Strength Comes From Within

Chapter 2.



Tutock watched his Guardians train with a grim smile of determination. ‘Things will be
entirely different this time we fight. This time it will be I as the victor and Firestarter
will be groveling at my feet. Then I will rule the world!’ He let out a laugh tinged with
in sanity and malice. Razor stopped and looked a bit apprehensively at his master before
resuming his training.
A few more minutes of watching his Guardians, his thoughts turned to the matter that
Savage had brought to his attention. ‘That girl with Storm. Is she really his twin? I did
sense a strangely different aura around. Much like the Warriors, only weaker. Now to
find a way to test her...’ Tutock had heard before twins were often telepathically linked
through thoughts and pain. Hmmm, pain was good. Pain was always good.
Now he just needed the right Guardian to commence the dastardly deed. Karma was a no
go. He was Tutock’s trump card and didn’t need to be played just yet. He also couldn’t
send Savage either. The Guardian had already been to the mortal realm once in the last
couple of weeks and chance of detection was too risky. That left six Guardians to choose
from. ‘Oh well... one potato two potato...’

***

The days passed quickly for Casey in her new found home. Her friendship with the
others Warriors, although a bit awkward at first, soon blossomed into something she had
sought all her life, acceptance.
Casey would often sit up late with Thunder, as he revealed his past. From life without
her on the boat to leaving the sea and entering Military school. She relived his sorrow at
finding their parents missing and his joy at having found relatives. The only thing he did
not share was his ordeal during Tutock’s first attack or the worries over everything being
so quiet. And all the while, Thunder never thought to ask about her past and she never
told.

~~~

Razor watched from the cover of the trees as Scorpio, Thunder, and Casey left the house,
chattering happily. He grinned evilly and crept forward stealthily. He had to get close
enough to sense the girl’s aura as his master had requested.
He cursed as a twig snapped under his feet. He quickly scaled the tree next to him as
Thunder’s gaze swiveled toward him. He watched Storm’s eyes narrowed as he hurried
them along. Storm knew he was there. A predatory gleam appeared in his eyes. The
hunt was on.

~~~

“Niichan! Quit pushing! We’ve got plenty of time until school starts...” Casey grumbled, rubbing her shoulder.
“Yeah man, why the big rush?” Scorpio raised an eyebrow.
Thunder scowled and marched over to Scorpio a bent a little to whisper in his ear. “Don’t tell me you don’t sense that!” he hissed.
Scorpio replied warmheartedly. “I do, but do you want her curiosity pipped at the way you’re acting?”
Thunder, realizing the wisdom in his words, sighed. “You’re right. It’s just, I don’t want
anything to happen to her.” He frowned as Scorpio gulped. “What is it, Scorpio?”
“Hey Thunder, your sister’s gone and I didn’t do it.” He gave a sheepish grin at the fear
and lividity in Thunder’s stare. “Um, oops?”
“We have to find her!” Thunder raced off, not looking behind him to see if Scorpio followed.
“Talk about a protective older brother. I’m sure she’ll be fine. At least, she should be...”
shaken by his own words, Scorpio charged after his friend.

~*~*~*~

“...mean, he’s so protective of me when he doesn’t have to be. And he’s slow too, and
what was with him ignoring me to talk...” Casey knew the only reason she was talking
now was to keep the panic at bay. Annoyed at Scorpio and Thunder for leaving her out,
she had stormed off in some random direction and was now lost.
But she stubbornly kept walking, sure that if she kept a straight line, she would surely
come to the road sometime and would go somewhere from there. But the real reason for
her panic were the eyes. She was sure she was being watched, but every time she turned
around, the area behind her was empty of anything but trees. It was very unnerving. So
she kept talking, not knowing she was being watched just as she thought.

~Strange girl...~ Razor thought as he watched Casey. ~Strange and stubborn by the looks
of it. But, with this spell she’ll be wandering for hours. Just as well, ample time for me
to test their bond.~ His lips split into a cruel smile. ~Ooh, this is gonna be fun.~
Waiting for her to cross under his tree, he leapt down in front of her and sent her
sprawling into the ground. “Well, well, well, what do we have here? A fawn lost from
its doe perhaps.” He smiled psychotically down at her.
Casey muttered a curse to herself, then grinned as she grabbed a handful of dirt. “I might
be, but this little fawn won’t be shot without a fight!” Snarling, she hurled it into Razor’s
eyes and then scrambled to her feet, racing off into the trees.
Growling, Razor quickly rubbed the sand from his eyes with a sneer. “A chase is it, my
little fawn? I always loved a good chase.” And with a cackle he took off after her.
~*~*~*~

“This is the life, eh, Cye? I mean, no school, no responsibilities...”
“And big trouble if Mrs. Robinson finds out we ditched school, Kento.”
“Come on, Fish-boy, live a little once in awhile.”
“Yeah, and we’re only gonna live a little unless we get back.” An exasperated sound
came from Kento’s direction. “It’s true. I say we go back, come on, Ken-” He stopped
as frantic rustling came from the trees. Jumping to his feet, he grabbed for his armor orb
as a great misgiving filled him. Just as he was about to call his armor, Casey burst into
the small clearing and ran into Cye, causing them to both topple over.
“Hey, that’s not fair, Cye. I want some pretty girl to run out of the woods and tackle
me.” Kento grinned down at his smaller, now red-faced friend.
“Shut up, Kento!” Cye snapped as he helped Casey to her feet. “Are you alright, Miss?”
But Casey was too breathless from her frantic run to speak, so she just shook her head
‘no’. He frowned, “Let me get you something to drink...”
“That won’t be necessary. I can water my own fawn,” Razor’s liquidy smooth voice
announced his appearance in the clearing as well. Kento noticed, with a frown, that
Casey’s eyes widened and she took a few steps back.
“What do you want?” he asked coldly.
“Kento, that was-” Cye was interrupted by Razor.
“The little fawny girl is all I ask. And I’ll only ask once.” There was a dangerous glint to
his eyes.
Kento stepped protectively in front of Casey and flexed his muscles menacingly. “I’ve
gathered that she doesn’t much like you. So why don’t you do us all a favor and leave.”
Razor glared menacingly. “Why you pompous, over-sized-”
“I believe you’re the pompous one, assuming we’re going to hand her over to you,” Cye
piped in, now realizing the misgiving he had felt was coming from Razor. “As Kento
already pointed out, I believe the young lady wants to stay with us.”
Eyes filled with anger, Razor walked dangerously forward. “She is coming with me.
The fawn and I have an appointment to make.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you, you moron!” Casey snapped, finally finding her
voice. “Why do you think I was running?!” She stood from her crouch, anger
overpowering her fear.
Razor smirked at her. “So, you do have a backbone, little fawn.” To everyone’s surprise,
he suddenly lunged forward, pulling a sword from nowhere. It took all of Casey’s speed
to dodge his first swing as leapt out of the way. However, all of this being in the blink of
an eye, she hadn’t check her destination and slammed into Kento, knocking both of them
into the lake.
“Kento!” Cye cried out, worried for his friend, and turned to glare at Razor, he blinked to
see him gone and two teens his own age staring, no wait, make that glaring, at him.
“Where is she?!” the taller of the two spat, glaring heatedly.
“Geez,” Kento murmured, helping Casey out of the water. “You really seem to be
popular today...”
Cye became at ease as the glares on both youths’ faces disappeared. “You two better
apologize, because these two saved me from that guy.” When no one moved and both
crossed their arms stubbornly. “Niichan! If you don’t apologize...” She left it up to
Thunder to decided just what the repercussions might be.
Scorpio stepped forward, concern hidden in his eyes. “First, I wanna know why you ran
from us.”
“I didn’t run, I walked.”
“Then how come when I turned, you were completely out of sight.”
“Because you’re blind?” Kento was watching the conversation with a smirk on his lips.
Scorpio spun around to glare at him.
“Something wrong, tubby?” Kento’s smirk turned into a look of cold fury.
“What did you say?” he asked, quietly.
“Oh, so you’re deaf as well as fat.” It was Scorpio’s turn to smirk. And smirk he did, for
about half a second before Casey smacked him.
“YOU JERK!” she snarled up at him. “Didn’t you hear me?! These guys. Saved. My.
Life. And this is how you repay them?!”
“Come on, Kento,” Cye murmured slowly. “This place stinks.”
Casey turned them before they went and bowed, anger causing her voice to shake.
“Gomen nasai for my friends’ behavior. And arigatou. I’m grateful.”
Kento turned and smiled slightly at her. “Any time.” And then he walked off with Cye
into the woods.
*****

Casey stood in the middle of the cozy living room, literally trembling with rage. On the
trek back to the house, school long forgotten in their minds, she hadn’t spoken a word to
either of them. She hadn’t been able to trust her tongue, and still wasn’t sure she could
now. She turned slowly, her rein on her temper causing her anger to turn into cold fury,
and fixed both boys with a death glare of momentous proportions.
“Casey,” Thunder interjected. “before you give us the tongue lashing of our lives, can I
at least ask you something first?” She nodded her assent. “Who were those guys?”
She rubbed her temples an a headache prepared its onslaught. “For the last time, some
weird guy started chasing me and I ran into that clearing. If it wasn’t for them, he
would’ve grabbed me and done... well, you imagine up the possibilities.”

“I understand now, I-”
“Finally.”
He fixed Casey with a flat look. “and I’m sorry.” There was a thick silence broken by
Scorpio’s yelp.
“Yeah, me too.” Scorpio finished lamely. Casey fixed them both with a flat stare then quietly walked out of the room. He let out a sigh of relief. “That was close. I thought
she would ask about Razor.”
Thunder nodded and glanced upwards at the ceiling. “I just hope she doesn’t find
anything to link us with Razor. Then we have to tell her everything. And I’m... I’m not
ready to face her with it.”
“Are you sure...” Scorpio put in quietly. “I mean, this proves that Tutock is targeting
your sister no matter if she knows or not. We should tell her for her own protection.”
Thunder stared down at the floor deep in thought. Scorpio's words made sense to him,
but he wasn't sure exactly how to tell his twin. He didn't want her knowing much yet, but
what if Tutock attacked Casey and ended up telling her everything? She would get mad
at him for neglecting to tell her anything. And what if he tried to brainwash her? Malice
had those devices that could do those to unprotected people.. He let out a deep sigh. If
only there was a way around this. He looked at Scorpio. "I'll tell her... after dinner.."
Scorpio nodded, glancing up the stairs. "That should be soon."
Thunder nodded as well, thinking deep inside himself. I hope Casey is willing to accept
my role in the Warriors.... With another sigh he headed outside and onto the back porch
to think things through.

Meanwhile, a presence quickly leapt up the stairs as Scorpio walked out into the hall.

~*~*~*~

“So he called you fat and then the chick slapped him. Harsh.” Ryo commented, leaning
back in the kitchen table chair. “But you’re sure it was the same chick that gave the
tongue lashing before?”
“One and the same,” Kento replied, features contemplative as he remembered.
Ryo could only shake his head. So far this whole trip to America had proven to be pretty
eventful. He grabbed a bagel and took a bite out of it as Sage walked into the kitchen
with a huge grin on his face.
"And what are you smiling about?" Kento asked, or rather demanded. Sage only smirked.
"Just the fact that I saw a couple of drop dead gorgeous girls walking down the sidewalk
across the street from here.
Kento rolled his eyes. That was just so Sage-esqe.

~*~*~*~

“So, what do you think of Casey?” Chilie asked casually, walking beside Flash.
She grinned mischievously. “Mad that she’s taking all the time from your man?” Flash
ducked a swing from Chilie.
“You know I don’t think of him that way!”
“Yeah, yeah. So, what do I think of her, huh? Well, let’s see... she’s nice enough and you
can tell she really genuinely loves her brother. Something he’s been needing for a
while.” Chilie nodded. “But I think she’s hiding her past from us too, like she’s afraid of
it, and she’ll probably only tell in time.”
“Damn, you’re good at reading people.”
Flash grinned. “It comes with much practice, my friend. Much practice.”

~*~*~*~

Primping one last time, Sage threw award winning smile at the mirror. “I’m ready to
make my move.”
Ryo leaned over to Kento and whispered in his ear. “Ten bucks says the brown haired chick decks him.”
“Kento grinned. “You’re on, buddy,” and slapped Ryo’s hand. Sage turned around
suspiciously and Kento quickly said, “And you have a marvelous lifeline too.”
Ryo, catching on, replied, “Oh really? I never knew.”
Sage, rolling his eyes, quickly made a beeline for Chilie and Flash. Ryo and Kento let
out a sigh of relief, then quickly sprinted for the window.

~*~*~*~

Flash and Chilie continued down the street, chattering away about school, friends,
teachers, and grades. Flash had already told Chilie about a basketball game she had
coming up, and Chilie had assured she'd be there.
"And so will the others! We want to see you kick butt!"
Flash just smiled and shook her head at her hypered friend, then was suddenly yanked
back. "What the?!"
"Flash, look! Hottie alert!"
Flash followed her look and saw a young blond man heading their way. Okay, this is
weird, she thought. That guy could be Thunder's twin.. Guess, he's not the only one who
covers one eye.
Sage smiled his best smile that would make any girl fall over for him as he approached
them. "Ladies, how are you today?"
"Just fine!" Chilie winked at him.
Flash raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't speak just yet.
Sage smiled more and bowed in a flirtatious way. "My name is Date, Sage. I come from
Japan."
"Nice to meet you!" Chilie said in the same tone of voice. "My name is Chilie, and this is
Flash."
"Such pretty names."
"Thanks," Flash said as she looked away.
Sage only smiled. "And as beautiful as the two babes before me.."
Suddenly Flash whirled around, her eyes literally on flames. "Babe?"
Before Sage could react he suddenly found himself landing hard on the ground. The girl
Flash stood over him. "Don't ever call me babe, ok?"
Sage nodded in surprise at her.
Across the street a whoop was heard then hastily quieted. Sage’s eyes narrowed as he
stood, patting the dirt of his clothes. “If you ladies would excuse me. I have a mess to
clean up.” With this leaving comment, he cracked his knuckles and marched back home.

~*~*~*~

Scorpio’s eyebrows were furrowed as he entered his shared room. ~Poor Thunder,~ he
thought with sorrow. ~And poor Casey too. She’ll have to share some of our burden.
But it’s far better than Tutock catching her and telling her for us.~
Laying back on his bed, he placed his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling.
~Is it even all worth it? Us fighting to save a world that doesn’t even seem to care. And
now we’re even dragging an innocent girl in on it.~ He sighed and closed his eyes,
letting himself go into relaxation in the quiet atmosphere.
Like that was gonna happen.

With a rather undignified thump, Scorpio plugged his ears from his new spot on the floor
and glared at the offending wall that the loud music was coming from. Getting to his
feet, he blinked as verse floated through the wall, accompanied by a much lower alto
voice.
He had to admit, the music was good, but at those decibels, Casey was damn near gonna
blow her ear drums out. And he was ready to march over there and tell her himself. And
if this headache kept coming, in much harsher words.
But as his hand hovered over the door knob, his sky blue eyes widened. They didn’t have
to tell Casey! Razor had obviously proved they weren’t going after Casey with their
armor, but had opted for the more subtle approach of attacking her like mortal men.
Which meant, all they needed to do was teach her how to defend herself! With a whoop
of joy, he dashed out of the room.

~*~*~*~ Minutes before....~*~*~*~

With a dejected sigh, Thunder rose to his feet from the porch. ~It’s time... I hope she
doesn’t think I’m crazy...~ He plodded through the living, now so depressed it was
coming off him in waves. His grandfather raised an eyebrow, but decided not to inquire.
Trudging up the steps, he jumped as music suddenly blasted from Casey’s room. A ghost
of a smile tugged its way to his lips. ~Well,~ he thought. ~At least she’ll have her
music.~
Sighing resignedly as he reached her door, he knocked three times only to be tackled out
of the way. Scorpio, nonchantly leaned against the door frame Casey answered with an
upraised eyebrow. “Yeah?”
Scorpio’s foot in his face kept Thunder from leaping up. “Could you do me a favor and
turn down the music.”
Again the upraised eyebrow. “You could’ve just banged on the wall.” She closed the door and a few seconds later the music was lowered minutly. Thunder immediately
jumped up and grabbed the smaller boy by the collar, almost spitting fire.
“You have two seconds to live, shorty.” Thunder’s eyes could’ve turned his blood to ice.
Scorpio put up his hands in surrender, a huge sweatdrop on his head. “Take it easy,
friend. I just stopped you from a lot of pain.”
Thunder shook him a few times. “The only pain I’m feeling is from my face, where your
foot happened to land!”
Scorpio coughed to cover a “I had to do it.” and replied, grinning, “You’re gonna be
happy with what I have to tell you. And, even despite the fact your sister is playing her
music and nerve jarring levels, she still might hear our conversation. So would you
kindly drag me into our room?” He gave Thunder a cheeky smile.
And Thunder kindly dropped him, muttering as he walked to their room, “Get there
yourself.”

~*~*~*~

The throne room was filled with a thickness in the air that told of fearful anticipation.
Razor kneeled, head bowed in front of his ruler and commander. Tutock was pacing
angrily and occasionally tossed something against the wall. Razor knew this wasn’t
going to be pretty.
“Do you know what you did wrong?” Tutock’s velvety voice floated through the room.
Razor’s reply was low and submissive, “I let my mind wander from the mission and
sought only my pleasures of the chase.”
“EXACTLY!” He roared and hurled a glass at Razor’s bowing head. He didn’t flinch as
glass embedded itself in head and neck. “You decided to have a little fun at the expense
of what I had ordered you to do! And because of that, You were unable to gather the
information I wanted! Such an offense is UNFORGIVEABLE!”
Razor listened in silence, the throbbing in his skull increasing. However, he was used to
such treatment and torture. It was, after all, only to forward his master’s ideals and
dreams. So, with these thoughts in mind, he calmly waited for his punishment.
Poor, misguided soul...

~*~*~*~