-June 15-

Blaze punched the head beast in the face, sending it flying into a wall, where it exploded into gray smoke. He turned around to face the rest of the rabbits glaring at him. Two lunged at him, but he ducked to avoid them, then hightailed toward the exit. One pounced on the teen and bit him.

"Ahh!" He shouted in pain, then slammed his arm on the door, destroying the rabbit. He turned around to face the creatures. He made a face by sticking his tongue at them and mocking their language. An angry cry came from them as they began to approach him. Blaze yelped as he ran out of the court with the creatures on his tail.

The group remained in the room, never moving, barely breathing until someone spoke up.

"THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Christina shouted.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Ryu shouted in joy. "Did you see that?"

"Jake transformed right in front of us," Amy spoke, trying to digest what she saw. "He said something about fire, and then red clothes magically appeared on him."

"Yep." Tina nodded. "Exactly."

"You knew?" Christina stared at the young girl, giving her an accusative look.

The young girl shrank under her gaze. "Y-yes."

"This is so cool!" Tina jumped when Ryu got in front of her. "Has he always been able to transform and fight monsters?"

"Tina, how long has Jake been this way?" Amy asked worriedly.

"It was hours after we met," Tina said. "He accepted because he thought if he rejected the offer, the next person would screw up."

"For two days?" Ryu's eyes twinkled in excitement. "He's a real-life superhero!"

"Can't believe this." Christina exasperated, slowly rubbing her face. "Why would he think that?"

"It's noble of him." Amy praised him before her tone shifted to concern. "But he's in danger."

"He's Blaze the Radiant of Fire," Ryu reassured her. "He'll be fine."

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"WHY ARE THERE MORE OF YOU?!"

Unfortunately, more appeared after he left the court, prompting a race around the facility until he found himself in the weight room. He stopped when he saw a rabbit pouncing toward him. He ducked under, grabbed a heavy dumbbell, and lifted it with ease.

"Doesn't feel too hea-ah!" He yelped in pain, then looked down at the rabbit biting him. He used the dumbbell to smash it on the head, causing it to disintegrate. He looked around at the rest of the rabbits advancing toward him. One jumped at him with fangs barring. He yelled as he hit it with the weight, destroying the beast.

The beast charged at him again. He picked up another weight and smacked the beast with it. He ducked, pivoted, kicked, smacked, and destroyed the rabbits attacking him from all sides.

"YAAA!!!" He yelled and swung his arm, accidentally letting the dumbbell slip out of his hand and colliding into a mirror. He flinched as it broke into pieces. The bunnies stared at the destruction, then turned to the boy. All of them gave him annoying grins like he did a bad thing.

"You're all mocking me, but I destroyed some of your friends."

That made them collectively scowl in anger. Blaze's eyes widened at their anger, then calmed down. The fire user thought about using his attack, but was there a need? These creatures were weak; tossing them into a wall obliterated them. However, they had numbers, and he wondered if he could defeat them all before he got tired.

Suddenly, the beasts' ears perked up. Immediately, they ran out of the room. Confused, the warrior chased after them to the emergency exit. When he got outside, he found the woman in pink standing before him.

"You!"

"Ah, so you were here." She giggled. "Didn't expect this." She looked behind her to see a crazed muscle man on his knees and clenching his fists. "This man wanted to scare people out of the gym and have it to himself. Angry little man, for some reason, produced these little rabbits. Is this his rage or ego?"

"What are you up to?"

"Me?" She placed her finger on her chin, trying to act cute. "What am I doing?" She spoke in an innocent voice. "I wonder." She smiled cruelly. "You know… I am seeking an artifact manifested by intense anger."

"And why?"

"To justify the art of anger in its true form." She waved. "Bye." She, the creatures, and the man vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Hold on!" He called out.

"So that's what she's after."

The fire user jumped up at the sudden appearance of Reinstar. The shinobi stood beside him with her arms crossed while staring at the spot where the woman disappeared. She sighed and glanced at the fire user. "Interesting."

"W-w-w." He shook his head. "Were you standing there the whole time?"

"Don't be absurd, Blaze. I stepped in after she disappeared."

Blaze lowered his head. "Huh, am I going to get used to you?"

"I'm a maiden in the midst of danger." She spoke with not much enthusiasm.

"Uh huh, so what is this artifact she is talking about?"

"Hmm." She pondered. "There are tools and trinkets out there that tamper with the emotions of people. Now we know she is gathering excess rage energy to produce a weapon powered by rage.

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"How many?"

"Relax, many of them were discovered and either locked up or destroyed... that we know of."

He frowned. "Am I going to be worried about it?"

"Don't worry." She poked him in the head. "Boop."

"Don't do that."

"Go find your friends before your local law enforcement arrives and demand answers."

Blaze nodded, then reverted to his original self. He sighed. "I'm going to have to explain some things."

"That's your decision." The woman walked away. "If you don't trust them, I can threaten them into silence." She calmly said before disappearing.

Jake glanced at the spot, sighed, and put her on the list of not to cross.

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After the police came, it was deemed wild animals barreled in and attacked, such as coyotes. While the authorities were investigating, Jake and the others were outside after telling the officers their experience without telling them about Jake's transformation. After that was done, they went to talk in private. Jake and Tina told them everything that happened for the past two days. In the end, they all had varying reactions. Ryu looked excited, Amy looked concerned, and Christina was curious.

"I am a little mad." Christina said with her arms crossed.

"Why?" Jake asked worriedly.

"Well," She wondered how she put this gently. "Someone shows up out of nowhere, and you accept it because you feel only you can hold the power. You are afraid the next person will just mess it up. Is that right?"

"Yes..."

Christina stared at him with slight disapproval. "I think it sounds like you expect to burden yourself with the responsibility and expect nothing in return."

"Well," Tina spoke up. "He wants to see what lies ahead, and this was it."

"Lies ahead?" The brown-haired girl wondered. "Like what?"

"The adventure!" Ryu shouted. However, he immediately covered his mouth after being glared at by the violet-eyed girl. "Okay, indoor voices, but he gets to see new places when he goes to Galvania and fights bad dudes threatening both planets."

"Yeah." Jake rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It was like that, but it was more wondering what I'm going to do with my life." He looked at his hand. "Maybe it was stupid, but so far, I don't regret it."

"It's a responsibility for sure." Christina sighed. "I admit going to a new world and seeing new people sounds interesting. However."

"Fighting monsters sounds terrifying," Amy said worryingly. "It's admirable you are doing this, but it's still scary."

The fire warrior nodded understandably. "Yeah, the monster from two days ago and these rabid rabbits are something you would see in a nightmare. I got some training advice from Pilot. Even then, the real combat is different."

"This is your origin story, dude." The spiky redhead calmed down and crossed his arms in a serious manner. "Your new beginning, the new you." He then gave a wild smile. "You are the baddest dude I know right now." He patted his back. "And, your secret is safe with me. It's Christina you need to worry about."

"Okay, no." The older raven-haired girl grumbled in an annoyed tone. "I don't blab."

"Bu-."

"Gossip is Queen." She interrupted the teen boy. "But stuff like this? We don't want the military or crazy people on his back. Think about those stupid conspiracies this will give birth to."

"Yeah." He chuckled. "It's funny."

"Until it stops being funny." She grumbled. "This is a lot."

"We should head home and meet back tomorrow." Amy said.

"Come to our house." The sister said. "We have a portal to their command center."

The redhead looked like he was about to blow in excitement. "Really!?"

The Radiant shook his head. "Only if I am allowed to. They only have our data to not allow unwanted visitors."

"Awe."

"From the way you talk about them, I think Mr. Pilot would be the problem." said Amy.

"And Javo sounds like he wouldn't care." said Christina.

"But Reinstar is a ninja," Ryu spoke in a serious tone. "So we blab she kills us, aka Shinobi way."

Jake wondered if he should tell them about the threat from earlier but decided not to. "I will go there and ask tonight."

The older raven-haired girl nodded. "If we're allowed, let us know. I have questions."

"Are you going to interrogate them?" The spiky red-head sighed. "They can kill us easily, ya know."

"I'm not going to interrogate them!" She said in frustration. "Geez, I'm just curious about their world, culture, politics, all that stuff."

"I believe they have an Emperor." Jake rubbed his chin. "That's all I know."

"Maybe we should head home?" inquired the brown-haired girl. "Our relatives might be worried since we came here."

The group looked at each other, agreeing that an attack here might prompt their loved ones to call and check on them. They agreed to call it a day and wait for a response from Guardian.

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The woman in pink glanced at the man with disappointment. The beefcake of a man spent all his time being angry at himself, wanting to get gains, wanting to be the strongest of the strong. It was directed at himself. She looked at the Dust Buns lounging around, weak little bunnies. They get hit once, they die. She did not want these, but they might be useful as a distraction. However, she needed more.

"Does anybody anger you?"

"All of them."

She scowled. "Anyone specific, dear?"

The man stopped his workout and looked at the sky as if in deep thought.

"There is one."

She chuckled. "Oh? Where?"

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-Hub. around 9 pm-

Jake entered the Living Quarters after being told it was urgent. Wondering if another monster attacked, he immediately left Tina and his mom, but not before activating his Dummy Doll. It was creepy how it resembled him, but the young girl would tell him the results later. As soon as he entered, he felt a sudden familiar energy. He looked to where exactly he felt that trio of power and found Sword Unit standing around a table. As he approached, he observed them gathering around three crystals of different colors: yellow, sky blue, and sweet orange, radiating while hovering above the table.

"You feel it, don't you?" asked the red-headed Canokian. "Their power is similar, yet different to your own."

"Yeah." The boy spoke in awe as he walked toward them. Once he did, each one generated an image of their chosen host. Each person was familiar to him. Ryu in the yellow, Christina in the blue, and Amy in the orange. "I know who they are. I already met them."

The violet-haired woman nodded. "Ah, those kids. I guess I don't have to threaten them to silence."

"Are you going to threaten them to join?" Jake eyed her suspiciously.

"I can if you want to."

"Don't threaten them." Pilot looked annoyed at her.

"They have to join willingly." the muscular man agreed.

"They experienced the threat firsthand." said the bird woman. "They have seen you become the Radiant of Fire. Can you convince them?"

Jake furrowed his brows. "I can bring them here if you want."

Pilot nodded. "Permission granted."

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-Tomorrow afternoon-

After sending them his address, the others arrived at his house. Jake immediately led them to his bedroom.

"I can't believe they converted your closet into a teleportation room." chuckled the redhead.

"A hall closet would attract attention." The light brunette looked around Jake's room. "I like your room."

"Thanks." Jake replied to her.

"I don't mean to be suspicious." The gossip lover said. "But... a day later, we're invited, no days of mulling it over." She narrowed her eyes. "Why now?"

The fire user nervously eyed the girl. This girl was either paranoid or wanted to know more. The others never said to lie to them, but would they accept? Ryu would, but the girls probably need time if they want to.

He breathed out slowly. "I don't want to surprise you. It's your choice. Last night, I found out they came to life and chose you all. That's why they asked you to come."

The energetic boy smiled brightly. "I get to be a Radiant? Sweet!"

Amy's eyes widened in surprise. "Me?"

Christina appeared upset. "I see. What if I don't want to?"

"It may pester you or choose someone else."

"And miss an opportunity to explore a new world?" She crossed her arms. "Something I will regret later?"

"Wait..." The redhead gazed at her curiously. "You sounded like you rejected the offer. Why the 180?"

"Don't get me wrong, having something thrust upon me does not sit well." She said while walking toward the window, gazing out at the world. "But... now I have a responsibility to uphold." She turned to them with a smirk. "There's a mystery in the world that needs to be seen by my eyes."

"Your curiosity overpowered you again." Amy giggled.

"Yeah, yeah." Christina turned to face them. "Well? Lead the way."

Jake nodded, then proceeded to open the door.