Chapter 26:

"You may want to get out of the way, Will.", he said to which Will moved away from Caleb.

"I've put up with a lot of crap from you and Irma.", Cornelia said calmly as she had her head down looking at the sand. "I let it go when you pulled that prank with the gum when my parents wanted me to press charges.", she said to Irma. "I even took all the comments and insult you said about me.", she said to Caleb and Irma. "I took your mistrust and mistreatment of me.", she said as her eyes began to water. "I took all of that hoping that one day soon you two would finally see that I was good and deserved to be a Guardian again. But now...", Cornelia said as she lifted her head looking at Caleb and Irma with tears running down have face. "I'M TIRED OF TRYING TO PROVE MYSELF TO YOU TWO!", she shouted to the two of them. "You don't like me being around, tough! That's your problem! I'm here and I'm not going anywhere unless the Oracle, himself, takes away my powers! So you two might as well get use to me being here! IF you can't then that's your problem! I will not be pushed around or insulted by you two anymore!", she said as her chest moved in and out from her heavy breathing as she dropped to her knees crying, letting out all the pain from the grief Caleb and Irma put her through.

Seeing this, Will walked up to Cornelia and dropped to her knees and hugged her in comfort. Cornelia welcomed the hug as she held on to Will happy that Will was the one there for her.

"You know something? You two need a good punishment for not only what happened today during the mission, but for the way you two have been acting all together.", Cassidy said to Caleb and Irma.

"And what gives you the right to do that?", Caleb questioned while glaring at Cassidy.

"You're not our real leader!", Irma said.

"Yes. She is.", Will said as she was still holding Cornelia in comfort. "We both are! And I say that seeing as Angelo was the one in charge today, it's him who should deal out your punishment."

"Couldn't agree me.", Cassidy said getting nods from the others.

"What!?", Irma questioned. "No way!"

"I don't think so!", Caleb snapped. "He will never tell me what to do again!", he said pointing to Angelo.

"Oh! It's going to happen!", Will said. "Cause if not, then you two will be left behind while the rest of us go into battle next time!"

"So what's it going to be?", Cassidy asked.

"Fine!", Caleb said.

"Whatever.", Irma said.

"Good.", Cassidy said before turning to Angelo. "Do your thing."

"Okay.", Angelo said. "Well, whenever I do something wrong, Uncle John gives me a punishment based off something I do or don't like to do. So that's what I'll do here."

"What do you mean?", Alchemy asked.

"Well... seeing as Caleb like to train so much, he will do not training for the next week.", Angelo said.

"What!?", Caleb questioned. "You can't make me do that!"

"Oh, yes he can!", Will said as she stood up with Cornelia. "And I'm backing him up on this!"

"Same here.", Cassidy said. "One week of no training."

"See this as a chance to relax and chill on your own.", Angelo said. "Cause you really need to learn how to have fun on your own.", he said to Caleb who grumbled to himself knowing he couldn't win this one and headed back to the Vanders' home.

"What about Irma?", Hay Lin asked.

"This one is easy.", Angelo said looking at Irma who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "You, Irma, like to slack off and do nothing as much as you can. So for the next week, you will work at learning to heal and make ice better."

"Aw, man!", Irma whined.

"Whine all you want.", Will said. "But those are two things that you need to learn to do. So be ready for a week of training."

"Besides. We only do training after school for three days of the week.", Taranee said.

"So quit complaining.", Alchemy said to which Irma grumbled to herself as she walked off to be alone.

"Well, that went well.", Selece said before turning her attention to Cornelia who was now sitting on a rock. "You going to be okay?"

"Y-Yeah.", Cornelia said as Alchemy handed her a tissue to dry her tears. "I just couldn't take anymore of their crap."

"You shouldn't have had to in the first place.", Cassidy said. "When Will decided to try and be friends with you, they should have been supportive instead of giving you a hard time."

"Well, let's hope they change their tune after this coming week.", Will said making Cornelia smile a bit hoping for the best. "By the way, did you guys get the okay for that cosplay idea of yours?"

"Oh yeah!", Angelo said. "I decided to wait until we completed our mission before I said anything."

"So did we get the okay?", Hay Lin asked.

"Sure did!", Angelo said smiling. "Knickerbocker gave us the okay on everything we got planned."

"Woo-Hoo!", Hay Lin cheered as she jumped in the air. "I wonder what costumes I'll be making for the carnival?"

"First, we need to let the other members of the Newspaper Club and K-SHIP know about this.", Angelo said.

"Not to mention get everything set up and planned.", Taranee said.

"We're going to have our hands full.", Selece said.

"Not if we get some help in planning all of this.", Alchemy said. "We can call on some students to help us out."

"Well, you got my help.", Will said. "And we can get Caleb to help out as well. We can have it be a way for him to meet more people and hopefully make some friends."

"I know Eric will help!", Hay Lin said.

"Same with Nigel.", Taranee said.

"You know, this could be a way for you and Martin to get together, Al.", Cornelia said with a smile and wink to which Alchemy let out a sad sigh. "You okay, Alchemy?"

"You didn't tell them?", Angelo asked Alchemy who shook her head.

"Tell us what?", Taranee asked.

"The other day, Alchemy and I saw Uriah and Bess on a double date with Martin and Courtney.", Angelo said.

"Say what?", Will questioned.

"No way!", Hay Lin said.

"Way.", Alchemy said. "And from the way they were acting, I would say that they've been together for a while now."

"Oh, Alchemy.", Cornelia said as she walked up to one of her best friends and gave her a hug that she returned. "It'll be okay. You'll meet somebody who will sweep you off your feet."

"Thanks.", Alchemy said with a small smile. "I'll be okay. And to be honest, I'm happy for Martin and Courtney. Not to mention Uriah and Bess."

"Who'd of thought that those couples would happen?", Taranee questioned.

"Love can be a funny thing.", Angelo replied. "One day you can be with someone, the next day you're broken up."

"The tragedies of teen love.", Cassidy joked getting a laugh out of the others as they left the beach and headed back to Heatherfield to hang out.

As for Irma, she had teleported back to town and headed home where her mother had just came back from the supermarket.

"Hey, mom.", Irma said as she walked into the Kitchen and got some cookies and milk.

"Hey, Irma.", Anna said to her daughter as she noticed her sour mood. "Something wrong?"

"Well... Have you even had a bad feeling about somebody, yet your friends think you're being mean for giving said person a hard time?", Irma asked as she sat at the Kitchen table.

"Hmmmm...", Anna said as sha sat next to her daughter. "Is this about Cornelia?", she asked getting a nod from Irma. "I see."

"I just don't trust her after the fight between her and Will.", Irma said. "Yet Will, Hay Lin, and the others want to be friends with her."

"Maybe they want to give her a second chance.", Anna said to her daughter who frowned up a bit. "But you think that Cornelia is just pulling a front."

"Well, DUH!", Irma said.

"Wait a minute.", Anna said as something just came to her. "Is this the same Cornelia that you used to pick on in 2nd Grade?", she asked to which Irma blushed a bit as her eyes went wide surprised that her mother would remember that. "I thought so. Irma Lair, you were wrong about her then and I think you're wrong about her now."

"But, mom!", Irma said.

"No buts, young lady.", Anna said. "Before you go jumping the gun and making claims about somebody, I suggest you find proof that Cornelia isn't the friend you say she isn't. But if you find out that she is on the level, you apologize to her. Okay?"

"Okay.", Irma said knowing her mother was right. "I'll apologize if I'm wrong about her."

"Good.", Anna said as she kissed her daughter on the forehead before she stood up and got ready to prepare dinner. "Now, I'm going to prepare dinner. You can help if you'd like."

"Sure!", Irma said with a smile as she finished her last cookie and her glass of milk.

Then she, like her mother, washed her hands and began to help making dinner. As for Caleb, he had made his way to the Vanders' home, where he was now staying, and was sitting on the porch. As he was sitting there, Angelo's grandfather, Joe Vanders, came walking out for some air and saw Caleb sitting on the porch.

"So I take it that you all completed your mission.", Joe said to Caleb.

"Yes, sir.", Caleb said.

"Is there something wrong, my boy.", Joe asked Caleb as he noticed to sadness in his voice.

"No disrespect, sir, but it's kind of personal.", Caleb said not wanting to sound rude.

"Let me guess. It's about Cornelia.", Joe said to which Caleb twitched a bit. "Mmm-Hmm! Thought so. Kaddie along with Yannie and Hallie told me that you and the one named Irma have a problem with her being a Guardian again after all that happened a while back."

"Yes, sir.", Caleb said.

"But tell me this.", Joe said. "Has she shown any signs of going bad?"

"No, sir.", Caleb said. "It's just that... I don't want to take any chance of her suddenly coming back under my mother's mind-control and attacking Will again."

"I can respect that. And I'm sure your fellow Guardians do as well.", Joe said. "But they also know that if there was a chance of that happening, then the Oracle wouldn't have made Cornelia a Guardian again.", he said getting to Caleb. "And deep down you know this as well. So what's your real story, Caleb?"

"I... I don't want to sound full of myself, but... I think that Cornelia is still trying to get with me.", Caleb said with a slight blush that got Joe laughing a bit.

"Now from what Angelo tells me, Cornelia and Micheal are seeing each other.", Joe said. "But I'm guessing that you think it's a front to throw everyone off, huh?", he asked getting a nod from Caleb. "That's a pretty good theory, my boy, but it's time that you're honest with yourself. The other reason that you don't want Cornelia around is that when you see her, she reminds you of how close your mother came close to taking all that you care for.", he said getting a look of surprise from Caleb.

"What...!? How...!?"

"It doesn't take much to see it in your eyes, son.", Joe said to the young Earth Guardian. "My old best friend's actions took control of Cornelia and made her attack Will almost killing her which would have taken down two Guardians in the process. That would have brought great sadness to you, and the other three Guardians as well as great anger and hatred towards Cornelia. Of course, the Oracle would have been able to find replacements for Will and Cornelia, but the question is would the other three accept them so soon after losing Will and seeing Cornelia get locked away not caring if she was under mind-control. Almost like how you and Irma are treating the girl now."

"But sir...", Caleb said. "How can the Oracle be so trusting after what happened?"

"Everyone deserves a second chance, my boy.", Joe said with a kind smile as he looked at Caleb. "You're living proof of that."

"Me?", Caleb questioned feeling confused.

"You're Nerissa's son.", Joe said. "The same Nerissa who wanted to take control of not only Kandrakar but of the Known Worlds. Did you really think that the Council of the Known Worlds were happy to learn that you were the child of one of the biggest threats they have ever known?"

"Then why am I a Guardian still?", Caleb questioned.

"Because the Oracle vouched for you saying that you were not like your mother.", Joe said. "He said that you were a good man who had fought hard to stop his own mother from achieving her goals when you could have joined her. It was thanks to the Oracle that you are still a Guardian. The same Oracle that spoke up for Cornelia knowing that she deserved a second chance. For he knew that if the Council of the Known Worlds has their way, that poor girl would have been locked away far from her family and friends. And we both know what that gave birth to when it was done to your mother."

Caleb said nothing as he felt sorry for what happened to his mother when she was locked away for so long letting anger grow within her until she finally found a way out wanting revenge.

"I know that you don't trust Cornelia still, Caleb.", Joe said getting the boy's attention. "But I hope you do, in time.", he said as he stood up and headed inside. "I truly hope that you do."

'Can I trust her?', Caleb thought to himself as he sat there thinking about what Joe had said. 'I... I don't know. I guess I'll have to wait and see.', he said as he sat there and looked up at the sky thinking about things.

Meanwhile, Hollens was in his penthouse apartment with Riddle and Sylla. And he wasn't to happy about things.

"It seems that I may have been wrong about the allies of the Guardians.", Hollens said. "I sent some new robots to Metamoor only to have them run into some of the queen's warriors who were able to not only defeat the robots but take one of the heads as a trophy."

"If they get that head to the Guardians, they'll learn about us!", Sylla said getting scared.

"No they will not.", Riddle said. "The head will have some info, but not enough to implicate us."

"But they may learn a few things.", Hollens said. "And maybe we can use that to our advantage.", Hollens said as a smirk grew on his face.

"What do you have in mind?", Sylla asked.

"Something that will not only help us keep a closer eye on the Guardians and their allies, but also let us know what we are up against.", Hollens said before sipping some tea. "But we have to set things up first before the Guardians get to the head first."

"Then let us get started.", Riddle said. "Sylla. Keep a close eye on the Guardians."

"And call us when they leave school.", Hollens said. "We must be ready for when they strike the factory."

"Why the factory?", Sylla asked.

"Because all and any of the robots that are made, have instructions to return there.", Riddle explained. "The map is actually programmed in their CPUs."

"Which is in their heads.", Sylla figured.

"Correct.", Hollens said. "And when the Guardians get the head up and running, they'll find the map to the factory in which they be coming to try and shut it down."

"But we're going to have everything moved to another location.", Riddle said. "Yet leave just enough for the Guardians to destroy and think they've shut us down."

"As well as give us eyes on the inside.", Hollens said.

"Eyes on the inside?", Sylla questioned.

"You shall see, my boy.", Hollens said. "You shall see.", he said as he drank some more tea.

The next day at school, Angelo and the members of K-SHIP were all in the K-SHIP room ready to do the news. Granted, Irma wishes that she was back in control in which it would be her doing most of the talking. But alas, all she could do was just sit there and hope that Angelo would let her announce the theme of the carnival.

"What up, Sheffield!? Angelo here with some great news that some of you will like.", Angelo said getting the attention of the students that roamed either the halls or the schoolyard. "As you all know, the school carnival is coming up in November. And as you all know the carnival needs a theme. Well, this years carnival is... You know what? I'm going to let someone you all know fill you in on it.", he said. "Take it away..."

"Yes!", Irma said to herself thinking Angelo was going to let her tell the theme of the carnival.

"Mr. Martin Tubbs!", Angelo said surprising Martin, but more importantly Irma.

"Me!?", Martin questioned in surprised while pointing at himself.

"Him!?", Irma questioned in surprised.

"Yes, Martin, you.", Angelo said. "You helped Taranee with the info I gave Mrs. Knickerbocker for this. So you deserve to fill in the school about what the theme will be."

"Cool!", Martin said as Angelo let him sit in front of the mic. "Ummmm... Hey, everybody. Like Angelo said, we have a theme for this years carnival. And this year it's cosplay!", he said knowing that some of the students didn't know what cosplay was. "For those of you who don't know what cosplay is, it is where people go to special conventions and gatherings dressed as their favorite character of their favorite TV show, movie, cartoon, anime, comic book, fantasy book, and video game. Some even go dressed as an alternate version of a character or, for some women, the female version of a male character. That is what we'll be doing for the carnival this year. A cosplay convention. This is a chance for everyone, young and old, to dress up as their favorite hero and have some fun for three days and two nights. On the first night of the carnival, there will be a dance for us teens while the adults will get one the next day. And on the third day there's going to be some costume contest. All of the information and rules will be provided in the school paper tomorrow. So for those of you who plan on doing this, be sure to get one. Also, we are looking for those willing to help set things up a week or two before the carnival to add some flare to it all. You can sign up at the suggestion box in the Lunch Hall. Back to you, Angelo!"

"Thank you, Mr. Tubbs!", Angelo said high-fiving Martin. "You all heard it from, Martin, folks! Cosplay is the theme for this years Carnival. Be sure to learn all you can before you go and make your costumes. That is for those of you who are making costumes. Those of you who aren't, that's cool. You can still some for the fun and good food that will be provided by the local food trucks. So everybody wins in the end. But right now, we at K-SHIP are going to let you kick it to some music from the 90's. Enjoy!", he said as he had Uriah put on some music.

"Well, that was fun.", Martin said smiling.

"Glad you enjoyed it, man.", Angelo said.

"I'll be back.", Martin said as he got up. "Got to use the bathroom."

"Take your time.", Angelo said. "We still got plenty of the morning show to do.", he said as Martin headed out of the room.

Angelo then turned to Irma, who didn't look happy.

"And what's your deal?", Angelo asked.

"None of your business.", Irma said .

"She just upset that she didn't get to announce the theme for the carnival.", Courtney said earning a glare from Irma.

"Oh really?", Angelo questioned. "Well, I picked Martin because of the work he helped Taranee with when it came to the info we had to give Mrs. Knickerbocker."

"So why didn't you let Taranee do it seeing as she did most of the work?", Irma questioned.

"She didn't want to do it.", Angelo said. "I asked her and everything. She said something about being nervous when it came to public speaking. So I decided to let Martin make the announcement. To bad if you don't like it, cause it already happened. Deal with it."

"Well, I would have done it better.", Irma said.

"Full of ourselves, aren't we?", Uriah questioned.

"When isn't she?", Bess asked.

"Relax, guys.", Angelo said. "As for you, Irma, get over yourself.", he said earning a glare from the Water Guardian. "Be mad! I don't care! You may have been good at what you did when you ran K-SHIP, like the others here said, but you need to learn to share the spotlight. You do that, and I may let you run K-SHIP every once in a while."

"Wait. You guys said that I was good at running the show?", Irma asked the others just as Martin came back in the room.

"You weren't bad.", Uriah said. "You just hogged the mic too much."

"Totally.", Bess said. "We barely got a word in for our reports."

"And we worked hard on them, too!", Courtney said.

"We all liked doing K-SHIP, Irma.", Martin said as he took his seat. "But you never gave us much of a chance to do our thing. Angelo, on the other hand, does. He even let other come in and help with some things during the lunch periods. It gives us more time to work on other things for the show. Like the tech segments I do with Alchemy."

"And our gossip segments we do with Hay Lin and Cornelia.", Bess said.

"And sports that I do with Cassidy and Micheal.", Uriah added.

"See where they're going with all of this, Irma?", Angelo asked. "You need to share the spotlight more to make a better show. Plain and simple. Think about that.", as the song ended which meant that it was time to go back on the air. "And we're back, folks! And now I'm going to shift gears and let the lovely Grumper Sisters give you some morning celebrity gossip. Take it away, ladies!"

"Listen up, folks! Cause we got some gossip on some of Hollywood's famous!", Courtney said.

As the Grumpers did their gossip report, Irma was thinking about how she ran K-SHIP when she was in charge. She saw how happy the crew was with Angelo compared to when she ran things, which didn't make her to happy. For a second, part of her thought about replacing them if she even got put in charge again. But then, she began to think that maybe she should have shared the spotlight instead of taking up most of the time on the show. But right now, she just wanted the show back before she would make some if any changes.

'I ran the show pretty good.', she began to think to herself. 'None of the fans complained about it. So why should I change? And if they had any complaints about how I ran things, why didn't Martin and the others say anything? Because they knew who was in charge that's why! And when I get the show back, and I will, there will be some changes.', she thought to herself with a smirk a the show went on.

A/N: Well, looks like Cornelia gave Caleb and Irma a piece of her mind. And boy did they get an interesting punishment. Let's hope they go through with it and not make things worse for them. And thanks to Anna and Joe, the two of them are starting to rethink things a bit. And it seems that Hollens has a plan to spy on the Guardians and their allies. And it seems that Irma still plans on getting back K-SHIP. Things are getting heated up, folks! Find out what happens in the next chapter!

Please review.