Chapter Fourteen

There were heavy sighs in response.

"Okay, everyone, break off. We need to have a face-to-face," said Kim.

"How about on top of the MNN Building?" asked Monique. The building in question was a few blocks over, clearly marked by the large sign on the side.

"Good, let's go," replied Kim.

A minute later the five Guardians, the Monkey Master, and Rufus stood together near the edge of the roof closest to the advancing army. They sat down, resting.

"Wish I had something to drink," said Bonnie.

"A request easily fulfilled," said Yori. Her hand glowed and spheres of water rose from the storm gutters and flew over to them.

"Ew!" said Bonnie, moving away.

"This is pure water, Bonnie-chan, I made sure nothing is in it," said Yori.

"How do we hold it?" asked Tara.

"I have taken a concept from the Water Blobs and strengthened the surface tension. You may hold it, and when you bite into it, the ball will fall apart," she answered.

They all did so, and were refreshed.

"That was really weird," said Tara, "But I feel better."

"I'm sending some CrocAide and high-energy snacks to you," said Dr. Director, "The copter will be there in a few minutes."

"Thank you so much," replied Kim.

Tara used her powers to bring the supplies over from the copter, and they all took a well-deserved rest and recovery.

From their vantage point, they could all see Tara was right- the second army was approaching, and was much larger than the first, which was for all practical purposes defeated. They had managed to hold the line at the city park.

They heard gunfire and explosions from their right, and they all moved over to see what was going on. The first of the reinforcements had arrived, and were attacking the enemy creatures.

"That will be a big help," said Kim, nodding approvingly.

"It took us most of the day to beat the first army, and the sun's going to set in a couple of hours. What are we going to do then?" asked Ron.

Everyone was silent, trying to think of an answer.

Bonnie, on the other hand, was ready. She had an answer that would win the war!

"I know what we need to do," she said, and everyone turned to her. It was her time to shine, and she would show up Kim!

"We need to take the fight to the Mountain Eye," she said.

The statement was met with skepticism.

"Look, it's like this," she explained, "Remember that old show the Power Rangers?"

"Yeah, I loved it!" said Ron.

"I vaguely remember watching it with you, Ron," said Kim.

"Not my kind of thing," said Tara.

"I do," said Monique.

"It was an American adaptation of a Japanese show," said Yori.

"Right. I watched it when I was little, until I saw how stupid they were," said Bonnie, "They would be attacked by some monster that would grow to Godzilla size, and the episode was spent stopping it."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, they were great! They had all kinds of cool equipment."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Listen. My point is this: they were fighting the wrong enemy! The evil boss had a base on the moon, and sent her subjects to fight. It took them several seasons to realize they should have gone to her and taken on the root of the problem in the first place!"

Surprise registered on the other's faces.

"Take out the big boss, and the army won't be a problem!" she said, triumphantly. She stood back in a familiar position, hip cocked and arms crossed, smirking.

Everyone exchanged looks of surprise.

"Sound strategy," said Yori, approvingly.

"Great idea!" said Tara.

"WTG, GF!" said Monique.

"Yeah, I like it!" agreed Ron.

Bonnie's grin grew wider. She looked at Kim, waiting for some objection.

But the Keeper of the Heart was thoughtful. "That's... that's brilliant, Bonnie!" she said at last. "We have to end this before more people are killed."

Bonnie grinned in triumph. Her point had been made, and now she was getting the praise she deserved. She knew better than to bring up a change in leadership now; it would wait until things settled down.

"Then let's go do it before it gets any later!" said Monique.

"It is indeed a good strategy, for an amateur," put in Will's voice over their headsets, "But there is a major roadblock. According to satellite images, the army is clustered thickly around the cave entrance. If that is the only way in, you will definitely have to fight your way through."

Monique looked at her BFF. "Kim, you and Ron have been in there, right? Is it the only way?"

The adventurers grew thoughtful, trying to remember the cave's arrangement.

"Yeah, I think so..." said Kim, concentrating on her memory. "There was a long tunnel behind the entrance, and it widened into the main cave. There was a stair going down ten or so feet to the floor level. Amy had her equipment and Cuddlebuddy collection set up there."

Ron nodded. "That's what I remember too, KP."

"Cuddlebuddy collection?" Bonnie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Figures that some lame bad guy would have a lame collection that has been over for years."

Kim turned red, and did her best not to lay into Bonnie.

"Oh, I'm sorry, K, don't you collect Cuddlebuddies too?" Bonnie said in a sickly sweet voice. She was already showing up Kim, and cutting her down with the facts could only help the others decide to make her leader. She smirked to herself.

Kim was struggling to find something to say, while Ron was wisely staying out of it. Rufus just watched from Ron's pocket.

-Kim, I'm going to nip this in the bud.- sent Tara. "Uh, Bonnie, you might remember I still have a few Cuddlebuddys."

Bonnie gaped at Tara. She HAD forgotten!

"I don't keep them out any more, but I've still got all five of the Insectamals," put in Monique, giving Bonnie the cold eye. Putting down Kim didn't sit well with her.

Bonnie gazed at the Earth Guardian and her tanned face turned red.

"What are Cuddlebuddys?" asked Yori, intrigued.

"Remember the plush doll on Kim's bed?" said Tara to Yori, "That's Pandaroo, a cross between a panda and a kangaroo. There's a whole line of those dolls. They were really popular about five years ago." She looked at Bonnie. "And I'm not ashamed of having some of them."

Bonnie turned beet red and looked down. "Sorry..." she mumbled. Darn it! The plan had failed!

Ron meantime took Kim's hand and squeezed it, calming her down.

"ANYway," the Keeper of the Heart said, "I don't remember there being another exit."

"Yeah, Amy took the same one we did, and if there had been another way out, she would have known," Ron added.

"So we know where we have to go," said Monique.

"Just one thing, first," said Ron, "A trip to the Little Monkey Master's Room."

That, agreed the Guardians, was a great idea!

kpkpkp

As they stepped out of the Global Justice supply vehicle, Kim was talking to Monique. They had reverted to human form so their wings wouldn't get in the way.

"You've got all of the Insectamals? I didn't know that!" she said.

"Yeah, my mom got them for me as a set on my twelfth birthday," Monique answered,

"The AUTOGRAPHED set?" Kim said, excited, "I've GOT to see that!"

Bonnie followed in the rear, still embarrassed, and still talking about Cuddlebuddys wasn't helping.

"You may get a chance later, if we're still around," said Will, waiting for them. He was obviously annoyed. "Right now you need to focus on your mission."

Kim was instantly annoyed right back. "Will..." she began.

"Dr. Director and myself will be monitoring you, and offering advice. Are your headsets charged?" he said, ignoring her.

Kim huffed, but let it go. They held out their headsets and she did a quick recharge. Good thing, since they were well down in energy.

"It's about time," said one of the headsets, "We can't do our job if you don't take care of us."

Looks were exchanged, but nobody replied since Will was right there. Kim was glad no one except a Guardian could hear it without help.

"One more thing, before we go," said Kim, turning to Bonnie. "You've been doing so much better the last several days. You've really been trying to be part of this team. I'm sorry you felt you had to go and ruin it."

"It was that darn billboard's fault!" said Bonnie, turning red again, "It reminded me that you always have to be on top! As long as we've known each other, you always put me down!"

"Like you do me," Ron muttered, but not very loudly. This was important, and he didn't want to take attention away from it.

"Bonnie, I thought maybe you'd figured it out by now!" said Kim, "What I do has NEVER been about you! I didn't even know about that billboard!"

"Oh right, the most popular girl in school, always being the leader, always being better than everyone else! You never let anyone else stand out!" Bonnie retorted. "I'm so sure you didn't know about it!"

Will was at the door to the command trailer when he heard the argument start. Amateurs! Don't they realize what's at stake here? He turned back and had taken one step toward them, but was stopped by a voice from inside.

"Du-san, you should not intervene," said Sensei, "It is important that they work this out for themselves."

"They're wasting time!" Will protested.

"That is so, but the Guardians must be united if they are to be victorious. From what I have observed, this is one of the greatest barriers between them, and the time must be taken to resolve it," the old man replied.

Will growled, but went inside to take his position. Sensei continued to stand and observe.

"...then you SAVE THE WORLD from aliens! How can you top that?" yelled Bonnie.

"Actually, Ron did that," said Kim.

"NOT THE POINT!" said Bonnie, even louder, "I could have done it, if I had been given a chance!"

"Really? When did you get a dose of Mystical Monkey Power?" Kim snarked.

"If that stupid loser and disgusting rat could do it, anyone could!" retorted Bonnie. Then she stopped, realizing what she had just said. That was it. Kim would take away her powers, and she would go back to what she had been. She had come to like being a Guardian, but she realized she had just stepped over a line. Why had she said that?

Tara looked embarrassed, Monique and Yori were angry. Kim looked ready to bust a blood vessel, but Ron, in his usual goofy, 'never be normal' way, stepped forward and defused the sitch.

"Bonnie, you saw me using the Lotus Blade. You've got an idea of what I can do now. Really now, do you still still consider me to be a loser?" he asked, softly.

"Bonnie," said Tara, with compassion and sudden insight, "No matter what you say, I know better. The talks we've had since becoming Guardians have shown me how you really feel. The bond between us has helped you get rid of your hate. This is just stress talking."

"I am not used to such disharmony in a team," said Yori, "And I do not know much about your relationship with Kim-chan. But I trust Tara-chan's insights. She is correct- stress is the cause of your words. You must continue to shed your negative feelings and learn to control the stress, and I am willing to give you whatever help and support I can in doing so."

"Me too, girl," said Monique, "You're important to us, and you're worth the trouble."

"I forgive you," said Ron. He smiled gently. "It still hurts, but I forgive you."

Bonnie, tears running down her cheeks, looked at her fellow Guardians. Suddenly she dropped to her knees, covering her face in her hands. She began crying in earnest. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Kim knelt beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Bonnie, it's okay. We do have issues, but it's nothing we can't resolve, even if it will take lot of talking. I can see you're really stressed out. All this fighting is something you're not used to, and you know what's at stake. You're also worried about Tara being safe."

Bonnie's shoulders heaved, and she cried even harder. Monique pulled out some paper napkins she had taken from the supply vehicle and gave them to her while squatting down on her other side.

"But I have learned one thing about you over the years. You're a really strong person. You always went after what you wanted, and did what had to be done to get it. I'm proud to have you as a friend and fellow Guardian." added Kim.

"R- really?" asked Bonnie, calming down just a bit.

"Really. Look at me through the bond we share, feel what's there," said Kim. "Feel what all of us feel."

Bonnie quieted down even more, as her attention was taken up by Kim's suggestion. The bond between the Guardians. She liked the feeling it gave her. She was connected to the others in a way she had only felt with Tara. Her family wasn't even in the running.

Monique, Tara, Yori... Kim... she felt them all, surrounding her. There was anger and embarrassment at her words, but it had not broken the link. She was accepted for who she was. A "food chain" didn't exist here, only a team with a leader who had experience.

And she was part of it, now and forever. She would never be alone again, would always be supported, would always be helped when she needed it. Her life had changed. She had found something she hadn't realized she needed.

"Thank you, thank you all," she said, wiping her eyes. She looked up at Kim, who was smiling gently. "I'm sorry, Kim. I'm sorry, everyone."

"I know, Bonnie, and you're forgiven. I'm glad you understand now," was the reply.

She looked over at Ron. "I'm sorry, Ron."

"Booyah!" he exclaimed, "The Guardians are together again!" Rufus grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"Stronger and closer than ever before," added Yori.

They stood up, and Bonnie finished wiping her eyes. "I think I'm okay, now."

Kim held up her hand, and the Heart of Kandrakar rose from her palm.

"Guardians Unite!"