Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A Way Back

Though he wasn’t too sure if the plan was foolproof,  but he knew even though his life was in danger, it was now or never, as he was getting hungry, and thirsty, and had to take a dump. He stared down at the possible leader guardian (thinking “Saren…” again) for about a minute with stress, excitement, and anxiety, then jumped off of the tree house.  He felt the now cold air rush through his soft cheeks as he soared through the now dark sky, and landed softly on the grass. Thankfully, no S.A.S.P.S. agents heard this.

His legs tingled a bit, but didn’t hurt, like the first time he fell. He then moved swiftly behind a bush. He peeked from behind it, and saw that none of the S.A.S.P.S. guards were acting differently. He figured that this meant that he was still undetected. He slowly headed towards the side of the house, and stretched his claws longer as to make a hole in the suit. He tried, and tried, but the suit wouldn’t tear. He looked down, and noticed that very, very small holes were already there… just small enough to fit his claws. He used his claws to climb up the side of his house (he didn’t want to risk flying) into a small attic opening. He had done this once before when he was 10 for no apparent reason except for random recreation.

He was about halfway up when he heard the guards by the door having a conversation. He slowly dropped his body, and hung there, listening to the conversation.

“…still think it’s dumb that we have to stand here, and guard this house… all because of that Ross Oak kid?” One said. He had a light, but deep voice Ross couldn’t explain, or mimic, but didn’t sound too whiney.

“Well, Saren said that there were reasons he couldn’t tell us that we had to make sure that kid didn’t come back. The other said. Oddly enough, he had a lighter voice than the other.

“I still think this is a bunch of baloney… I mean, he’s just a kid! What’s he going to do? Sneak past us into this house, and turn into a guardian, and kill us all?” The first one said.

“Well, that’s exactly what I can see Saren saying…” The second one said.

“Whatever… I think-” The first one started.

“Well, Saren obviously doesn’t exactly seem to care what you think, now, does he?” The second one butted in.

“I don’t care-” The first one started, only to be cut off again.

“Shut up, and do your job… sheesh…” The second said, ending the conversation.

Ross still had no idea what his parents had to do with anything, but now he knew that this “Saren” was their leader… and that they knew about Ross… but how? And then Ross remembered he was hanging on a wall precariously surrounded by a bunch of enemies who if they saw Ross, might kill him, and if not, they’d capture him. At that thought, he continued climbing up, and got the metal bars guarding the entrance to the attic. Ross took his claw, and carefully undid the nails keeping it in. The first two took some effort, the third was pretty easy, and the fourth one popped right out, getting Ross by surprise, and almost falling below, and landing on a guard walking around the perimeter. Thankfully, Ross’s cat reflexes let him catch it in time to stop it from falling below and screwing up the whole plan, and possibly giving away all the guardians. That wouldn’t be a happy ending now, would it? Ross then placed all the nails inside of the attic through the bars, and carefully pulled the bars piece through the hole it was blocking. Then he climbed in, all with great difficulty.

The attic was very, very hot, but to Ross, it felt nice, as his face was stinging with coldness outside. He poked his head out, and thankfully, still, no guards had caught on. He set the metal bars back up, and somewhat screwed the nails back in, and took off the suit. It was slowly getting hotter, and hotter, and Ross didn’t frankly want to melt. He pulled the backpack over his back, checking to see the pictures and notes were still inside, and crawled through the narrow passage ways. He then slid off his suit, and cooled down a huge amount. He could see fine, though. It was still typically common for cats to see in the dark. Cats who couldn’t normally had poor eyesight.

It seemed like forever crawling through the cramped space, and Ross was starting to see why people got claustrophobic. He hit his head on a piece of wood, and got furious for a bit, and then realized that being mad at the wood wouldn’t exactly do anything. As he was feeling the wooden planks he was crawling on, he felt a smooth piece of metal, and slowly got into a squatting position. There was now enough room as to not be so cramped. Ross put the suit back on (with great difficulty, as he was squatted…), and pulled a metal pad up slowly. He looked for laser triggers as to sense someone breaking in because he had no idea how paranoid the S.A.S.P.S. would be.

He saw no laser traps, so he slid down into the actual house. He heard no noises, but a light was on downstairs. He figured this was a guard, so he just crept over to his room, checking all along the way. When he got to his door, he slowly turned the handle, and was being very paranoid of bugs, laser checkers, and little buttons. Nothing went off, but Ross could swear he saw a red light flash for a second as he walked in. Whether it was paranoia, or the real deal, he needed to hurry up. He made one last check for booby traps, and went on.

He saw a small pile of school stuff, and grabbed his backpack. He emptied it out on his bed, and grabbed a tan vest from his closet, and stuffed it in his backpack. Next, he took the pictures out of his suit, and put them in a small pocket on the side. He zipped it close… then saw his cell phone. He put it, and its charger in his backpack also... when he heard a noise.

 He looked around for a place to hide. His closet was a bit obvious, he couldn’t hide in his bed’s drawers anymore, and he couldn’t think of anything else… then he saw it! His laundry bucket!

He popped the lid off, threw some clothes directly into the air above it, jumped in, let the clothes fall on top of him, and put the lid on just in time. The door opened. Through a small hole in his laundry bucket, he could see one of the S.A.S.P.S. guards walking into his room. Ross tried to breathe as little as possible, and as quiet when he needed to.

The guard looked around, closed the door, and quickly pulled a long sheath out, hidden under armor. The guard threw it on Ross’s bed, looked at the laundry bucket, and that strange voice rang in his head. “Bring this to Samuel…” it said. The guard then unlocked the window, nudged their head towards it, and walked back towards the door. They opened it, and looked at the bucket once more. “Go through the window… don’t worry about Ruke. Sprint like crap.” The voice said, then the guard walked away.

At this point, Ross was completely confused. But he figured that the guard had nothing to do with any booby traps, and that they were safe storing the sheath. Either way, Ross wanted to go through with what the voice said. He slowly got out of the laundry basket, and back into the friendliness of his room. He looked around for last minute traps, and went over to the sheath. There was some kind of warmth to it… and it felt like Ross was meant to take it. He grabbed it. At first it was heavy, but some sort of strength came over Ross in less than a second.

He smiled, and looked around. He just realized that he had no idea how to get back, or how to get out of his house. He could always go out the way he came in… when the door SLAMMED open…

Footsteps race up the stairs, and Ross panicked. He remembered that he had his invisible suit on, but he was still scared.  He tried to slide against a wall. A group of guards came into the room, and looked around. Ross was utterly confused. The guards then saw the sheath floating in mid air- HOW COULD HE BE SO STUPID? Ross never understood why he did what he is about to do even after he was dead. He opened the sheath, and pulled out the sword. It seemed like the opposite of the sword he saw earlier on the buffed out looking guard. The handle was a different color, though, and the blade was silver, and there was still a revolving mist. There was another familiar looking ruby but it was a different color… instead of being a dark green, it was a light blue.

The guards were bewildered for a bit, but then realized that he must have some sort of magic powers. Ross was scared. His heart pounded. He couldn’t think straight. He slowly pulled the sword upwards. He felt amazing power soar through his body. The guards pulled out their swords. The door broke down, and the guard in the samurai armor with the buffed out sword walked in. Ross’ heart stopped. He was going to die. Now. Like this. The other guards moved aside. The samurai armored guard, as Ross had thought, had been their leader. He took his sword up, then swung it down at Ross.

Ross took his sword, and lifted it up to block the other sword, but his sword was slammed down onto the ground. And then it happened. The window broke. Glass flew everywhere. The guards acted as a wall to Ross, and he was the only one not to take damage. The guard who came in to drop off the sword earlier came through the door, and put their hand up. Lightning flashed through the room, and some of the guards fell to the ground. Whether dead, or not, Ross couldn’t tell. The guard then slipped off the armor like it was water. It poured onto the floor, revealing a black cloak. It had a shiny gold medallion with some sort of carving on it… but the face was blocked by shadows.

The hooded figure then came for Ross. Ross held up the sword, confused. A few of the guards went for the hooded figure, and the others for Ross. The cloak zoomed through the air as if some type of cloaked bird on steroids, and made the guards running towards it fall to the ground in confusion.  Ross didn’t know whether to be relieved, or scared. Was this an ally, or a bounty hunter? But there was one person still up. The last guard put up his sword, the mist still whirling, the ruby shining, and the blade piercing. And then Ross was hit with some sense. He moved. He leaned to the left, feeling extremely stupid, and then started running towards the non-existent window, and when he got there, looked back.  The cloaked figure then swirled around the guard as if in some sort of liquidly state. The cloak rippled in an awesome sight.

Just then a bird (birds are bigger than our day) flew into the house, through the window. He motioned to go outside, and Ross smiled. The bird went over to help take the guard down, and Ross looked out of the window. He saw that there was a line of S.A.S.P.S. vehicles coming down the road from afar. He could tell, because only they had green lights on their cars/speeders. Ross had no idea where to go, what to do, and he couldn’t think straight again.

There was a flash of light. Ross was pushed out through the hole where the window used to be. The cloak whooshed through the air, out of the window with Ross. The bird jumped through the window with the sheath in its beak. Ross started running northeast, as the S.A.S.P.S. vehicles were coming from the northwest. With the bird following, and the cloak now leading him, Ross just figured that they were a Guardian, and an undercover guardian. Ross tried to remember this path, as he had taken it when he was younger. He remembered the general path, and some scenery… a few houses… but he still had no idea where he was going. He heard the cars pull over, but the speeders continued, gaining on him like mad.

Ross tried to use his speed powers, but he couldn’t. The speeders were gaining. A S.A.S.P.S. agent on one of the speeders appeared from behind the driver, and pulled out a long spike. The agent reached for Ross, and the bird tried batting it away with the sheath. It pushed it away, but it was inches away from touching Ross. When Ross tripped. Yes, he tripped. On a rock. Ross’ body flew forward, and he caught himself with his front paws… and he felt some sort of new strength coming through his body. He start running forward, forgetting about the sword. He was faster than he’d ever been; outrunning the vehicles, and the soaring cloak.

Luckily, the bird had good timing, and caught the sword inside of the sheath. Ross got to the end of the straight way, and looked back. What he saw was horrid… there were flying vehicles coming, with glowing lights. Big, slow ones, and small, speedy ones were coming all over the skies.

The speed, and the four paws had been on is side, but he saw flares coming through the skies, and it seemed to signal some sort of super engine ignition for the riders. As it was getting more dark, a lightning bolt would flash out of the cloak every now and then to help for vision. Ross didn’t need it, as cats can see in the dark.

The cloak, and the bird were catching up, and Ross looked for a sign of where to go. Ross looked back forward, and followed the cloak, and the bird take a left turn… and then, in a strange happening, they teleported back to the Guardian headquarters. The bird was walking over to a near by couch, and the cloak came over to Ross.

“Sorry for the confusion… I tried to get you the sword, but they got suspicious.” The cloaked figure said in a female voice. Ross could see strange glowing white eyes, and a mouth through the dark shadows.

“I was working undercover to find out what they’re up to… but now I can’t really go back. Anyways, at least you’re safe. That’s Fly,” she said pointing to the bird with her arms covered in sleeves.

“he’s mainly a scouter, but he came to help out... needed some power to help take those guards down. Oh, yeah, and you can call me Ampz. Nice to meet ya, Ross.” Ampz said in a friendly voice.

“How did we… teleport?” Ross asked.

“That would be me…” Fly said from the couch with a smile.

It was nice to rest after such a stressing day. Ross got up, and limped around completely tired, trying to find his way around. The Guardian HQ was almost like a maze… and then he saw Quincy walking up to him looking smug.

“Hey… we thought something happened… you were gone for awhile.” Quincy said greetingly.  “Erm… something did happen…” Ross said uncomfortably. “Where’s Ruke?” Quincy asked in a sad, unhopeful voice.

Ross turned away with sadness, disgust, and grief, knowing that it was partly his fault.

“I wish I knew…” Ross said quietly. “I wish I knew.”

Chapter 1 Revised

Chapter 1

An Unusual Day

(Revised Version)

Ross’s day started quite normally. Wake up from the alarm, hit snooze, wake up from the alarm, turn off, wake up from mom, rush downstairs, devour breakfast, and get a lift to school.

Ross was not a normal person. He was male, liked video games, slacked off in school sometimes… but he was a cat. Most of the world in these days are feline and canine superior, the animals weren’t too prejudice typically, there just faired more cats and dogs. Ross didn’t need to wear clothes, as nudity wasn’t the same as in humans; there wasn’t much to be exposed… that and the fact that animals have much different views than humans. ‘You don’t need to look fancy all the time, just when you need to look fancy.’

Ross wasn’t one of the popular kids at school. He had just a few close friends he would hang out with. He was very social, but he didn’t care too much what others thought of him, solving this problem.

He brushed his bright yellow fur a bit, ate breakfast, and rushed off to school. Nothing strange about the day so far had happened. He finished a normal day of school, with his seven classes; all the typical  classes a school would have, but with an extra class just for farming. The farming class’ origin isn’t completely confirmed, but some believe that it started as a cruel joke, and eventually lead to agriculture being a very important aspect on the newly reigned Earth. After all six of his typical classes and farming, he took the bus to a corner where a rundown movie rental place and a park met and walked home casually with his friend Quincy.

When he got there, he pulled the hidden key out from under a cheap porcelain garden ornament, and twisted the key. He entered his home and it seemed rather quiet. No nagging mother to tell him to fold his clothes and sort them or a father to tell him to mow the lawn. Ross studied for some tests he would have tomorrow, napped, and read a documentary on humans. It had been a few hours since he had gotten home and neither of his parents being home made him a little nervous. This worried Ross quite a bit. He fumbled around his room for his cell phone and attempted to call first his mother, then father. No answer... he tried again with the same response; none. This worried Ross even more. Time passed and he gained worry by the minute. It was now 10:34 P.M. and Ross hadn’t heard a word from his mom since breakfast. He wanted to sleep, but he knew he couldn’t… the anxiety kept him awake. He started to pace, and then…

‘KNOCK’ Ross hesitated, hoping this could be a sign of what was going on, then quickly remembered his parents had keys to the door. ‘KNOCK’ He unsurely thought of who would be banging on the door this late at night was confusing…could it be… ‘KNOCK’ Ross had a faint idea of what might possibly be going on, but prayed it might not be true… ‘KNOCK!’ Again it came, a quick bang and a retreat of the paw, more rough this time. Ross slowly went to the door, and peeked out the window. From the look of the dark blue outfit sleeked down and a slightly slanted matching hat on the head, he could tell the knocked was a A.G.S. Agent, standing there, not looking to happy. (A.G.S stands for Animal Governing Service, also known as the Agonizers.) The agent at the door wasn’t here for a birthday party, unless it involved killing the birthday animal with the giant gun in his hand. Ross walked backwards, not thinking, but realizing that AGS agents didn’t exactly have the best reputation.

The AGS mostly showed up to your doorstep if there’s a big governmental issue, and they weren’t the kindest about it. The AGS agents, usually just referred to as the AGS seemed to be in charge of things. The actual head of the nation Syrene was unknown to everyone except for a few special AGS agents. The whole situation of the ruling of the nation of Syrene was a bit mysterious and unusual, most of the citizens knew not too much about the AGS other than the fact that they seemed rather dark, and didn’t know too much about who the nation’s leader was. The truth was that long ago, when the nation was forming from a few separate nations with power, Syrene’s governmental stature seemed to get corrupt for reasons no one seemed to know. Slowly and slowly the government leaders weren’t announced publicly, you’d have to dig to find out info. The government ended up turning to secrecy, and none of the citizens seemed to care, so Syrene slowly crumbled.

Ross didn’t know too much about the AGS except for a phrase offered once by one of his friends Quincy: “Avoid if at all possible.” Ross had heard all the terrible stories and rumors of what had happened to victims of the government and couldn’t imagine what they might do to him. He crept up his stairs, only grabbing a blue jacket, which held a small electric knife in his pocket (these were a bit expensive) and a small piece of bread he was planning on consuming while pacing. He then continued on his path up the stairs, still trying to keep quiet. His tip-toe was stopped by the AGS agent calmly informing anyone that may have been inside that he was calmly going to bust down the door. This had the opposite effect of calm on Ross, and he busted open a window on his stairs and continued to tumble out of it, scratching his knee on the window seal, and barely shutting the window behind him. He fell into a thorn bush very conveniently planted against the wall and mumbled rude things under his breath.

After brushing his fur off a bit he stumbled about. After a few seconds of realizing that the AGS agents had figured out where he was, he ran like heck in any direction away from where he was. He ran. And he ran. And ran some more. And ran some more after that. And he kept on running until he had ventured deeply into the capital. The capital of -------- was a very large place, one of the biggest cities on the New Earth. It was very roughly divided into “the outer border”, “the capital boundaries”, and “the inner sanctum”.

He had started to begin getting tired when he noticed that the AGS fleet had evolved to vehicles for their pursuit. Ross groaned with agony and kept on running, ignoring the pain. He was decent with quick runs, short distances using all of your might, but when it came to long distances, he was pretty bad. The agents were slowly catching up and Ross didn’t know if he could take anymore, when all of a sudden, he felt a sudden burst of speed and felt the wind gush by his body. He was utterly confused, and almost felt as if he had no control over his body. He looked backwards at the AGS agents semi-far from him, and barely made out faces of anger, amazement, confirmation, and amusement. He was utterly confused about the entire day and just hoped it was all a bad dream he had yet to stop experiencing. But the dream didn’t end. And he didn’t stop running… or was he? He noticed the lack of thudding of his feet and once more looked at the ground to see why he didn’t feel the thudding… and the answer was that he was even touching the ground. He was flying. He ignored this fact and forced himself to discard it, and made his goal to continue on and rest for the night. He had had a long day. Eventually without his realization he began to run again. Due to the tiredness, he took frequent stops to catch his breath and see his distance from the AGS fleet in pursuit of him, realizing he had lost them some time back. Eventually he decided to call it quits and turn in to somewhere with the look of not being lived around. While looking, he was calmed down a bit by the cool air, calm sounds of hovering vehicles casually strolling through the streets, and decided to reason, which didn’t have a tangible end result. No explanations were thought up to why he, a normal cat should be tracked down by the government and then chased. Eventually he gave up his thought and looked again for a place to spend the night. Deciding to have found a nice corner in an ally, inside a strange deformation of a wall which could easily conceal him while giving him room to see out of it and receive fresh air, he tucked himself into the strange lodgings and slowly fell asleep picking apart the bread and eating it. He had strange unexplainable dreams involving the letters ‘J’, ‘A’, ‘Z’, ‘R’, and ‘G’ cursing at him.

          It seemed like he had only just dozed off when he was awoken by a loud voice. Had someone found him?

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

S.A.S.P.S. Issues

As they soared through the air with intense speed, Ross and Ruke both seemed lightheaded, and confused. Ross guessed that Ruke’s ‘animal radar’ had to do with auras, and Ross was thinking how many other powers might be pretty cool…

“SO, (pant) IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, (pant, pant) DON’T WAIT FOR ME… FOR ANY (pant) REASON! JUST RUN LIKE CRAP (pant, pant, pant, pant) AND FIND YOUR PLAAAAAACCCCEEEEEEE! (about twenty pants) ” Ruke screamed.

Ross had a bit of trouble hearing this as the wind roaring in his ears was both distracting and loud. He felt the sleek, glossy feel of the hover-craft vehicle against his furry legs, and the soft-rough back of Ruke, whom he was holding on to for dear life. As he slowly cocked his head backwards to look at the S.A.S.P.S. agent, he noticed them getting slowly closer. As he looked more carefully, he noticed that there three – not one – agents trailing them.

Their bikes were black and dark grey instead of blue and white, and they looked more sharp, fast, and lethal. The riders were wearing glossy (and expensive looking) helmets, and had nice, black suits on. Neither Ross, nor Ruke had helmet or suit, and the only thing on them were magnetic, silver boots. As Ross looked down, he noticed his feet were inside these boots, and they were helping his body stick to the hover-craft more than he knew. Ruke had some too, but they were bigger, and looked heavier. Ross hadn’t noticed them when he climbed on, so either by magic, or the thrill, and distraction of flight, he didn’t exactly care.

As he looked back again, (they had traveled about half a mile) he saw one of the agents pulling out a staff of some sort that looked pointy (and epic). And then, Ross noticed the pointy staff extending, and letting out a strange sparky looking substance. Ross figured as long as he and Ruke stayed clear of (JOLT) the agents, they’d be safe.

But as the hover-craft jolted, Ross noticed that the pointy staff had been hurled into the side of Ruke’s hover-craft, and it was slowly down, and descending. Ruke slowly turned around, and handed Ross a cool teal suit.

“This…” Ruke said, as he no longer had to yell, as they weren’t going as fast, and he was facing Ross.

“is an invisibility suit. It changes sizes to the touch. As soon as we crash, the agents might jab me in the side, but they’re looking for you more than me.” Ruke said handing Ross the suit.

As it passed into his hands, the suit shrunk a fair bit, and the color even changed a bit. Ross looked down, and noticed that they were getting closer to the ground.

“Now, the eye trick I set on this puppy won’t hold for long. The commoners will be able to see us soon, and you have to slip that suit on so they won’t know you’re a part of this.” Ruke said as Ross pulled it on.

“I’m hoping this place seems familiar, as you’ll have to find your inner powers, and bolt to your house. Collect your stuff, sneak through the city, don’t let anyone see you, and head back to the Guardian Headquarters. Whatever happens to me.” Ruke said with a small salute.

Ross finished putting on the suit, and stared up at Ruke. He returned the salute, and looked back at the S.A.S.P.S. agents. They were pulling out staffs slightly different than the one used to immobilize their hover-craft.

“Well, good luck… and I hope we meet again!” said Ruke, shoving Ross off of the hover-craft.

Ross looked up, and noticed that the hover-craft said “Model M_F, series Tendus” on the side in somewhat small print. As he did that, he noticed he was falling, and the S.A.S.P.S. agents were bewildered. Ross looked down, and noticed he was now about probably five miles from the surface, and coming in fast. As he now realized how far up they had been, Ross felt a shiver move through his body. He was going to land on top of a pointy statue, and that wouldn’t do. He took out his legs, put his arms forward, and put on a big grin. As he forcefully jerked his leg, he seemed to be slowly moving… He closed his eyes… He was having one of those moments where you’re listening to a song you like, and then the exciting chorus comes in, and it gives you chills of ‘this is so awesome!’. He jerked his leg a bit harder, and seconds before dying on the tip of the statue, he took flight.

The suit seemed to feel a bit tight, but warm and reassuring somehow. He saw the buildings as he zoomed above them, and felt like something extraordinary should be happening. He looked up, and barely avoided a skyscraper.

It seemed like he was in the center of the city… And that would explain the giant statue… of Merith, honoring Therrin and Merrin. Their destruction for some, and their revolution for others. The statue itself was a giant shiny pointy orb which was meant to represent the Spontus. Ross only knew part of that information.

Ross was using his flight powers ridiculously better than the last time he used them, and he couldn’t put away his grin. He looked a bit to his right, and saw a housing track that seemed oh so familiar… Yes! He had found where his house was! He slowly turned in that direction, when he head a BANG, and slowing down to a hovering speed, looked towards the sound. He seemed to have mastered flight somehow… As he found the source of the bang, he saw that Ruke was falling, and the invisibility must have worn off. The S.A.S.P.S. agents were seeming a bit confused, and Ross remembered what Ruke said.

So, he dashed off over to his house roundabouts area, and tried to clear his mind or Ruke. He looked at the blue sky… the animals had been converting all of their cars into electric as to save electricity, and the sky was much more blue, and beautiful looking than it had been when the humans were originally disappeared. He saw some birds that were untouched by DNA yet, and held no common intellect.

Ross was approaching his house (he had it in sights now), and he tried to slow down… thankfully, he managed to come to a jerky halt, then slowly went forward. Unfortunately, he didn’t exactly like what he saw; dozens of S.A.S.P.S. agents were swarming the house.

The mission just (at that moment) got ten times more complicated. Ross saw a tree house he and his dad had built when Ross was 8, and headed over to it. It was fairly high up, and no S.A.S.P.S. agents were smart enough to be looking around it. Ross managed to land on it with his decreased speed, and sat down. He needed a pretty dang good plan if he wanted to live.

He looked out of his tree house at the S.A.S.P.S. agents (rather guards) below, and saw that most of them were facing the street, and two were on either side of the door with guns on their shoulders, facing each other, looking rather like they were in the military doing a procedure. Ross looked to his left and saw that there were less guards in the backyard, but they had more weapons… Weapons!

Ross looked back at the front yard, and saw that only three guards had weapons- the two with deadly looking guns, and a buffed out (leader?) guard holding an epic looking sword from some of your wildest dreams. Ross’s mouth opened slightly as he saw his crazy samurai looking armor, his epic helmet with a visor… and his sword… It had strange misty swirls globing around it, and the handle was small, yet heavy, and grip-able. The actual blade Looked like a giant, Smoky black color, in the shape of an arrowhead. And… there was a ruby on the blade that looked oh-so familiar… The tip of the blade made Ross tremble, and lose confidence.

Ross immediately turned away from this guard, and the word “Saren” came to mind… Ross had no idea why, but it seemed to be whispering to him… calling his name in a sweet, yet dark voice.

Ross ushered these thoughts away with his mind, and looked around his tree house. It was made of completely stable wood, and had an awesome slide-able door, and windows. Ross had flew in through one of the window, and now creeped over to it, and slowly shut it. They had bits of metal on the top and bottom (which Ross figured was more likely to be considered rust than metal) and Ross didn’t want it making any noise. He quickly checked that no S.A.S.P.S. guards where looking, and closed all the rest of the closable things… except for the door. He needed a way to get out, and frankly it was a bit too big to be unnoticeable since his dad was able to fit in.

He spotted an old picture of his whole family in front of a Maple Tree, and grabbed it. He rummaged hopefully for a pocket in the suit to his dismay. Then he figured to just slide it into his suit. Hey, it was tight enough to store it, so why not?  He then went over to a corner of the tree house where he used to keep a stash of hidden papers. He looked through them, slightly smiling at some of the pictures… slowly getting better, and better with talent. He was looking for a pen, a map of the house he made last year, and an empty piece of paper. He had found the pen, and the empty piece of paper. He had found a picture of a Notch team (Notch was the animals’ past time… a sport they invented,) and knew the map was coming up.

He had lived in a two story house, and sometimes forgot what was where, and there were some strange holes in their wall at random places to which he had used to get outside, and into the tree house before. He found the map, and attached to it a note from Quincy. (Quincy would sneak up his tree house at night some times, and they’d have random conversations.)  The map was pretty clear, and Ross kind of remembered a passage he had used last week to sneak into the tree house… Then he read the note from Quincy.

Ross, something’s not right. The S.A.S.P.S. agents have slowly been looking more, and more suspicious when I’m around. I have no idea what’s going on, and I’m not sure what to do. You never know how sketchy they can be, bugging everything, so I decided to slip this on your most recent piece of work.

-Quincy-

(By the way, why don’t you have the most recent work on the top?)

Ross smiled at Quincy’s intellect, and handwriting (way more superior to his own,) and put the note in his suit.  Ross then took off the top of the suit (because it was kind of hot inside,) and took out the paper. He then started tracing parts of the map with the pen, and writing side notes on plans “A”, “B”, “C”, and “D”. It took him a good ten minutes, and I’d explain what he did to you, but you’d probably get bored.

After getting that all done, he zipped the suit back up, stretched, rolled his head, cracked his paws, pulled out his claws, and got ready to sneak inside. 

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A Rough Escort

The night’s sleep seemed like it might’ve been a few minutes for Ross. He spent most of the night thinking about how he held magical powers, was going to a school, and would be an important figure. He was never into fighting at school, and always seemed to find a way to swerve around it. Yet… this war had no way around that he could see. As he finally got to sleep, he dreamt of him fighting a super powered (,and giant) reptile, and losing the fight. He woke up with a bruise on his back from rolling, and a lot of sweat on his face. He had slept in a small room in the guarding headquarters, and was going to sneak back to his house the next day to gather his things. He was going to go to Waxxen as soon as it started its next year. Apparently, there was a fair amount of magical animals. No one really knew how the animals had got their magic, but the explanation didn’t matter to Ross.

          As he woke up, he looked around. Most of the other Guardians were already up, doing work. He looked around out of the metallic blinds in his room, and saw Quincy coming out of a small room like his. He saw a faint smirk across Quincy’s face, and put on one himself. He stretched, then scratched his head.

          After looking around his room, he noticed his bag that he had packed for him by Barricade the previous day missing. He had a moment of panic, then figured that Ruke had it with him. He went towards the door, then opened it. It was a bit busier than yesterday, and it smelled wonderful. He could smell sweet bacon, delicious pancakes, and warm bread. He looked around, and spotted the place with the most commotion. He figured this the breakfast area, and went towards it. He saw small cubicles, and rooms in the walls, unlike his and Quincy’s rooms, too. The closer he got, the more delicious the scent was. As he looked towards a now clearer food area, he saw that it was decorated, and had a warm feeling about it. He saw Quincy sitting at a table at… another one of classmates, smiling very much so, and looking very happy.

          Ross recognized the other classmate immediately as someone who he had had a crush on for three years. She was another cat, and she was a hazel-orange. After trying to cover up his red cheeks, he wandered over to the table Quincy.

“So you have powers too Ross?” Katrina asked.

“Err… yeah.” Ross said trying to grin, but failing terribly.

“Flying and speed…” He said, almost telling her that he had much more powers. He wasn’t sure if Samuel wanted him telling, but he figured that the less information out there, the better for him, and the future of the Guardians.

“You?” He asked, trying to make a normal conversation.

“Oh, I have invisibility, and water powers…” She said while turning invisible, and making the water come out of her cup, and twirl it through the air.

“Food is over there,” Quincy interrupted, pointing towards to the food area.

“And liquids are… I’ll get that for you…” Said Katrina turning un-invisible, putting the water back in the cup, and filling a cup at the liquids station with some ice-cold Apple Juice.

“He, he… I’m guessing that came out of Quincy?” asked Ross, smiling at Katrina, and glancing at the flying Apple Juice cup coming towards him.

“Yeah… She wanted to practice with getting you something when you got here, and she asked what to serve ya…” said Quincy still smiling.

          Ross wandered over to the food area, and grabbed two delicious smelling pancakes, and headed over to margarine them. Different than most hotels, the food serving was more friendly, and there was a container of margarine instead of little packets. He headed back over to Quincy and Katrina, and sat down, forming a small triangle at the table. As he ate, Quincy finished up a waffle, and Katrina an apple. As Quincy finished, he waited for Ross, and Katrina finished up, and went to pack up her things.

“Yeah, Katrina and I went with Barricade to get our stuff. I don’t get why you didn’t come though.” Quincy said as Ross started on his last pancake.

“Oh… well, I’m going with this great Brit named Ruke… Frost I think. He’s this cool bluish fox with icy powers… has a biotic arm apparently…” Ross told Quincy.

“That’s weird… we passed by your area on our way back… I think I saw your parents…” Quincy said slowly.

“My parents?” Ross asked, throwing the left half of his pancake back onto his plate.

“Yea, your mum and dad were going inside the house… I mean, the most confusing thing of this new world seems to be the deal with your parents to me… I was at the school area, and Katrina was sorta kidnapped by this S.A.S.P.S. Agent named Syth… I heard he’s a wolf… anyway, he kidnapped her, because she was hanging out with a friend with a S.A.S.P.S. Agent for a parent. Then he explained the ‘real’ half of the story. Once she saw me, and I told her about you, she joined the guardians though.” Quincy finished up.

          By now, Ross had finished the pancakes, the Apple Juice, and a small apple Quincy tossed him, and he was getting up and stretching.

“Well, I wish you could come with me, but… I don’t think there’s room in the ride…” Ross said, trying to make up an excuse.

“Ok… well… Waxxen is starting in two days, so I’ll see you around the Headquarters, probably training or something…” Quincy said, scratching below his ear.

“Ok…” Ross said, as coincidentally, Ruke Frost wandered towards him.

“Ready?” Ruke asked.

“Sure…” Ross replied.

“Just one thing though,” Ross asked.

“Sure.” Ruke said grinning.

“Why are you taking me? Why couldn’t I have gone with Barricade and Quincy?” Ross asked a bit flustered.

“Well, you are more important than them, having a historical future and all, and we needed to make sure we took all the necessary precautions. In other words, we didn’t want to frighten the others if I died.” said Ruke, laughing slightly.

“That’s horrible! How could you laugh?” Ross’s thoughts seemed to have said.

“Because Samuel escorted me long ago, and he said the same thing.” Ruke said grinning, almost looking like he was ready to laugh.

“Ah…” Ross said, a bit less flustered at his comment.

Ruke gestured for Ross to follow, and he led him through parts of the Headquarters which Ross had, and hadn’t seen. Eventually, they got to a garage looking area. Ruke ventured over to a machine that looked like some speedy-hover-bike-vehicle. Ross let out a smile from the depths of his imagination, then followed Ruke onto the back of the bike.“This,” said Ruke smiling. “is a hover bike. You might’ve guessed.” He said looking at Ross’s accomplished face.

Ruke kicked up a small looking kickstand, and handed back a strange looking seatbelt to Ross. Ross felt the smooth rubbery handle, and found a spot to put it under the glossy blue design on the bike. Ross grabbed onto Ruke’s back. As he took a moment to admire the smooth, flowy look of the bike, he felt a churning feeling in his stomach, and felt a terrible feeling of Quincy in pain… he didn’t understand why he felt it, if Quincy was in trouble, or if he was hallucinating, but he forgot he was on the bike. Ruke shouted “Hold on tigggghhhhttttt!”, reminding Ross that he was on a hover bike. If Ross wasn’t warned, he would’ve fell off in a uncomfortable way. As the musty air zoomed into his lungs, Ross took a last peak around, and saw vehicles that looked fit for flying. Ross figured that now wasn’t the best time to ask questions, and looked forward. To his horror, he saw a brick wall that looked like any other sewage wall, except for a badly painted yellow swirl all across a portion of it. Ross closed his eyes, imagining the pain, but instead felt a cool breeze, and felt relieved.

He looked around, seeing the blazing bright sun, and smelling the wonderful fresh air he so missed for several days. He slowly opened his eyes wider, then realized that they were back above the underground portion of the city of Hythe. Ross felt a feeling of pride as they soared through the air, apparently invisible, to the regular animals’ eyes. All of the troubles of the world left Ross, and he was flying through the pleasant air, a song in his head, laughing for no reason.

“It does feel pretty good to fly… I can hear your laughter.” Ruke unexpectedly broke in.

“Something feels… just… wonderful!” Ross said to his back, still beaming with delight.

They were as high as some of the tallest buildings, soaring through them, and heading close… but strangely so far… from Ross’s house. He knew hey were going there- he could see it from this distance… but… it didn’t feel like much of a home anymore. Ross felt a chill go down his back, and the happiness of flight leave his soul. He was in the middle of a strange war…

“Well, we’re almost there… just a few more- NOOOOO!” Ruke shouted. Ross instinctively looked backwards, and saw strange bikes that looked similar to the one which he and Ruke were riding on rise into the depths of the sky. His heart sank as he saw the word S.A.S.P.S. blazing across the side of their more-lethally-aimed-hover-bikes.

“Umm… Ruke?” Ross half shouted, half asked. “How did they find us? And how did you know that they were coming?”

“Well, they probably found us because I’m one of the only known Guardians, and I knew because I’m pretty much a Animal radar.” Ruke half panicking said.

“Hold on tight there Ross,” Ruke shouted.

“It’s going to take longer to get to your place, and this is about to turn into a chase.”

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The News of Waxxen

Ross’s questions led him to finding out some information that sparked his interest.

“What?” Ross said in shock.

“Yes. I am a Guardian.”

“So… are we going to the guardian HQ or something?” Ross asked in high hopes.

“Yeah… I thought you might like that.” Barricade said smiling.

Ross smiled. They were heading towards a dim lime light. Ross could make out faint noises.

“You’ll love Samuel!” Barricade said catching Ross off guard and making him jump.

“Who’s he?” Ross asked.

“He’s our leader. He did some pretty amazing stuff… Never mind that though, we have current troubles now.”

They were now staring at a definite lime light. Ross heard the voices quiet down. They approached a door looking thing now. Ross saw a slit open.

“Ello’? oo’ do we ave’ ere’?”

“Barricade.”

“Do you swear you pledge allegiance to the guardians?” The voice asked.

“Yes… Every fiber of my being…” Barricade said in a rather sarcastic voice.

“Just ‘checkin.” The person said.

As they walked, Ross, in a very curious state, asked Barricade many questions. Though most of them, Barricade didn’t answer. Ross thought these questions might’ve been very secretive subjects and such.

As they wandered through the HQ Ross noticed that the in most areas, the overwhelming mood was dark. He saw a glowing golden light at a chair covered in rubies. There was a cat sitting on that chair (don’t worry, other animals come into play soon…).

“A newbie?” The cat said getting up. The cat now looked hopefully towards Ross.

“Yeah, he says his name is Fredric…” Barricade said smiling.

“Ross…” Ross pitched in.

“It’s you… it’s really you!” Samuel shouted, rushing towards Ross.

“I never thought I’d see you again! Definitely not like this!” The person said wrapping their arms around Ross.

“Samuel? You know Ross?” Barricade asked in shock.

“Why, he’s my nephew!” Samuel said beaming.

“Nephew?” said Ross backing up.

“Most of my uncles died in the war twelve years ago! All of the others are in hospitals, and retirement homes and such!” Ross confused.

“They didn’t tell you? You were adopted…” Samuel told him.

“No…” Ross said sitting down on a nearby clump of crystals.

Ross thought at never being told… There was silence for awhile… Ross could hear noises in the other parts of the Guardians’ Headquarters.

“So why are you here?” Samuel asked breaking an eerie silence.

“Well, the S.A.S.P.S. showed up at my house.” Ross said in a day dreamy voice.

“No!” Samuel said in defiance.

“Samuel, it’s starting. Dem is back.” Barricade said softly.

“What? Who? Should I be scared?” Ross said nervously.

“Death…” Samuel said slowly.

“Death? What’s this about?””

“The dang Dem.” Samuel said ignoring Ross.

“We have to act soon. I don’t want it corrupting guardians.” Barricade said.

“AHHHGGGG!” Ross out broke.

“… Ok… you need the rest of the Spontus story to understand. Samuel?”

“Fine…” Samuel grunted

“Where were you?”

“Oh, I was talking about how we’re safe guarding it…” Barricade told him using finger quotations.

“Oh, yeah…” Samuel zoned out for a bit, lost in thought.

“So, anyway, umm… yeah, we’re keeping it in… BARRICADE!” Samuel’s voice burst with rage.

“Yeah?” Barricade said feebly.

“YOU DIDN’T ID HIM DID YOU?”

“Well, I forgo-”

“FOR ALL WE KNOW, HE’S A DIGUISED S.A.S.P.S AGENT!”

“OK!” Barricade shouted.

“You were beaming at him earlier! ‘Hi nephew! How are you?’ All sweet…” Barricade said doing a fine impersonation of Samuel.

“Well, we need to ID him.” Samuel said.

“ID me?” asked a confused Ross.

“And how exactly does that work?”

Samuel urged Ross to follow. Samuel was going towards the other end of the Guardian’s HQ. It was a surprisingly long walk. Three minutes was more than Ross expected.

They approached an oddly shaped table. There were strange scanning looking objects, and mysterious mirrors. Ross sat down at a chair.

“Alright then,” Samuel said pulling up a chair.

“State your reason of being.” Samuel said in a monotone voice.

“Well, I was at my house, and the S.A.S.P.S. came.” Ross said very anxiously.

“Continue…”

“I ran upstairs, and stupidly sat on a window seal, and then I fell outside. That’s when I fo-”

“I’m sorry, but you left your window open? No screen either?” Samuel asked half laughing.”

“Well the window wasn’t open when I sat there. You see, my father is in contact with this strange dog that’s trying to invent some weird window style that opens when you-”

“Ok. So, after you fell?” Samuel budded in.

“Well, before I fell I hovered above the ground. It was quite strange.”

“Nice, you can hover?”

“And fly!” Ross said smirking.

“You have one of my personal fav- ok, ok, back to ID-ing!” Samuel stopped himself.

“So, after I fell, I ran a long way, till I found an alley where I hid. I took a rest, woke up, and found Barricade making some weird deal.”

“Deal? Ok, ID over, you’re done for now… BARRICADE!”

“Ugh!” Barricade strode over, temper slowly rising.

“Into here with me Barricade.” Samuel said slightly happy, slightly upset.

Barricade and Samuel went into a seemingly small room. Now, Ross was uncomfortably standing alone. He looked around at all of the Guardians and other magical folk. Then he noticed one of his friends that had been gone from school for some time. He half racing went over to him.

“Quincy? What are you doing here?” Ross asked panting.

Quincy turned around immediately, startled. Then, after seeing Ross, he started scratching his head.

“I was hiding at the school because the S.A.S.P.S.-”

“Because the S.A.S.P.S.  were after you? And then you were saved by a guardian and brought here?” Ross finished.

“Uh… yeah…” Quincy said scratching the back of his head.

They stared at each other for a moment.

“I have a feeling that this ordeal is a whole lot bigger than it seems from our perspective…” Quincy randomly tuned in.

“Amen…” Ross, looking for something to say, replied.

“Well then, are you being sent to Waxen?” Quincy asked him.

“Excuse me?” Ross asked even more-so confused.

“Waxen, you know… the magic school.”

“I’m not familiar.”

“Well then, I guess you still have a chat with Samuel in store. I heard he’s your uncle?”

“I guess… Say, what abilities do you have?” Ross liked the sound of magic.

“Me? Mind reading…” He said with a smirk.

“Oh really? I’m thinking about tacos…” Ross thought.

“Mm! Tacos… I suddenly have a craving…” He smirked again.

“And you Ross?”

“Flight… as far as I know that’s it though.”

“Cool!”

Samuel and Barricade came out of the room. They were both laughing, with big grins on their faces.

“Ross, It’s time for our ‘chat with Samuel’ you ‘had in store’.” Samuel said still smiling.

Samuel pulled Ross into the room that Samuel had earlier entered with Barricade. It had a strange feeling, entering the room. Something felt right about it…

“So, you liking life’s new twist?” Samuel asked.

“It does make everything a bit more confusing…” Ross answered, trying to take it all in.

“Well, I’m guessing you’ve heard about Waxen?” Samuel asked, now trying to get to a very startling point.

“Kind of… I know it’s a magic school…”

“Well, yes. They teach you how to better use your powers, when to use them, why to use them, and then some skills and such.” Samuel said, his grin fading.

“I don’t get why all of this is happening.” Ross finally blurted.

“Well, the S.A.S.P.S. are trying to make the next Guardian leader a double agent. And, well, amidst all the chaos … You see, we store the Spontus here. The Spontus is a very, very powerful gem containing both light and dark magic… Oh yes and Dem… A powerful creature we call the ‘Dem’ is trying to take control of peoples bodies to get to it, and that would cause utter chaos. At the same time we got the S.A.S.P.S issue. And then… there’s the issue of the next lead guardian…”

Ross felt a strange feeling come over him.

“The belief is that you are going to become the next leader Ross…”

Ross, who was slightly not paying attention, bolted his head upwards at this.

“Me? A leader? Of magical things?” Ross thought this impossible.

“Well, the magic seems to typically run in relatives blood lines…” Samuel informed him.

“Still, I don’t even really want to be leader… can’t… Quincy be the leader? Yeah, Quincy! He’d be a great leader! I don’t even see why it needs to run in the blood-”

“Ross! You don’t seem to get it… You’ll inherit the powers… even if you don’t want to…”

“Powers? So… I can do more than flying is what you’re getting at?” Ross asked.

“Yes. Your speed in short distances helps the fact. You have speed powers!” Samuel said showing a faint grin.

“Err… that makes perfect sense…” Ross said quietly.

“Actually, It does. You just haven’t mastered speed yet, and the energy… is doing weird things to you.” Samuel said, still using a faint grin.

“You probably have more powers than those two anyways.”

“That’s where… Waxxen comes in?” Ross asked, feeling extremely curious.

“Yes. And other things too… like leadership and agility. And then the coolest thing (that I thought) was at Waxxen, was that there’s a special class for everyone. You aren’t supposed to tell anyone what your class is either. You’ll get something awesome since you’re going to be lead guardian.” Samuel said, his smile no longer faint, but completely visible.

“So no escaping it, huh?” Ross asked, a bit disappointed.

“Nope…” Samuel said, his grin losing.

“So about Waxxen… when will I go? And how will I get there?” Ross asked, now thinking about his speical classes.

“Well, I think we have someone who can take you…” And with this, Samuel walked toward the door. Ross stayed seated at first, then followed him. As the door opened, Ross saw the lime lights all around. Then he saw someone coming towards him and Samuel.

“’Ello Samuel! This is Ross?” He asked. Ross recognized this as the person who was waiting at the door for him and Barricade.

“Is Quincy coming with me and him?” Ross asked. Samuel shook his head, then looked towards Ross’s escort.

“Ross, I’d like to introduce you to your escort to Waxxen.” Said Samuel smiling.

“Meet Ruke.” Samuel said.

“Ruke Frost.” Ruke said, shaking Ross’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, Ross.” Ruke said, smiling.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Spontus

”I Don’t feel to good about this…” Ross said uncomfortably.

“Don’t worry kid, I haven’t killed anyone for some time.” Patchy grinned.

Patchy held out his hand, which Ross looked at for a bit.

“I never got your name kid.” Patchy said, showing his nice looking smile.

“Fredric... Yours?”

At this Patchy looked down, as if looking like he had to use the restroom.

“… You can call me Barricade.” Barricade said.

“Phew! I didn’t want to have to call you patchy!” Ross said laughing.

“Well, I think I need to earn some trust. I can’t even get your name?” Barricade asked with a small laugh.

Ross just looked around, then returned his stare to Barricade. He knew that Ross was lying, and didn’t harm him in any way. Then he decided to take mental notes of Barricade’s features.

Barricade looked a bit raggedy. He was dressed in a bluish cloth.

It was a bit torn at the edges, but looked nice in a way. Anyway, his fur was a vanilla color, and he had a nice look of his face. He was a bit dirty, and he looked very strong.

“So ‘Fred’? We gotta figure out something don’t we?” Barricade said in a cheerful tone.

“Please Barricade; I don’t want to be a bother… and I’m not too sure about you…” Ross said feeling stupid. He was telling a stranger he didn’t trust that he didn’t trust him.

“Well, it’s not very smart to be alone in a city like this. This city has a history of criminals, Hythe does. So, how’s about taggin along with me?”

“Sure…” Ross said unenthusiastically.

“Oh come on, cheer up!” Barricade said walking away with Ross.

Eventually they arrived at a small shop. Shortly after, Ross found out it wasn’t a shop. It was Barricade’s home.

“I am one of the strangest people you’ll ever meet,” Barricade said laughing.

“Unless you count that idiot in the alley.” Barricade added on cheering Ross’s enthusiasm up.

“What was that, about?” Ross carefully asked.

“That…” Barricade said softly.

“You know how we both have powers?” Barricade asked.

“You... have powers?” Ross said in a yearning voice

“Well, besides flying, do you have any other powers?” Barricade asked

“Nope, just flying… nothing else to my knowledge…”

“Hmm…” Barricade stared at the hole in the wall for a second

“What are yours?” Ross asked excitedly.

Barricade whirled around, and shot a giant lightning and fire twisted, and mixed ball about two inches away from Ross’s ear.

“Precision,”

Ross breathed in heavily.

“Power,”

Ross looked at a giant crater mark in the wall behind him.

“And that lightning and fire stuff.”

Ross’s mouth was open.

“But what about your, now broken wall?” Ross laughed.

Barricade grunted.

“It’s just a wall.” Barricade shrugged.

“So, you were saying?” Ross asked.

“The artifact I was receiving was the Spontus Ruby.” Barricade said grinning.

“A…. Spone-us Ruby?” Ross asked in confusion.

“No,” Barricade said, his grin fading away.

“No, a Spontus Ruby.”

“Oh, because everyone knows what those are…” Ross said rather annoyingly.

“You don’t know the about the Spontus??” Barricade asked rather shocked.

At this Ross looked around, found a comfy chair and waved his hand signaling to start the story. At this Barricade sat at a chair opposite of Ross. The chairs looked a bit beat up, and unfriendly. In fact, the whole store/home did.

“Here we go…” said Barricade closing his eyes, deep in thought.

“Ahh, let’s start with Therrin and Merrin, shall we?”

“Therrin and Merrin? Who are they? And why do their names rhyme?” Ross asked half laughing.

“Shut up and listen,” Barricade quickly answered in a not too rude, not too nice sort of way.

“Therrin and Merrin… (Therrin was a cat and Merrin a dog,) were sick and tired of their owners. They thought of owners as a distraction. They imagined taking the place of humans.” Barricade started.

“But I thought that al-” Ross randomly entered in.

“Yes, you do have a point. All animals used to be stupid. We we’re like idiots who couldn’t think for themselves. Only accepting human food and scratching at doors to get outside.” Barricade said rather dully.

“So how would they want to get rid of the humans? I don’t even see how they could hate humans! If they were stupid like us they…. I don’t even know…”

“Well, I know a scientist at that time was inventing a collar that would enable pets to think and communicate with humans.”

“And Therrin and Merrin were test subjects?”

“That’s the most popular theory.”

“Any others?”

“They involve… magic.” Barricade said slowly.

“But I though magic did exist.” Ross reasoned.

“How else would we have half the technological advances we have? Not to mention our powers…”

“Well, animals’ brains growing could explain. Couldn’t it? And that type of magic is different…” Barricade said a bit annoyed.

“But,”

“Can I continue now?” Barricade barged.

“Yeah, yeah.” Ross said rather unenthusiastically.

“So, they hatched a scheme. They decided on a way to rid themselves of their owners.

“They formed a small rebellion against the humans. Only a couple animals were in it. They had a meeting and all the members pitched in ideas. Legend says they formed a black hole type substance and it absorbed all the humans. To this day some people think that the humans are safely stored in another dimension.”

“What do you think?” Ross asked Barricade.

“I have no idea. I’m just relaying, not explaining.” Barricade let out a feeble smile.

“So, after the humans were gone Therrin and Merrin took to duplicating several of their smart collars. Eventually the smart collars did something to the animals’ D.N.A. and the animals’ kids were automatically smart. Animals took to slowly becoming as advanced as humans. They went into many a restraunt, store, and Fire stations and such, and took on jobs.”

“Ahem…” Ross said smiling.

“Fire-animals… Happy?”

“Yea… Say, did any Dalmatians take on Fire-animal jobs?” Ross asked. He was unsure what any of this had to do with a Spontus. Nonetheless what the crap a Spontus was. He decided he’d attempt to let Barricade know.

“Yep, I bet a couple might’ve…” Barricade answered his question.

“Uh, Barricade?”

“Yea?” Barricade replied, getting more annoyed every time he talked

“What does this have to do with a Spon-tuce - err... Spontus?”

“Well, after years of growing, the animals finally shared equal brain power with the humans… or years of the magic working on them…” He said giving Ross a dirty look.

“Therrin and Merrin were dying. Most of the animals were sad at that fact, but others were glad. Not all animals wanted humans gone.”

“I wonder what humans were like…” Ross thought.

“So, as Therrin and Merrin age, as you can imagine, their greedy doings led them to try and find a way to live forever. They didn’t believe in a heaven like most of us do. They hired sorcerers to make them a ge-”

“MAGIC! MAGIC, MAGIC, MAGIC!”

“Alright, I’m just not so sure about it. It could be real, but I’m not sayin’ anything!”

“So you were talking about immortalization…” Ross reminded Barricade.

“Yes, so the sorcerers conjured up a gem they called the Spontus. It was made to preserve Therrin and Merrin’s lives, but as the sorcerers began transporting their souls to the gem, the guardians swooped in and killed Therrin and Merrin!”

“I’m sorry, but… the guardians?” Ross asked thoroughly confused.

“You still have much to know Ross.. I’ll let Samuel explain that one to you.”

“Samuel?” Ross said curious.

“This is gonna be too much for my tiny brain to hold!” Ross complained.

“Don’t worry, I’m almost done. So, as Therrin and Merrin were dead the sorcerers stood amazed. They stopped the magic on the gems, and pleaded to keep their lives. The guardians aren’t cruel animals, but they had their reasons to kill off Therrin and Merrin. So as you can guess, they let the sorcerers free. But the sorcerers’ magic still dwelt in the gem. The guardians took it to their secret location and stored it to be safe. Their leader Sam-”

But Barricade was stopped in his story.

BANG, BANG, BANG!

“Ross,” Barricade said quietly.

“It’s the S.A.S.P.S…. Look up, there’s a secret hatched- DARN! They’ve got choppers! Look towards the center of the room. See the gold ball on the floor?”

“Yea,” Ross answered a bit scared

“Go to it. Three paces to the left of it, on the ground, is a trap door. Sneak through it and stay down there. If I don’t show in three minutes follow this.” Barricade commanded as he tossed Ross a piece of paper.

“This battle is beginning to look pretty epic.” Barricade said smiling.

Ross went through the trap door. There he found a strange, empty corridor. He waited a minute then as he thought something was going wrong, he heard Barricade laughing.

BOOM!

Ross remembered this sound. It was the sound he heard earlier that day when Barricade was showing him his powers.

A minute late Barricade showed up, looking very black and scruffy.

“I heard you use your powers on them!” Ross said half laughing.

“Yep.” Barricade said running through the empty corridor and beckoning Ross to follow.

“I just owned them”