-Aug 26, The Hub, 2:40 pm-

Javo leaned back on the couch in the Living Quarters, playing a game system on one of the monitors. Reinstar walked up beside him, then plopped down the couch. She looked at him curiously, then rolled her eyes at what she saw on the screen.

"Why are you playing something that is basically your life?"

"I don't see a problem." chuckled the muscular man. "People in this world have armies and play as soldiers in these games. Why not play a game with a canokian... or reincarnated elf person wielding a magic sword and saving it from a reincarnating tyrant while at the command of a reincarnated princess?"

The shinobi nodded. "Reincarnated, huh? Why not chop the head off and bury it in the ocean?"

"I think that is immortality."

BEEP...BEEP...BEEP

The duo quickly stood up at the slow-sounding alarm.

"Trouble dares to seek us?" Javo growled.

Reinstar gripped a kunai. "Let's find out what they want."

"No!" The bird woman raced by them with an emergency kit. "That's the alarm to let me know an injured patient is arriving. One of the Porta Hubs came back and sounded the medical alarm."

Their eyes widened before quickly following Luka toward the hallway leading to the Teleporter Room. They ignored the room while racing to a door at the end of the hall. The door opened, leading to a hanger with two vehicles that looked to be two RV trucks stacked on top of each other. At the end of the hanger, a large door opened, revealing the ocean. The trio stopped to wait for the arrival of one of the Porta Hubs. After a moment, the group noticed a large shadow moving across the floor before materializing into a hovering Blue Porta Hub that was using camouflage mana tech. It crashed to the ground, causing worry to the trio. Quickly, Luka raced forward just as the door to the side of the vehicle opened up.

Emerging from the door was a frantic Lina with blood on her clothes, "LUKA! Jin is injured!"

Reinstar and Javo's eyes widen. "What?"

Luka ran in, passing Jack, who walked out with an angry look. He marched past the Guardian members wordlessly as he left the hangar. The duo stared at the door the boy passed through before turning to a panicked Lina.

"Lina O'Grace." Reinstar walked forward and grasped the girl's shoulders. "What happened?"

"We failed, we were caught off guard." She clasped her head. "There were too many variables for our success that I did not foresee this. We could've finished this month, but he found a bodyguard and the temple."

"Someone defeated Jin?" The large man had a deep frown.

"A sneak attack. It was either too fast for Jin, or he was too relaxed! I don't know!"

"Calm down." Reinstar sighed. "Start from the beginning."

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-Aug 26th, East Lionhill High School, 3:40 pm

At the end of the school day, Jake rated the week average. The teachers were okay, lunch was better than at his last school, and the student body was all over the place. There were cliques, but not as bad as he expected. Jocks were still around, a drama club, and the geeks were there. Tanya and Sam had transferred from their respective schools, leading to the six children attending the same facility. Most people stopped caring about the stunts last year and gossiped about the latest topics. One of them was the Death Melody, something the fire warrior was still worried about.

Then, his worry increased when Guardian told them to come after school for an urgent matter. They couldn't rush all the way home, and teleporting in the middle of the hallway was a go. So, thanks to Ryu's joking suggestion, Guardian added access to the Hub from the school's bathroom two weeks prior. The results left some of them amused and sighing. So here he was in the bathroom with the warriors of wind and lightning. All three were staring at the stalls. The wind turned to lightning.

"Brother, again, they took your joke literally."

"I can think of some bathroom humor." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "We're flushing down the hole of life and entering another. Reminds me of the movie where the kid fell into the well and ended up in another world."

"Why do you look like you regret it?"

"Bathroom smells weird."

"Let's step in." chuckled the fire. "Don't forget to flush."

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-The Hub-

After arriving, they met the girls who were waiting for them.

"Did you all flush your troubles away?" snickered the redhead.

"That's not funny." The ice girl rolled her eyes. "What are you implying?"

"He's implying we drink our troubles like a bar." spoke the water girl

"None of us drink yet." The light girl faced the door. "We literally beat our troubles away."

"Of the monster kind." The fire warrior walked forward. "Let's go."

They left the room and entered the living quarters, where they found a company. They found Jack sitting on a couch, arms crossed, head down, and eyes closed. Lina was fast asleep on another couch, snoring away as if there were cares around her. Reinstar and Javo stood by them, looking equally worried. Once they fully stepped foot in the room, three of the four noticed them. The buzz-cut teen stood up and walked over to them.

"You're late."

"What do you mean we're late?" scowled Christina. "We're here!"

"Chrissy." Amy pleaded. "Relax."

"Are you being extra irritated, brother?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Hold on." Jake held out his hand. "I checked your profile, but it's proper to introduce each other. Jake Ishida."

Jack grasped it with a firm grip as he glared at the fire warrior. "Jack Vincent. Radiant of Terra. Code Name: Geo."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The spiky raven grimaced at the firm grip but would not be intimidated. He squeezed back. "Radiant of Fire. Code Name: Blaze."

The two released their grip. The moody teen glanced at others, disgruntledly nodding to each of them. He glanced at the sleeping girl on the couch. "Lina O'Grace, Radiant of Flora. Code Name: Ivy."

"Should we wake her?" asked the light warrior.

"It's better to leave her alone unless you really need her, or else she will whine and whip you."

"Uh, with a literal whip?" the joking teen raised his eyebrow.

He ignored the question while his attention centered on the infirmary door. "Jin is injured, and... we let that moron gain access to an artifact."

"How much time do we have?" asked the fire warrior.

"Normally, the window between attacks is three days because the flute takes that long to recharge its primary power, but since he has the temple, he might not need it."

"Then... why did you need to follow him?" questioned the ice warrior.

"At first, Blair, Lina, and I responded when he appeared only after he played his song. For some reason, the song cannot be tracked, but we can track his mana signature and his minions when they start drawing in mana. Although we knew where he landed, we could not find his exact location in the area. So he was good at hiding."

"Probably felt like a constant game of hide and seek." chuckled the lightning warrior.

"Wait... you were with Blair and Selen-ja chasing him? When did you all separate?" asked the water warrior.

"When we were in London, he freed a vampire named the Count to serve him, but the Count refused. The two parted ways soon after. That was when Blair and Selen-ja went to pursue the Count and ended up trapped in England because of an artifact the villain found."

"Hmm." spoke the wind warrior. "When did you receive your powers?"

"I received my power first, then two days later Lina got hers, then two days after Blair received hers." He snorted. "Are you done with questions that aren't about the current threat?"

The other boy rolled his eyes in response. "Yeah, go ahead and continue."

"We trailed him, tried to stop him from collecting more desires. Two months ago, we rushed in to stop him from activating a mana tech machine to shortcut his way to his goal."

"That led to a girl being pulled into Galvania." said Javo.

"WHAT!?" Amy gasped along with the others. "Someone was pulled in?"

"Your description of your home sounds terrible for a person without mana and skill." grimaced Tanya.

"How long were you going to keep this from us?" scowled Christina.

"Until we found her," Reinstar shook her head. "She could have landed anywhere in Galvania. Some areas are not friendly and won't care who you are. Believe me, we have people searching for the girl within the allowed parameters."

The faded-cut teen frowned. "So even if she were alive, you could not get her? Why? Is there some red tape crap, or can't you just tell other people of a lost human?"

The muscular man grimaced. "We are allowed to enter countries we are backed by and those who are neutral. It's the few that are less than friendly and a few shady towns and cities that are the problem. She might be dead or... worse."

The light warrior gasped. "Oh no,

"Dark, I can imagine what worse is." frowned the spiky redhead. "Yep, I need to watch a funny show after thinking about that scenario."

"What was she doing there?" questioned the fire warrior. "Did the piper abduct her?

"Her parents fell to the music; he abducted her to test a poorly made machine to open a portal with the desires he collected. He thought he reached his destination when the portal opened, but Jin quickly realized it was Galvania. We sabotaged it, but the girl was pulled in before it closed." He growled. "Her mother is in a coma, and her father is dead."

"Do you know her name?" asked the light girl.

"Unfortunately, no, we were in a rush to stop the gate that we never learned it." He sighed. "After that, we pursued... until he found five keys around Africa to unlock a temple in Egypt."

"What kind of temple?" questioned the water girl.

"A temple that supposedly opens a gateway to what you truly desire." Reinstar scowled. "According to old texts they found, a pharaoh came across a tablet that wanted to bring about his desires. He built a temple to access a realm where desires will manifest. Before he could activate it, five travelers stopped his plan. They took the tablet, shattered the key into five pieces, and scattered them throughout Africa."

"I believe those five travelers were our predecessors." said the ice girl.

"That... or humans with high mana." Javo shrugged. "I think people were more attuned to using mana back then."

"Explains all the mana residue in Egypt." The shinobi muttered.

"So the musical meister menace." The spiky redhead crossed his arms. "Is about to spread his malice. Got it, when do we leave to kick butt?"

"Wait, brother red." The faded-cut teen spoke up. "There is more to this, like how Jin got injured."

"Yeah." The brunette girl looked at the door to the lab. "What happened? How strong is the beast that injured him?"

The handkerchief wearer closed his eyes. "We rushed to stop it, then Jin noticed something too late and took the full brunt of an attack by an axe-wielding beast. We were knocked out when Jin collided with us. When we awakened, the temple was closed. We had to retreat."

"The temple is closed?" said Jake. "Is there any way we can enter?"

The sound of someone yawning had all eyes on the crimson-haired girl waking up while rubbing her eyes. "The temple is flawed on how to get in. Just have a strong desire." She placed her glasses back on as she turned to them with a lazy look. "Simple."

"So..." Ryu rubbed his chin with a serious tone. "My desire for a 100-foot statue, made from titanium and gold, of my favorite comedian, or is it something I crave on a primal level?"

"Would my desire to finally meet my favorite celebrity activate the door?" said Sam with a small smile. "I can think of a few."

"A giant Bow Bow Buddy." Amy's eyes twinkled in delight.

"No." Christina shook her head.

"Come on!"

"Hmmm... how powerful are one's desires?" Tanya smiled while her face flushed. "Imagine being the protagonist in those novels."

"Huh, my dream of zigzagging around the competition during soccer without losing the ball once?" Jake pondered. "Interesting.

"Why are you lost in your world when the current threat is out there?!" Jack growled. "Focus!"

The group snapped out of their thoughts when they felt the angry tone. The violet-eyed girl nodded. "Sorry, but we tend to stray off-topic."

"This group defeated Mistress M?" grimaced the stone boy as he stared at them. "This group here?" He sent Jake with a stern glare. "Right?"

The spiky raven grimaced while crossing his arms. He stood firmly against the other boy's judging eyes. The crimson-haired girl raised an eyebrow while displaying a small smile.

"We are working on it."

"Working on it?" He scoffed. "Getting distracted does not beat the enemy. The way Jin talked about Pilot made me think he trained you all with more sense."

"He trained us." smiled the brunette girl. "But it's just how we are."

"I understand maintaining proper etiquette in situations where it is warranted." The braided girl gazed at him nonchalantly. "At times, we can be inattentive when one of us brings up a new topic in the middle of a serious discussion. We eventually reverse our thoughts back to stage one."

"We are teenagers." smirked the spiky redhead.

"Not really an excuse, though," said the short-haired raven girl. "We try to be serious."

"I like them; relax, Jack." chuckled Lina. "I'm still me. You can't get rid of that, plus, let's not forget about Blair."

Jack shook his head and sighed. "Fine, but the situation is serious."

The door to the infirmary opened up to reveal a shirtless Jin with bandages wrapped around his chest and worried Luka trailing after him.

"Jin!"

"I know I need rest, but I need to meet this group." He stared at the six Radiant and saluted them by slamming his fist on his chest; the action made him yelp in pain and got everyone to stare at him like he was an idiot."

"Sir." Jack stared at him with worry and annoyance. "Don't hurt yourself further."

"A knight of his majesty should always salute his compatriots!" The blonde canokian boldly stated. The six felt embarrassed by him; if one could imagine, there would be a sweatdrop on each of their heads. The man looked at them with pride. "Amy Angelo, Sam Guyver, Jake Ishida, Ryu Orlando, Tanya Winfield, Christina Zeal. My name is Jin Silverstar, and I am here; I assume Jack and Lina have already filled you in about the current enemy. Like Mistress M, the Masked Piper is aloof. However, he is a coward who lets his minions fight us." He sighed. "I ask of you to be ready and prepared."

"Great," the violet shinobi rolled her eyes. "Now tell me the beast that nearly killed you."

"The beast is fast, yet not very strong. I neglected to wear my Silver Armor prior because of the heat. That nearly got me killed. My mind and body are out of practice."

"Drinking tea helps me," Lina responded. "Stimulating the brain gives me fascinating ideas."

"Define fascinating." whispered Jack.

"Now that we know this creature is quick on its feet." The muscular canokian turned to the shinobi. "You going?"

"This maiden needs to test herself." she nodded while fiddling with her kunai. "When you all are ready, we will leave."