Josh looked back and forth between me, Jenny, Kawena, and the alien. "Uhh... did what I think just happened, just happen?"

Jenny nodded, looking totally weirded out. "Kawena, why are you a Defender?"

"Why are we Defenders alla sudden?" Josh asked, looking at the three of us, wearing the armor of the heroes we'd just seen fall in battle. "Aren't they supposed to be Special Forces?" We'd all been thinking it, but of course he was the one to say it.

Kawena just rolled her eyes. "You've been watching too much TV. I suppose your parents never had The Talk with you?"

"...huh?"

"You know, the 'what Based On A True Story really means' talk?" She sighed. "There is no Special Forces squadron. No government organization. When the military denies any knowledge of the Solar Defenders project, they're telling the truth for once. It's just a bunch of teenagers from Michael's Landing, people who are still young enough and mentally flexible enough for a Fundament to bond.

"So... yeah. Looks like they picked you this time." She gave him a flat look. "Word around school is, you're our biggest fan ever, and your dream's always been to join the team. Well, Josh, you got your wish. Welcome to hell."

Suddenly I realized something. "So, wait... the bit about you having a panic attack every time monsters show up..."

"Yup." Her voice dripped bitterness and resentment. "All an act, so I have an excuse to get away and do my Defender thing. But hey, now you get to come up with one too! Isn't life as a hero wonderful?" She clasped her gauntleted hands together and gave a huge--and hugely fake--smile.

Josh didn't seem to get it. "Wait, Kawena... what's wrong?"

"You know how on that TV show, they call the Defenders 'the shield of mankind?'" she asked. "Well, they got that much right at least. We're the first and really the only defense against the Masters." She lowered her voice and looked him straight in the eyes. "Do you know what the role of a shield is? To get hit. To take the blows so the person being shielded won't have to, again and again and again until it finally..." she waved her hand vaguely. "...breaks. And then you replace it with another one."

"Venus," said the alien. "That's quite enough, please." The aged man looked over at the three of us. "I must apologize for her intemperate outburst," he said calmly. "Please understand that it's been a very trying day for her."

"Trying?" She snorted, and the tiniest hint of hysteria began to creep into her voice. "I just saw three of my teammates fall!" Looking at us, not him, she continued, "Our classmates, people we all know, and they just had the worst day of their lives. Maybe the last. I don't know yet if I'm gonna be attending any funerals or not! And that monster is still out there, nobody's seen Mercury, and my backup is three rookies who can't even conjure their helmets yet!"

The crackling sound filled the room. Another rift opened, and a woman--girl, I guess--in silver armor stepped through. She tapped both sides of her helmet, as Kawena had, and it vanished away, revealing...

"Eden?" Jenny gaped at seeing Defender Mercury's identity revealed. We all did, really. If you'd asked me, already knowing the Defenders were really my own peers, to make a list of people who couldn't possibly be Solar Defenders, Eden Christiansen would have been right at the top of that list. She was helpless at karate--not even ranked--and not built like a warrior at all. Tall and skinny, she was decent at running cross-country, but fighting? Never. She was basically the classic computer nerd, if the classic computer nerd was a black girl. Glasses. Braces, right up until last year. Bad acne that had only recently started to clear up. No care at all for fashion and precious little in the way of social skills. And she's Defender Mercury?!? Was I on Candid Camera or something?

"Oh, hi Jenny," she remarked offhand. Then her eyes went wide. "JENNY? Dave! Josh! Holy crap, what happened to--"

"They lost," Kawena said. "These guys were caught in the middle of the fight, and the Fundaments bonded them. So, say hello to the new Jupiter, Mars, and Neptune."

Eden gasped, taking a step back and slumping slightly against the stone wall. She blinked her eyes several times, like she was fighting back tears. "But... Aderan, what happened?"

The alien looked at her sadly. "They were overcome in combat," was all he could say.

"So your name is Aderan?" I asked.

"Yes. I am a sorceror from a distant world. I am too old to fight against the Masters directly, but I brought with me the Fundaments, to empower warriors of your world."

Josh looked over at him. "You were on the second comet!" he said as it dawned on him. "The way it veered off course and crashed into the first one... that was you, wasn't it? So it wouldn't hit the Earth's surface?"

"That is correct. What your astronomers took to be comets were actually star-vessels. I was aboard one of those. This place is all that remains of it."

"Wait, this was part of it?" Josh looked over the stone walls. "And it survived intact? These walls must be, like, pure monstronium or something!"

Aderan let out a low rumble of a laugh. "It is unfortunate that your people's first encounter with kirila was as the essence from which the Masters build their abominations."

"Kirila? That's what your people call monstronium?"

Kawena scowled. "Can we please get back on topic? Monster. Loose in the city."

I looked over at her. "OK, what do we do?"

She sighed. "Right. You don't know. First off, point of order. I'm the most experienced one on the team. I can help with directions while you get up to speed, but that's really not my talent. Jupiter, you're the leader."

Wait. Jupiter? That's me! "I'm not a leader!"

"You're the one the Jupiter Fundament chose. It'll make you a leader."

"What do you mean?"

"It... argh, there's no time to explain. I'll have to show you. Quick, don't think, just answer. Fast. What's your full name?"

"David Martín Lopez."

"Favorite color?"

"Red."

"Favorite dessert?"

"Coconut cream pie."

"Birthdate."

"April 14, 2001."

"329 squared?"

"One hundred eight thousand, two hundred forty-one." Woah. How did I do that?

She stopped and looked at me, a hint of a smile on her face. "How did you know that instantly?"

I thought back and realized that it had been like a piece of paper in front of my mind's eye, and the figures wrote themselves out and multiplied everything, as quick as reflex. I didn't even notice until I thought about it! "Uhh... did the crystal do that?"

She shook her head. "Almost. You did that; the Fundament made your brain capable of it. It reshapes you, body and mind, into a Solar Defender. Especially when you're in Warrior Form like now, but it's always there, in the background, even when you're a civilian. You'll have to learn and practice, but the powers just come to you as needed. Each Fundament is different. Different domains--specialties, if you will. Jupiter is the King, the leader. Mars is the Warrior." She nodded to Josh. "With practice you'll be the strongest of us. Neptune, Storm Lord. Our greatest battle mage." She turned and gestured to Eden. "Mercury, the Messenger. Swift of foot, swift of thought. She's a natural scout and tactician."

"And then there's you," I said. "Now, ancient Greek mythology isn't really my strong pont--"

"Roman!" Josh and Eden both corrected me at almost exactly the same time.

"Yeah, like I said, not my strong suit. But wasn't Venus the goddess of love and beauty? How's that fit into the power scheme?"

She scowled, an her cheeks darkened slightly. "It doesn't. Long story; ask me later when there isn't an active monster running around the city! For now all you need to know is, my power is 'knowing how things work around here.' Now put your helmets on; it's time for some on-the-job training." She raised her hands to her head, as if putting on an invisible helmet, and the green, visored helmet materialized around her head. Eden did the same, and the two of them turned to look at us expectantly.

We all tried to copy the gesture. Nothing happened.

"No, try again," Venus's voice buzzed from within her armor. "Don't think about how to summon it or anything like that. It's like the math problem. Don't try to figure out how to do it. Just put the helmet on."

I had no idea what that was supposed to mean, really, but I tried the gesture a second time. This time, though, my hands moved to a slightly different position, and I felt my fingertips describe little circles and squiggles in the air. Suddenly the room darkened and I felt some sort of medium-firm padding pressing in on my head from all around! I realized I was seeing through a tinted visor. I had done it! I looked over at Josh and Jenny, and saw that they were wearing Defender helmets too.

"Well, at least you're quick learners," Venus said. "That's good. You're gonna need it. Come on!"

"Go forth, new Defenders," Aderan said with a certain note of solemnity in his voice. "May your powers protect you!"

"One last thing," Venus said. "In Warrior Form, we use our Defender names only. Don't call each other by real names." She turned. "Mercury, lead us in."

Eden--Mercury--raised her hands and opened a rift. Venus stepped through, and then I did, my heart thumping in my chest. Was I seriously doing this? Wearing Defender armor, about to fight one of the Masters' creations? Was I going to have to figure out how to call up an Eidolon? Defender Jupiter carried a staff; where was it? (Where was Venus's sword, for that matter? She wasn't carrying it anywhere on her armor.) Was Kawena seriously expecting me to lead the team when I didn't know anything about any of it?

But then we stepped through and out into the park, and there was the birdlizard thing, chasing down some poor guy in a suit. Mercury crouched, one leg back, then took off in a full-on sprint, charging across the grass impossibly fast, then drawing a pair of long, gleaming daggers, swiping at the monster's wings to get its attention. It turned away from the man in the suit and let out another tortured-hawk scream, swiping at Mercury with its claws. She jumped back, and it stepped forward, right into the path of an energy blast from Venus, making it stagger back.

"What are you waiting for?" Venus's voice buzzed in my ears. "Attack!"

That's about the dumbest thing I could possibly think of, for a guy like me who's spent a lot of time and effort on avoiding confrontations with things that are bigger and tougher than me. But somehow, when Venus said that, it felt like flames raced through my veins. Every nerve went on high alert, and I charged, the power of the crystal impelling me onward. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Josh--sorry, Mars--charging right alongside me to my left, yelling aloud and holding a glistening, metallic red battleaxe. Where had he gotten it from?!?

Neptune was on my right. She hadn't conjured up any weapons, at least. But I could see her fingers spinning and wriggling in the air as she ran. The patterns they described seemed to be based on Form 8, from Magic Theory class, but far more intricate and involved. Then she thrust her hands forward, and a lighting bolt arced out, slamming into the birdlizard half a second before I reached it.

My crystal wasn't dumping anything special into my brain the way it apparently was for Jenny and Josh, so I just planted my left foot and pivoted, raising the right into a vicious, armor-augmented roundhouse kick. It had one arm outstretched, and I managed to get the toe of my armored boot up under it somehow, slamming the toe of my boot directly into its armpit with precision and control like I've never known!

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I felt bone snap under my foot, and the hawk screamed. Then Josh raised the axe and hacked downward, chopping through its other arm just below the elbow. I couldn't help but notice that no blood came out. That's how unnatural these things were!

Mercury looked over at us and gasped. "No, don't do that!" she said, dodging back.

"What?"

Venus supplied the explanation. "Too much damage without a killing blow, and the kirila inside of them becomes unstable. Quick, get back!" Mercury was already turning and retreating, and I figured I should probably do the same! I turned and ran, and this time, the birdlizard roared. A glowing light surrounded its body, and it expanded enormously, growing to at least thirty feet high! I had already taken several steps back, but I had to scamper back further to avoid being stepped on as it took a step forward.

"You guys get to safety!" Venus called out. "We'll have to handle this with just two Eidolons."

"Three," came a distorted voice from the direction of Mars. I looked over, and he spun his arms in an intricate circular pattern, describing what looked like a rune patterned after Form 3, but way more complicated. Then out of nowhere, a giant version of Defender Mars faded into existence in front of him, squaring off against the giant monster!

"How... nevermind," said Venus, as she and Mercury called up their own green and silver Eidolons, which stepped forward to back up the crimson warrior. Eidolon Mars threw a clumsy punch, which the monster easily turned aside, kicking it and knocking it stumbling back several steps, towards me!

I'll admit it. This is the part where I turned and ran for cover, towards a stand of trees about fifty yards off. Neptune ended up right beside me, somehow visibly trembling even through her armor.

"This is crazy!" she said. I could hear the edge of panic in Jenny's voice, even through the distortion. "How did Josh even do that?"

"It looked like he traced a Form in the air, but... more. Something real complicated!" We had learned about basic rune forms in Magic Theory, but very few students were able to produce even the most minor of effects. Apparently the Fundament changes that!

I heard a crash, and looked over to see the monster had knocked Eidolon Mars flat on its back, cracking a tree as it fell through it. Eidolons Venus and Mercury stepped up, Venus grabbing its arms from behind and holding it as Mercury lashed out with a series of quick snap-kicks. The monster roared and buffeted Eidolon Venus with its wings, making it (her?) stumble backwards. Venus recovered quickly, though, and threw a kick at the monster's back. It somehow sensed it coming and dodged to the side, disengaging.

A thought came to me. Earlier this morning, I was feeling all resentful towards Kawena for not being willing to actually fight to protect me. Now, just a few hours later, she was doing exactly that, and I was hiding! Who's the real coward here? my mind asked me in its most accusatory tone.

Well, what could I do against a 30-foot monster, with no Eidolon? "We need to help," I told Neptune. "Try drawing Form 3 in the air. See if your power takes over and guides you to get it right." Across the park, Eidolon Mars had gotten back up, but it was in bad shape. Venus and Mercury were barely holding the monster off.

I spun my hands in a circle, trying to describe the lines of Form 3 properly, but... nothing. I knew I was doing it right; I've written the whole set of basic runes out a hundred times in class, but there was no tugging from my Fundament to rearrange my motions. Neptune wasn't getting any results either.

Mars looked over at us, and I heard his voice calling out. "No, 3 is for me. Jupiter, do Form 2. Neptune, you want 9."

How does he even know any of that? But it couldn't hurt to try. I altered the movements, drawing Form 2 in the air, and then my hands and fingers started moving of their own accord, subtly correcting angles and positioning, continuing on at the end of the rune to add lines, curves and little dots to the intricate pattern I could see taking shape within my head. Then I felt a pressure running through my whole body, expanding outward, and everything went all dizzy.

I was seeing double. Like when your eyes aren't quite focused, except totally differente because now I had two more eyes, and they were thirty feet up! I staggered back, leaning against the tree as I realized I was seeing through the eyes of Eidolon Jupiter! I tried to close my eyes and focus on the tall perspective. Beside it, Eidolon Neptune faded into existence, and they both took a few clumsy steps forward as we tried to get the hang of controlling a giant body from the outside.

It was a little bit crazy, trying to walk while standing still, figuring out on the fly how to use my mind to command Eidolon Jupiter to move. It took several stumbling steps toward the monster, becoming slowly more graceful as I began to get the hang of it. I stepped in right as the monster managed to knock Eidolon Mercury aside. It tried to whip its tail around to knock the silver Eidolon over, but I got close and threw a low sweep kick, knocking one of its feet out from under it. Venus shoved it off balance with a palm strike, and it fell to the ground with a crash. Then Eidolon Neptune arrived, holding its hands out and conjuring up a storm of energy that blasted the prone birdlizard.

The monster convulsed a few times, then exploded in a shower of bright orange flames. I felt the heat washing over Eidolon Jupiter, and instinctively raised my arms, ending up raising them on my own body as well. I still needed to get the hang of this, it looked like.

Eidolons Venus and Mercury vanished almost instantly. Venus called out to us, "dismissing them is easy. Just let go." I wasn't quite sure what that meant. Jenny apparently got the hang of it right away, making Eidolon Neptune vanish after only a few seconds. Moments later, Eidolon Mars disappeared, back to whatever realm they were called forth from, and I was stuck there, feeling like a fool, trying to figure out how to "let go" of Eidolon Jupiter.

After a moment, Neptune nudged me and softly murmured, "think about ice cream."

Huh? Ice cream?

Suddenly the giant perspective was gone, and I was only me again.

"There. Knew that would work."

"What? How? I didn't even think about ice cream."

"Yeah, but you stopped thinking about being Eidolon Jupiter for a sec. That's all it takes to let go."

"Quick," called Venus. "Come over here!"

Neptune and I headed over to where the smoking remains of the giant body lay. "We need to get rid of this before Monstronium Hunters arrive," she said, and I could hear the disgust in her tone. "Steve Underwood and his ilk have got plenty rich off us already, before we really knew what we were doing. Last thing we need is to help them out any more!"

Neptune nodded. "Sure, but... what do you do with a body this big?"

"Conjure up a dump truck full of lye?" Mars suggested.

That drew a giggle from Mercury, and an exasperated sigh from Venus. "We need to work together to open a really big rift." She held out her hands. "Everyone join hands," she said. Mercury took one and I grabbed the other, with Neptune taking my hand and Mars completing the chain on the end.

A wave of dizziness washed over me as I felt Venus somehow drawing power out of me, and through me out of the others. A tear in reality began to form in front of us, growing larger and larger as I grew weaker, until it swallowed up the monster carcass. Finally, as I was feeling like I was about to collapse, Venus dropped the spell and it disappeared again. She let go of my hand, and we all slumped forward, staggering a little. "OK, back to base," Venus ordered, opening a smaller, person-sized rift for us all to step through.

Safely back in the stone hall, I found that removing the helmet was much easier than conjuring it. No special runes this time, just touching both sides and it dissolved away into nothingness.

Josh let out a gleeful whoop. "We did it! We beat the monster! We called up Eidolons and everything!"

I just groaned, still dizzy. "Excuse me, is there a bathroom around here?"

Kawena gave me a knowing look and pointed towards a certain part of the wall. It dissolved into an archway, and I stepped through, finding my way into a second, smaller stone room. There was a trough on the far wall, with water flowing continuously through it from right to left. I stumbled over, fell to my knees, and promptly emptied whatever was left in my stomach, then spent a good minute or two trying to retch up a bunch more food that wasn't there.

I looked around for a sink, but there didn't seem to be any. Ugh, so I needed to know the right magic to even properly use the facilities around here? Probably something like that.

The constantly flowing water seemed to keep the trough clean, and it didn't smell like a toilet, so I closed my eyes, tried hard not to think about what I was doing, and scooped up some water with my hands, using it to rinse off my face and wash the sour taste out of my mouth.

Everyone was looking when I came back out, with varied mixtures of amusement and disgust. They must have heard. Kawena actually was the one to show compassion, in her own tough way. "Hey, you two, don't laugh. It happens to everyone the first time, it just hit him first. You're probably both in for a miserable night. Especially you, Josh, once the adrenaline wears off. You pushed yourself way too hard out there."

He looked offended by that. "I'm a Solar Defender! What did you expect?"

Eden actually looked impressed. "I didn't expect you to call up an Eidolon on your first try! How'd you know how to do that?"

He grinned. "I learned it by watching Valiant Invincible Solar Defenders. They use real footage people have captured for the monster fights, and the Defenders always make the same motions to summon their Eidolons. They edit it to look like kata poses, but when I realized you're tracing patterns based on rune forms, I memorized them. So I tried out the Mars pattern, and the Fundament did the rest."

Eden looked even more impressed by that. Kawena just looked on in disbelief at the explanation. "Wait, rune forms? And you got that from the TV show?"

Eden looked at her. "You didn't know they're rune forms?"

"No. Magic's always been something I just do on instinct."

"Wow. Yeah, think about what you do with your hands, and picture Form 5 in your head."

She closed her eyes, thinking. "Which one's five? Is that the one where--oh!"

"Yeah. You seriously never saw that?"

"I told you. Instinct. I just do whatever feels like the right thing, and it the magic flows out."

Aderan looked over at her and smiled. "So we see that even the most experienced warriors still have much that they can learn."

"Why are you so quiet today, Aderan?" Eden asked.

"You are the team," he said. "I am simply the guide. You need time to grow together. But," he looked over at the three of us. "There is a thing you must understand. Your powers flow from the Fundaments, through your bond to them.

"The strength of that bond is the strength of your hearts, and of your wills. To maintain it, you must keep to the Code of the Defenders.

"First, you are to defend, and not to attack. Use your powers only in response to an assault by the Masters and their creations, only to counter their acts.

"Second, your powers are to be used only in defense of your lives and the people around you, never for personal advantage.

"Third, you must always protect your identity as Solar Defenders. If the Masters learn who you are, they will target you. Do you understand these rules?"

Josh nodded. "Sure!"

Jenny seemed fine with them. "All right."

So I suppose that left me. "Yes."

Which, of course, meant it was time for Kawena to weigh in. "You need to really understand them. If we screw up, people could die, including us, or those we care about. Defending and not attacking means we don't see a pack of golems show up and instantly pull out Eidolons to stomp on them. We want to actually use the Eidolons only as a last resort; fights between giants in a populated area tends to cause collateral damage to the people we're supposed to be protecting.

"Not using powers for personal use means you don't show off to impress girls. Or boys," she added, looking at Jenny. "You don't use them to beat people up, no matter how much they deserve it. Even the Underwoods, David. You don't become a glory hound. You don't give interviews or accept awards. And as far as possible, you don't use the bond with the Fundament to enhance your civilian life."

"What do you mean, as far as possible?" Josh broke in.

"It changes you whether you want to or not," Eden explained. "I couldn't stop it from making my face clear up, and to be honest I probably wouldn't have wanted to stop it if I could. But I do keep from turning into a karate champ overnight."

Kawena nodded. "That ties into the third rule. Protecting your identity doesn't just mean you don't go into Warrior Form in front of people. It means you. Don't. Change.

"I don't think the monster saw you guys, and the golems aren't intelligent enough to report back to the Masters. So they know there are new Defenders in town, but they don't know who. If you guys suddenly become all awesome where you weren't before, you'll light up like a beacon to them."

She looked over at Josh. "It also means you don't do any of the stupid obvious crap they do on the TV show. We don't suddenly all become best friends and hang out together all the time. Like, have you ever seen me together with Eden? We move in totally different social circles, and if that changes, you better believe people will notice. Your wardrobe should not be full of clothes that match the color of your armor. We don't call each other by name while in Warrior Form. We make dumb mistakes like that, and people could die."

Josh looked kinda sobered by that. "Wow. This is... a lot to process all at once."

Kawena nodded. "Welcome to the real-life version of being a Defender."

Jenny raised one finger. "Uhh... so who were the last guys?"

Eden looked like she was about to say something, but Kawena cut her off with a shake of the head. "Sorry, the third rule covers that one. Right now, we don't even know if they're still alive or not. If we come in tomorrow to news of dead classmates, then you'll know. If not... believe me, for your own sake, you don't need to know, you don't want to know, and you shouldn't go trying to find out. All it would do to learn too much about your predecessors is cause harm, one way or another."

"Seriously?" Jenny asked.

"I wouldn't joke about something this important. Just... trust me on this one. I know."

"How much do you know?" Josh asked. "You say you're the most experienced; how long have you been doing this?"

"About two and a half years now. It happened a lot like it did for you. I was... around... when the last Venus fell."

"Wait." Josh's eyes widened. "Holy crap! You mean--"

"Please don't say it. It still hurts."

Woah. If that means what it sounds like, that puts everything in a whole new perspective! Her big sister, Kahiki, died in a car wreck two and a half years ago. Was it really a car wreck, then?

Josh looked like he was going to say something, but Jenny poked him, making a metallic clanking sound of armor on armor. "We should probably get going. You're right, this is a lot to process at once, and we still have a Geometry test to study for." She looked over at Kawena. "How do we get out of this armor and get home?"

"It's not like a suit of armor. You're in Warrior Form. You've transformed, like a sort of metamorphosis."

"Well that's great. How do we..." Jenny waved her hand vaguely. "...un-morph?"

"Hold out your hands, together, in a cup shape like you're holding water, and picture yourself turning back to yourself."

I tried the gesture, and it was surprisingly easy. The armor that had grown out of my skin retreated, and I was just normal David again. Except my skin burned, itching all over. I saw Jenny and Josh squirming as they transformed back too.

"You get used to the itching," Eden said. "For now, though, go take a hot shower. It helps." She put her helmet back on. "Let's get you home." She opened up a rift, stuck her head through (apparently she can do that without stepping through all the way?) and then said, "the coast is clear. This'll drop you at Josh's place."

Josh nodded. "Thanks. So... what do we do next time?"

"We'll get in touch," Kawena said. "Right now, go rest. You'll need it."

None of us were really able to focus on studying after that. And besides, my skin itched all over. So we went home and I grabbed a long, hot shower. Had plenty of time to think, between that and bed afterwards.

So apparently I'm a Solar Defender now. And not just any Defender; I'm Jupiter! I'm supposed to be leading. If I screw up, people die.

And I don't have a frigging clue what I'm doing. Michael's Landing is doomed.