Here you go, Stooges. Another chapter. Please enjoy!
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Ash and Ricky strolled side-by-side in the direction of the football field. However, something felt different to the redhead this time. Even though she had made this exact walk thousands of times before, there was something strange about this time. Her hands tingled slightly and she felt a sort of... pull towards the ground. Like it was calling to her.
"Ash?" asked Ricky, bringing the girl back to reality. He was a few feet away from her and she hadn't even noticed that she had stopped walking. "Are you okay?"
Ash didn't say anything as she knelt on the ground, placing the palm of her hand onto the ground. Nothing happened for a while until a little flower started to sprout in front of the ground. It wasn't big and it was just a simple daisy, but that didn't stop her from beaming.
"Whoa..." whispered Ricky from behind her. "Ash, that's amazing! I didn't know you could do that."
She turned to him and smiled. "Neither did I," she admitted. She didn't know that she had a connection to nature as well. She stood up and faced him completely. "but it's like I told Ish before, these powers don't have to be a bad thing." She handed him the flower. "They can be beautiful too."
He smiled back at her and took the daisy. "I think you're right," he agreed. The two began walking once more.
However, when they got to the football field, both Guardians immediately got into fighting stances. "Stellaria," hissed Ash in anger. Of all their enemies, Stellaria was the only one to disturb her almost as much as Wild Card. She was sly, dangerous, and manipulative. It was always the second hands you had to look out for...
The Anticorian woman was leaning against the goal post, a smirk on her face. "Guardians," she greeted with a nod. Right now, she was in human clothes and was fooling just about everyone who didn't know her tricks. "I've been waiting for you."
"You're not welcome here," snapped Ricky. "Leave or we'll make you."
Stellaria laughed. "I'd like to see you try," she taunted. "Last time I checked, your precious R.Z. was broken."
"We don't need R.Z. to handle you!" growled Ash. Her temper was rising, but she quickly shoved it down. If she lost control of her powers, then how was she going to convince the others that theirs weren't bad? Ricky laid a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, which she appreciated.
The Anticorian cackled at her. "Oh, right," she said resolutely. "I'd forgotten about your new abilities."
Ash gasped; how could she possibly know that? "How did you-?"
"Oh, we've been watching you Guardians for a while now," interrupted Stellaria. She approached the two teens slowly. "Of course, your so-called powers shouldn't be a problem. From what I've seen, you can hardly control them. You're just about useless."
"You don't know anything," spat Ash. Although she would never admit it, she knew that her nemesis was right. They couldn't control their powers. Well, she kind of could, but not really. It had just been luck, really.
Stallaria laughed. "Prove it," she mocked. She opened her arms, leaving herself defenseless. "Come on then, Guardians. Attack me."
Ricky and Ash glanced at each other, knowing that they were in over their heads. They couldn't beat Stellaria, that was just fact. The redhead tilted her head at her friend and he responded with a nod. With one more look back at Stellaria, the two took off running in the other direction.
She hated this- hated running from a fight. But it was necessary. Her powers showing themselves against Wild Card had been a fluke; she couldn't depend on them now.
Ricky was keeping pace with her. "Do you think we should call the others?" he asked.
Ash shook her head. "It wouldn't help," she told him. "They're just as defenseless as we are. Bringing them here would just put more of us at risk." She focused her eyes forward. "The best thing to do is to try to outrun her. Is she following us?"
He glanced back. "Well, she's not running behind us," he answered. "but it's Stellaria. She always has a trick up her sleeve."
She hummed in thought. "Then we'll just have to lose her," she reasoned. "This way." The two quickly ducked into an alleyway. Immediately, she approached the manhole at the center.
Ricky gave her a dull look. "It's come to this, huh?"
Ash glared at him. "Just help me with this thing," she ordered. He obliged and the two pried the manhole open. She climbed down and he followed her, making sure to close the manhole as soon as he could.
"This is disgusting," he stated plainly when they touched down.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you have a better idea?"
Ricky sighed. "Point taken," he muttered. "Do you know where you're going?"
Ash shrugged. "No," she answered, taking out her phone. "but that's what we have a GPS for." She opened the app but hesitated in typing on the location. "Where should we go?"
"As far away as we can," he responded. "We can't go to any of our houses, the Anticorians know where we live."
She nodded; with Linda at home and pregnant, she knew couldn't risk going home. "We should go to the outskirts of town," she suggested. "They might be able to get into city limits now, but no one could be able to guess that we'd be outside of them."
"Good plan," agreed Ricky. "I guess we start walking now."
Ash sighed; she wasn't looking forward to trekking through the sewer anymore than he was. "Unfortunately," she remarked.
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When they finally reached their destination, Ash could have cried tears of joy. The smell had been so overwhelming that she had been close to vomiting more than once. So, when they came up to the surface, she breathed in as much fresh air as she could. "Oh, thank goodness," she said, relieved. "I never thought we'd get out of there."
Ricky chuckled, closing the manhole behind them. "It is nice after smelling nothing but sewage for an hour," he agreed. He looked out towards the horizon where the sun was setting. "How long do we have to stay here?"
She sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "If we go into the city, there's nothing to stop Stellaria from attacking us again. And we certainly can't go home. That'll just put our families at risk." Normally, they would just go to the HOK, but there was no use since it was down. If they went to the Hall of Fame, they would put innocent people in danger.
"Our families will start to get worried," he told her.
Of course, Ash knew that. "I know." She took out her phone and grimaced at the amount of missed calls and unread messages. "I'll call Ish and ask him to cover for us. That should buy us some time." She dialed her best friends number and waited for him to pick up.
"Hello?" came Ish's voice.
"Hi, Ish," the redhead greeted. She had never been so happy to hear his voice in her life.
"Ash!" exclaimed Ish in what sounded like relief. "You're okay! Thank god. We've been trying to call you and Ricky for the past two hours! Where are you guys?"
"I told you, they were probably making out!" Troy commented in the background.
"Shut up, Troy," snapped Ish.
Ash promptly ignored that little exchange. "We were at the field when we were attacked by Stellaria," she explained. "We ran through the sewers to lose her, but now we can't go back. Cover for us?"
"Of course," her friend promised. "Are you guys alright?"
"Other than smelling like a sewer," said Ricky bluntly. "we're doing pretty good."
"We're going to stay where we are tonight," Ash told him. She sighed in exhaustion. Sleeping on a hill with no protection sounded awful, but they didn't have a choice. At least it was the beginning of September, so they didn't need blankets or anything. "then we'll work something out in the morning. We just couldn't risk putting Canton in danger."
"We understand," Ish assured her. "Just be careful, you two. Keep us updated."
"We will. Bye, Ish."
"Bye."
Ash sighed as she hung up, massaging her temples. "This is a disaster," she stated plainly. They were completely stuck; they couldn't go anywhere without the chance of the Anticorians following them.
Ricky shrugged. "It could be worse," he said. "It could be December."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Not helping." She looked around and grimaced slightly at her surroundings. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep out here, so I guess I'll take watch for tonight."
He looked affronted at that. "All night?" he asked in disbelief. "Are you sure?"
Ash nodded. "I'll be fine," she assured him. She patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about me, you get some sleep. I'd build a fire if I didn't think that it would attract our enemies."
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She was enjoying herself way too much.
Ash couldn't help but grin as she commanded a vine to swipe Ricky's hat while he was sleeping yet again. It was so simple and silly, yet she found herself thoroughly entertained. She chortled to herself before finally stopping, yawning slightly. These powers of hers were fun to use. And since she couldn't sleep anyway, it was the perfect time to practice using them.
Ricky cracked an eye open. "Having fun, Princesa?" he asked playfully.
She blushed at being caught. "Sorry," she said. "Did I wake you?"
He sat up, sitting directly next to her. "I never really fell asleep," he told her. "You seem to be getting the hang of these powers pretty fast."
Ash shrugged. "I just try not to think about them too much," she said. "Besides, they work pretty similarly to our Guardian powers, don't they? Just think of what you're going to do and then they'll respond." She had been thinking about it a lot in the last few hours.
"I... haven't really tried," confessed Ricky.
"Well, now is a pretty good time to start," she suggested. She pointed to a nearby lake. "Here, try freezing a part of it." She really wanted to see the full extent of his powers.
He glanced at her before holding his hand out. A slight frost emitted from it, but that was it. The lake didn't freeze at all. "Dang..."
Ash waved it off. "You probably just need some time," she assured him. "You'll get the hang of it, Ish will too. I believe in you both."
Ricky yawned. "I guess you're right..." He looked up at the night sky. "You know, you never really see all these stars in the city."
"Light pollution," she responded, following his gaze. "I guess that it's easier to see them when there's no light." She gestured around them.
"Hey, Ash."
"Yes?"
He looked at her. "I know you lived in San Diego before living here," he said. "but where did you live before that? Ish said that you had just moved there when he became a Guardian."
"Oh, I lived in Rhode Island," answered Ash. "New England, you know? It's where my m-" She stopped, painful memories coming back to haunt her. She quickly cleared her throat. "It's where my Dad moved to after graduating college."
Ricky looked concerned, but (thankfully) didn't press. "Cool," he commented. "We always lived in Phoenix before moving here."
She chuckled, a more cheerful memory coming to mind. "Do you remember when Ish found out that the Chargers relocated to LA?" she asked him, changing the subject.
He laughed. "Yeah," he responded. "I thought he was going to burst into tears."
Ash sighed and looked back up at the sky. "I hope Mrs. Taylor gets the HOK up soon," she said forlornly. "We can't stay out here for the rest of our lives."
"We won't," Ricky assured her. "Trust me, chica, everything's going to be okay."
She certainly hoped it would be.
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I really had to force this out. Anyway, I hope you liked it and please review!
