"You wanted to see us, sir!" exclaimed Luc, as both he and Sam saluted Commander Cruger. Only moments ago they had heard both of their names called over the intercom, requesting both of them to report to Commander Cruger in the command center.

"Yes, I did." His face was grim, because he knew time might not be something they had, and they needed to move yesterday. He sighed heavily, knowing that it might be difficult for Sam to hear. "I'm afraid I have some troubling news …Lt. Tate is MIA."

"Wh-what do you mean?" asked Sam almost frantically. It had been weeks since Sky's departure, in which time he had held out hope that Sky would return, but in the back of his mind he was afraid something like this could happen.

"He has not made contact in weeks, and Kat has lost his signal." He paused briefly, knowing that wasn't the half of it. "And it's believed he's gone after an extremely dangerous fugitive."

"Lt. Tate's been up against dangerous guys before," announced Luc, thinking nothing of it.

"Not like this," replied Cruger.

"So you want to send the team and me to go out in space to go look for him." Though he didn't care much for Sky, he did like the idea of going out into space on a rescue mission.

"No. I need for you and Sam to go to see the Silver Guardians in Silver Hills, and bring me a young man known as Griffin, he will be going into space to look for Sky."

"You got to be kidding me," exclaimed Luc, not believing what he had just heard. "You want us to go to Silver Hills and bring back some half-pint?"

"Yes, Cadet Wilder!" hissed Cruger, not at all pleased with the response he had gotten from the young cadet. "He is the only one who can locate Lt. Tate fast enough."

"Fast enough…" Sam could feel his heart racing; a feeling of concern went over him. "Commander, are you saying that there's a chance that something could have happened to Sky?"

Cruger didn't want to answer the question, but Sam wasn't some little boy he could protect anymore. He needed to be truthful with him, because he knew there was a strong possibility that none of them would ever see Sky again. "Yes, Sam, he won't survive this one; that's why I need Griffin to be brought here."

It was a rare thing to see Cruger get that worrisome look on his face, in fact Luc could not remember a time he had ever seen it. He knew right then and there this was serious, and whether he liked it or not he needed to follow orders and bring whoever this Griffin was to the base. "We'll bring him back here, sir."

"Good, because you'll have your work cut out for you." He knew it would not be an easy task to convince the young man to set foot upon the base.

After Sam and Luc departed, Kat entered into the Command Center. She could tell right away that Cruger was not doing so well. And he had every reason to be concerned, Sky was in danger and the only one that might be able to find him was not on good terms with Cruger, which could make it very difficult to convince him to come to the base.

"It's been a long time, maybe-"

"No." Cruger stopped her, shaking his head, knowing all too well that Griffin hadn't forgotten. "Time may have passed, but that won't change how he feels towards me. I just hope that he'll hear them out."

"Well, you did send the right two cadets to convince him." She knew that Luc would push and when that didn't work, Sam would do everything in his power to get Griffin to come back with them.

"What are we stopping here for, Commander Cruger said we needed to get to Silver Hills?" asked Sam, as Luc stopped the jeep in the driveway of a small two story home.

"We will, this will just take a minute," answered Luc, as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out. "Just stay here, I'll be right back." Sam nodded his head and watched as Luc walked up to the house and knocked on the door.

A few seconds later the door opened. "Luc, what are you doing here?" asked Ally, knowing it was rather early in the day for her cousin to be dropping by. It had been a good couple of weeks since they last talked to each other, which hadn't been one of the greatest of conversations they had had over the years.

"….Look, can I come in for a minute?" He didn't know why he was even doing this, but a part of him felt of all the people in Newtech City, she deserved to know what was going on. Given the present situation, he was setting aside his own personal feelings.

"Sure," answered Ally, nodding her head, knowing that whatever Luc was here for it was important.

Knowing that time was a factor Luc just went on and told her that Sky had gone missing and had gone after some dangerous fugitive. And how Cruger had ordered both him and Sam to head to Silver Hills to go find this Griffin guy. She took the news rather well, but that was to be expected; she had known Sky for a while and probably had known he would pull some stunt like this, but he always knew that his cousin was very good at hiding her real feelings. He knew that she cared about Sky, but he had no idea just how far those feelings went.

"Did Cruger say who this Griffin was?" asked Ally. She knew the reality of their chance of finding Sky, who had drifted off into deep space, was very slim, without ship's trackers it would be next to impossible. So how could one man be able to find him, when their computers couldn't?

Luc shook his head. "No. I was hoping you might know who he is; maybe Sky mentioned him or something."

'No. This is the first time I ever heard of Griffin, I don't know who he is." Sky had really only opened up to her once and that was about the horrible event that had claimed four young lives. Other than the few things she already knew about him, there was very little more she knew about Sky Tate. "…But I kind of do remember hearing about the Silver Guardians, back when I was three or four maybe." It was all very vague to her. Sure, everyone knew who the Silver Guardians were and what they stood for, but in the back of her mind she was sure she knew something that might be a little more personal. "I think maybe your mom dated one before she married your dad."

"I don't know, Mom never talked about any of her old boyfriends." He shrugged it off, not thinking anything of it. He sighed heavily, almost wondering if it was a mistake coming here and telling her about Sky's disappearance, especially since he had not spoken to her since they had argued about him. "Look, I'm sorry about before, you were right."

"Don't worry about it." She smiled faintly as she gripped his shoulder. "I know you were just trying to look out for me."

"Yeah." He smiled as he looked down at his watch. 'Well, I better be going, Sam's waiting in the jeep." He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "See yah later, cuz."

"Sir!" announced a Silver Guardian, as he entered into the training room where a group of other Guardians all stood in fighting stances on a mat, all circling around a man who couldn't be more then twenty years old.

The Commander of the Silver Guardians, Vic Baxter, turned around. He had been the Commander for the Silver Guardians police task force for quite some time. He had been in this position for twelve years, but had been part of the establishment for twenty-five years. In 2018, when he was thirty five, was when Steve Miller stepped down from his position of Commander of the Silver Guardians. Miller had been the Commander for a good number of years, since day one he had been with the Guardians. "Yes, Officer Hank, is there something you need?"

Hank nodded his head and stepped aside to reveal two young men, both wearing SPD uniforms. "Yes, these two men are looking for Griffin."

"I see," he answered, as he eyed the two cautiously, as if he didn't trust them. He looked over his shoulder, watching as Griffin spared against six other Guardians, before he walked over to greet the two young men. "I can handle things from here, Hank, you may return to your post at the gate."

"Yes sir," he answered, as he saluted his Commander.

"So which one of your rent-a-soldiers is Griffin?" announced Luc, not wasting any time. The moment he set foot in this complex he was not at all impressed by what they did here, to him SPD was the far superior force and the Silver Guardians in no way compared to them.

"Luc!" exclaimed Sam, knowing that was not the best way to start things.

Baxter put up his hand, halting Sam. "No, it's all right, kid; it seems your friend here doesn't appreciate the work we do here."

"No offense, but giving people speeding tickets and bringing in a few low profile thugs doesn't really top the list of doing something extraordinary." Luc smirked as he crossed his arms against his chest. "You guys outlived your usefulness years ago."

"I'll have you know, son, that had it not been for this establishment your SPD wouldn't even exist." He looked Luc hard in the eyes, there was no way he was going to let some spoiled brat kid give him that kind of crap, putting down what he had spent a number of years of serving, along with the hundred of others who served with him. "Brave men died to see it happen, so remember that when you put on that uniform." He leaned closer. "Because many of the men and women I served with were putting on these Guardian uniforms long before SPD came to Earth."

"Fine. I get it, all hail the Silver Guardians," he remarked, as he tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. "Now, about Griffin."

Vic Baxter could see that it was going to take a little more than a tale of history to get though to Luc. He nodded towards the mat, where one faced face off against six others. "He's right over there."

Luc and Sam looked in the direction Commander Vic Baxter nudged his head towards, watching as the young man known as Griffin easily took down six men right from their feet, knocking them all flat on the mat they had been sparring on.

"Wow!" Sam was simply amazed; he had seen tons of different sparring segments at the academy, even a few that Sky had been in, but the way this Griffin had been able to fight off six men all on his own as if it was nothing to him... "He's a good fighter."

"He's not that good," remarked Luc, crossing his arms against his chest, not at all impressed by the sparring session. "Anyone of these guys can handle themselves, but compared to the training to that of an SPD cadet... It doesn't even compare to the work effects we've been put through."

"Really?" smirked Vic, looking over his shoulder at the young man who was all high on himself. "Then perhaps you would like to go one on one with him."

"Sure, that's if he's not too exhausted from sparring with them." Luc smirked, eyeing Griffin, not seeing him as much competition. He looked more like a pretty boy than someone who could handle a real fight. The type that should be cooped up in some business office.

"Oh trust me, Griffin's a lot tougher than he looks."

"I bet."

Vic walked up to the mat as Griffin grabbed a water bottle, while the other Guardians took a seat on the bench to catch their breath. "Griffin, excellent job."

"Thank you, sir," he answered, patted down his sweating forehead with a towel. He nodded towards the two uniformed young men. "What's with them?"

"They've come looking for you, but..." he nudged his head towards Luc. "That one over there needs a lesson in just what a Silver Guardian is made of. I thought you'd like to be the one to introduce him to that." He grinned.

Griffin had to laugh at that. "Oh, he's one of those guys, huh." Griffin looked towards Luc, taking a moment to measure up his competition. He nodded his head, as he looked back to his Commander. "I'm game." He took a sip of his water. "This should be fun."

Vic gripped the young man's shoulder, whispering in his ear. "Don't go too hard on him. I don't want to send him back to Newtech with broken bones."

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on him." He winked as he patted Vic on the shoulder.

Both Luc and Griffin got on the mat, while the Silver Guardians, Sam and Vic surrounded the two. Luc got into a fighting stance. "Let's see what you got, pretty boy."

"Pretty boy," replied Griffin with a grin. "Haven't heard that one before, did you come up with that all on your own?"

"You can laugh all you want, because I'm going to rip that smile right off your face."

"Really? That would be something." Griffin nodded towards one of the Guardians who then tossed him a bandana. "How bout I make it a little easier for you to do that," he said as he tied it around his head covering his eyes.

Luc just smirked, thinking the odds really had landed in his favor. "Hey, whatever works for you."

"All righty then!" Griffin got into a fighting stance and waved Luc over to make the first move. "Bring it on, commando."

"I'm so going to love this." Luc grinned as he made the first move, throwing a punch right at Griffin, but only to have Griffin evade the move. Luc was a little stunned, but pushed it aside and went in to counter Griffin's next move using a combination of punches and kicks, only to have every single one blocked in quick and swift motions, almost like clockwork, as if his opponent knew where every attack was coming from.

"Come on, you can do better than that," smirked Griffin with a big grin on his face. "I thought you being a top notch SPD officer I'd get more of a workout. I haven't even broken a sweat yet."

Luc could feel the tension rising in his blood, right now he wanted nothing more than to rip that grin off of Griffin's face. He tightened his fists together and positioned his stance, making sure to ignore those who were standing around them, keeping his focus solely on one thing. "If it's a workout you want, it's a workout you're going to get."

"Now you're speaking my language." Griffin waited once again for Luc to make the first move as Luc began to circle around him. Griffin followed his lead, keeping up with Luc's pace, shadowing his each and every step as the two circled around each other.

Luc stopped his movements, grinning as Griffin continued to circle around like before, seeing his chance Luc threw out a punch heading right towards the side of Griffin's head. But before his hand made contact with his opponent's face Griffin blocked the move, then moved quickly putting Luc in a deadlock grip. A look of shock crossed Luc's face: how had he done that?

"My turn," remarked Griffin, as he picked up Luc, flipping him over his shoulder. He turned around to face Luc who was lying flat on his back. "Had enough?"

Frustrated, Luc rolled himself over and pushed himself up to his feet. Now he was pissed. "No. I was just getting warmed up, is all."

"If you say so."

Angry more than ever, Luc put all he had into his next move. He locked his eyes right on Griffin, his heart was racing fast and sweat covered his face. There was no way he was going to be beaten by some pretty face smartaleck. "You're going down, pretty boy!" Luc ran right for Griffin in a blind rage, with intensions of kicking his feet right from under him, but what he hadn't expected was for the blindfolded Griffin to scoop him up, and once again his body banged hard against the mat.

Griffin stood over him, bent down holding out his hand and with the other pulled off his blindfold. "So, you had enough or do I have to kick your ass another time?"

Luc slapped Griffin's hand away and pushed himself up to his feet. "I was going easy on you."

"Oh really?" questioned Griffin, as he crossed his arms against his chest. "Then please let's go for a round two, I wouldn't want to have beaten you just because you had gone easy on me."

Luc eyed Griffin, then glanced over at Sam who was shaking his head no. Luc turned his eyes back to Griffin, he was steamed that he had been beaten by some low ranking Guardian, but he had other matters to attend to than trying to prove himself to him. That would come another time. "Maybe next time; we have other business to attend to."

"Wise choice, my friend." Vic came up from behind Luc, patting him on the shoulder. "Wouldn't want to have to admit you to the infirmary." Vic signaled for his team to follow him out, so that Griffin and the two SPD officers could attend to their matters in privacy.

"So how about we introduce each other, before we get down to business." He put out his hand, as Sam joined them. "You already know who I am."

"Sam Gates," answered Sam, as he shook the young man's hand.

Griffin nodded his head and locked eyes with Luc, who still looked very irritable for having lost the fight. "Luc Wilder."

"So why exactly have two of SPD's finest come all the way here to see me?" asked Griffin.

"We were ordered by Commander Cruger to request you to return back with us to our base in Newtech City," announced Luc, still not at all happy that Cruger had sent them here to bring back this Guardian when he felt he and his team should have been given the job. As much as he disliked Lt. Tate, he preferred to be the one sent on the mission to locate him.

"An order from Commander Cruger, huh?" Griffin crossed his arms against his chest. "So he sent two of his cadets to fetch me." He just shook his head. "Sorry boys, but no can do. You go back your base and tell that old dog that if he wants me, he can come fetch me himself."

"Hey bucko, I don't think you know who you're talking about!" exclaimed Luc, as he got up in Griffin's face. "Commander Cruger is highly regarded in the universe for his work with Space Patrol Delta."

"Oh, but I know all too well who you're talking about," exclaimed Griffin, locking eyes with Luc. "In fact I'm sure I could tell you a few things about him that you would find disappointing." He licked his lips, making it clear that he wanted nothing to do with Cruger. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some other business to attend to." Griffin stepped back and moved to the side as he started to make his way towards the door, but not before Sam teleported himself in front of the door before Griffin could leave. If Griffin was surprised by how Sam could teleport, he didn't show it.

"Please, one of our lieutenants has gone missing, we haven't been able to make contact with him in weeks," pleaded Sam. "Commander Cruger said you were the only one who could help us."

"I bet he did," answered Griffin in such a way that it was as if he was holding something back. "But I'm sorry, I can't help you find Cruger's precious soldier boy."

"Look, as much as I don't care for Lt. Tate," announced Luc as he walked up behind Griffin, grabbing him by the shoulder, forcing him to face him. "He is my buddy Sam's friend."

"Lt. Tate?" Griffin eyed both of them. "As in Schuyler Tate?"

"Yeah?" Luc looked at Griffin curiously; there was just something about the way Griffin had said Lt. Tate's name. "Do you know him or something?"

"…No. I just know of him." Griffin's eyes drifted to the young woman who had just entered the training room; it was Kris, his girlfriend. "But I will come with you back to Newtech City."

After getting situated outside the Silver Guardian's base of operations, Sam and Luc waited in their SPD jeep, watching out the window while Griffin was saying goodbye to his girlfriend Kris. She didn't seem pleased that he was leaving, but it wasn't anger, it looked like she was more concerned than anything.

"Griffin, what are you doing going with them?" She grabbed a hold of his hands, looking into his eyes. "I thought you told me that you never wanted anything to do with them, after what happened-"

He leaned in and kissed her before she could finish, then parted slightly as he looked her deeply in the eyes with all the love in the world. "I know what I said, but believe me I wouldn't be going with them unless it was something important."

Kris sighed heavily, she had known Griffin for two years and since the moment she met him she had known there was something special about him. He was the type of guy who would set aside his own personal feelings in order to do what was important. She might not understand why he had to head to SPD base, but the look in his eyes told her it was important to him. "All right." She smiled faintly. "Just tell me what I'm supposed to say when I head over to your place for dinner."

'"Just say I needed to take care of something in Newtech City and I'll be in touch."

They had been in the jeep for about twenty minutes when the long silence fell. Sam sat in the front seat, while Luc drove back to Newtech City, leaving Griffin to sit in the back. Sam looked in the rear mirror, eyeing their new companion, something had been bothering him ever since they had left the base of the Silver Guardians. Griffin hadn't even seemed at all surprised by his ability to teleport. When he met new cadets at the academy who already knew he could teleport, they still found it shocking, but not this guy.

"Why weren't you surprised when I teleported?"

"Excuse me?" Griffin answered, having to think a moment about what Sam had just asked him, his mind had been elsewhere. "Oh …um, I've seen a lot of things in my day."

"Huh…" announced Luc, joining in on the conversation. "Well, we're the same age and I've seen a lot of things, and I still haven't gotten used to seeing him teleport."

"Well, maybe if you weren't so tense all the time and let all the blood flow to your head, perhaps it would loosen you up a bit," remarked Griffin.

"Nice," muttered Luc. "I'm getting advice from the new guy."

Sam leaned over his seat. "So, Griffin, how long have you been a Silver Guardian?"

"Actually I'm not one, I just train with them."

"What!" Luc roared, as he came to a dead stop at the light. He looked over his seat back. "You mean to tell me Cruger sent us here to pick you up and you're not even a Silver Guardian? So you don't even have any training, do you?"

"I beat you, didn't I?" smirked Griffin. "I guess Cruger didn't tell you who I am, but even if he didn't you should have heard about me in the papers, unless of course SPD guys are too sophisticated to read the daily news."

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Sam, having it just hit him. "You're that guy who helped find missing kids and even a few wanted criminals, they call you the 'Human Detector System.' Sam remembered reading a few articles on how Griffin was able to find many kids who had either run away from home or had been abducted, and brought them safely back to their families. He had been doing it ever since he was about fourteen years old.

"Yeah. That would be me. The name needs some work, but hey, it works."

"Yeah. I knew you looked familiar," muttered Luc, now knowing who Griffin was. "You really are a pretty boy."

"You know, Luc, you keep calling me that and my girlfriend might get the wrong idea," laughed Griffin.

"Ha ha, laugh it up," Luc muttered under his breath as he turned down the street.