It's a tough world for us. Always been. Always will be. An advice, tough? Whatever you do, don't mess with the Guilders. And if you, be prepared for the fight of your life.

- Stonewall, retired Villain

The Pinnacle of the Elementals was the closest the Summer Watchtower came to honoring its name, ten floors of reinforced concrete, steel and shining glass, all packed with the strongest defensive systems the city could afford and put into action.

While the most sensitive sections were safely hidden underground, it just wouldn't do for the Tower to be anything different from a shining beacon, defiant in the face of any who would dare attack it. That was their city, and they wouldn't just huddle beneath the earth like rats. It was the others, the villains and criminals, that were to do just that, shiver beneath the shadow of the Pinnacle. Ordinary, honest folks were to look at it in hope instead, the shining tower reminding them that no matter the crisis, there were people watching over them.

The Pinnacle did just that. Perched atop Wave Hill, it was visible from almost all corners of the city, the very emblem of Guild protection over Summer. Half a redoubt, half a fortress, it could withstand anything short of an army, not the last reason for it being that it was where the Elementals had their quarters.

Fire always grumbled about being separated from the ground by nine floors of weapons and soldiers, said it made her feel caged. Acquamarine didn't quite agree. To her, it was more like they were lifeguards, with the Pinnacle being their tall chair. They could be high above the ground, but it only helped them to see farther. But that may be her "putting water everywhere, you damn squid" part talking.

It was only half a joke when she proposed to change the name from Pinnacle to Perch. It did sound more amicable, didn't it?

The Crisis Room of the Tower was supposed to be reserved for just that, but half of her team didn't agree. Two of them sat at the swimming pool-sized marble table, idly passing their lunch break.

Blazestorm was the Fire of their group, a somewhat petite girl swathed in a simple grey cloak embroidered with the Guild Emblem in golden thread. No matter how much she worked with perfumes and colognes, she always smelled like smoke. Sometimes, when she got angry, you could actually see it, wafting from her form in thin trails. Of course, when she didn't mean it. When she meant it, smoke was the smallest thing she could do. Eyes the color of burnished copper peered with intense attention from beneath the cowl the girl always kept lowered on her head, to cover the burn scars on her throat and cheeks. Nobody ever pointed them out, since it was a sure way to stoke the Fire's already short temper.

"Firey!" Entering the room and jumping to hug her teammate was a hair-breath apart.

Blazestorm took her eyes off the book she was reading to glare at her. "Get your hands off me, you fish-brain." she said, her ruined throat making her voice a rasping growl.

"Nope!" Acquamarine chirped happily, nuzzling against her cheek, and giggled at Blaze's growl.

Instantly, smoke started to trail through the air.

"The sprinklers are going on again," said a bored voice that sounded like rocks scraping together.

Acquamarine grinned at the other occupant of the table.

Rock had the place of Earth in the Elementals. He was tall, the tallest by far amongst them, his body wide and heavy-set. Still, one had only to look at his rough features to notice that something wasn't right. Seeing the quarts embedded into his body glint softly as they caught the light ripped away any illusion of him being an ordinary man. Rock's skin had the consistency of pressed dirt and the hardness of stone, his muscles were elaborate affairs of alloys that lost nothing to temperate steel; instead of blood, his veins were filled with a sludge-like, mineral-based gel that could withstand the pressure of tons.

Acquamarine had seen him put that strange body of his at work, alongside the powers he carried, and the memory was enough to send a shiver running down his back. If she was glad of something, it was that Rock was part of their group and not the other way around.

"Don't worry, Rocky. Firey wouldn't ever burn me!" She said, grinning at him.

Blaze grumbled something about the opposite being much more likely, but the smoke dissipated nonetheless. They had enough fire alarms going off for the week.

"See?" Acquamarine said triumphantly, redoubling her hugging. "Like sisters!"

Her face sank against Acquamarine's chest, Blaze's hands started to twitch ever so slightly.

Rock glanced up from the videogame he was playing. His lips quirked up as he took in the cowled heroine struggling to get out of the iron grip of the Cheshire-like Acquamarine. Blaze shouted in indignation when, still smiling, he hid behind his videogame, leaving her at her fate.

Acquamarine grinned brightly.

Both Rock and Blaze's circumstances were different from hers. Blaze had her Trigger Event during childhood, and it left her both scarred and powerful. Volume of firepower apart, she could direct her fire to burn only what she wanted, leaving the rest completely untouched. An incredible power for a pyrokinetic like her, and one of the many reasons that warranted her place amongst the Elementals.

Rock, instead, was one of the much rarer ones that were born different, the Trigger having struck sometimes during gestation. It made his powers stranger, more exotic, and, if Acquamarine had to use a word for it, arcane. For example, he couldn't turn off his powers like so many others could. He always looked like that. He couldn't just take off the mask and go back home. And… his life suffered for it. A sore spot for them all.

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For herself, she couldn't remember her Trigger. It must have happened sometime during childhood, but the exact moment was fuzzy and, to her, unimportant. She remembered the sea against her skin, the water splashing between her fingers. One moment, on its own, the next singing to her, following her voice. As much as she was aware of it, it had always been a part of her, probably the best of herself.

They were different, each with their life experiences and way to regard what fate had handed out to them. Yet, they were his team, brought together by vocation and the red string of destiny, his friends alongside which she had gone through thick and thin for the last six years. Together, they fought giant machines and stopped rampaging villains. Together, they protected Summer City.

They were the primary Guild Team in all of Perrywalt. They were the Elementals.

And she wouldn't be anywhere else but with them.

Grinning widely, she let herself down on her chair, her tails flailing around her before setting down.

The table was divided into four sections, each dedicated to one of the four elements. Hers was smooth and wavy, with a tear-shaped emblem formed by lapis-lazzuli embedded into the table.

The people of Summer City had a strong belief in the power of harmony and the need to keep balance in nature. The stretch of uncorrupted sea they were guardians of wasn't just the product of luck: it was the result of the combined work of generations of heroes and scientists, backed by the accumulated knowledge of all those who came before. Somebody still called it useless mumbo-jumbo and superstitions, but they had the results to speak for them.

"Where's Thunder?" She asked, curious.

"Where else can he be?" Rock shrugged, not looking away from his game. "Still up and over the sea, throwing lightning and making noise. I guess it will do something good, somewhere."

Acquamarine giggled. Not like she had expected to find their leader there. Thunder had always been quite a hard worker. Nor about Rock's tone. The hero never was very keen on the less scientific methods they resorted to defending their sea.

"At least he's doing something useful!" Blaze bit back. The heroine alternated between viciously searching for the lost page of her book and throwing baleful glares Acquamarine's way. "What the hell have you been up all morning? I got up to my neck in bastards and nobody was there to pull them off me!"

"Bastards" were, in Blaze's vocabulary, journalists. The entire category died for her when a less than scrupulous specimen of them sent to the press a series of "scandalously true details" of Fire's life story. The storm had taken months to die down, with a journal shut down by the government and Blaze's jealousy for her private life reaching all new levels.

Acquamarine felt bad for not being there for her. The press, when it managed or was allowed to drill through the tectonic plate-sized public relation department of the Guild, was her business. She managed it better than the rest of the team, and she'd lie if she said it wasn't a surprise. She thought Rock would make quite the conversationalist, if only he put the effort in.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I got hold out. There was a villain…"

Rock glanced up from his game, just as Blaze scoffed.

"Find a better excuse," Blaze grumbled. She set her book on the table – the marble of her section was crossed with red, ragged lines – and crossed her arms, annoyed. "It takes a 4 to hold you for a morning, and the city didn't explode last time I checked. So no 4. And don't go tell me a 3 is…" She paused, realization dawning on her face. "Don't tell me…" Acquamarine made a guilty face. "You went easy again, didn't you?" Blaze jumped at her feet, outraged. "You went all preachy again! You actually did it again!"

Acquamarine held her guilty look for a moment more, then she grinned and stuck her tongue out.

"I dunno how you do it", Rock's gravelly voice held more than a hint of amused disbelief.

"Because she's dumb!" Blaze barked, not missing a beat. "Assholes need to get slammed down, not talked to! Leave the re-education crap to the prison guys already!" She growled.

Acquamarine giggled. In theory, Blaze was right. They weren't really supposed to try and talk their way into the hearts and minds of the Villains they fought. Too much was a stake during a super-powered battle, and too much was at risk of collateral damage. Still, she didn't think she was in the wrong.

"The Codex teaches us", she said softly, lifting a finger. "That we must embrace mercy as much as we hand it out." Rock rolled his eyes and made the move of covering his ears, while Blaze just glared. "70% of newly-Triggered Villains are just confused or misguided," Acquamarine explained with a smile. "They think they are different, they are scared or have let the power go to their head. They only need a good knock on the head, a few kind words and some time in the corner before they start to make themselves useful." She grinned. "The sooner we start, the better!"

Rock shook his head and returned to his game.

"You damn Children of Paladin and your preachy, stupid…" Blaze grumbled. The girl let herself fall on the chair, watching her grumpily. "Then it's us that has to set things straight. Always. And guess what? This time won't e different!" She slammed open her book at a random page and planted her eyes on it, refusing to discuss the matter further.

Acquamarine's smile was undimmed. They had their points, of course. It happened more than once that the soft approach yielded nothing more than a reprieve for a criminal. But she didn't think she was wrong either. It wasn't like she wasn't discerning on whom she handed out her words. And like her city, she had results speaking for her.

Speaking of which…

A mousy little figure peeped from the room's door. He made a scratching sound when Acquamarine practically teleported to drag him inside.

"Chirpy! You're here!" The heroine beamed. Delighted, her hands on his shoulder, he watched him up and down. "How do you feel?"

Disoriented, the boy blinked at her. The heavy cloak covering him from head to toe was a ratty version of Blaze's, all stains and haphazard mendings.

"G-good," he stammered, tugging his cowl further down. It wasn't enough to hide how half of his face was distorted toward the reptilian. "Thanks…" He added in a hurry, even as he visibly struggled not to shy away from her hands.

Acquamarine grinned widely. He talked more freely to her now. Progress!

She glanced toward the table. Blaze didn't bother to hide her hostility, glaring hard at both her and her little protegè. For his part, Rock was more discreet, only glancing at her with a silent warning.

Oh, they were such grumblers. She loved them, but they knew better than her that she followed standard guidelines. They didn't just go using lethal force on newly-Triggered Villains, especially if the damage was just property damage. They were the heroes for a reason, and she'd argue her point even before a commission from Internal Affairs.

…not like it didn't happen before already.

And about her "preachiness" and "zealotry", she had her own reasons to back it up. The Codex, first of all. Also, there were the "Ex-Villains redeemed by Acquamarine Gathering" to which she scrupulously went every month. They were about to enter the triple digits the last time she checked.

"Oh, I know!" She clapped her hands together. "I'll tour you around!" And before the boy had the chance to protest, she was already dragging him out of the room and toward the elevator.

"Where are the mops?!" She happily asked Ace while Chirpy eeped in surprise.

From from the Crisis Room, Acquamarine heard a book thunk against a wall, followed by a rocky sigh. She laughed. It was so nice being the good guys.