randy showed them the student lounge, the showers, the cafeteria, and the telephone, all of which were on the first floor.

"And lastly, there's a lounge meeting at 7, tonight. Attendance is mandatory. It's to go over the dorm rules and policies," he finished. "I can't be long away from our floor, so see you two later."

He departed. With that out of the way, they returned to their room. Rain began rummaging through her bags. She pulled out her purse, from which she took her wallet.

"I'm going to get a snack," she announced. "You want anything, Lisa?"

"Maybe later. Hey, don't forget your key."

"I got it. Be right back."

The blonde stepped out. Lisa got to emptying her bags and organizing everything she'd brought.

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Ring! Ring! Ring! Rin-!

"Hello," Yuuka answered her cell.

"Sister."

"Kouta? Kouta, is that you? It's been so long! Is something wrong?"

Yuuka began to feel apprehensive at the fact that Kouta was calling from halfway across the world so suddenly.

"Sister, explain to me why the spawn of Koji has made the news and has been caught on camera."

A/N: Yes, I know neither of those news anchors actually works at ABC-7. Why yes, Lisa is a brony.

As for Yuuka's little talk with Lisa, I want to set the record straight. The only thing Yuuka means by Lisa having leeway to act as the Elemental Guardian the way she does is that things are different here halfway across the world. DIFFERENT,not better. Just different. I am in no way biased against differing cultures. I'm just commenting on the fact that different cultures do things differently.

Oh yeah, that junk pile Lisa and Rain drive? That's my old van. No exaggeration. How the van acted on the day I went away to college isn't an exaggeration, either.

[WeirdRaptor]

Elemental Guardian:

Notice: This story is an original creation of mine, and as such, all the characters belong to me. Please do not steal this fic.

Chimera Rising

Chapter Two

Second Outing

When Rain returned munching on a chocolate bar, Lisa was standing on her knees on the bed setting something up on the overhead shelf. Rain loosed an understated laugh. Lisa looked over her shoulder at her.

"Oh Lord, you really did them all," Rain said with no end of amusement.

"Yeah, so," Lisa replied, smiling broadly.

"Nothing. I fully expected this from full grown woman who unabashedly buys My Little Pony toys."

Lisa looked up at it. On it, she'd set up her six little figurines lined up.

"So what's your point," Lisa asked.

Rain grinned wryly back, and waved off the sight.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"So am I invited the tea party," Rain asked, taking on a mock cutesy tone. "I'm sure you'll look darling in your little pink dress and hair ribbons."

"Eh? What are you on? I haven't done anything like that since I was six!"

"You sure? Your inner child practically lives on the surface, anyway, so that seems like the next logical step."

"Logical step, my foot," Lisa objected.

If she didn't know Rain as well as she did, she might have been insulted by the implications.

"So now that we're gotten most of our stuff crammed," Rain changed the topic. "How do you want to waste three until seven?"

"We could go get the mini-fridge out of the back of the van," Lisa suggested.

"After the sun's at least partially set, please," Rain said.

"Okay. So you want to get supper," Lisa asked.

"Brave the cafeteria? Sure, why not, an expedition might prove most enlightening."

"Expedition? What," Lisa asked.

"Simple. You taste the food while I take notes. If it's like what we had back in high school, there has to be some kind of undiscovered chemical compounds in food to make it taste just like the cardboard it was shipped in."

"Oh, gee thanks," Lisa exclaimed facetiously. "So I'm to sacrifice my taste buds for you?"

"Relax. The college probably has 9-11 on speed dial. You'd probably be just fine if the worse should happen. Probably," Rain said, starting to crack up.

Lisa started to laugh, too.

"Let's just go, Insano."

Lisa hopped off the bed and headed out the door.

"Speaking of horrible school food…didn't you little brother just start going to Naperville Central High," Lisa asked.

"Yes," Rain said. "As a matter of fact, he is."

Rain rolled her eyes while resting a hand on her cheek.

"How much to you want to bet that Cain's big mouth gets him in trouble with some kid twice his size."

"Ooh, yeah, that shrimp can be pretty mouthy when you make him mad," Lisa said, starting to cringe.

Lisa cleared her throat and decided to lighten the mood back up.

"Well, no time to think about the lockers he can probably fit into. I have toxic waste to go shovel down!"

She opened the door and headed out.

"Dead girl walking," Lisa announced glibly.

"Dead what walking?"

"Oh, it's a joke me and my friends were… whoa," Lisa responded, turning to the approaching person in the hall.

Actually seeing who was coming made her pause in befuddlement. It was a girl carrying all her suitcases in front of her to the point where she had to strain her neck to see past them while she stumbled their way. The girl was having considerable trouble carrying it all, as she had chosen perhaps the absolute worse way to it. Lisa and Rain both wondered how she'd managed to get to the top of the steps like this, frankly.

She stumbled again and her feet ended up at awkward angled. Lisa was quick, and grabbed hold of the stack of luggage the girl was carrying, steadying it.

"Hey, now, easy," Lisa said.

"T-Thanks," the girl said.

"You haven't done much moving before now, have you? Honestly," Rain said, in disbelief.

"Uh, why don't we set these down? Here, I'll help you carry these. Just lead the way to your room."

She peered around the mammoth load. Lisa could now see the cherry-blonde's pale and freckled oval face. Olive green eyes stared in Lisa's browns. The petite girl stood about three inches shorter than Lisa and Rain.

"Oh, that's alright. You don't have to do that."

"Think nothing of it. Hi, I'm Lisa. This is Rain."

"Ah, Nicole. Nicole Brown. I've got it."

Nicole tried to pull away from Lisa's support, but she leaned back to far and began to stumble backwards.

"Hey now," Lisa cried.

She grabbed the stack again trying to steady the girl, but only made her trip forwards. Lisa realized her mistake too late Nicole fell into the luggage throwing all the weight onto her.

"Whoa, whoa, augh," Lisa and Nicole screamed.

WHAM! The only sensation Lisa felt upon being underneath the weight of luggage and its carrier was that of pain. Rain winced upon impact.

"Ooh, ow," Rain said.

"Uuuuhhhhhhhh," Lisa groaned.

"Oh, no," Nicole cried.

She promptly pulled all her things off the splayed and moaning Lisa.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Oh, I'm such a klutz!"

"Hey, is everything alright out there," Randy called.

He poked his head out of his room to see what all the commotion was about. When he spotted Lisa slowly raising herself up on elbows, he came on over.

"Looks like someone just took a spill. Hey, are you alright?" He asked.

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Lisa and Nicole set the latter's things down on her bed. Rain stood at the door, waiting for Lisa to get done helping this hapless girl.

"Sorry about that," Nicole apologized again.

"Stop apologizing already. You've done that at least ten times now," Lisa chuckled.

"I know…" Nicole said.

"So cut it out already," Lisa told her.

"Okay… Oh, and sorry you had to help carry my stuff the rest of the way to my room!"

Lisa facepalmed.

"Oh, did I apologize again? I'm sorry!"

"It's like scolding a puppy," Lisa thought.

Randy leaned around the corner into the room.

"And you're sure you're okay, Lisa," he asked.

"Pfft! No biggie. I'm just a little banged and maybe bruised," Lisa waved it off.

"Sorry."

"Alright, if you're fine, I've got the rest of the freshman coming in for the official tour, so if everyone's okay here, I've got some work to do," he said, and left.

"Hey, I'm heading down to the cafeteria. Wanna come," Lisa asked Nicole.

"Oh, ah, I'd love to, but I have to organize my stuff."

"Well, it's not like you don't have all day," Lisa grinned.

"Well, I guess. Alright," Nicole said.

The trio went down and ordered some food.

"So what are you in college for," Rain asked.

They sat at a table and began eating.

"Oh, I wanna be a Vet," Nicole beamed. "I love working with cute animals! Especially dogs! And cats! Oh, and birds!"

"You, a Vet," Lisa asked somewhat unconvinced. "You DO know that treating sick animals wouldn't be all fun, right?"

It was then that Nicole's expression turned cheerless momentarily and she looked away.

"I know…I'm working as an assistant at a pet clinic, and I've seen some of the really nasty illnesses and injuries they can get. I've also seen what some people do to their pets…"

"And you're still going to become a Vet," Rain asked.

"Of course! After…after seeing that, I want to help poor, sick pets more than ever," Nicole chirped.

"Not much gets you down, does it," Lisa observed.

"I prefer smiling," Nicole replied.

Lisa grinned and took a drink from her soda can. She could scarcely believe this bubbly ditz was 18, let alone got into college to become a Veterinarian.

"Oh, what do you two want to be when you graduate," Nicole asked curiously.

"A chef," Lisa replied.

"Cool," Nicole replied.

"Oh, but I'd wouldn't tell just anyone that. I like cooking, too, and some of the other girls get real touchy if you just come out and say it," she then whispered.

"Believe me, I know," Lisa replied with a sigh.

Lisa set her soda down.

"Let me guess," Lisa said. "What? Like get with the 21st Century, girlfriend. That is SOOO fifties. Are you kidding me? I mean, talk about old-fashioned and backwards. But whatev, if you want to slave over a stove for some man for the rest of your life, TOTALLY not my problem."

She finished her impression. Nicole and Rain chuckled at Valley Girl mimicry.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Nicole said.

"What they never seen to get is that I wouldn't just be cooking for some man and staying at home all day popping out kids. A chef is a professional who runs a kitchen, often their own place. Chefs do this for profit in an incredibly competitive male-dominated environment. Big difference."

"Is that true," Nicole asked, very surprised.

"Yep," Lisa responded. "Women are cooks; men get to be chefs, and it's insanely difficult it is for a lady chef to get accepted into the cooking community no matter how good they are. Aren't double standards awesome?"

"You sound like you have your work cut out for you," Nicole replied. "Well, good luck."

She turned to Rain.

"How about you?"

"Anthropology," Rain replied. "It's the study of humanity. Now there's a field difficult for anyone to get into, period."

"Oh, you mean like unearthing old ruins or finding something like Atlantis?"

"That'd be archeology, another field I'm interested in. Heh, but there would be a lot for anthropologists to study if we ever did find the sunken continent for real, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Plato made the whole thing up," Rain said.

"He did? Aw…" Nicole said disappointed.

"Of course, that's not say that there never was a city that ended up below sea level," Rain added. "After all, there are holes in history big enough to fit a forgotten sunken city in."

"Ooh, a civilization under the sea. Would it be really interesting if they actually lived there?"

"Oh geez, that'd be an even more groundbreaking than Supers," Rain laughed.

"Do you think they'd be able to breathe or wear scuba-gear all the time?"

"They'd be eating fish and other aquatic life as their only source of food, unless they caught birds," Rain observed. "They'd also probably have to be breathe underwater."

"Think they'd be able to cook underwater," Nicole asked.

"It'd have to be really advanced technology to survive down there permanently," Rain replied.

"I wonder how they'd talk to each other."

"They'd have to be very strong and tough to live down there," Rain thought aloud.

"Are you two even having the same conversation anymore," Lisa asked.

"I don't rightly know," Rain replied absently.

"Dunno," Nicole shrugged.

"Just once I'd like to know what goes on in that head of yours'," Lisa commented Rain's way.

She ruffled Rain's hair who batted her hand off.

"So how come you were lugging all that around by yourself, anyway," Lisa asked Nicole.

"I wasn't going to start off with, but my boyfriend got called into work, so I came alone instead of waiting for him."

"Boyfriend? What's his name," Lisa asked.

"Gray. Gray Conrad. I'm so high maintenance all the time that I figured I'd just move myself and save him a few trips," Nicole said.

"Trips? Falling or walking," Rain asked.

"Falling. I'm such a klutz. I'm always tripping over my own feet, and not just into people," Nicole replied, getting up. "I'm just clumsy, period. For example…whoa!"

SLAM! She'd tripped on the bench.

"You okay?" Lisa and Rain cried.

They stood and looked over the table to the floor. Nicole wobbly picked herself.

"Like that… At least I didn't take a bunch of tables with me like at the pizza hut," Nicole explained.

"Nicole, that is impressive and sad all at once," Rain said.

'I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Lisa said.

"Oh, right, sorry!"

Lisa groaned while Rain chuckled at her reaction. They sat back down.

"So what's Gray like," Lisa asked.

"Oh, he's super nice," Nicole explained cheerily. "He's lots of fun to be around. He likes to draw, paint, and make crafts! He's real good at it, too! What are your boyfriends?"

"Mine? Matt. He's a regular goofball and show off. He went off to NYC, though," Lisa replied.

"NYC, really? What for," Nicole asked.

"Acting," Lisa explained. "He still texts, but it's pretty much over since he's not likely to come back and I'm just as unlike to move there. No biggie, and Rain…"

She stopped and gestured for the blonde to pick up where she trailed off.

"I was too busy to have time for one," Rain said. "Between trying to get a perfect straight A record, holding down part time jobs before landing myself at Ferrell Labs, and Lisa, I just never got around to getting into a relationship."

"You make me sound like an obligation," Lisa said dryly.

"I didn't mean it like that," Rain hastily added.

"I know. Just giving you a hard time."

Lisa messed her hair up again, and at batted away again. Nicole giggled watching the two bicker.

"You're practically like sisters," Nicole said.

"You think? Well, I guess we have been friends a long time," Lisa replied. "So, I take it Gray won't be attending Northeastern. Does this place even have art classes?"

"Oh, no, he's going to Columbia, right downtown," Nicole happily announced. "You should have seen his face when he got accepted. He was super excited!"

After some more chatting, Rain notice the time.

"It's after 5," she said. "I'd like to get my half of our room organized before the meeting."

"Yeah, I got some things to do later this evening," Lisa agreed. "We better hop to it. Say, want to hang out some other time, Nicole?"

"Sure, I'd love to! Uh, when are you free," the brunette asked.

"I'll just come by your room when I am," Lisa replied.

"Oh, okay, see you then."

After finished lunch, they headed back up to the dorms and without further accident, where a good chunk of time was spent organizing belongings. Lisa did talk Rain into retrieving the min-fridge that afternoon, much to her dismay.

The rest of the day went by quickly, and soon it was 7 PM. The students that had moved thus far all arrived. Randy came down carrying his clipboard and cleared his throat to give the newcomers his speech. When Lisa and Rain arrived, the seats were already taken, so they took to leaning against the wall.

"I've already read the rules earlier," Rain said to Lisa. "It's still like living at home, even though we're legal adults and just moved away."

"Why? Are they really strict or something," Lisa asked.

"Oh, yeah, just wait 'til Randy reads them all off, and you'll see," Rain said.

"Hello, everyone, I'm Randy Strong."

"Hello, Randy Strong," came several sarcastically child-like replied.

"Yeah, hi, I strongly believe in promoting a sense of community between the students of this college and dorm, so the day before classes start we're holding a little mixer so we can…all get more acquainted…"

All too quickly, he noticed that the other students weren't paying attention. Well, there was the pair he'd given their own tour earlier, but that was about it. He sighed, crumpled up his speech and threw it into a nearby trash bin.

"You know what, let's just skip to rules and regulations," he announced. "First of all, the doors lock at 10 on school days, and 11 on weekends. If you're still outside when they do: tough."

"Ten," Lisa mouthed to Rain, disbelieving.

"Yep," Rain whispered back.

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"Ugh, I don't know why I put up with some clients," Koji muttered unhappily.

He stepped into his home shoulders slumped and looking very frustrated and tired.

"That bad, huh," Maddie asked, overhearing him.

"Yes," Koji said as evenly as he could. "I just spent the last three hours arguing with Dr. Ferrell. I don't know how Rain can stand to work for her. The woman is like a sledgehammer. …Eh, it's over. I'd rather enjoy my evening than let her bog it down," Koji said.

"Good. Because you know," Maddie said. "We're going to have a lot of time alone now that Lisa's move out."

She stepped in close and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck.

"Is that so?"

The two leaned in for a kiss, but…

"Oh, there are you, Koji. Sorry to ruin to the romantic mood," Yuuka said. "But I just received a call from my brother, and he is not pleased with Lisa's antics last night."

"What? Why?" Maddie demanded, whirling around to face her mother-in-law.

"I know why," Koji replied darkly.

Maddie looked back at him intently.

"The Shirakawas operate as unseen agents from the shadows. It's the most effective way to take down an enemy and protect our identities. There are always rumors of us…them, but nothing provable. No one gets a good look. Not until Lisa's antics last night," Koji said.

"Yeah, so? One Super in a country with a high concentration of Supers doesn't undo centuries of secrecy partway across the world," Maddie said angrily.

"My uncle won't see it that way," Koji replied. "You remember. I called him when Lisa's powers manifested. He utterly refused to have her brought into the fold, so mother had to step in. To him, we're just insects he made due flicking off his shoulder instead of smashing under his foot."

Maddie's anger seemed to worsen and mix with shock at this.

"I know. Oh, that stubborn old man. I know that he threw you out because you abused your family's gifts, but Lisa's not you. But let me guess: sins of the father, right?"

"Bingo," Koji said unhappily."I should have seen this coming. What'd he say, mother? That she's showboating for the crowds instead of doing serious work in the name of justice?"

Yuuka couldn't meet her son's gaze, but gave a little nod of her head to confirm his suspicions.

"I thought so," Koji said bitterly.

"Pfft! Well, I'd like to know what authority he has to do anything about it," Maddie scoffed. "If Lisa's not even a part of the family as far as he's concerned, then what she does is none of his business."

"That's very true," Yuuka replied. "But again, he won't see it that way if he thinks she's a threat."

"A 'threat'," Maddie yelled. "Our baby is risking her life doing this, and he thinks of her as a threat? Why of all the stuffy, arrogant… If he were right here, right now, I'd give him a huge, heaping chunk of my mind that he'd definitely choke on!"

"You may just get the chance," Koji replied.

"Why? He is coming here," Maddie asked.

"Or he'll send someone else to do it," Koji added mockingly. "Even when I last left, I hadn't actually seen the old fool do any on-field work in a long time."

"We have to get a hold of Lisa and warn her either way," Yuuka said.

Maddie cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"Just…just would they do to Lisa if they did come," Maddie asked, scared.

"If she can't fight beat them, and she's very lucky? They'll just use The Brand and render her unable to manipulate the elements anymore like they did with me," Koji explained.

He pulled down his shirt right collar to his collar bone, exposing a scar burned into his flesh in the shape of a symbol whose meaning had long eluded Shirakawas. Maddie had seen it many times before and knew its significance. The symbol looked much the Omega sign, but instead of having two points at the ends, they continued on to form a second, larger circle around the first.

"The sign of my crimes against humanity," Koji said. "If she isn't so lucky… They'll kill her."

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Lisa pulled on a blue tank top which matched her jogging shorts. She'd also gotten on her running shoes. She glanced into her closet and pulled up her duffle bag. A quick glance over her shoulder assured that Rain wasn't looking, but rather busying herself with a book at the moment. Lisa turned back to the bag and unzipped it real quick. Her Guardian uniform was inside. She zipped the bag back up and put it back. She turned to leave the dormitory.

"Going out for your evening exercises now," Rain said without looking up from her book. "Lugging all that stuff in before wasn't punishment enough?"

"Nope, wanna come?"

"No, thank you."

"Okay, see you later tonight, Rain."

"Later. Oh, don't forget to be back by 10. I know it's only 7:30, but your training usually takes a few hours."

"The curfew? Don't worry, I won't forget," Lisa said.

Lisa left dorm room. When she had reached the stairs, her cell phone started going off. She looked at the caller ID: Mom. She flipped it open and answered.

"Hi, mom, what's up," she said.

"Hello, sweetie. We need to talk."

"Mom, are you okay? You sound scared. What's wrong? I'll be right over."

"No, everything's fine here. This is about what you."

"Huh?"

Maddie explained the situation. Lisa stopped midflight in shock at what she was hearing. She might have cried. She couldn't even speak.

"Sweetie. Sweetie?" Maddie said. "Lisa, are you okay?"

Lisa blinked, coming back to reality.

"…Yeah, I hear you, mom. I…uh… Wow, just wow. I know, really?"

"I know. I don't like this anymore than you," Maddie said. "So what are you going to do?"

Lisa's eyes narrowed with anger and her lips turned down in a very potent frown.

"Well, I'm not going to change how I've decided to do this just because some relatives don't like it. If they can't handle a little change: too bad. I'll just show them what I'm really doing here, won't I? See you later, mom. I have work to do."

"Be careful, Lisa."

"Hey, what could happen?"

"Lisa…"

"Kidding, mom. Love ya, by."

"Love you, too, goodbye."

Lisa clapped her phone shut.

"Seriously, what's your problem, Uncle Kouta," she asked quietly.

"So I'm a threat for doing things differently? Fine. Bring it. I can take anything you decide to dish out, and I can give it right back. Watch out, Chicago. The Guardian's coming to clean the streets up tonight," she thought with determination.

She exited the building, and went on a twenty minute jog around the campus. Then she practiced martial arts drills for an hour. It was almost 9 when she finished up and headed back inside. She looked about for other returning students, but saw no one.

"Meaning everyone's probably going to wait until the last minute and come in droves," she concluded.

When she got back, Rain had already changed into her PJs, a T-Shirt and shorts.

"Hello," Rain said.

"Going to bed already, Rain," Lisa asked.

"Yep. I have to be at work at 7 tomorrow," Rain replied.

"Ah. Dr. Ferrell's really cracking the whip, huh?"

"She's working on something big and needs all the researchers and lab assistants she can get right now," Rain replied, climbing into her bed.

"Nighty-night," Lisa said.

Rain mumbled a goodnight while turning to face the wall, away from the overhead light. Lisa grabbed her bag from the closet and left their room, turning the light out before shutting the door. She again left the dorm building and made her way to the van. She opened the middle door and climbed in. A few minutes later, she emerged in full Guardian garb.

"Alright, it's show time," she said.

Silent as a shadow, she made her way through the city looking for the crime to clean off the streets. She did so from up high. She used the first fire exit she could find to scale a building to search from the rooftops. She looked down at the city below her when hopping from roof to roof assisted by the wind. She hadn't spotted anything that warranted intervention yet, just some reckless driving and the like.

Lisa landed on another roof and went over to its right corner to look around. Her eyes happened to fall on an old woman standing on a street corner waiting for the light to change. The Guardian started to look away ready to go to another rooftop, but sudden movement out of the corner of her eye made her stop. A man rushed the elder and snatched her purse and ran around the corner of the building. The old woman tried to go after him, but could only go so fast, all the while calling for someone to help.

"Really," she asked incredulously.

The thief ran down the street and was about to duck into an alleyway. Suddenly, what should have been a puddle he was about to splash through was as ice. His feet flew up into the air and he landed on his rump. Despite his dazed state, he tried to get up, but tripped again. Something yanked the purse out of his hands.

He looked up and his face went pale and he swore a few obscenities.

"You're that new one," he yelled.

"Oh, a fan," The Guardian asked.

She handed the purse back to the old woman, who had just caught up to them.

"Here you go, ma'am."

"Oh, bless you…I'm sorry, what do I call you," the elder asked.

"I'm The Elemental Guardian! And this bozo's going to jail," The Guardian said.

Next thing the crook knew his hands were tied behind his back to the side of the building waiting for the police to arrive. He looked to see the Guardian dialing something into a disposable cell phone.

"Hello, 911 Emergency," Guardian said. "Yeah, I'd like to report an attempted theft. Yes, a man tried to lift a purse. Here's the location..."

"Just great," the robber muttered.

"Yep. He'll be the guy tied to the building. Yep. By. Alright, the police have a car nearby that'll be here in a few minutes. Make sure to tell them what happened, because I have other crimes to bust."

And then she was gone, leaving the old woman and him behind.

"Woo-hoo! My first bust of the evening! Now let's see who else can use a hand," Lisa cheered as she ran.

And that's how the rest of the night went. There were no criminals of any real note that she came across this night, until half past 1. A mail truck pulled over, letting a man out onto the street. It pulled away and drove around the corner into an alley on the block. The man stood near the glass front of an antique store.

He had on a long tan overcoat, had long black hair with a white strike along the back, dark eyes, and tawny skin. His features displayed some Native American or Hispanic ancestry. He stepped in close to the large glass windows of the store. Real close. He took a good look inside, and suddenly, he was gone. The man reappeared inside a split second later. Then he made his way to the back where he opened the rear exit. Just out back, the mail truck had parked with the back facing the store. The other three men waited for him

"Store's open for business," he said.

"Well, done, Smith," one said to the teleporter.

Two went in with him. The last remained leaning against the truck to keep watch.

Lisa touched down in the alley. She stretched her back and limbs, working out all the kinks in the joints she'd managed to accumulate.

"Man, I think I need a break," she muttered. "Maybe I'll just head back to the campus and…hello."

There was the mail truck parked out back of shop with a heavily perforated man in heather duds standing watch. She slinked back into the shadows before he spotted her.

"That's not suspicious at all. Two robberies two nights in a row," she said. "Now let's see how I should do this…"

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The locking mechanism clicked and the thug opened the door into a room in the back. And there it was. The 'it' was an antique school bell worth ten grand, the prized merchandise of the store.

"Is this it, Mike," Smith asked.

"Oh yeah," Mike replied. "Isn't it a beaut? Dates back to the early 1800s, it's worth a bundle."

"Just hurry," Smith said.

"Alright, let's grab it, Kevin."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Smith, empty the cash register."

"On it."

The two men carried the precious item to the door. Mike was the first one out, and pushed the door so he could back out.

"We are going to be on easy street for a while, I tell you, Kev," Mike said excitedly, pushing the back door open.

"Hey, Bill, open the back…" Kevin started to call over Mike's shoulder.

He stopped walking and went as still as the shop with his eyes widening almost to capacity. Mike looked behind him to see what had Kevin so astounded.

"B-Bill," both thugs stuttered.

Bill was trussed up in packing bungee cords, gagged, and sat a back tire. He was moaning something frantically at them. Next to him a masked woman in all dark clothes and leather padded armor leaned against the back door of the truck with her arms crossed. She marched towards them.

Kevin swore and let go of the bell.

"Smith, we need you," he yelled.

"Gugh," Mike heaved.

While Mike struggled to keep hold of the heavy object while setting it down, Kevin pulled a lead pipe from his belt. He charged The Guardian with it raised and ready to smash her skull in, but she side-stepped the attack to his right. The pipe came down and bashed the truck with enough force that it almost broke his hand. He dropped the pipe and clutched his hand tightly, hissing from the pain.

Mike set the bell down and straightened. He snarled at Lisa and whipped out a large wrench. Smith burst through the rear exit holding a knife. Lisa stood with her left one foot facing to the side with the other facing forward in front of it. One arm was extended to block while the other was drawn back to strike. She shifted her weight from side to side to stay loose and waited for them to attack.

Kevin was the first to take a swing at her, with his good hand. She easily evaded it by ducking. She came up again right next to him, swinging her elbow up into his face. The blow knocked him unconscious immediately and down he went. She spotted Mike just a foot from he, already bearing the wrench down on her. She blasted him with a ball of air sending him flying backwards and then tumbling head over heal over head over the ground. She turned to Smith, who hadn't so much as moved from where he was standing.

Knowing something wasn't quite right, she glanced behind her while keeping her arms up protectively. She gasped in surprise. Somehow, he was rushing right up behind her with the knife poised to stab her. Quickly, she maneuvered around to kick the blade from his hands. Only instead of hitting solid matter, her foot passed right through his hand at which point his image vanished.

"What?"

She whipped around again. The original closed in fast stabbing straight forward at her. She blocked the attack, striking his forearm with her palm, and this time she connected with solid matter. She withdrew the arm she blocked with and punched at him with the other, rolling her body into the punch and backing it up with her weight. He vanished again just before her fist reached him. She frantically looked around for him and spotted him a few yards away, and then he was 25 feet away on the sidewalk at the end of the alley, and then gone from view altogether in two seconds. Lisa leaned into a low run after him.

Behind her, Mike got and started limping away. She heard his scuffling feet and made a sharp U-turn which had her briefly running on the wall after him. She swirled her hand around in a circle, making the gravel beneath Mike's feet suddenly churn and trip him up. He fell on his hands and knees. He sat up and the gravel and dirt rolled over him. He was buried up to his shoulders. He struggled, but the little pebbles held him fast. She walked up to him and grabbed the top of his head tilting it up to face her.

"Explain. Who the hell was that," she demanded.

He just frowned up at her and looked away

"Fine," she scoffed. "I've already called the cops. They'll be here soon. You can tell them."

"Every time," Mike suddenly yelled.

He began to swear up a cloud of obscenities, cursing this Smith's tendency to just turn tail and flee whenever they were met with enough resistance to stand up to him on a job.

"And you bring this guy along on heists…why, exactly" The Guardian asked.

"I don't know," Mike whined, shaking his head.

The police car pulled over and the officer inside got out. The three sat against the front of the shop while The Elemental Guardian stood watch.

"They're all yours', officers," she said.

"Kevin Winslow, Mike Vassler, and Bill Murphy," one of the officers identified the three. "You three just never learn. Alright, hands up in the air, against the building. You guys know the drill: You have the right to…"

"You'll find their weapons and their vehicle, a stolen mail truck, in the alley behind the shop. They were trying to steal some old bell for some reason," The Guardian explained to the other officer. "The back door is unlocked. They had a teleporter with them who probably got in through the front. They called him 'Smith'. I tried to catch him, but he disappeared."

"Oh, him," the officer said knowingly.

"Oh, you know him," she asked.

"Yeah, he's just a small-timer. He always gets away because he runs whenever he's in serious trouble."

"Gotcha."

"So are you that new hero from last night. The…uh, the, um…" the officer asked.

"Yep. This is your neighborhood friendly Elemental Guardian, on the job," she said enthusiastically.

With a powerful gust of wind, she disappeared back up to the rooftops, leaving the officers to book the ordinary criminals. She searched the streets for crime until 3:30 AM, at which point she called it a night and headed back to the campus. It was 4 when she arrived, and the first scenes of the rising sun were starting to appear overhead. She hurried hopped back into the van and changed back into civilian clothes.

She hurriedly made her way through the campus. She wasn't too worried about being seen by anyone, given the late hour, or early hour, depending on how one looked at it. She crept along the side of the building until she just outside the student lounge. The light was off, so she hoped that meant it was empty.

She grabbed the windowpane in one hand. She held the other hand up with the fingers out straight a few inches from the glass. She concentrated to make out the shape of the lock on the inside. When she did, she made the air dense around and inside it. Her index finger came down and she felt the mechanism click under pressure she was applying. Then she turned her hand to the side like she was turning a dial. The lock followed suit and the window was unlocked. She slid it open, threw her bag in, climbed through, herself, and closed the window behind her. To be safe, she tried to push it open again, and was relieved to find it had locked automatically.

After a shower and change into her night clothes, also a T-shirt and shorts, she returned to her dorm room and plopped onto the bed in an exhausted heap. Within moments, she was asleep.

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The following morning, out front of Ferrell Labs, Rain approached the building's main entrance. She pulled her ID card out of her purse when she neared the metal sliding doors of the main entrance. She slid the card through a reader. The machine clicked and the green light shined, accepting the card. The doors opened and in she went. She yawned as she made her way to the lab.

When she arrived at the huge auditorium of a lab, she approached the other lab workers and the research, all of whom were gathering around one particular piece of tech at the center of the room.

"Morning," Rain greeted them.

"Morning, Rain," a few replies returned.

At the side of the machine stood Dr. Ferrell, herself. She grinned at it in anticipation, before turning to her employees.

"Today, ladies and gentlemen, we conduct the preliminary test of the Nanofilter. Begin running diagnostics test immediately. We have to be ready when the subject arrives."

A/N: No, Kevin, Mike, and Bill are not named for the Rifftrax guys. I never caught what I did until it was pointed out to me, but the coincidence was too funny to change.