The Guardian's Guardian - Chapter 2

[Rarity]

Heeeere we go again! Things get, uh, manlier in this chapter. Why? Because the manliest man in the world is going to be there! Well, manliest man in this story's world, anyway. The previous chapter can be found here. The fun part comes in chapter 3, I promise!

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Princess Pain
Age: 16
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 125
Ability: Princess Pain has the power of lightning on her side, which she controls in an elegant and dazzling fashion. She can use the power of lightning to alter her electrical charge, which allows her to float, fly, and even move at incredible speeds. In addition to that, she uses her lightning prowess to leave the culprits stunned in sheer amazement - possibly blinded too.

Sol
Age: 19
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 165
Ability: His ability allows him to regenerate and repel. Although he is a novice and the fourth youngest Guardian ever to be accepted into the GCC, he shows much promise. He's currently partnered up with the Reckless Destroyer, so keep an eye out for the two of them! They're not hard to miss.

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I stared in confusion at the light coming from my hands, but still, I instinctively placed them over Roland's body, almost as if it weren't me doing it. I focused everything I had on his body - fix it, fix it, fix it, heal, heal, heal, don't die, don't die, don't die. Okay, maybe it wasn't some elaborate or sophisticated chant, but it got the job done. The blood vanished, the hole in his shirt was repaired, and he appeared to be breathing. I stood up and stared down at my handiwork in utter awe. Either I was dreaming, or I just healed a gunshot wound through the heart AND brought a man back to life. Hell, I even fixed his shirt!

"Uuuh... Hikaru, watch out!" Roland cried as he sat straight up. He immediately felt up his chest with his hands, his eyes widening in surprise at the gravity of the situation. Maybe because he knew he was shot in the heart and was somehow alive? Or because my hands were still glowing, though the aura was slowly fading at this point.

"Are you feeling alright? I know you just got back from being dead and all, but can we get back to those two invitations to the GCC?" I mused, flashing a smile. It's almost as if none of this happened from my point of view. He was alive, and he was going to ask me to go with him to the GCC! Since I saved his life, he might want to do. . . Other things. I offered my hand to help him up, but he just stared at me. No, wait, he was staring past me.

"Y-you? You! You're. . . Just. . . TAKE THEM! I. . . I HAVE TO GO!" Roland yelled, throwing the invitations at my feet before speeding off. I think he was even beginning to cry.

"Wait! Roland!" I chased after him, but after he rounded the corner, he was gone. I stood there for a few moments, trying to gather my thoughts. So much just happened, I didn't even know where to start.

Then it hit me, well, it hit me AGAIN. I just healed fatal injuries and resurrected a man. I wanted to be a GCC Physician, but now I could be a. . . A. . . A GUARDIAN! I can work with The Reckless Destroyer, El Turbo, Furietta, Nico, and even the cute little Princess Pain! This is a dream come tru- But Roland's afraid of me? I guess reality is more bittersweet than the dream I was envisioning. Regardless, I have this invitation and I'm going. I can't dwell on Roland any longer, I have to worry about myself. Albeit, I wish Roland would be going to the GCC with me. . . I wish he were here with me now. This is really going to be tough.

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The next day, I made sure I washed my piece of crap car so I wouldn't look like total trash. Then of course, I myself got dressed in the nicest things I could find. I figured a button down shirt, sleeveless vest, slacks, black shoes, and a tie would be formal enough. My hair was kind of overgrown, so I just styled it by keeping it straight and putting my bangs to one side. I had to rearrange it a few times to avoid looking like that Justin Beiber guy... It's hard to believe that his hairstyle is still an easily recognizable icon after so many decades have past. It's not like I could afford a haircut or anything else at this point anyway. Like, I literally couldn't afford it.

I think I did pretty good job at cleaning up. I was looking pretty handsome, and I even added my thick-framed glasses so I could attempt to look intelligent. Sure I was intelligent, but I didn't look it. People often thought I was just an idiot pretending to be smart. I guess being handsome has it's price. Okay, I've got to stop stalling, it's time to go!

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When I pulled up to the Guardian Command Center, I couldn't help but stare at the magnificent building. It was huge! It housed so many important things, and even some of the Guardians lived here. "HEY BUDDY, WATCH IT!" A man yelled, causing me to stomp on the brakes. Oh, wow, I almost ran over the valet. I'm off to such a great start already!

"Sorry." I simply replied, slowly pulling my car up to the valet. "Can you park it where nobody can see it?"

"You don't have to ask me twice." the man snorted while rolling his eyes.

The mission begins now! I knew what I had to do. I had to go in there and find the head honcho and explain to him my situation. But what I didn't know was how to be a socialite, or talk to anyone new for that matter; I'm shy. That's what this thing was, rich and powerful people gathering to talk about business deals, politics, science, and all that jazz. Meanwhile, here I am, a lowly convenience store clerk who doesn't know the first thing about any of that junk. I wish Roland was here, I really need someone to hold my hand to get me through this. . . Metaphorically speaking. The more I thought about it, the more I thought I wouldn't be a good Guardian. I'm not brave at all and I was a shrimp compared to the other Guardian guys. Nothing worth looking at twice.

"Hey kid, you here by yourself?" A masculine voice called out from behind me. I know that voice. I know that voice! I spun around so fast that I almost fainted. It was him! OH GOD IT WAS HIM!

"Reckle... RD!" I almost spazzed out like a giddy school girl. "I can't believe I'm meeting RD! I-It's a pleasure to meet you sir, I'm a big fan! I really am!"

"Lucky you, here I am in the flesh!" He said with a cocky tone, showing an equally cocky smirk. He flexed his ridiculously meaty arm, then extended it - offering me his hand. I eagerly shook it without thinking... You know, him being super strong and capable of crushing my hand into dust? That's something to think about BEFORE shaking his hand. Thankfully, there was nothing to worry about. He squeezed my hand, but it felt like a normal, strong, steady handshake. He must have incredible control over his muscles for him to do that. Speaking of muscles, they seemed even bigger in real life. He was wearing a very nice blue suit with blue-tinted sunglasses that hid his eyes. His face looked so. . . Masculine and handsome, he even had a little scruff, but it was well-kempt stubble. The suit surely did do his physic a great justice, though. Every time he moved his arm I could see the muscles working under the fabric. I felt like a pervert, just staring at his body the entire time like he was a piece of juicy mea- oh who the hell am I kidding? He's a hunk.

"Well you're wearing a suit, so you're not really 'in the flesh'." I said, and then quickly regretted it. It was the wrong thing to say. It's stupid. He won't even get it.

"Pffahaha! I guess if I were naked you'd be staring even harder than you are now." He joked. He subtly flexed his chest muscles and added, "Not that I'd mind."

"I'm... Sorry..." I meekly muttered, feeling my face grow red. He walked beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder, which almost caused me to jump out of my skin.

"I'm alone. You're alone. So it's settled, we're both going together. I could use a funny guy like you around. These types of parties get prrr-it-ty dull."

I nodded, still trying to maintain my composure, rather, what was left of it. Here I am at the Guardian Command Center, where I met my favorite Guardian, who happens to find me amusing AND he wants me to go with him to the event. That term 'explode with joy' was about to become literal if this kept up... No not like that! Get your minds out of the gutter, MINDS OUT OF THE GUTTER! Although, I think I wouldn't miiiiiiiiind it. Ugh, no, mind out of the gutter, MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER!

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When inside the building, it looked like a ballroom from a romance movie. Dazzling chandeliers, beautiful furniture, large groups of elegantly dressed people, and my favorite - FREE FOOD!

"There's the buffet table. You gotta fuel up before dealing with the bigwigs. Mind getting me a little something? I eat anything, so just pick out whatever." RD asked as he pointed me to the buffet. He sat at table in the corner where nobody was sitting and waved me off. HHHHHHHNG! RD asked me to do something! Heh, wow there's a lot to choose from. What does he like? Meat! Yeah, meat. He's a big guy, I'm sure he eats loads of it. Yeah, a whole plate full of meat sounds good. Hm, maybe some cheese and a roll or something just in case.

I brought the plate back to the table as quickly as I could so I didn't keep him waiting. He looked at it, then back at me, then back at the plate. "C'mon, I'm a big guy. That's not enough, go get more, like two more plates! Use your brain!" There's the 'jock' part of RD. Also know as 'the arrogant asshole' part of him. I quickly complied by getting him a bit of everything, and finally a plate for myself. Despite having three plates in front of him at the table, he waited for me to come back with mine before he dug in. I guess that made me feel a bit better.

"By the way, thanks kid for being nice about my temper. I get annoyed when I'm hungry. This little snack should hold me over for a bit. Sorry for biting your head off." He apologized before digging in.

"It's no problem, really." I said, but I don't think he heard me over the sound of him... Could you call that eating? He ate like a burly beast, while I ate like a widdle wabbit. I don't know why, but I just found that funny. We must've looked like an odd pair sitting here, we were so diff- Wait, that's what he calls a LITTLE SNACK?

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After we finished eating, he went back to get more. He said he hadn't eaten since last night. I said it was no big deal, and he seemed to like that I didn't care about his eating habits. I actually liked the way he ate, er, minus the lack of manners. I loved to cook. He loved to eat. Maybe I can make him a big meal one day to thank him for saving me and my classmates. As for now, we both seemed to be enjoying each other's company. I made him laugh, he made me laugh, and it was all just small talk - the stuff that's usually supposed to be boring. He turned out to be a real sweetheart in person, though his arrogance shown through here and there. He was the biggest man in the world, so it was like a law that he had to be arrogant to some degree. I kind of thought it was cute when he acted cocky. I especially liked it when he flexed. I think he was trying to be subtle, but there's nothing subtle about flexing that much muscle, now is there?

"Here he is, that's Hikaru Koizumi... And there's the Reckless Destroyer, eating like the barbarians he is." I turned around to see it was Princess Pain and the chairman of the GCC. How did they know about me already? I planned on introducing myself when things died down, but this worked too.

"heh widduh wady, wash eet" RD retorted with a mouthful of food. I couldn't help but crack a smile. I stood up and faced both the chairman and Princess Pain, it was rude to sit down while others stood.

"Charming." Princess Pain said with a look of disgust upon her face before she turned her attention towards me. Even when disgusted, she looked so super cute! "So, Hikaru Koizumi, I am sorry to be blunt, but I do have business to attend to after this. We have heard about your miraculous deeds so far, accompanied by the data gathered by our Environment Scanner, or ES for short. Our grand chairman here would like to join the Guardian Command Center. We just need you to sign this document right here. It simply states that you will be on the roster of current Guardians, while the terms of your stay, pay, and so forth will be discussed, verified, and documented in the near future. Do not worry, we are not going to work you over, we are very compliant here. After all, we deal with very strong people. We would not want to cross them, now would we?" She added a lady like laugh, more like a super adorable laugh.

She seemed to be really fond of me, even though we just met. Wait, that was her being blunt? Her way with words, even the simple ones, were so elegant and oddly enticing. That's probably why she was doing all the talking. I couldn't say no even if the document said to hand over my head. I had some questions first, seeing as how they knew more than me.

"I'd like to join and all... It's the reason I came here, buuuuut... I don't exactly know what my power is. Do y-"

"Well, for starters, you can reverse recent damage done to small areas. An example being: you repairing the heart of a man who had been shot directly through the heart. You then repaired his shirt, and had the blood cleared away since both of those things were considered 'recent damages'. Our Abnormal Activity Analyzers, or Triple A for short, seem to have detected another source of power, but it was not activated at the time. I would assume it is an additional ability that goes hand in hand with your current one. Possibly the ability to prevent damages from occurring in the first place. In layman's terms, you can regenerate and repel."

I'm still pretty sure that's not what 'being blunt' sounds like. I didn't get any of that! Something about regenerating and repelling. "Oh... Um... Okay. I'll sign the document." I quickly took the document and signed it, I didn't want to waste this little lady's time with any more of my stupid questions. Was it this simple?

"Why thank you, Hikaru Koizumi." She said as she took the document and handed it off to the chairman. "It is a pleasure to have you officially on our Guardian Roster. I hope to see you on the morrow, please do enjoy your evening. And... I hope that disgusting Reckless Idiot won't ruin it for ya."

"I love ya too, baby!" RD sarcastically replied before blowing Princess Pain a kiss.

I think I was too shocked to wipe the smile off of my face. She went from sweet and elegant to uncouth in five seconds flat, I was scarred for life. Okay, that's obviously an over-dramatization, but I didn't expect her to have such a sharp tongue or sound even remotely uncivilized.

"Thanks lil lady! You go on now, your folks are waitin'!" the chairman replied as he tucked the document into his jacket. "The name's Jay Johnson, great tuh meetcha Ha-card-rue Coo-zamy. Jus' call me Mistuh J."

"Hikaru is fine." I said, as I extended my hand to shake it.

"Alrighty then! I got a goooood feelin' 'boutcha boy, I sure do. Tomorruh we can discuss your new partner, Guardian name, costume design, body modification, 'n' all that othuh stuff. Fer now, just go on 'n' enjoy the free grub!" He let out a hardy laugh, so I laughed along just to be nice. I didn't even understand half of what he said. I glanced over at RD and he seemed to be disappointed. It was hard to tell with those glasses on. Either way, he was frowning. He saw I was looking and immediately snapped out of it, flashing me that good ol' RD smile. I sat back down and fidgeted with my silverware; what I wanted to ask was going to be awkward.

"Say Reckless Destroyer. . . Do you want to be. . . My. . . You know. . . My partner?"

His smile turned into a full-on-grin. "You don't have to ask me twice, Hik- What's your new Guardian name gonna be?"

"I can heal and push junk away or something. And my hands glowed like stars or something. So... Astral Assaulter?"

"Sounds like a sex-predator from space." RD replied. THAT'S what 'being blunt' is supposed to sound like.

"Holy Templar? Noble Knight? Lord Borealis? Aura Master?"

"What is this, a nerdy RPG?" More bluntness, okay, I was stumped.

"I-I don't know then!"

"Sol."

"Soul? Like the spirit or something?"

"No, S-O-L, like the sun. Your hands glow hella bright, like the sun. It's simple and easy. Maybe tack on a Lord or some crap if you wanna get all nerdy with it."

"Sol sounds fine."

"Okay then, Sol, let me be the first hot guy to welcome you to the GCC Workforce!"

"It is a pleasure to be here, hot guy." I joked, causing RD to let out a chuckle or two.

I seen many pictures of the Reckless Destroyer before, but I never seen any with him smiling like the way he was tonight. Maybe he was just happy to have a partner. Or maybe he really liked me. Even though I didn't show it, I was still hung up over Roland. After all, I spent 30 days with the guy. It was like we dated for 30-90 minutes a day for a month. I kind of just imagined him being here the whole time. He had his own invitation, so maybe he was, but I didn't see him. Either way, I have a new life ahead of me. I'm not JUST Hikaru Koizumi, I'm Sol! The guy who'll. . . Be. . . I don't know what I'll be doing or who I'm supposed to be. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

[Yoshi32]

i can't wait for part 3