GOTC: YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!

Ace: What is your problem?

GOTC: The posters are back!! People are reading this again!! I feel new life coming back to me now!!

Ace: You people seriously don't have anything better to do? Read a book by a real author? Find a cure for cancer? Play in traffic?

GOTC: You get brain damage from that last one.

Ace: No more than they get from reading this.

GOTC: You know Lara came back from Europe yesterday right?

Ace: 0.o What?!

GOTC: Yep. Said something about coming over for something today too…..Ace? Hmm. Musta gone to go get ready. Moving on, SQUEAKY!! DISCLAIMER!!

Squeaky: Squeak! (You think Lara brought me a keychain from France? What? You people already know the routine!)

GOTC: Indeed. So let's get going!

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Rise of the Guardian: Ancient Power, Modern Age

CHAPTER 16: Firestorm

Wonder Woman's ribs violently protested as she tried to move the steel beam that had her teammate pinned, but part of the upper floor had collapsed on top of the far end, keeping it solidly in place. The flames were dancing closer and closer with every passing second, and she had only managed to move the beam a few inches. She slammed her fist on the beam in frustration, when another noise in the background caught her attention.

"Diana!" Ace's voice yelled through the smoke and flames.



"Over here!" She called back, as Ace emerged through a wall of fire. In an instant, he was there at her side, looking the situation over.

The beam was getting hotter by the second, as more and more burning debris piled on top of the beam. Ace followed Wonder Woman's suit, and forced himself under the garter and tried to lift it off of Batman. The steel creaked and groaned under the stress, and even began to bend, but it wasn't enough.

Ace had to stop for a moment, as a vicious wave of coughing came over him. More than once, a black tar came away in his hand, but he was too preoccupied to notice.

"The damn thing'll bend, but it won't budge!" Ace yelled to no one in particular.

"What about cutting through it?" Wonder Woman said pointing to the sword on Ace's back, "If the metal's hot enough to bend, then maybe we could cut through it."

"Bending and cutting are two different things!" Ace shouted back, "And we'd need this thing to be white-hot in a single place, not roasting in this giant oven!"

"Yeah, and what was it that started this oven?"

Ace couldn't help but grin as it dawned on him what Wonder Woman was talking about. He pulled the blade from his back and tossed it to Wonder Woman, then hopped onto the beam, and pressed two glowing hands to the hottest part of the metal. He could feel heat rolling off of the steel in waves, and the exposed skin of his hands begin to sear and blister from the temperature.

It seemed like an eternity had passed before the metal began to glow a steady white color. Sweat poured off of Ace's face both from the heat, and the effort of maintaining the energy in such a concentrated spot. He swung down under the beam, and planted his feet before nodding to the Amazon princess.

The blade came down in a crash of metal and sparks, and for a brief moment, Ace thought that it hadn't worked, until he felt the weight of the beam crash onto his shoulders. He could feel the shade in his veins suddenly kick in, and a new kind of strength hammer through his body. Slowly, Ace managed to lift the severed beam up enough for Wonder woman to drag Batman's body out from underneath it.

"Can you carry him?" Ace panted as he let the beam fall to the ground.

"Yes, but I don't think I can carry both of you out of here," Wonder Woman said Holding onto the Dark Knight with her good arm.



"Don't worry about me, just get him and let's go!" Ace said grabbing his sword before rushing into the swaying walls of fire.

Wonder Woman leapt into the air behind Ace, but was forced close to the ground as more and more debris fell from the ceiling. In fact, the whole room seemed to sway in time with the roaring flames around them. Below, Ace wasn't doing so well. Wonder Woman watched him stumble and nearly fall on his face several times, only to catch himself and continue running.

They were coming up on the storage room, when a loud creak above caught Wonder Woman's attention.

"ACE! Look out!" She cried as a portion of the upper floor crashed down in front of them, completely blocking their exit.

Ace dove to the side just in time, but roared in frustration as their way out vanished in the cloud of smoke.

"NO!" He roared, punching the remains of the floor section as hard as he could. He felt several bones break on impact, but the pain was so far back in his mind he didn't care.

"We need another way out," He forced himself to think, "Argon fixed this place to keep us out, but not in…."

"Diana!" Ace called hitting on an idea, "We need to find an entrance to a loading bay somewhere on this floor! If we can force our way through the bay door, then we can get outside!"

"Why not just punch a hole in the wall now?" She yelled back, "This heat's made them paper thin-"

"Break one of those walls now, and the building will be on top of us before we're out the hole," Ace said starting to head in the direction they'd come, "But the bay door will have more support around the frame, and give us a little more time!"

Wonder Woman scanned the area, and found what they were looking for just to their left. Some debris was piled in the doorway, making any possible entry difficult, but it wasn't impassable.

"Ace! Over here!" She called landing next to the entrance.

"That was fast," He panted, "You go in first, and I'll help Batman through once you're in."



Wonder Woman nodded, and began to squeeze through the gap at the top of the doorway, being careful not to jar her arm too badly.

"Ok," She said taking a breath of much cleaner air, "I'm through!"

Seconds later, Batman's head poked through the hole, and she pulled him through as well, losing her balance in the process. She lay dazed for a moment, staring up at the ceiling, when she noticed a large pipe running along its length. It took her a moment to realize the bay had a faint odor of rotten eggs, before a faint hiss reached her ears.

"Buildings on this side of town are all fed by gas lines!" Batman's voice came back to her, "When these things go up, they become time bombs…"

Just through the gap, Wonder Woman could see flames licking at Ace's heels as he tried to force his way through.

"Ace! The gas main runs right through-"

She never finished her sentence. Ace crawled through the last few inches and hit the ground running, as the whole building seemed to take a deep breath. Time slowed down around them, as a wall of fire burst through the wall they'd just come through and rushed at them. Ace caught Wonder Woman around the middle and practically threw her into the air with one arm, as the other began to glow one more time. She flew through the air as fast as she could, the worry about the closed steel door at the end of the bay lost in the turmoil…

A pillar of cerulean energy literally ripped the door off of its hinges, and plowed it into the next building, as Ace, Wonder Woman, and Batman were all launched out of the opening, followed closely by a burst of flame. A shimmer of green light quickly surrounded the three, just before they hit the ground, and towed them away from the raging inferno behind them.

"What took you guys so long in there?" Lantern joked, "We were done ages ago!"

"Yeah," Ace coughed weakly, "Thanks for the help…"

Lantern carefully set the three on the ground next to the rest of the League members, before dispelling the protective barrier.

"Batman needs medical attention," Ace started, "And a search needs to be started for-"

"Whoa, slow down there pal," Hawkgirl said interrupting, "Batman's not the only one who need some medical attention. You're not looking too good yourself right now."



"I'm still on my feet," Ace pointed out, before something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

On the rooftop of an adjacent building, he could just barely make out the shape of two people watching them from above. Ace turned, and took two steps, before his body gave out on him. He hit his hands and knees, and hacked up a large quantity of tar, before convulsing violently and passed out on the pavement.

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GOTC: Ok readers, sorry to keep ya all waiting! Just let me say one more time how happy I am that this story has readers again-

Ace: So this is your, what, 26th time you've said this?

GOTC: 27th actually, but that's hardly the point. The fact is people are reading, therefore, I shall keep writing!!

Ace: Joy….

GOTC: Just remember to R&R everyone, and I'll see you next chapter!!