CHAPTER ELEVEN

Practicing Pt.2

Gotta keep on believing
That everything takes time
I'll make up any reason
To make you mine
If you're staying or leaving
I'll follow your lead
So why keep pretending
Open your eyes
I can be what you need

"So are we done?" Kendall asked as he took off his headphones and placed them around the microphone in front of him. "I can leave?" He started to back out of the room as Kelly and Gustavo looked at him, trying to find words to say. Before they could say anything, Kendall turned and bolted out of the room.

Kelly and Gustavo stared at where Kendall just was, eyes and mouth wide open in shock. Kelly finally found her voice and turned towards her boss. "Is it just me or was that really, really bad?" she continued before Gustavo could say anything. "And I didn't think that that was possible for Kendall, usually he's always good, even when he's sick."

"I told you that I didn't want to sign those dogs!" Gustavo shouted back.

"Excuse me?" Kelly snapped as she turned to face Gustavo again. "Who was the one that kept saying that he need the 'fire'?" she asked as she did the stupid hand movement that Gustavo had done numerous times before.

"Who was the one that brought me to Minnesota?" Gustavo shouted back, causing the two of them to get into a shouting match.

Kendall ran from the record studio all the way back to the Palm woods, seeing if his friends were there, up for another practice. It hadn't hit him yet, that what was happening was serious, not funny. The only thing that he understood about everything was the fact that he couldn't let anyone know. And for now he was doing a good job of that, but he could also tell that people who were starting to see that he and his friends were acting differently. In the few short days since their powers had been awakened, Logan had been researching about elementals instead of doing his school work. James cared about his hair a little less than usual and Carlos was acting more serious than usual.

"Hey Katie," Kendall called breathlessly as he burst into 2J. She looked up from the arcade game that she was sitting at and looked at her brother with a raised eyebrow.

"EW, why are you all sweaty?" she asked and then went back to her game.

"I ran all the way here from Rocque Records, are the guys here?" Kendall didn't wait for her answer as he hurried into the two rooms that they shared. No one was there. "I'm going to the Palm Woods Park, tell mom where I am and see you later!" he called as he flew out of the empty rooms and out of the apartment.

It took Katie a couple of seconds to realize that his brother had left as he had moved that fast. Pursing her lips, she paused the game she was playing and sat back in her seat, tapping her chin with her fingers.

"They have been acting really, really weird lately." She muttered to herself. "Not just Kendall." Still thinking to herself she went into the room that she and her mother shared and started to look through her stuff, throwing clothes over her shoulder as she continued to look for something. "Aha!" she pulled her video camera out from underneath the suitcase she had brought to LA. "Something's up with them and I'm going to find out."

Kendall looked around, to make sure that no one was watching him before he held up his hands. He concentrated hard on the energy inside him and they started to glow blue. He smiled and moved his arms apart, being able to see his friends and the Jacksons in front of him, knowing that no one else could. He smiled as he looked around again and then walked towards his friends.

"Hey guys!" he called with a wave. "Sorry I took so long, I tried to get Gustavo and Kelly to let me go as soon as I could."

"How'd you manager to do that then?" Logan asked as he stopped what he was doing and turned to face Kendall. "Let me guess, you used an elaborate plan?"

"No, I just sang as badly as I could and ran out of there as fast as possible." Kendall replied smoothly and laughed along with Logan, who turned back to go back to practicing with Patrick. Kendall then smiled as Sydney headed over to him his large staff held in his hands. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hey," Sydney replied as he gave a bright smile. "Are you ready for more practice?" he motioned over to Rhuben, who was showing Carlos how to use your attack to deflect another one that was coming your way, Riley was standing aside, watching. Patrick and Noah were working with James and Logan. "Tomorrow we're going to work on your hand-to-hand combat. But today we're going to continue working on your technique when it comes to using water as there are still some things that you can't do."

"What's that?" Kendall asked as he followed the little boy over to the creek.

"Well," Sydney sighed as he walked right out onto the water, not sinking at all. "You still can't walk on water and you can't breathe under water either, you're going to have to learn how to do those as fast as you can." He then turned away and walked a little bit further over the water as Kendall stayed on the bank, watching. Sydney must have noticed that Kendall wasn't following him, as he turned around and sighed impatiently. "You're going to have to try."

"Sure, if you want me to drown." Kendall replied as he stared at the water with wide eyes.

"You're not going to drown," Sydney replied and then paused and shrugged a little bit. "At least, I won't let you drown…purposely."

"Thanks for that, that really makes me feel better." Kendall muttered in reply as he took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his jeans. He looked over at Sydney again and hesitantly held out his foot before resting it on top of the water. It felt like it usually did, wet, and impossible to stand on, but he knew that he still had to try.

Taking a deep breath and concentrating as hard as he could, Kendall brought his other foot forward and stepped onto the water…and sank like a rock. Water filled his clothes and he felt himself starting to sink. Bubbles of precious air escaped his lips, but instead of being freaked out, he was really calm. Kendall opened his eyes and looked around to see a few fish swimming around his head, looking at him. Kendall smiled, more air leaving his lips. It was then that he felt the burning sensation in his chest and accidentally opened his mouth on reflex to get some air.

As he started to choke, he felt the water underneath him bubble up until it rose in a geyser, sending him into the air.

"James," Noah stated as he whipped his head towards his friend, who was falling towards the ground. Sydney still stood on the water, his arms and staff out, letting his brothers and sisters know that he was the one that shot Kendall out of the water.

James turned and quickly thrust his arms out, his hands glowing white. A gust of wind shot out of his hands, causing a mini tornado that caught Kendall and started to lower him to the ground.

"Logan," Patrick added.

Logan nodded and took a deep breath, moving his hands together in a prayer position before sliding one leg out into a lunge. The grass underneath Kendall moved up and James waved his arms, causing the mini tornado to disappear. Kendall landed on the grass and Logan slowly moved until he was standing up straight again. As he did this, the grass moved back to where it originally was, gently setting Kendall down.

"You guys are really improving." Patrick stated as he clapped his hands in appreciation. "I can already tell, your powers are improving fairly quickly."

"Yeah!" Carlos cried in excitement. "Look what I can do!" He closed his eyes in concentration and suddenly burst into flames.

Sydney's eyes widened and he turned his staff and pointed it towards the creek. "Water Spirits," he turned his staff towards Carlos. "Tsunami Wave!" he shouted as his staff glowed blue and shot a wall of water at Carlos, knocking him down. He laughed as Patrick grabbed Carlo's helmet and moved it in front of Carlos' private area.

"Yeah," Riley laughed as she and Rhuben turned away. "Until you're completely able to control your element, and this only applies to fire, you're going to burn your clothes off if you try to set your whole body on fire."

"That's good to know," Carlos stated sheepishly as he held his helmet tightly over the front of his body.

"That's enough time for today," Rhuben stated as she looked at her watch. "You guys better get going."

"Wait, where are you guys staying?" Logan asked as he turned towards the Jacksons before any of his friends moved. "You're not staying in the alley way are you? You can stay at our apartment tonight, I'm sure Mama Knight wouldn't mind."

"Don't worry about us," Noah smiled serenely. "We have a good place to stay," he face turned serious again. "Just make sure that no one knows what's going on and always be on your guard. We've already taught you a little bit about how you're able to feel when a strong elemental energy is coming." He added.

"And to let us know whenever you need help," Riley added and Sydney walked forward, shoving his hands into the pockets of his shorts and pulled out four watches. "Sydney is giving you what we call EWs," she laughed a little at the looks on the guys' faces. "Short for Element Watches," she explained and lovingly ran her fingers through Sydney's hair. "Sydney invented them, so when you push the side and bring it up to your mouth you can speak into it and anybody who is wearing the watches can hear you."

"They look and work like regular watches too," Patrick added.

"Thanks," James grinned and looked at the time. "We better get going though."

"Wait a second," Noah looked thoughtful. "The woman that you're staying with is your mother, right?" he asked turning to Kendall, who nodded. "And you have a little sister too?" Again, Kendall nodded. "Ok, that's not good. You're going to have to pay really close attention to them, to make sure that nothing happens to them."

"I promise I would rather die than have anything happen to my family." Kendall replied firmly.

James looked over at his friend and couldn't help but smile. He knew how strongly he felt about protecting his mother and sister. He was the kind of brother that didn't pretend to hate his sister or not want her around, the two of them were close and James knew that Kendall would keep his word about making sure his sister and his mother were safe.

"We'll see you later." Sydney gave a wave as his staff disappeared and the five of them took off running, disappearing in flashes of red, purple, silver, gold, and blue light.

"Come one guys." Logan led his friends back to the Palm Woods Park and looked around. "Ok, the cost is clear so we can-"

"Hey guys!" The four boys jumped and screamed when Camille suddenly appeared in front of them. She giggled a little. "Sorry guys," she apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just-" she paused when she looked over at Carlos. "Carlos, why are you naked?" she asked and burst out laughing.

"Uhhhh"

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but I hope you guys still liked it.