Another chapter for you, friends! Please enjoy!
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When Ash got to the Taylor household, things were tense.
Troy, Tua, and Marty were sitting together on the big couch, each of them looking as nervous as ever. Ricky was sitting in an armchair all by himself as he fidgeted slightly. Mrs. Taylor was pacing the living room but stopped when she saw the redheaded teen. "Ash," she breathed. Without warning, she gathered the girl into a hug. "Thank goodness you're here. I wasn't sure what to do- nothing like this has ever happened before, I-"
Ash gently pulled away, cutting the older woman off. "I promise that I'll explain everything," she swore. "but I need to see him first."
Mrs. Taylor looked at her for a moment before nodding slowly. "Alright," she agreed. "He's... up in his room."
"Thank you," said Ash politely before making her way up the stairs. She climbed them carefully, as if not wanting to scare her friend off. This was ridiculous, of course, since Ish couldn't see her, but that didn't stop her from proceeding with caution anyway.
Once she was at his bedroom, Ash gently rapped her knuckles against the door. "Ish?" she called softly. "It's me, Ash. Marty told me what happened and-" She stopped herself. It was at that moment that she realized that she had no idea what to say. Ish may have been her best friend, but she wasn't equipped to handle a situation like this. Nothing like it had ever happened before.
Taking a deep breath, she re-centered herself. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay," she continued. "No one blames you for what happened, you know. We just want to see how you're doing."
There was a moment of silence before Ish finally responded. "Come in," he muttered quietly.
Ash breathed a sigh of relief before turning the knob and entering her best friend's room. Ish was sitting on his bed, his back towards her. His fists were grasping his bed's duvet so tight that she thought his knuckles would turn white.
She took a seat next to him, making sure to give him enough space. "Hey, buddy," she greeted, trying to sound positive. The situation must have been dire for him; he could have hurt his mother. If Ash had ever hurt her father or Linda or (God forbid) her unborn sibling, she would never forgive herself.
"Hi," Ish replied curtly, still not looking at her.
"So..." began Ash awkwardly. "Fire, huh? That's pretty neat."
He grimaced. "I wouldn't call almost hurting my mom neat," he commented dryly.
She sighed. "Ish, your mother isn't mad at you," she assured him. "She's just worried- we all are. Whatever happened this morning wasn't your fault, okay?" She raised her hands, her eyes settling on them. "These powers... we didn't ask for them. They just appeared out of nowhere. I get it." She crouched down in front of him to meet his gaze. "But that doesn't make them bad."
Ish averted his eyes. "It does if they hurt people," he pointed out.
"Then we make sure they don't," countered Ash. Taking a chance, she laced her fingers with his. "We can learn to control them. Just like we learned how to use our suits."
"That was when we had R.Z. to help," he reminded her. He didn't let go of her hand, so she took that as a good sign. "But we don't have him to help now. We don't even know what's happening to us."
"Whatever is happening to us isn't a bad thing," she reasoned, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. She was breaking his resolve, she could see it. "Especially if they come from the Core. They're... a gift. Just like R.Z. said about the Core pieces inside us."
Finally, Ish curled his fingers around her. "Maybe... you're right," he conceded.
Ash gave him a playful smirk. "Of course I am." Still holding his hands, she stood up and brought him up with her. "Feel better?"
He gave her a small smile. "A little," he admitted. His eyes were downcast. "I still feel like a crappy son, though."
She shrugged at him. "I've felt like an awful daughter once or twice in my life," she mused, recalling all the times she had lashed out at her father. "It happens. I talked to your mom and she isn't angry with you. She's just worried. We all are."
Ish sighed. "I know," he said softly. "I'm sorry."
Ash gave him a hug. "Don't worry about it, buddy," she assured him. The only reason she hadn't freaked out like him was that she hadn't hurt anyone- not even Wild Card who had been the target of her attack. "Why don't we go downstairs and let everyone know you're okay, yeah?" He hesitated a bit before nodding.
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There was visible relief on Mrs. Taylor's face when the two teens returned. "Oh, honey," she breathed, bringing her son in for a hug that lasted for a while. She pulled away after a few seconds, seemingly to check him over. "Are you okay?" She took his hands. "You're not hurt, are you? Your hands don't hurt, do they? No burn marks?"
Usually, Ish would have pulled away from his mother's doting in front of his friends, but not today. Today, he just smiled at her. "I'm fine, Mom," he assured her. "I'm okay." He sighed. "And I'm really sorry."
She ruffled his hair. "It's fine, sweetie," she promised. Her eyes settled on Ash, whom she smiled warmly at before bringing them both back into the hug. "It was a good choice sending you in, Ash."
Ash blushed a little. "Just being a friend, Mrs. Taylor," she replied. Though she had never said this to anyone, she looked up to the woman. She was intelligent, resourceful, had an important job, and had the perfect family. What more could anyone want in life?
Mrs. Taylor pulled away, giving the group of friends a meaningful look. "I'll leave the six of you to your own devices," she decided. "I'm this close to finishing R.Z.'s repairs. Once I do that, fixing the HOK should be a piece of cake." With that, she took her leave.
The Guardians looked at each other and it was painfully clear that the boys weren't going to bring this up. So, Ash cleared her throat. "Since half of us have now gained these abilities, I think it's time that we make a decision about them," she announced.
"Yeah," agreed Marty. "We're supposed to protect people. We can't be the ones that hurt them." He cringed at his own words. "No offense, Ish."
But Ish waved him off. "No worries."
"So, what can we do?" asked Troy.
"Well, you three should just be on the lookout," Ricky suggested to him, Tua, and Marty. "Your powers could come out at any time." He looked to Ish and Ash. "The three of us need to find a place to get used to these... abilities."
"Well, you can't use the HOK," Tua reminded them. "We don't want to wreck it more than it already is. Is there anywhere else?"
Ish gave a thoughtful hum. "Mom mentioned something about a new room that's been installed in the Hall of Fame," he recalled. "They haven't decided what to use it for yet and it's made out of steel. Could that work?"
Ash smiled at him. "I think so," she said. "If your mom's okay with it, that might just be our space to get a handle on these powers." She felt hope bubble in her chest; perhaps they could eventually wield these powers to their advantage.
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Sometimes, Ash tinkered with her NFL-R when no one was looking.
It was silly, really. She thought she could trigger a reaction out of it or something. But she knew that it was impossible. Without R.Z. and the HOK, the NFL-R's were useless. This was because the HOK was their direct line to the Core. True, it was the piece of the Core inside each Guardian that allowed for the transformation, but it was the HOK that acted as a direct Conduit to the Core under it. And the Core allowed the NFL-R's to work.
So, all-in-all, it was utterly pointless. That didn't stop her from trying, though.
Ash finally sighed, throwing her NFL-R aside. As much as she wanted it to happen, the HOK was still out of order. R.Z. was still... gone. It was at that moment that her phone rang. "Hello?"
"Uh, Ash?" came the nervous response.
"Yes, Ricky?"
"I may have accidentally frozen myself to my railing..."
She sighed slightly, but couldn't help the slight smile that adorned her face. "I'll be right over," she told him, pulling herself up from the bed. "Do you want me to stay on the line?"
"Por favor," replied Ricky.
"Alright," agreed Ash. "Now, is it just one hand or both?"
"Just one," he answered. "It just happened out of nowhere."
"I see," she said, amused. "Why'd you call me?"
"Well, it's kind of hard to use a phone with one hand," Ricky told her sheepishly. "And you're the first one in my contacts. Besides, you're good at problem-solving. I just thought you'd be the best one to help with this."
Ash chuckled. "I'm walking out the door now," she announced. "Stay strong, okay?"
"Sure thing, Princesa."
She scowled at that. "I told you to stop calling me that."
"We both know that it's never going away."
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When Ash got to Ricky's house, the front door was unlocked. Ricky was at the bottom of the staircase, his hand stuck onto the railing just as he said. She gave a hum as she approached her Mexican friend. "Well, this is strange," she commented, examining his hand. There was a bit of frost connecting it to the railing."How did this happen, buddy?"
Ricky shrugged as well as he could with one arm. "I was just walking to the kitchen," he explained.
Ash bit her lip. "I think a cup of warm water should do it," she decided. "I'll go get that." She walked into the kitchen and filled a cup with water from the sink. She soon returned to her friend and slowly poured the water onto his hands.
Sure enough, Ricky's hand got loose enough that he was able to take it off the railing. "Gracias, chica," he said gratefully. He sat on one of the steps. "Learning to control our powers is a good idea."
Ash nodded, sitting down next to him. "Is it," she agreed. He was taking this... surprisingly well. Better than Ish was, at least. Then again, Ricky hadn't put anyone in danger. Well, not yet, anyway. "Why aren't you freaking out about this?"
He shrugged. "Why aren't you?" he shot back at her. "You've been, like, really cool about this whole thing ever since it started."
"Well," she said, pondering his words. He was right, though. She hadn't really reacted to the situation. "I guess I figured that there was no point in getting myself all worked up about it. Which is a good thing, I guess, since they seem to fluctuate with our emotions."
"Have your powers come up since yesterday?" asked Ricky.
Ash shook her head. "No," she answered. "But I do have a theory. If our powers are linked to our emotions, then maybe they're linked to certain emotions. Mine came up when I had to protect myself. Ish's activated when he got worked up." She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "What were you feeling at the time, Ricky?"
For some reason, he looked away from her. "I wasn't really feeling anything," he told her. "I was just... thinking. Both times."
She raised an eyebrow. "About?" she pressed. He must have been thinking about something important if it activated his powers.
"Nothing important," said Ricky hurriedly. "Just random stuff."
Ash decided not to push him. "Well, okay," she accepted. If he didn't want to talk about it, then who was she to pester him about it? So, she decided to change the subject. "When do you think the others will get theirs?"
"I have no idea," he admitted. He looked over at her before standing up. "Since you're here, Ash, why don't we go do something?"
She tilted her head. "Like what?" she asked.
Ricky shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "Why don't we hit up the field?"
Ash hummed in thought. "Sounds good," she agreed, standing up with him. "Let's go." The two left Ricky's house together, unaware of what was going to greet them at the football field.
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Hmm... I wonder what's going to happen at the field... Be here next chapter to find out! I hope you liked it and please review!
