Squeaky Clean Laundromat
Sunday 1:30 PM

'Will…I need you…'

Will promptly dropped the box of laundry detergent that she was holding; the redhead was currently parked across town in a laundromat that was closer to The Silver Dragon then it was to her apartment. Will had spent the past few hours waiting for her mother to leave so that she could haul her bloody load of laundry off to clean it; even though their apartment included a washer and dryer, she deemed it safer to visit a far off laundromat to avoid awkward questions should her mother come home sooner than expected.

She had just pressed the button for a "color" wash cycle when Taranee's telepathic message had arrived; Will had never heard her friend sound so…distressed. The intensity of the mental dispatch almost literally froze Will in place and caused her to drop her laundry related burden. She left the box where it lay and focused her mind on responding to Taranee's call; she closed her eyes in concentration and allowed her consciousness to carry her voice to her best friend.

'Taranee? Where are you?'

'…in the park…by Irma's house…please Will…he's KILLING me!'

With Taranee's words came a sudden white hot flash of pain which caught Will unawares; she fell to her knees and raised a hand to clutch her chest. Just a taste of Taranee's apparent paroxysm was enough to cause her own ribs feel as if someone was kicking them in; she took a deep gasping breath and noisily sucked air into her suddenly empty lungs. She shakily got to her feet, her legs wobbling, and pulled the Heart of Kandrakar out of her pocket.

The crystal felt warm to her touch, as it always did; as she watched, it began to glow a soft reddish hue. Will focused her mind and braced her herself as the jewel began to heat up; it grew hotter and hotter as the Elements prepared to journey to the aid of their respective mistresses. Will let out a small gasp as the Heart abruptly let out a small shock, indicating that the Elements had been released; she was left holding the gem and feeling the residual heat of its recent encasement of the elemental magic of the Guardians.

'I don't know if you can hear me, Tara, but help is on its way.'

Lair Household
Sunday 1:45 PM

Irma let out a sigh of relief; the brunette was leaning against her door, which she had closed only seconds before Water had found her and she had transformed. She listened as her father strode past her door and into his room.

"That was too close."

Irma crossed over to her bed and practically threw herself onto it; she covered her eyes with her hands and was immediately lost in her thoughts. She found that she was both disgusted with and proud of herself; proud that she had thought of asking her father to lie and tell her friends that he had forbidden her from leaving the house and disgusted because she knew that, deep down, she wasn't the same. This…event…this terrible burden should only have affected her life, not the lives of her four friends; just because she couldn't deal with her problems shouldn't force her friends to have to make certain sacrifices for her.

'IRMA!'

Irma removed a hand from one of her eyes; she gave the room a quick glance-down before realizing that Taranee was playing the telepathy card. Screwing up her eyes again, Irma concentrated on forming a mental link with her friend. When she did, however, Irma let out a gasp; she was treating to a brief glimpse of what her fellow Guardian was looking at, and it was someone that Irma had hoped to never see again. Suddenly her quick glance through Taranee's eyes was over; the only thing remaining was a lingering feeling of hopelessness and despair.

Irma silently cursed herself; why hadn't see gone to the park with her friends? Why had she asked, and allowed, her father to "forbid" her from leaving the house? Just because she had a brief dizzy spell and had had trouble catching her breath for a second?

'I'm pathetic; it's my problem, why should my friends have to deal with it as well? I guess it's only natural that they would be concerned; after all, if anything like this had happened to Hay Lin, I would be busting down the door of the creep who did it and going all Guardian on his ass…'

And then inspiration hit Irma almost as hard as one of Mr. Collins's history tests; she had provided herself with an answer to her own question. She would tele-transport to the park and, all metaphoric guns blazing, save the day. Of course, her help might not be needed; seeing as how she had transformed, she could assume that the same held true for the others. But Irma had a stubborn streak a mile wide, so she set her jaw and decided on the spot that she would put aside her own problems for her friends. She pushed herself off of her bed; she took a deep breath and brought her fingers close together, feeling the magic as it swirled and churned around like an ocean inside of her. She gritted her teeth as she felt it begin to build up, the random movements ceasing as she prepared to release it to the world.

Irma took one last deep breath and cast loose a venerable tsunami of magic; she surged around and over her and then both the Guardian and her magic disappeared in a flash of light.

Heatherfield Memorial
Sunday 1:47 PM

Through the blinding agony of her torment, Taranee suddenly felt her magic enter her; all at once, she felt vigorous and full of energy. Her broken ribs, which had caused her human form such disabling pain were but a dull ache to her Guardian embodiment.

'Thank you, Will.'

Taranee closed her eyes and focused her energy; causing the space surrounding herself to heat up expeditiously. As is the law of heat expansion, the air around her expanded outward at an alarming rate; the Cranal A'k'sl being right in the way of the searing gas. He blinked himself off of the Fire Guardian and reappeared a safe distance away, much of his body looking as if he had just received a bad sunburn except for his hand, which had been badly burned by the Guardian's smoldering skin. He snarled in her general direction and then let out a cry of pain as the bright overhead sun scorched his already tender skin.

Taranee rose, her whole body igniting before A'k'sl's eyes, glowing so intensely that everything around her turned brilliant white; her illumination forced the Cranal to turn away, his eyes shut tight to blot out the blindingly bright luminescence. Even through his closed eye-lids, the normally black void flared brilliant white for a split second before slowly fading again to black. As A'k'sl opened his eyes, he found that his field of vision was dominated by glaring blue and green spheres, the after effect of the Guardian's intense flare. Suddenly the Cranal felt a rumbling beneath his feet; a second later pillars of stone rose up from the ground to entangle his arms.

As quickly as they had burst from the ground, the pillars began to sink back into the earth, dragging the Cranal with them. A'k'sl was forced to his knees, the pillars continuing their downward descent until his hands were completely engulfed and he was forced to look up to the Earth Guardian as she stood over him. He let out a cry of pain; the tender skin on his hands and forearms had been all but shorn off by the abrasive stone. With a satisfied smirk on her face, Cornelia crouched down so that she was eye to eye with the Cranal.

"You're pretty tough for a guy who picks on little girls; but I'd like to see you handle someone who can hit back."

A'k'sl glared at her; unseen by Cornelia, his hands were already transforming, causing the stone to crack as they magically expanded. The Cranal spit at his attacker and made his move. A second later, Cornelia was doubled over, a hand pressed against her face, blood pouring from between her fingers. The scream that escaped from her mouth seemed to be loud enough to pierce the heavens; she continued to cry until loss of breath forced her to quiet. She felt the hated presence behind her a second before A'k'sl caught her shoulder in a vice-like grip. The Cranal bent down and began to whisper in the blond's ear.

"First rule of combat, make sure your opponent is defeated before you gloat."

With that, A'k'sl raised his hand, intending to finish off his prize with a quick stab to the back of the head, and was literally blown off his feet. He landed painfully several feet away; he leapt to his feet and immediately spotted the Air Guardian, who was hovering protectively above her bleeding friend. He watched as she landed at her friend's side and carefully pried away the Earth Guardian's hand to inspect the damage. A'k'sl waited as she stifled a scream of horror with her hand; he waited as she turned towards him, her eyes full of murderous rage. He waited until she began to move her hands in different directions, directing her element to render him limb from limb.

And then…he struck…

Irma arrived in the park much the same way as she had left her house: in a flash of light. She took in the scene in front of her instantaneously; Hay Lin standing over the cowering and bleeding figure of their friend and moving her hands in a violent, jerky manner that was so unlike the calm Hay Lin that Irma knew so well. Standing ten feet away stood the man from Metamoor, silently watching, and listening to, the Guardian scream out her murderous intent. Suddenly, Irma's gumption turned to horror as she watched, as if in slow motion, A'k'sl vanish only to reappear a second later, his face an air of triumph…his hand buried in the slender waist of the young Guardian.

Irma watched, terrified, as the Cranal casually jerked his arm, sending the still twitching body of her best friend crashing to the ground. A'k'sl brought his hand, saturated with Hay Lin's blood, to his mouth and licked one of his fingers clean. He did this as more of a taunt to the Water Guardian then anything, but Irma wasn't to know this. She stood stunned as she stared down into the open eyes of the Asian girl; a loud bark of laughter snapped her out of her aphonic condition. She raised her head and glared at the Cranal, willing him to feel even an ounce of the pain that was beginning to grip her heart. Without really thinking, Irma did the only thing that seemed rational: she thrust both of her hands towards the laughing man.

A venerable river of ice, originating from her hands, rushed towards the Cranal; whether because he was taken by surprise, or because he had grown overconfident, or even because of plain old bad luck, A'k'sl was almost immediately overtaken by the rampaging cascade as he turned to flee. The ice spread up and over him before coming to a stop; Irma lowered her hands in shock. She hadn't meant for that to happen…of course, she didn't know what she had meant to do. Irma shook her head and rushed over towards the limp form of her friend.

Hay Lin's eyes had finally closed, either on their own or as one of the Guardian's final wishes. Irma slid to her friend's side and snatched Hay Lin's wrist from the cold dirt where it had fallen; she desperately searched for a pulse and was amazed to find one. She cast her gaze over the sanguine hole that had been smashed into the petite Asian girl's stomach; a sudden gasp made her snap her head up so fast that her neck cracked.

Hay Lin's eyes had opened; the terrified Asian girl began to suck in huge gasps of air, obviously going into shock. Irma reached down and cupped her friend's check; tears, both of relief and sadness, began to pour down her own. Hay Lin reached up and grabbed Irma by the arms, pulling her in close.

"Irma…IRMA…Irma, tell the truth…how bad is it…?"

Irma felt conflicted; she wanted desperately to lie, to tell her best friend that everything would be ok. But something was preventing her from lying to her friend in what could very well be Hay Lin's final moments. She grabbed Hay Lin's other cheek and applied pressure so that the Air Guardian could not move her head.

"Don't look…don't you dare look, Hay Hay…I don't want you to see what's killing you."

To her amazement, Hay Lin began to laugh, but stopped as she began to violently cough, her hacking bringing up blood almost immediately. She turned on her side and continued to cough; Irma could only watch as her friend lay in the dirt dying. She vaguely registered the sound of ice cracking, almost of her concentration focused on her perishing best friend.

Irma's only warning was a rush of wind and a low growl before A'k'sl's hand engulfed her head, his long nails digging into the soft flesh beneath her hair. She let out a cry as he pulled her from the protesting figure of her friend and threw her; her head impacted against the granite hard trunk of a tree seconds later, causing her to see stars. As her vision gradually cleared, she could make out the blurry figure of A'k'sl shakily making his way towards her. As she watched, he stumbled and fell to one knee; as he rose to his feet, Irma saw the hideous gash that ran up a side of his body, from which blood was gushing, darkening his shirt and staining the ground beneath him.

'Did I do that?'

The Cranal let out a furious snarl and turned the final foot to his target into a lunge; and that's when the lightning struck him. Irma had to avert her eyes as the effulgent bolt impacted A'k'sl, sending him crashing to the ground. Irma raised her gaze and saw, to her immense relief, Will advancing on the Cranal, the deadly electricity continuing to flow from her hands. A'k'sl rolled over and let out a scream of pain; Irma lowered her eyes and watched with grim satisfaction as his skin began to blacken and char before her eyes.

After what seemed an eternity, Will allowed the shaft of lightning to fade into nothingness, leaving behind the faint smell of oxidized ozone, which did almost nothing to cover the stink of burning flesh. A'k'sl groaned and slowly turned himself over onto his back; he laborishly gasped in a single breath before Will's boot slammed into his sternum. A'k'sl glared up at the Guardian, playing with the idea of spitting at her.

"Kill me, Guardian."

Will shook her head. A'k'sl roared and grabbed her boot, throwing her off of himself.

"It's what I would do to you; now finish me!"

Again Will shook her head, causing the Cranal to laugh.

"You humans are all the same; you're weak. Now KILL…"

A'k'sl's last words were violently cut off as a single sharp slab of stone was thrust up through his chest, ending his life and sending a geyser of blood shooting up in the air, a portion of it splattering Will's face, the liquid clashing horribly with her scarlet hair. She turned her head to see Cornelia, both hands placed on the ground; obviously the Earth Guardian had chosen to honor the Cranal's final request. Will fell to her knees in front of the lifeless body of, unknown to her, what had recently been one of the deadliest foes her Guardians had ever faced.

"Will!"

Will's head snapped around to see Irma, who was holding Hay Lin's head in her hands and sobbing uncontrollably. Her eyes were locked with her leaders, and Will could see the pain and anguish there and could only imagine the full extent of Irma's emotions.

"She's gone cold! Will, we need to do something!"

A split second later and Cornelia was at her leader's side. She placed a hand on Will shoulder; a hand that Will wanted desperately to throw off.

"Taranee just passed out, Will. It's a miracle that she stayed conscious this long, but she needs help."

Will nodded, too torn up to speak. She did, however, lower her head and close her eyes, clenching both her fists and her teeth as tightly as she could. Finally she was able to speak the words that had been on the tip of her tongue.

"Why did you kill him? You didn't have to do that."

Cornelia was taken aback.

"Will, there was no choice…"

"NO! No, there is always a choice, Corny!"

And at once, Irma was between her two friends, hands held up.

"Guys! This isn't the time; Hay Lin is dying, maybe dead and Taranee isn't far behind. They need help and they need it NOW!"

Cornelia sighed.

"She's right; and we can't take them to a hospital, they'll ask too many questions."

The three girls were silent for several seconds before…

"I've got it; let's take them to Kandrakar. I know Mr. Baldy is supposed to be an observer, but there is no way he'd let his Guardians die."

Will nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak. She raised the Heart of Kandrakar above her head and mentally ordered it to take them to the Infinite Fortress. The jewel immediately burst into a resplendent blue light. It grew brighter and brighter and then faded, instantly transporting the Guardians across dimensions to the pearly spires of Kandrakar.

The flash of blue was reflected in the open eyes of the Cranal A'k'sl; however, as the original flash faded away, this fleck of blue did not dissipate. It began to grow as the Cranal's own limited magic was bolstered by that of the Earth itself. The sparks began to spread down A'k'sl's limp form, healing any and all injuries they came into contact with. As they made their way down his body, the Cranal's fist clenched, his fingers gripping the dirt…

A/N Alright, so it's 3 in the morning and I am way too tired for any reader reviews. Like last time, I'll just make them extra long in the next chapter. Hope you guys like the update. Please R&R and don't be afraid to give feedback. Go'night y'all