Chapter 11:
Now later that day, Cornelia is released from the hospital and brought home by her mother who made sure Cornelia takes it easy like the doctor told her to. Right now, Cornelia is sitting in the Living Room of her apartment watching TV while her mother left to do a bit of shopping. But before she left, Elizabeth made sure that Cornelia had the phone close by just in case and something to eat and drink. Once that was taken care of, she left to do some food shopping as well as pick up Lillian from school. Once she was alone, Cornelia began to relax and watch some TV while thinking about her choice to quit being a Guardian.
"It's going to be over soon.", she said to herself.
"What's going to be over, Doll?", came the voice of Napoleon as he jumped up on the couch.
"I not going to be a Guardian anymore.", she said surprising Napoleon.
"Say what?", the Regent questioned. "Is this because of what Irma and Will did to you?"
"Some what.", Cornelia replied. "It's just that... I'm tired of them along with Caleb always talking about how I don't deserve to be a Guardian after what happened with me and Will."
"And you believe them?", Napoleon questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Doll. You're letting them get to you! If it wasn't for you, then Nerissa would of had the powers of Earth's Heart. And from what I've heard from Matty-Boy, you're the reason Elyon saw her brother for the jerk he was. And think about this. If the Oracle saw that you weren't worthy of being a Guardian, then he wouldn't have made you one again. So if you ask me, I say you deserve to be a Guardian."
"Thanks. But, I'm so tired of those three giving me grief.", Cornelia replied.
"Does anyone else give you a hard time?", Napoleon asked.
"No.", Cornelia said. "They others don't want me to quit."
"Then don't!", Napoleon said. "Show Will, Irma, and Caleb that you deserve to be a Guardian! Let them see how wrong they are! You're a Guardian, kid! You can't escape it!"
"I... don't know.", Cornelia said. "I just don't know what to think anymore."
"Well at least think about it for the next few days.", Napoleon requested. "If by this Saturday you still want to quit, then I won't stand in your way. Deal?"
"Deal.", Cornelia said with a small smile that the Regent returned.
"Good.", he said before curling up next to Cornelia. "As for me I'm going to take a little cat nap."
Cornelia couldn't help but smile as she began to stroke Napoleon's fur as he slowly fell asleep. But in the back of her mind, she was trying to find a reason to not quit being a Guardian.
'What do I do?', she thought to herself. 'Please Lord, give me a sign.', she prayed hoping for an answer soon.
Meanwhile, on Metamoor, Will, Caleb, and Irma were in Meridian, walking through the village that was close to the palace. All three were in chipper moods seeing as Cornelia wasn't going to be a Guardian in a few days.
"Just think! In a few days, Corny's days as a Guardian will be over!", Irma said as she skipped down the street.
"Why do we have to wait a few days?", Caleb questioned as he walked arm in arm with Will. "Why not just take her to Kandrakar now and get it over with?"
"Because she needs to get better after what happened.", Will replied. "Besides. What's a few days of waiting?"
"I guess you're right.", Caleb said. "I mean the others couldn't talk her out of quitting."
"Wow! She's really serious about this.", Irma said.
"Looks like.", Will said as the turned a corner. "I wonder who the Oracle will pick to take her place?"
"Maybe we can convince him to take that Endarno guy's advice and give us the extra powers.", Caleb suggested.
"I don't see that happening.", Will said. "We'll just have to wait and see who the Oracle picks. I just hope they're people we can get along with."
"Maybe we can help pick them.", Irma said getting an odd look from Will and Caleb. "What? It could happen."
"Maybe.", Will said. "We'll ask the Oracle when Cornelia goes to Kandrakr to quit being a Guardian."
"I can't wait!", Irma cheered. "No more Corny! Woo-Hoo!"
The next day, Cornelia was dropped off at school by her mother, who was glad to see that her friends were there waiting for her.
"Have a good day, Sweetie.", Elizabeth said to her daughter. "And take it easy."
"I will, Mom.", Cornelia said before they kissed each other on the cheek. "You have a good day, too.", she said before getting out of the car.
Once out of the car and closing the door, Elizabeth drove off to her job, leaving Cornelia to start her day at school. She was happy to see Micheal, Elyon, and Alchemy there waiting for her.
"Hey, guys!", Cornelia said as she walked up to them.
"Welcome back.", Alchemy said she and Elyon gave her a hug that Cornelia welcomed and returned.
"It's great to be back.", Cornelia said as they pulled away from each other smiling. "So where are the others?"
"Wait for it.", Micheal said as the school's intercoms turned on.
"Gooooooooood Morning Sheffield!", came Angelo's voice from the intercoms. "Angelo Vanders here on this nice and sunny Thursday morning! And some of you are probably asking yourselves, "Who the heck is this cat and why is he on the radio?" Well I'm a new student here and because of the actions of one Irma Lair, Principal K asked me to help run the show. So Lair On The Air is done for! Long live The Show! And to start things off, here's some music to give you all some get up and go! Hit it, Mr. Tubbs!", he said before some music started playing.
"Wait! So Irma really did get kicked off the show by Knickerbocker?", Cornelia questioned as she and walked towards the school with Micheal, Elyon, and Alchemy.
"Yep.", Micheal answered. "And she asked Angelo to take over."
"Wow! Irma's gonna be pissed when she find this out.", Cornelia replied.
"Oh well.", Elyon said as she noticed Cornelia and Micheal holding hands as they walked.
Elyon then nudged Alchemy and pointed at Cornelia and Micheal. Alchemy could help grin at the two of them.
"Oh yeah!", Alchemy said remembering something. "We forgot to tell you something, Cornelia."
"What's that?", Cornelia asked as they walked into the school.
A few minutes later...
"Fashion, huh?", Cornelia questioned after Alchemy told her about what her job would be for the paper and radio show. "Works for me. Between me and Hay Lin, we'll let people know what the latest fashions are. And I know of a few sales that some stores have now."
"Well, we meet at Study Hall to get everything printed for the paper tomorrow.", Elyon explained before she noticed Caleb heading towards his Homeroom. "I wonder what Will and Irma are doing right now?"
"I have no idea.", Alchemy replied. "Being grounded isn't fun."
"As long as they're not causing trouble, I'm happy.", Micheal said.
"But you know, I do feel sorry for Caleb not having Will with him.", Elyon said.
"He'll be okay.", Micheal said. "He'll be seeing her this Saturday at the pool party. So no worries.", he said as they headed down the hall.
But what they didn't know was that the Caleb Hart in school was actually an Astral Drop. Just like the Will Vandom that was at the Vandom residence and the Irma Lair at the Lair residence were Astral Drops. For all three of them were in the Meridian Kingdom on Metamoor avoiding any and all work.
"A girl can get use to this.", Irma said as they were relaxing in the Royal Garden. "Why didn't we do this when we first learned how to make Astral Drops?"
"Don't know.", Will said as she sitting under a tree with Caleb. "I guess we never really had a reason to use them."
"Well, I'm glad you thought of it.", Caleb said before they shared a kiss.
"Me, too.", Will said smiling before the sound of an explosion caught their attention. "What the heck was that?"
"I don't know!", Caleb said as they all got to their feet. "But it came from the village!"
"Looks looks like we're on the clock!", Irma said ready for action.
"Guardians, Unite!", Will said as she held up the Heart of Kandrakar.
"Water!", Irma said as she transformed into her Guardian form.
"Earth!", Caleb said as he transformed into his Guardian form.
"Quintessence!", Will said as she transformed into her Guardian form.
Once transformed, the three of them took to the air to investigate what was going on. Once high enough in the air, the three of them saw that it was another robot marching through the village. Only this robot was different. It was twelve feet tall with a four foot wide chest and large arms. It's right arm had a gun barrel that shot fire out from it while the left arm had a large hand that began to smash homes like it was nothing.
"Again with the robots!", Irma said as they flew towards the large machine.
"Robot.", Will said correcting her friend. "There's only one of them."
"And it's a big one.", Caleb said. "We have to stop it before it does anymore damage to the village!"
"Should we call the others?", Irma questioned.
"Why?", Will questioned. "We can handle this!", she said as they landed in front of the robot who quickly spotted them.
"Target found!", the robot said as it scanned the three Guardians. "Proceed with capture!", it said as it transformed its right gun barrel into a net launcher.
"Just like last time!", Irma said as the three of them dodged the net the robot fired at them.
"That's what I was hoping for!", Will said. "Go take out the fires, Irma! Me and Caleb got this!"
"Righty, oh!", Irma said before flying off ti put out the fires the robot made.
"Let's see how you like this!", Will said as she fired a bolt of lightning at the robot only for it to do nothing to it. "Uh-oh!"
Suddenly, the robot fired its left arm at Will surprising her! She was about to fly off but the hand grabbed her and dropped to the ground with Will.
"Whoa!", Will yelled as she hit the ground, still in the grip of the robot's hand that was attached to a cable that was beginning to retracted to the robot.
"Oh no you don't!", Caleb said as he used his sword to cut the cable.
Will them used her super-strenght to pry open the robot's hand to get free. She then grabbed the cable that was still connected to the robot and sent a surge of lightning into the robot! Once that happened, the robot began to shake as it shutdown. It then fell on it's back not moving.
"Well, that was easy.", Will said as Irma landed next to her.
"The fires are out.", Irma said. "And I see you guys took down the big guy here."
"Yeah.", Caleb said. "But I'd like to know where this thing came from."
"Well, we know it's somewhere on Earth.", Will said. "Question is where."
"Area 51?", Irma suggested getting an odd look from Will. "What? You never know!"
"What's Area 51?", Caleb asked.
"Trust me, you don't want to know.", Will said as she picked up the robot's hand. "Let's just get rid of this robot and get some rest just in case if there's another robot attack.", she said as she took to the air with Irma right behind her.
Using his power over earth, Caleb made the robot lift into the air and followed Will and Irma.
"Think we should tell the others?", Irma asked Will.
"And reveal what we're doing while they're at school?', Will questioned.
"Yeah right!", they both said before giggling as they flew to where they put the other robots they defeated.
Back on Earth, Hollens had just returned to his penthouse apartment, from Metamoor not to happy with the defeat of his robot by only three of the Guardians. Something he was to pleased about. Right now, he had just finished making some tea and was exiting the Kitchen with a tea pot.
"It seems that those Guardians are stronger than I give them credit for.", Hollens replied as he sat in his chair while setting his tea pot on a nearby table. "I must find out how strong they are before I move forward with my plans.", he said as he poured some tea into one of the cups he had there. "Perhaps a few test are in order.", he said as Riddle suddenly entered the place. "Ah! How goes things, Riddle?"
"Things are going well, Hollens.", Riddle said as he sat in a chair. "Our friends, at Simutech, are making great progress with their microchip. They've come up with things that will aid us well with your robot army.", he said with a smirk.
"Excellent!", Hollens said as he poured some tea into another cup and offered it to Riddle, who took it and sipped some. "If only we could have used what they came up with in the recent attack on Meridian."
"I take it that the Guardians defeated your robot.", Riddle replied.
"Yes. And it was only three of them!", Hollens said getting annoyed. "So, I've decided to conduct a few test before we move any further with our plans. Test that may cost us a few more robots, but will pay off in the long run."
"Fair enough.", Riddle said. "As for me, I have two housewarming parties to go two. One of them is the home of John Vanders."
"Is that so?", Hollens questioned with a smirk. "This may be our chance to find out more about the Guardians through those that came before them."
"Indeed.", Riddle said. "I'll keep my eyes out for any of the ones you told me about and read their minds as best I can."
"Be careful, Riddle", Hollens said. "If a certain one is there, stay out of her mind. She has telepathy, like you."
"Very well.", Riddle said. "If things go well we'll have more knowledge on our targets then we'd hope for."
"And with that knowledge, we'll be able to crush those brats when the time is right!", Hollens said with a smirk. "But for now, we wait and plan. One must be careful if one is to get what one wants."
"Indeed, my friend.", Riddle said. "Indeed."
Later that day, after school, Elyon decided to go check on things in Meridian. So after telling her friends that she had to go do something, she opened a fold where she along with Drake and Aldern. Once through the fold, they saw that they were in the Royal Courtyard. It was then Aldren excused himself to go pay his father, Aketon, a visit. As for Elyon and Drake, they headed inside the castle to check with her parents on things.
"No matter how many times I walk around here, I'm still amazed by this place.", Elyon said as she and Drake headed for the Throne Room. "I never thought I'd become the queen of a kingdom on another world at the age of fourteen!"
"I've learned that life can be full of surprises.", Drake said as they were now standing at the doors to the Throne Room. "It's how you handle them that counts.", he said with a smile that Elyon returned as the guards there opened the doors.
Once the doors were open, Elyon and Drake were shocked to see Irma kicking back on the throne with her right leg hanging off the arm of the throne.
"Speaking of surprises.", Drake said as he and Elyon walked into the Throne Room.
"What the heck are you doing here?", Elyon question not to happy at how Irma was treating the Escanor throne.
"Hey, Elly!", Irma said still sitting the way she was sitting. "What's up?"
"You tell me.", Elyon said. "How did you get here?"
"That would be me."
Elyon and Drake turned to see Will and Caleb walking out from the balcony window hand in hand.
"I made Astral Drops of me, Irma, and Caleb.", Will explained. "We then came here to relax.
"Are you kidding me?", Elyon questioned. "You, as well as Irma should be home while YOU, Caleb, should have been in school! But instead you have Drops taking your place and then you come here to escape your punishment!"
"Smart, huh?", Irma questioned with a cheesy smile.
"You! Get off my throne!", Elyon demanded.
"Why? You're not using it right now.", Irma said not moving an inch.
"Get off of my throne or I'll make you get off!", Elyon said in a tone that said she wasn't kidding around.
"Fine! Have your stupid throne! Geez!", Irma said as she got up from the throne and walked over to Will and Caleb.
"What's your problem?", Will asked.
"What's my problem?", Elyon said turning to face them. "What's you problem? You and Irma should be on Earth taking your punishment but instead, your here having fun! It's like you guys don't care about what you did to Cornelia!"
"Hey! We said we were sorry about that!", Will said. "And we meant it!"
"Besides. It's a good thing that we snuck here!", Irma said. "Thanks to us, a robot attack was stopped!"
"Another attack?", Elyon questioned.
"Why didn't you call the rest of us?", Drake questioned.
"We were able to handle it.", Caleb said. "There was only one of them.
"That's far from the point!", Elyon said. "What if there was more? You could have been outnumbered and captured!"
"But we weren't!", Will said. "We beat it and got rid of it! So I figure that entitles the three of us to kick back and chill here for a bit."
"Oh, no it doesn't!", Elyon said. "Caleb, yes. This is his home. You two, however, do not have the right to use the Meridian Kingdom as an escape from a punishment you should be serving!"
"Besides. With this threat coming from Earth, the mastermind behind it all might have a spy or two spying on you all.", Drake replied.
"I... Didn't think about that.", Will said. "If they know about us, they may no an Astral Drop when they see one."
"Uh-oh! That's not good!", Irma said.
"No. It isn't.", Caleb said. "We have to head back and find our Drops!"
"Well, I know where mine is.", Will said before opening a fold. "I'm sure I can use the Heart to find yours and Irma's"
"Well, I know mine's at the police station working.", Irma said before going through the fold.
"I'm sorry for what we did, Elyon.", Will said getting Elyon's attention. "We shouldn't have taken advantage of your world like this."
"As long as you really sorry, then all is forgiven.", Elyon said with a smile that Will returned before heading through the fold with Caleb.
"You were very forgiving.", Drake said as the fold closed.
"Well, part of me is hoping that they'd learn from it and try to get along with Cornelia.", Elyon replied. "But I don't think that'll happen anytime soon."
"One can only hope.", Drake said before they went to look for Elyon's parents.
Elsewhere, Aldern was in his father's blacksmith shop telling him about his time on Earth.
"And the schools there are a lot different from our schools here, father.", Aldern said. "They have all kinds of things for students to do, if they're interested. I'm even a part of something called the newspaper club with Drake and Queen Elyon. It is quite interesting."
"Well, I'm glad that you've found something to do while on Earth, son.", Aketon said happy for his son. "Can you hand me that hammer next to you?"
"Sure.", Aldern said as he handed his father the hammer he wanted. "Can I ask you something, father?"
"What is it, son?", Aketon said as he struck the heated metal with his hammer.
"How did you court mother?", he asked causing his father to stop his work.
"Now what has brought this up?", he asked as he turned to look at his son.
And it was then that he saw it. Aketon looked in his son's eyes and saw a look that told him he like someone.
"Ah! I see!", he said. "You like someone.", he said surprising his son. "Who is she?"
"She's... someone from Earth.", Aldern answered. "At least I think I might like her."
"And who's the lucky girl?", Aketon asked.
"Cassidy the Water Guardian.", Aldern replied.
"I see.", Aketon said. "Well, all I can tell you is this, my son. Be yourself."
"That's all?", Aldern asked.
"That is all.", Aketon said. "It was the same advice my father gave my when I wanted to court your mother and it's the same advice I'm giving you. If the Water Guardian likes you, then you just have to be yourself. You can never go wrong by doing that."
"I guess you are right, father.", Aldern said with a smile. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Aldern.", Aketon said. "Now let me tell you about how I courted your mother. We can have a meal while I tell you."
"I'd like that.", Aldern said as they left the shop to go have a meal. "We haven't had a meal together in a while."
The two Galhots made their way to the local restaurant to have a meal together. Both happy to spend time together. But in the back of Aldern's head, he was hoping that he had a chance with Cassidy. Even though they were from different worlds. But then again, anything was possible. No matter where you came from.
A/N: Well this is a fine mess! Riddle has plans to do some mind reading at the Vanders' housewarming party, while Cornelia still plans on quitting the Guardians. And Hollens plans on seeing how powerful our heroes are through some test that will involve more of his robots. You know that can't be good! Let's hope that the two new Guardians the Oracle has picked can be of some help! Or else there's going to be some hard times ahead.
Please review.