Episode 4

Girl Power

“Whaddaya know? They’re still inside.”

Troy sighed and rested his head on his hands. He and Trey had been sitting for hours atop a building overlooking the apartment complex. Sitting...and waiting.

“That figures,” Trey said. “How does the boss expect us to snatch the other two Guardian powers if whoever has them won’t ever leave their apartments?”

Inside their apartments, Brittany was reading a book and Tami was chatting on the phone. Neither appeared to have any desire to go outside, much to the brother's chagrin. Trey and Troy were assigned to assault whoever had the Guardian powers when they emerged from their lodgings, and as the minutes turned to hours, it was starting to get really boring.

“I’m sick of waiting!” Troy said, standing. “Let’s just, like, blow the place up or something.”

Trey put his hand on his brother's shoulder. “Don’t blow a gasket, bro. But yeah, you’re right. We’re busy men. We have better things to do than sit around here all day.”

Troy rubbed his chin thoughtfully, thinking hard to come up with a way to speed things up. “Ooh, idea! How about we go down there and yell, 'Fire! Fire!' Then when everyone evacuates the building, we scope out which two of ‘em have the powers.”

“That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard,” Trey scolded him. “Let’s do it.”

Trey ran from level to level of the apartment complex, waving his arms and yelling frantically. “Oh no, oh no! Fire, fire! Everyone out! Fire!”

Troy snickered as crowds of confused people slowly stepped out of their apartments. He could sense the Guardian powers somewhere in that throng of people. And they were really close together.

As soon as Trey reached the last apartment, he jumped into a

nearby tree and began to sneak his way back to the building to rejoin Troy.

“Where’s the fire?” one woman asked another.

“Beats me,” she replied.

The landlord groaned and rubbed his temples after giving the entire complex a once-over. He had had situations in the past where hooligans played tricks, but not quite at this level. He cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled at the top of his voice. “False alarm, folks. There is no fire. I repeat, false alarm. You may return to your apartments. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.” He grumbled to himself as he contemplated a new line of work.

Troy watched everyone closely, trying to sense which one of them had the powers they were looking for. He fixed his eyes on Brittany, her bracelet gleaming in the sun, heading back into her apartment with her younger sister.

He then shifted his focus down two rows on Tami returning into her apartment, her bracelet also worn tightly on her arm. He turned to Trey as he made his way back to the building.

“That worked pretty well,” Trey said. “Did you find our victims?”

“I sure did!” Troy said proudly.

Trey waited for him to continue. “...well?”

“Well what?”

“Were they boys? Girls? Biker dudes? Gimme the details.”

“Oh! Two girls had them. I bet they were just wearing them as jewelry.”

“Oh, that's just silly.”

“But if they’re girls, then we can probably just scare ‘em into giving them to us.” Troy pounded his fist into his hand.

Trey's eyes lit up at the thought of terrorizing someone weaker than him. “Yeah, we could be like, 'give us what we want, girls.' And they’d be like, 'oh no, you’re such big, strong men. We’d better do as you say.' Now, which apartments were they in?”

Troy turned back towards the complex and scanned it carefully. “Well, let’s see…uh…”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t look to see what apartment numbers they were in!”

“Oh, I don’t have to tell you that? Whew, that’s a load off.”

“You idiot!”

“Sorry.”

---

Rob dragged his feet down the road. The thought of those two powerful Guardians wiping the floor with him yesterday was lodged in his mind. What if they try to ambush me when Wyn's not around? he thought. I'd be a goner.

As if the universe was trying to spite him, he casually glanced at the apartment complex he was walking past to see Trey and Troy going from door to door, knocking on them and then quickly running away. Had they gone from trying to destroy him to playing childish pranks? He didn't think so. “What are they doing?” he wondered.

“Wouldn't you like to know.”

By the time Trey had left his field of vision, he had made his way down to where Rob was standing. “How…how did you know I was here?” Rob asked him, a shiver going up his spine.

“Eh, we could sense you coming,” Trey said in a bored voice. “We can do cool stuff like that. Anyway, while we could beat you up right now, we have more important matters to attend to.”

Troy, who had leaped back to the building he was on earlier, scanned the tenants opening their doors and looking around in confusion. He didn't remember the exact apartment numbers those girls were in, but he had a general idea. It wouldn't be as hard to find them this time.

“Did someone knock on your door, too?” an elderly man asked another.

“I thought someone did…those hoodlums and their crazy pranks.”

Troy once again watched Brittany and Tami close the doors to their apartments. And this time, he made a mental note exactly where they were at.

“I don't know what you guys are up to, Troy, but you're not getting away with it,” Rob said.

“My name is Trey,” Trey said. “And you’re welcome to try and stop us, but it looks like your main concern right now is going to be defending yourself against Fanman.”

“Fanman?”

“Wind Funnel!”

A huge tube of wind surrounded Rob. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air and into a building. A giant monster that looked like a walking fan with a face landed beside Trey.

“Yeah, we have stuff to do, so Fanman will take care of you,” Trey said. “Now, if you’ll please excuse me…” He made his way back to Troy, leaving Rob to deal with his new opponent.

“So, did you sense which apartments they're in?” he asked Troy.

“I sure did,” Troy said. “Let’s go down there and get what we came for.”

“Now hold on just a minute. We need a cunning plan.”

Rob eyed his new opponent. He'd fought some weird monsters, but this one took the cake. Still, a battle's a battle, he thought as he transformed into his Guardian armor.

Before he could even attack, Fanman pinned him against the building with another strong blast of wind. “Hey! You could have at least given me a second to get ready!” he yelled over the loud roar.

With all his might, Rob strained to lift up his arm cannon and fire. Fanman cut off his attack to sidestep the attack. Not wasting a moment, Rob ran at Fanman and shot off a volley of blasts to keep him distracted as he closed in on him. With a strong uppercut to the stomach, he propelled the monster into the air. Fanman retaliated by pinning Rob to the ground with his air attack, then stomping on his stomach upon landing.

“I can’t wait to see what cunning plan you came up with,” Troy said as Trey knocked on Brittany's apartment door.

Brittany opened the door and was taken aback by the boys—boys she'd never seen before. And who looked pretty funny, to boot. “Um…hi. Can I help you?”

Without even answering, Trey grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder.“Hey!” Brittany screamed. “What are you doing? Put me down!”

“You call that a cunning plan?!” Troy exclaimed in a panic.

“Just shut up and grab the sleeper gun out of my pocket,” Trey said, struggling to keep the wriggling Brittany under control.

“You have a sleeper gun?” Troy said. “Wouldn’t it have made more sense to blast her with it before you grabbed her?”

“Heeeellllp!” Brittany yelled at the top of her lungs as she pounded on Trey with any appendage she had available.

“Hurry up already before we’re noticed!” Trey said, turning towards the most convenient escape route.

Troy's eyes grew wide. “Too late!”

To add to the chaos, Brittany’s younger sister, who had absolutely no idea what was going on, ran outside and immediately began pounding her fists on Trey’s head. “You guys leave my sister alone!”

“Blast this one first before she gives me brain damage!” Trey cried as the two girls continued beating on him.

Troy sneaked his hand around and carefully removed the futuristic-looking pistol-like gun from his brother's pocket. He aimed it at Brittany‘s sister, and the invisible waves emitting from it caused her to fall to the ground in a heap, fast asleep. He then used the device on Brittany, who fell limp in Trey’s arms.

“Okay,” said Trey, trying to compose himself, “I’ll head to that building top, and you get the other girl. And remember, act casual.”

As Trey rushed off, Troy realized that several other tenants who were obviously annoyed by yet another commotion opened their doors one more time and were staring at him. He looked around frantically for some way to distract them. “Uhhh…whoa, look! Green! That tree over there is green!”

Rob, having overheard what sounded like a girl's screams, continued to shift his glance in the direction of the apartment building between attacks. He caught a glimpse of Trey leaping onto the nearby building top with Brittany in tow. “Brittany! No!” As if evil Guardians and monsters trying to kill him weren't enough, he had forgotten all about Brittany having a Guardian bracelet.

The other tenants, concerned about whatever happened to the young girl unconscious on the ground, rushed to Brittany’s sister’s aid. A woman leaned over the railing and pointed to Trey as he fled. “Look! Some kind of freakish superhuman just kidnapped that girl!”

“It’s obviously a mass hallucination,” Troy said in a vain attempt to cover things up.

“Get down,” a man shouted, “that guy has a gun!”

Troy looked at the sleeper gun in his hand and chuckled nervously. “Sometimes I hate this job.”

Rob attempted to intercept Trey's path by leaping up to him, but he was intercepted himself by yet another wind blast and hurled through the air. He quickly noted his trajectory and maneuvered himself so that the bottoms of his feet hit the building he would have otherwise crashed into. He propelled himself back towards Fanman and began firing blasts wildly again. Fanman danced around them. When Rob was right in front of him, he used the momentum to amplify his punch and punched Fanman hard to the ground. Fanman was out cold.

“For a fan, you sure are a sucker,” he said. “…or something. I dunno. I may need to work on that joke.” He blasted Fanman point blank, and the monster disappeared in a flash of light.

With that distraction dealt with, he leaped atop the building right in front of Trey and aimed his blaster at him. “Game over, Trey. Let her go.”

Trey smirked. “First, congratulations on getting my name right. Second, no.”

“I’m not playing around here, Trey,” Rob said firmly, his finger hovering over the fire button.

Meanwhile, Troy admired his handiwork in putting everyone on that floor of the building to sleep. “Nighty night.” He made his way down to Tami’s level and knocked on her door. Just as Tami opened her door, she was put to sleep by the sleeper gun. No way Troy was going to go through the same ordeal his brother did.

“What are you gonna do, blast me?” Trey asked Rob. With a sadistic smile, he put Brittany’s limp body in front of him as a shield. “I guess you can if you want. I’ll even stand perfectly still for you.”

Rob stood fast. But he and Trey both knew there was no way he would risk hitting Brittany.

“Take your time. I’ve got all day.” Trey said, his resolve just as firm. He shot a glance at Troy struggling to drag Tami across the walkway. “Hurry it up, would ya?”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Troy grunted. “This chick is heavier than she looks.”

“Tami, no!” Rob said. He had apparently forgotten about her, too.

As Rob shifted his glance to Troy and Tami, Trey made his move. “Bion, attack!”

“Gargantuan Punch!” Suddenly, what appeared to be a giant fist knocked Rob off of the building and to the ground below. His Guardian armor softened the impact, but it was all he could do to keep from de-transforming as the force of the landing knocked the air out of him.

A tiny white bipedal fox Creturian landed on his stomach, knocking what little air out of him he had left. His massive fists were easily double the size of his body. “So, it looks like I finally get my chance to destroy the Guardians myself,” the creature said. “The name’s Bion, by the way.”

Rob grunted. “Charmed, I’m sure. Look, pal, I don’t exactly have the time to deal with you at the moment.”

“Too bad you don’t have a say in the matter. Gargantuan Punch!”

Rob got to his feet and dodged Bion’s giant fist, which hit the ground with such force that the nearby buildings shook. Rob jumped over another punch and kicked Bion in the face. He landed and charged at the small monster. “Let’s make this a quick fight!”

But before he could reach him, Bion was knocked away by another blast. Not one of Rob's.

Wyn jumped in front of the two combatants, the usual frown plastered on his face. “Well well, about to lose another battle, I see,” he said.

“Wyn, I’m really not in the mood for your remarks today,” Rob said. “Why are you here?”

“I heard a commotion. Knew some more Creturians were around. I didn’t expect to find you fighting with them, though.”

“Ah, so you’re in the mood to fight, eh? Great. You can fight this guy, then. I have to go after Trey and Troy.”

“What? Why--?”

But Rob was already gone, leaping onto the highest building he could find and scanning the streets for Trey and Troy, who were nowhere to be seen. “No…they got away.” He had no idea what they were planning to do with Brittany and Tami, but he resolved that no matter what...he would find them.

---

Brittany awoke—or at least she thought she awoke—to pitch blackness. “What…what’s going on here?”

Suddenly, she heard Tami's voice close by. “Brittany? Is that you?”

“Tami! Where are we?”

“Exactly where we want you to be,” came a sinister voice.

“Hey, who are you?” Tami asked indignantly. “Show yourself.”

A dull light lit up the room with a soft orange glow. The girls looked at each other, both sitting in hard wooden chairs beside one another. Trey and Troy stood menacingly in front of them, arms crossed.“How’s it going, ladies?” Trey asked.

“We blasted both of you with a sleep ray, so you probably don’t remember us capturing you,” said Troy.

Brittany rubbed her head. “The last thing I remember was getting up to answer the door…”

“Yeah, the ray also wipes your mind of any events that occur within a minute or so prior of being blasted,” Trey said. “But enough about that; we brought you here for a reason.”

Troy held out his hand. “We want the bracelets.”

Brittany and Tami looked at each other in confusion. Tami held up the bracelet on her arm. “You mean these?”

Trey and Troy nodded.

“But…why?” Brittany asked, confused as to why any boys would go so far as to capture her and Tami for pieces of jewelry.

“Those are no ordinary bracelets you have there,” Trey answered. “They're called Guardian Bands, and they contain a great power that stands in the way of our master’s plans.”

Brittany and Tami just stared at them. “Uh, yeah, sure,” Tami said. “That’s a cute little story you guys have going there.” She stood up. “Now, why you don’t you two nerds go back to your little Star Trek convention and leave us alone?”

“Sit back down!” Trey barked. Jarred, Tami obeyed. “This doesn’t have to be difficult, girls. Just give us what we want and you’re free to go. You have our word.”

“And if we refuse?” Tami asked, getting annoyed.

“Then we’ll have to destroy you.”

The girls immediately burst out laughing.

“You think this is some kind of joke?” Troy snarled. “Dimensional Guardians, power up!”

The girls’ laughter quickly ceased as they gazed at Troy in his armor.

Then they started right back up again.

“Look at his costume!” Brittany giggled.

“What a couple of dorks!” said Tami. “Those Star Trek nerds are too much!”

Flames circled around Troy’s hands like an outward manifestation of his rising anger. “I—will--not--be--mocked!” In a rage, he launched two fireballs that struck the wall above the girls’ heads, catching it ablaze.

“Smooth move, lunkhead!” Trey said, smacking him.

Freaked out by the fire, the girls pushed the boys out of the way and jetted out the door of the now-flaming shack nuzzled in the alleyway.

“Great,” said Trey as he and Troy rushed out of the abandoned building. “Our first hostage situation and you go and botch it. Now we have to catch them all over again.”

“Remind me never to mock a nerd again,” Tami said as she panted down the path. “You never know what they’re capable of.”

“I figured they were over-the-top,” said Brittany, “but wow!”

“Scorch Wheel!”

“Electric Shock!”

The two attacks by their pursuers nearly singed the back of their shoes, prompting them to run faster.

Rob hopped from building to building, but saw no sign of Trey, Troy, or the girls. He lamented over how huge the city was. They could be anywhere.

Tami’s shrill cry echoed a few buildings down.

Looks like he had found them.

---

Back at the battle, Wyn tried to meet his fist with Bion’s abnormally large one. Bion’s punch was enough to send him flying. “I don’t care how strong you say you are,” Bion said. “Your puny punches can’t compare to mine.”

“Guardian Punch!” Wyn rushed the monster as he attacked, but Bion’s fist easily deflected the shot. When his prey got close enough, Bion attempted to crush him with his fists, Wyn jumped on top of them and tried to roundhouse kick him in the face, but Bion ducked and used his fists to launch Wyn into the air. Wyn shot off his Guardian Punch with both hands downwards as Bion jumped up to attack again. Bion blocked the attack with his fists, but Wyn slammed into him feet-first, sending him crashing into the ground. As quickly as the monster could recover, Wyn attacked again, but his punches had little effect as Bion could easily shield his face with his fists.

“This whole fight is an insult,” Bion said. “What’s it take to get you to realize that you can’t get through my defenses?”

Wyn grinned, noticing that with Bion protecting his face, his lower body was completely defenseless. He kicked him hard in the gut. “What was that? I believe you were saying something funny,” Wyn sneered.

As Bion reeled back, Wyn jumped over him and blasted him in the back, and the creature disappeared.

His job done, Wyn silently headed off to see just what that crazy kid was up to.

---

“I can’t just go down there and start blasting,” Rob thought, staring down at the street. “The girls are probably freaked out enough without finding out that one of their classmates has wacky super powers.”

He remained lost in his thoughts until a young woman on a bike passed his field of vision. “Ah, that’s it.”

As Trey and Troy came to a fork in the alley, they noticed that the girls were nowhere to be seen either direction. “Gah, which way did they go?” Troy wondered.

“I’ll take the left, you take the right,” Trey said.

Brittany and Tami cowered at a dead end, holding their breath and listening to the brothers banter.

Rob jumped down from the building, his armor enabling him to land without any injuries. He stopped the woman in her tracks and struggled to untie the strap on her pink bike helmet. “Hey, let go of me!” the woman exclaimed. “Hey! Hey!”

“Sorry, ma’am,” Rob said, “but right now I need this waaaay more than you do.” He yanked the helmet off the woman's head and jetted for the alley.

“Then why don’t you go buy your own pink helmet, you maniac?!” she called after him.

It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. He'd heard of people being charged with bike theft, but hopefully taking a helmet wouldn't be a big enough deal for the woman to alert the authorities over. Rob strapped the slightly-too-small pink helmet to his head, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. He was hoping he wouldn’t have to go the “cheesy superhero” route, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Tami…they’re going to find us…” Brittany whispered to her friend as her heart pounded.

“I know…” Tami whispered back.

“Come on out!” Troy sent a fireball down the alleyway, surprising both girls. They quickly muffled their screams, but it was too late; Troy had heard them and was heading down the alley towards them. “Ah. I knew you girls wouldn’t be hard to find,” he said before he even saw them. He turned the corner and flung another fireball just to scare them. The girls dove towards the ground as it crashed into the brick wall behind them. “Trey, come over here! I found ‘em!” he called to his brother.

Both girls, shaking like leaves, raised their heads and looked at Troy.

“You girls seriously need to brush up on your hiding skills,” he said.

He softened his face as he gazed into the frightened girls' puppy dog eyes. “Hey…stop looking at me like that.”

“Good job, Troy,” Trey said, running up to him. “We got ‘em now.” He prepared to attack, but noticed Troy continuing to stare at the girls. “Well? What are you waiting for? Let’s blast ‘em.”

“But…look at them.” Troy said.

“What about them?”

“They’re just so…cute.”

“This isn’t the time to develop a crush on our enemies, Troy!”

A smile slowly formed on Tami’s face as she realized she could take advantage of the situation. “Y-yeah…w-we are cute, aren’t we?”

Brittany smiled in dawning comprehension. “You wouldn’t really blast lil’ old us, would you? Not such charming, handsome men as yourselves.”

Troy's cheeks flushed. “Wow. And such good taste, too.”

Trey glared at him. “What’s wrong with you? Need I remind you that we have a mission to complete here?”

Rob saw the smoke pluming from the burning building. Surely they couldn’t be far.

Troy stammered. “I--I--”

Trey pushed him out of the way. “Fine then, I’ll do it myself. But I get all the credit.”

He began charging up an attack.

The girls stood up and screamed.

Rob dashed towards the sound. “No, no, no, NO!”

“Electric Shock!”

Rob peered over the building—to his horror—just as Trey fired. “Laser Blast!”

Rob held his breath. If he could increase the velocity of the blast, he would have. But all he could do was wait and hope for the best. He only had one shot at saving the girls' lives. And if it missed...

Blam!

The laser collided with the electrical surge mere moments before it would've struck the girls. The energy whipped around in the air for a moment, then subsided.

“W-what was that?” Trey said.

When the smoke cleared, a mysterious armor-clad warrior with a pink bike helmet and sunglasses was standing in between Trey, Troy, and the girls.

“Halt, evildoers!” he said a voice much cheesier-sounding than he intended.

“Is that…another Guardian?” Troy asked, cocking his head to the side.

“And is that…a pink bike helmet on his head…?” added Trey.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, trying to harm two poor, sweet, defenseless girls?” the disguised Rob asked them. “I don’t take kindly to that kind of behavior.”

“Uh, who are you?” Troy asked.

“Well…I’m…uh…”

“You do have a name, don’t you?”

“Y-yes I have a name. My name is…umm…Greg.”

“...Greg?”

“Greg...Guardian...son.”

“Greg Guardianson…?”

The alley was silent for a few moments.

Troy stood in deep thought, then blurted out, “Heeeeeey, that sounds like you just made it up on the spot.”

“It’s my real name, okay?” Rob said. “Blame my parents.”

Trey eyed him. “You sound kinda familiar.” His eyes widened. “Hey, I know who you are. You’re that guy that keeps getting in our way. Um…dare I ask why you’re wearing a pink bicycle helmet on your head?”

“Well, I--”

“Never mind, I don’t want to know. So, I’m guessing you’re ready for another pounding.”

Even though the jig was up, Rob continued speaking in a low voice so the girls wouldn't recognize him. “Like I said before, I won’t let you hurt these girls. I’ll protect them no matter what it takes.”

“Sorry to hear that,” said Troy. “Scorch Wheel!”

Rob jumped over the blast and countered with his laser. The boys ducked, and Troy grabbed Rob by the legs, then slammed him into the brick wall. Rob fired his laser again, causing Troy to let go.

The two factions fired at each other simultaneously. “Laser Blast!”

“Scorch Wheel!”

“Electric Shock!”

Rob’s attack was engulfed by Trey’s and Troy’s, and he fell to the ground in front of a stupefied Brittany and Tami. “Hurry…get out of here,” he grunted.

Brittany and Tami stood stone still, frozen with fear.

“Good thing you’re wearing that helmet,” said Trey, “or you’d probably be in much worse shape than you are.”

“I won’t let you hurt them,” Rob repeated, standing up slowly.

Troy scoffed. “Funny. From what I can see, there’s not much you can do about it.”

Rob was pummeled relentlessly by the two boys until he could barely get back up.

“Looks like not even your pink bike helmet could protect you,” Trey snickered.

The brothers turned back to the girls huddled in the corner. Trey slowly inched towards them. “Now…let’s finish what we started.”

Rob couldn't believe it. A complete waste of time. He tried to help the girls escape, and now they were all going to be destroyed, him included.

Wait.

Who said he had to defend them? They could save themselves.

“Girls, you can get out of this,” Rob yelled to them. “Just say 'Dimensional Guardians, power up.' Hurry!”

The girls, desperate enough to try anything, called out, “Dimensional Guardians, power up!”

Trey and Troy gasped in unison. “What? No!”

The bright light cleared, and the girls were wearing the high-tech armor similar to the others.

“Whoa!” Tami exclaimed. “What’s with the freaky armor?”

Brittany pulled on the elastic below her neck. “I have no idea, but I'm definitely not a fan of spandex.”

Troy snarled. “I can’t believe this. Why couldn’t you girls just be cooperative and let us destroy you?”

“Eh, who really cares if they’ve activated their Guardian Powers or not?” Trey said. “It‘s not as if they know how to use them properly.” With that, he kicked Brittany in the stomach, and she fell to the ground, bawling.

“Ooooowwww! That hurt!”

Trey just stood there blankly, not knowing how he should react.

Troy shook his head at his brother in contempt. “Wow. You’re a jerk.”

“Hey! Just whose side are you on?” Trey asked defensively.

Rob managed to pull himself up off the ground, feeling a strange new sense of energy surging through him. “It’s three-to-two now. I like those odds.”

“Feh. You really think a weakling like you and two girls can possibly beat us?” said Trey. “I think your pink helmet’s on too tight. Hey, Troy, if you’re going to be a wuss, then take this guy down while I destroy the girls.”

Troy nodded. He didn't like hitting girls, but guys he had no problem with pounding.

“Don’t just stand there, girls,” Rob said. “Attack them. Quickly!”

Suddenly, he was sucker-punched in the gut by Troy. Before Troy could retract his fist, Rob dealt him a similar blow. As Troy reeled backwards, Rob blasted him.

“Now, let’s try this one more time,” said Trey as he prepared to assault the girls.

Tami gritted her teeth. “How could you possibly hurt Brittany, you punk? I-I won’t let you get away with that!”

“And just what do you plan to do about it?”

Tami growled angrily. Just then, light blue bursts of energy slowly formed in her hands. She didn't know what they were exactly, but if she could use them to defend herself... “Well…how about this?”

She launched the energy at Trey. As he put up his arms to block it, they were instantly encased in ice.

“Ooh! How’d you do that, Tami?” Brittany asked in wonderment.

“I…have no idea…”

Trey shattered the ice with a wave of electricity. “Brrr, that’s cold. Matches your attitude, ya broad.”

Tami gasped. “Oh, that does it.” She jumped at him and shot another ice blast. Trey blocked it with his electricity, then grabbed Tami by the arm and slammed her into the ground.

“Tami, no!” Brittany wished she could do something, but as far as she knew, she didn't have any weapons at her disposal.

No weapons, that is, until a giant metal mallet suddenly formed in her hands.

Trey pointed at her and laughed. “Nice hammer. You gonna hit me with it, girlie?”

Brittany scowled. “I’m sorry, I’m only doing this to defend my friend.”

She swung her mallet at him with all her might, smashing him into the wall.

Rob glanced over as he blocked Troy’s punches. “Way to go, girls!”

“Scorch Wheel!”

Caught off guard, Rob suffered the full force of the attack, but recovered and tackled Troy.

Brittany was struck by an electric blast and fell over in pain.

“That was easy enough,” Trey said.

Tami suddenly jumped on his shoulders, cupped her hands across his eyes, and began freezing his face. “Gah! Get off! That’s cold!” Trey wailed.

“You need to learn to show respect for women, you pig!”

Within a few moments, Trey was fully encased in a solid block of ice. Tami helped Brittany up. “You all right?”

“I—I think so.”

“Good. How about you use that hammer of yours to knock that creep out of here?”

“If it’ll get him off our backs.” Brittany reared back and knocked the ice-encased Trey clear out of the alley. The giant cube slid through the alley at high speed.

“Incoming!” Tami called to Rob.

Rob saw the block of ice sliding his and Troy‘s direction and grinned. “Well, it’s been fun, Troy. I hope you have a nice trip.”

Troy stopped his assault and scratched his head. “Trip? I’m not going anywhere.”

Rob casually stepped out of the way as Trey smashed into Troy, and the two brothers flew out of the alley and crashed into a building on the other side of the road.

“Well done, ladies!” Rob said as they came up to him. “I’ll take it--from--here?”

The girls continued walking past him as Trey and Troy stood up and prepared to charge them.

“Not bad at all, ladies,” Trey said, “but not quite good enough to stop us.”

“Brittany, stay back!” Tami stepped in front of Brittany and used her ice powers to cover the street with a thin sheet of ice, which sent the two boys slipping and sliding.

“Smooth move!” Brittany said.

“I prefer 'slick.'”

Brittany smashed her hammer into Trey and Troy as hard as she could, sending them sailing over the building tops.

“A word of advice, bro,” Trey said as they flew through the air, “don’t ever call a girl with Guardian powers a 'broad.'”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind, you girl-hitter,” Troy muttered.

Wyn barely ducked in time to avoid the flying brothers from the building he was on. “Where’d they come from?”

“Wow, girls, you did it!” Rob said in awe. “And on your first try, too. Most impressive.”

Wyn landed beside Rob. “Just what’s going on here?”

“Well…it’s kind of a long story,” Rob said.

Wyn glared at the “mysterious newcomer.” “Are you who I think you are…?”

“Yes.” Rob grumbled, not in the mood to explain himself.

“And…are you wearing a pink bike helmet…?”

“Yes. Don’t ask.”

“I wasn’t planning to. Anyway, tell me exactly what happened here.”

“I saw these sweet, innocent girls get captured by Trey and Troy, so I hightailed it after them.”

Wyn turned to the girls. “And what exactly did they want from you?”

Both girls held up their bracelets. “These…whatever they are.” Brittany said.

Wyn gasped. “Where did you get those?”

“We just bought them at a clothing store,” said Tami innocently. “We had no idea they’d…well, do what they did.”

“'Do what they did?' What happened?”

Rob chuckled uneasily. “Trey and Troy ganged up on me, so I told them how to transform and they saved themselves. Crazy, huh?”

Wyn bashed Rob on the head. “You idiot! Didn’t I tell you that after activating the Guardian power, it’s permanently bonded to your DNA?”

Rob looked as if he'd just been shot in the heart. “Oh, man, I completely forgot about that! What have I done?”

“Effectively destroyed both of these girls’ lives,” Wyn replied coldly. “I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

“Wait a minute,” Brittany spoke up. “So what exactly is up with these bracelet things?”

“Yeah, we deserve some answers, too,” Tami added.

Wyn looked at Rob. “Well, kid, it looks like you’ve some explaining to do.”

Rob pointed to himself. “Me? You know more than I do. Why don’t you tell ‘em?”

Wyn began to walk off in his usual aloof manner. “I have my own problems to deal with without having to play baby-sitter. Now that you have some new Guardian friends, you don’t need me anymore. You can look out for each other.”

“Thanks a lot,” Rob muttered. He turned back to Brittany and Tami, who were staring at him and waiting for him to speak. He pulled on his collar uncomfortably. Things were getting a lot more complicated.

The plot continues to thicken as two more Guardian powers are activated! What kind of wacky things can we expect as a result? Tune in next time for Dimension Heroes!

TO BE CONTINUED…