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Chapter 30: Problems

            Joel watched cautiously in a defensive position as he waited for his seemingly possessed friend to make a move.  The ball of energy at the tip of Ryan’s hand gave out a soft hum through the silent, windy air, and yet Ryan stood as still as a statue without making a sound.  Lynn stood back behind Joel for cover, quivering in confusion, but as she studied Joel’s sturdiness in the situation she began to learn to stand strong as well.  She swallowed her pride and took a deep breath, and then she moved next to Joel and flipped her hoops around swiftly.

            “What do you think is wrong with him, Joel?” Lynn asked her partner.

            “Something.” Joel said, giving a quick look down at the young woman, “Knowing Ryan he’d already have said something smart and taken off that mask.”  The serious look over the young Guardian’s face showed that he was in deep thought over how he would handle the situation as he thought, “Ryan could deflect energy attacks away with the swing of his hand.  Maybe I could figure out how to do that, too, and deflect it away from Lynn.”  Joel placed his left foot forward and edged up with his right hand up in front of him and he said, “Alright you, whatever you are on Ryan’s face, are you going to fire that thing or not?”

            Ryan still stood silent with the glowing ball of energy at hand, despite Joel’s welcome for attacks.

            “Hey!  What if he fires that thing and hits us with it?” Lynn asked.

            “Umm… Die?” Joel mumbled.  He raised his voice and said, “Come on at me!” Joel brought his left hand forward and began charging up his own fire attack and said, “Hey man, if you don’t then I might as well will!  Unless you put that gun away.”

            Lynn jumped in excitement and cried, “No Joel!  You can’t do that!”

            Joel turned his attention away from Ryan and whispered to Lynn, “Don’t worry!”

            While Joel’s attention was turned from Ryan, the still Guardian fired his beam attack towards Joel’s left hand.  The blast disrupted Joel’s hand in the surprise and destroyed his hand and a quarter of his arm.  The young Guardian’s eyes burst wide and jerked himself back, swinging the remaining portion of his arm away.  He grabbed and held his left arm tightly with his right arm as he gritted his teeth and began to squeal in agony.

            “Joel!” Lynn cried as she kneeled down next to her friend.  She inspected the arm and asked, “Are you going to be alright?  I mean, as a Guardian and all?”

            Joel’s breathing grew thick and harsh while he tried to hold down to pain.  He searched around his broken left arm quickly as his blood poured like water from an open water faucet.  His vast survival self injury medication knowledge kicked in and started to calculate methods of how to close and fix his wound.  Joel ran his right hand along his left arm from the top, squeezing at the broken arm ever so slightly as he watched the open end.  Each time the young Guardian squeezes different points of his left arm the blood leak slowed down more and more until finally when his hand reached the bottom of his left arm he gave it a tighter squeeze, and the blood flow cut off from the lower end of his arm.

            “What was that?  What did you do to yourself?” Lynn asked.

            Joel lifted himself up from his knees and onto his feet again and let out a deep sigh and then said, “I redirected the flow of my blood at each major blood vessel junction to the capillaries throughout my arm, and then I crushed the wound to close it off.”  He looked up towards Ryan again, noticing his cracked mask was shimmering and moving him forward, and Joel said, “Looks like he’s making his next attack now.  Get back!”

            The taller Guardian began approaching at a much faster pace, and Joel threw his right arm back at Lynn, pushing her away.  From the young Guardian to the older came dozens of fire shots from his right hand in an attempt to disable him, but even under the possession spell from the mask, Ryan was able to dodge through Joel’s rain of attacks.  As Ryan came within an arm length of Joel for an attack, Joel reached up and tried to guard with his left arm, but when Ryan rammed into Joel with his body he realized that forgetting about an injury to a limb he commonly uses in combat was not such a good idea.  His eyes popped once again and he squealed some more as Ryan grounded him into the wall.  This time his body was beginning to feel weak between the earthen wall and the force Ryan was putting into crushing Joel into the wall.

            Lynn jumped back to her feet after recovering from Joel’s push away.  She ran behind Ryan and swung around her hoops and hurled them in a rage into his back.  A direct hit was scored across the Guardian’s back, causing Ryan to slightly lose his step and focus of strength.  Lynn pulled her weapons back into her hands and clicked her blade extension buttons, causing sharp blades to extend out from around both hoops, and she flung the lethal weapons towards Ryan again before he was able to stand back up straight.  The sharp blades sank into Ryan’s back and clung into his body like two hooks.  Lynn reinforced the wires that connected the hoops to her rings around her hands and proceeded to pull Ryan back away from Joel, releasing some of the pressure from the young Guardian’s body.

            “Thanks Lynn!” Joel called out.

            Ryan began to power up again and tried to resist Lynn’s grip on his back.  Lynn’s footing had started to slip and slide forward towards Ryan as he struggled forward towards the weakened Joel again.  Ryan raised his arms forward and brought them around Joel’s neck as if he were about to choke him to death, and as he applied pressure to his friend, Joel’s arms dropped down to his sides and he gasped for air loudly.  Joel gritted his teeth again and threw his right arm up to Ryan’s face over the mask and began to pull away at it.  The cracked mask shimmered and shined again as it did when it was taking over Ryan’s body and the possessed Guardian released his grip from Joel’s neck and replaced it around his right arm.  Ryan shook Joel’s arm violently, trying to break his grip off from the mask, and he pulled away holding Joel, holding one hand over his mask and another tightly on Joel’s arm, and threw him away.  He tossed and turned then as he repositioned the mask over his face and then tore the bladed hoops out from his back.

            Lynn pulled her hoops back into her hands and retracted the blades and quickly approached Joel’s side to aid him while Ryan was distracted trying to fix the broken mask.  Her friend had flown and tumbled a great length across the mountain path and down far rocky slopes with the strength of Ryan’s throw.  Down the path she fled after Joel as Ryan slowly turned around and began walking steadily after her.  She located Joel twitching on the ground and slid down to help him onto his feet.  The young human lifted Joel and put his right arm around her small body and started to drag him away into hiding.

            “Come on you!  We don’t have long!” Lynn told her friend.

            Joel shook his head in resentment and replied, “I’m not down yet.” He removed his arm from around Lynn and kneeled on the ground and said, “Ryan just caught me off guard is all.”

            The young Guardian stood up straight and breathed deeply in.  He then curled his arms up before him and relaxed his body for a moment and then quickly tensed himself for battle, giving him a charge of additional energy.  Joel looked up as a light glow bolted around his body and saw Ryan’s figure appear over the top of the slope.  Lynn inched away from both of them and the heat energy Joel’s body was beginning to produce.

            “Go for the mask.” Joel told Lynn as he watched Ryan.

            Lynn nodded and sprinted away in the opposite direction up the path.  She approached Ryan from the back, who was still standing silently like a statue gazing down at Joel through the mask.  With her right hand she flipped and twirled one of her hoops around, gaining speed and momentum, and she flung the hoop out to the side into the air.  As the hoop’s extension wire reached maximum length, Lynn tugged it forward and to the left, causing the hoop to bolt around to the front towards Ryan.

Before the hoop was able to strike Ryan’s front, he turned his head suddenly towards the hoop.  His mask glittered and gleamed brightly, and the hoop deflected away off a psychic barrier several feet away from his body.  As the weapon was shot back towards Lynn at high speed the blade extension was activated mid-flight.  Lynn guarded herself with her other hoop and released the blades from it, and she knocked away her right hoop away with the left before it was able to strike her.

At that moment Joel took the opportunity to leap to the side across the side of the mountain slope and kick up towards Ryan with a blazing energy ball hidden in his right hand.  Ryan was able to sense Joel’s approach as he neared him, but he was not able to move out of the way fast enough before Joel’s fist greeted his face with a burning emission.  The mask over Ryan’s face began to crack and break apart through the radiating powers from Joel’s attack, and when the young Guardian put an end to his wave the powers over Ryan became weakened and caused him to collapse to the ground.

The mask became distorted over Ryan’s face, as it was even more cracked and even burnt up.  For the most part it had fallen off from Ryan’s face but a slight piece around his left eye.  Joel slowly approached his downed friend and inspected him closely, adrenaline still flowing through his body as he was still ready for a surprise attack some how.  He kneeled down and picked up the remaining shard of mask over Ryan’s face and crushed it in his hand and let the dust flow away through the gusts of wind.  Joel then checked his friend’s pulse to check his health after his attack.

Lynn retracted the blades of her hoops once more and put them away.  She joined Joel at Ryan’s side when she saw him stand up and nod his head.

“It’s over?” Lynn asked.

Joel nodded and told her, “Yeah.  For now.”

He felt a twitching through his left arm and raised it away from the group and a fresh hand appeared.  At the same time Ryan’s face began to regenerate.  It appeared as if live threads were weaving new skin and muscle over him, and by the time his body was finished it had appeared as if nothing had happened to him at all.  Ryan began to come to and shook his head and scratched his face a bit.

“Good to have you back, Ryan.” Joel said as he rubbed his left arm.

“I’ll say, man.  That was one crazy freak trip!” Ryan exclaimed.

            Joel let down his hand to Ryan and helped him back up to his feet from the ground.  Ryan patted himself down, brushing the dirt off of his fine black suit, and he looked up to Joel’s left arm and began to wonder about the torn sleeve.

            “Did I do that?” Ryan asked as he pointed at Joel’s arm.

            Joel paused for a moment and then nodded in acknowledgement to Ryan and replied, “Yeah.  Don’t worry, though.  We’re fine now, aren’t we?”

            Ryan ran his right hand over his face and said, “Of course.  I’d be dead now if I were human, though.  That thing cutting my face off was really painful.”

            “I’d complain about how freaked and weirded out I am, but by now I think I’m used to it hanging around you two all the time.” Lynn commented.

            Ryan patted the young woman on her back and with a widened casual grin he said, “Don’t worry, man.  The worst is yet to come!”

            Joel crossed his arms and bowed his head down in thought, giving out an unsettled look, and asked, “Ryan, where do you think that creature made off with your face?”

            “I haven’t the slightest.  But good riddance!  I hope he likes the decoration.” Ryan exclaimed.

            “Yeah, but didn’t he say something about power and his master?” Lynn asked as she quickly looked between her friends.

            “That’s what worries me, Lynn.” Joel told her, “It gave out a lot of power like I felt from Ro`Ten, and some how the spell that possessed Ryan was able to control his energy attacks.”

            “Really?  I thought I sliced your arm off with my sword.” Ryan told them.  He put his hands to his side and looked down and away in deep thought as he mumbled, “I don’t know any groups of humans or monsters that know any form of energy attacks like we do.”

            Lynn tugged on Ryan’s side and asked, “Hey, what about another Guardian?”

            Ryan shook his head in denial and said, “Nah.  I don’t sense any other Guardians present around here.”

            “That’s definitely something we’re going to have to check into today.  It’s real dangerous, and other people in the city might just be getting attacked by the same mask monsters.” Joel said.  He looked up towards the gloomy sky and said, “I think it’s about time we go find out if we’ve been accepted yet with Luke or not.”

            Lynn nodded in agreement and said, “Yeah!  This place is making me nauseous being up so high.”

            Joel and Lynn began making their way down the path before Ryan, but before they made it too far Ryan caught them both by their arms and said, “Wait a minute!”  He turned them both around to face him and he exclaimed, “We can’t go back towards the city looking like this!”  He put one hand over Lynn’s head and changed her whole clothes into her casual city clothing and said, “Dirt all over these nice suits, and not to mention Joel’s being torn up won’t put on a good impression.”

            Ryan put his hand over Joel and began to materialize a new set of clothing over him.  Joel had expected his friend to replace his red shirt and pants, but instead he found himself covered in a set of black pants with white racer strips down the sides, a white shirt, and a black leather jacket over that.  The suit felt new to Joel, but at the same time it felt to be something he had missed for an entirely long time from his first days.  As Ryan switched his own dirty suit out for his own city-type clothing Joel gazed over himself silently as he slowly built a joyous look.

            “What’s up man?  Like an old look of yours?” Ryan asked as he looked down at his friend, “I figured you must be tired of wearing the same thing day in and day out, so I got you a new set.”

            Joel began to tremble in excitement before he finally burst out and exclaimed, “Yes Ryan!  This is awesome!”  He began throwing various punches and kicks to test his abilities in the clothes and jacket and said, “It’s a great fit.”

            Lynn scratched her head and asked, “What’s gotten into him?”

            “It’s just like some stuff an old friend got for him, if you know what I mean.” Ryan said as he leaned over to the side towards Lynn, “He always gets a kick out of getting gifts like that.”  He clapped his hands together and exclaimed, “Alright, I’m done!  Let’s head on back!”

            Back down into the gloomy city the three set for again as they traveled down the rocky road of the mountain path.  It provided each of the adventurers with an almost gruesomely sick feeling whenever they looked down over the area.  As they descended almost half way down the path they noticed two guards driving a small jeep up the mountain in their direction.  They gave a look of combined panic and urgency as they hurried their vehicle up the mountain towards them.  Joel and his friends stopped and stood aside as the human guards approached ever so close to them, and they were surprised when they stopped in front of them and opened their doors to them.

            “Joel, Ryan, Lynn?” The guard in the passenger seat asked, “Get in quick!  We need you in the city for the meeting.”

            “Alright!  Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Ryan exclaimed as he circled around the jeep, “First class entrance, man.”

            After Joel and Lynn climbed into the Jeep the man yelled at Ryan, “Get in now!  There’s no time!  Monsters are all over the place!”

            Ryan looked at the two guards, who appeared to be scanning the area in a hurry with an even deeper look of dread than he noticed on the guards from the day before.  He then looked down at his two friends, who looked back at him and both gave him a slight shrug.  The tall Guardian shook his head slightly in disbelief and stepped into the jeep after his long delay in action.  As he seated himself and buckled up he looked up over the horizon and noticed quite a number of star-like sparkles covering the mountain side.  The jeep suddenly jerked forward at high speed, and with a sharp turn the group started to head back down to the city.

            Ryan tapped Joel and Lynn’s shoulders and pointed up to the far background of the mountains and said, “Hey, do you see those?”

            His friends looked back towards the mountains and Lynn nodded, “Yeah, I see.”

            “Those are the monsters!” the driver cried.

            “That’s a lot of monsters!” Joel exclaimed as he squinted his eyes, “There’s got to be at least forty or fifty up there.”

            “Oh, there’s a lot more than that.” The passenger guard told them as he directed their attention towards Traquo.

            To their dismay they were subject to almost one hundred dazzling sparkles covering the whole city.  Within the city dozens of small mask monsters scattered everywhere tackling anything that they could find.  High screeches of “Power!  Give me!” could be heard at every street and in every corner.  The city seemed to have been taken by sudden surprise.

            “Oh my god!” Lynn cried, “Where did they come from?”

            “We’re not sure how they slipped our security.” The passenger guard informed them, “Some of us think they might have spawned some how within the city.  Others think they dug tunnels to get in.”

            “There must be something that’s beckoning them.” Ryan said as he thought about the situation.

            The mask monsters began to pick up the scent of those in the jeep and began hopping towards them in a massive assault.  The high pitched screams from the monsters forced the group of five to cover their ears to preserve their hearing.  As they drove deeper into the great city Joel and Ryan exchanged thoughts of tactics and nodded to each other, and they dropped their hands from their ears, turned around, and aimed for the monsters following them.  With both hands they showered them with a barrage of light energy shots, knocking them back little by little.  The combination of bright white and red lights snapped and crushed each monster the more each of the small creatures persisted, but no matter how many the two Guardians were able to knock out, more only showed up to follow them down the long winding streets.  Victims of the monster attacks rose like zombies with their bleeding faces covered by masks and began to follow the jeep to assist in trying to stop the jeep.

            “We’re almost there.” The driver assured his passengers after a long drive.

The other guard picked up the radio communicator attached to the front of the jeep’s central controls and began to say, “HQ, we have our guests and we’re almost in.  Bogies on our tail and closing in fast in all directions.  We need back in now!”

There was a moment of static heard from the radio there after, but a voice reply was returned through the radio saying, “Roger that private.  We have you on camera and we’ll be opening the gates soon.  Try not to allow any monsters follow you in.”

The guard looked back at Joel and Ryan and said, “Don’t worry, sir.  Our friends seem to be taking care of most of them.”

The jeep arrived back around the location of the underground base where the three travelers found themselves inside earlier in the day.  As they came closer to the entrance it began to lift and open up to reveal the ramp down.  Dozens of troops rushed out and began firing back at the small mask monsters in an attempt to ward off as many as they could while the jeep fled into the base.  As the jeep crossed the entrance Joel and Ryan ceased their firing, and the fighters began to all inch back in as the entrance closed down again.  They continued their rain of bullet fire at the monsters until the very last inch of the entrance had sealed up.

The driver of the jeep slammed his foot down on the breaks to slowly skid to a stop, and as the passengers tumbled and tossed around inside the jeep they spun slightly to the side.  Smoke emitted from the jeep’s wheels and a long trail of skid markings followed them.  Everyone looked behind towards the dark closed off entrance and found that while some mask monsters did try to get through the gates they had all lost a limb or a part of them in their failure.  Joel, Ryan, and Lynn departed from the jeep and drew closer for a better look, and the passenger guard left the jeep and followed them while the driver brought the vehicle back for maintenance.

“Wow!  That’s messy!” Lynn said in awe as slimy monster blood and guts rolled slightly down the ramp.

Ryan nudged his head towards the mess and told the guard, “How about that for your scientists, man?”

“Th,that’s a good idea!” the man nodded back, “We could discover where these monsters came from and why they’re attacking us in such masses lately.”

Joel turned to the guard and asked, “Are you saying there’s been more than one attack from these?”

“Yes sir!  The city has been breaking down from these monsters, and they’ve been taking away the lives of our friends and family.” The guard explained.

“They are?” Joel said quickly.

“Hey man.  Didn’t Dirk’s brother tell us it was Luke’s fault?” Ryan asked Joel as he thought about the night before.

As Joel nodded the Guard looked between the two Guardians and said, “Wait, that’s a misconception!  The mayor just doesn’t understand how to stop the monsters.”  He waved his right arm from his guests down the ramp and said, “Please, if you’ll listen to our side of the story with the mayor himself maybe you’ll understand more.”

Ryan brought out his left hand and created a dim orb of light energy which shortly transformed into a large plastic bag.  He held the bag open and waved his right hand around, sending energy out to pick up the remainder of each monster caught inside the base’s entrance.  As the bag filled and the mess on the ground had been cleaned, Ryan presented it to the guard and allowed him to take it.

“I’ll take you up on the offer.” Joel told him, “We’re all eager to save the city!”  He looked between his friends and asked, “What do you say, guys?”

Ryan tossed his hands up in the air and said, “Better now than never, man.”

Lynn turned around and joined her friends again, and she began to rub her belly and said, “Will there be lunch there?  We haven’t eaten all day, and we’ve done so much!”

            The guard shook his head and informed Lynn, “I don’t know about food, but let me bring it up with the mayor.” The human stepped down the ramp and told them, “This way, please.  Mayor Luke is waiting for you all.”

            Loud clanging sounds began to echo down the tunnel from the large metal gate.  It rumbled slightly and every living soul around stopped what they were doing and watched and waited in caution.

            “Persistent critters, aren’t they?” Ryan said as he watched the ceiling.

            The guard placed his hand up on Joel’s shoulder and tugged as he told him, “Let’s go before too long in case they have a chance to break in.”  He began to direct his guests down towards the base and told them, “It’s a strong gate, though, so I doubt those little things will make it in.

            The four proceeded down the tunnel’s trail and arrived inside the brightly lit central base.  The front guards all presented the three travelers with dubious looks as they inspected them while they entered just the same as when they left.  The statue that Lynn had broken apart had been long since cleaned up since earlier that day.  From the man hall the guard who had directed them at first was instructed to leave and was replaced by two seemingly higher ranked soldiers of the Traquo military.

            From that point the group was directed to the elevators and taken down two levels.  Unlike the levels lower than this, which appeared to be more of a military strategic center and science facility, this level appeared to be more suited for normal, common businesses.  Scattered on each side of every hall were different shops for clothing, accessories, food, entertainment, and other human needs.  Their hosts weaved them through the underground fortress, and eventually Joel, Ryan, and Lynn found themselves in a long room with a desk and several chairs.  The room was decorated in a way for a fashionable leader of many men.  Window-like screens were spread around on the walls of the room and showed and repeated a video of a silent, peaceful plain of grass and flowers to make it appear that the room was actually above ground in a peaceful and sunny location.

Despite the decorations and construction of the room, there was no sight of anyone in the room, but within moments of their arrival they heard a toilet flush from a far room in the back of the office.  The sound of a faucet running water into a sink and a patting down of a towel was heard from within the same room not too long after.  Then Luke was finally seen opening the door and exiting the noisy bathroom, and he approached the room to greet his guests properly.  He wore a tan woven suit with a white undershirt and a black tie, making him appear to be a family type of person.

“So the big guy finally appears before us!” Ryan gloated with a grin.  He looked down and slightly to the side and softly said, “But not before freshening up!”

Luke looked over Ryan for a moment in confusion and then tilted his head and said, "I'm sorry.  You don't look familiar.  Do I know you?"

Joel stepped in front of Ryan slightly before his friend was able to retort and said, "He's Ryan, my friend.  We just changed our clothes before we came here, because it got a little messy outside."

            Lynn looked around blankly and asked, “Where’s Dirk?  Didn’t you say he was going to be here with us?’  Her face began to burn with rage, and Ryan caught hold of her shoulders and held her back as she roared, “You had better not be scamming us!”

            “Dirk is fine.  I had Junicon bring him here from his private isolated cell.” Luke told her.  Luke walked around the three and sat down at his desk and said, “We’re having him clean himself up and we’ve provided him with clean clothes for this visit.”

            Joel nodded and said, “Thanks Luke.  But what’s the occasion?”

            “Well, we can’t have a dirty man in rags join us in a discussion among properly clean and dressed folk.” Luke said.

            “Speaking of which…” Lynn said as she slipped out from Ryan’s grip.  She appeared behind both of her friends as if she were a hovering doom and asked, “When’s the last time you two had yourselves a shower, huh?”

            The two Guardians became startled with grief as Lynn loomed over them both with an eerie aura about her, their eyes popped and grew as they looked at her, and Ryan waved his hands at Lynn and said, “But in the other action movies and novels the heroes were never talked about taking showers or going to the bathroom!”

            Lynn slid herself closer to Ryan and whispered, “But we’re not in a movie or a book, now, are we?”

            “You never know, man!” Ryan exclaimed with a proud grin, “I think that if I checked the library thorough enough I’d find a book or two somewhere with me in it!”

            “Another reason is…” Luke interrupted the two, “We’ve been watching you from our camera system all around the city while you were helping fend off those monsters, and I’d like to begin to submit the apologies of all of Traquo starting with me for our misconception of your intentions here.”

            “Our intentions here?” Joel asked as he turned towards Luke to face again, “You aren’t still obsessed with the whole destroying the city thing, are you?”

            “Everyone would believe that story easily, and my sources have told me about you demons once controlling this city a long time ago.” Luke told his guests, “But watching you all in action has shown me that there might be alone thing behind your coming, and that you may truly be here to free us again from what our present military cannot save us from.”

            “From those mask monsters?” Lynn asked.

            Ryan stepped up with his finger out and said, “Excuse me a moment!”

            A miniature alter-ego Ryan appeared on his shoulder, and with a tiny voice it said, “While I would like to conquer the world some day…”

            Ryan brought his hand back and flicked the miniature off from his shoulder, and it disappeared again in a puff of smoke.

            “I hate to burst your bubble, but we Guardians never really lived here, man.” Ryan explained, “I can clearly remember long ago when this city was first made!  It’s just a coincidence that a Guardian spawning chamber was right next door in the mountains.”  He brought his hand up again and pointed his thumb at his face and said, “Straight from the horse’s mouth, man.”

            It was at that moment when Junicon arrived in the room from the main hall.  Beside him was a fresh and clean Dirk in well suited clothing and a clean hair cut.  It was if all eyes were on them as Dirk was sent along side of the three adventurers and the guards and Junicon made his way beside Luke at the front.

            Junicon gave the mayor a reassuring nod and said in his slightly high voice, “All procedures have been completed.”

            “Ah, bucket head!  Welcome.” Ryan said as he locked gazes with the advisor.

            “You have made it just in time, my friend.” Luke said as he greeted Junicon with a handshake.

            A scaly hand appeared through Junicon’s thick robes and accepted the mayor’s handshake.

            “Of course, sir.  What would you like to have discussed today?” Junicon asked.

            “Actually, I was hoping you would tell me who your source was that told you to tell me that the demons were here to take over Traquo.” Luke told him, “According to Ryan there were never any such plans.”

            Junicon stood silent for a moment as if he was baffled, looking between Luke and Ryan several times.

            “Truth’s a bitch, isn’t it?” Ryan thought as he attempted to send a telepathic wave through to Junicon.  He felt the transmission deflect back at him through psychic waves, and he followed his thoughts up with, “That’s strange.  No one was ever able to deflect my telepathy on the first wave.  Maybe I can search among the surface of his mind.”

            Ryan gazed deeper into Junicon as the room stood quiet.  He gritted his teeth as he attempted to read anything from the tall foreign being.  For an instant he felt he was getting somewhere, but as he watched Junicon closely he noticed the mask over the advisor’s face flipped out quickly and was replaced with a mask with a depressed look.  A small flash emitted through the eye holes of the mask and hit Ryan dead on in his eyes, causing his head to swell and churn.  He groaned and turned away from Junicon with his hands rubbing his head.

            Lynn and Joel caught Ryan as he bent over forward, and Lynn asked him, “Ryan, what’s wrong?”

            The tall Guardian cleared his mind of all pains and shook his head and said, “Nothing.  Just a slight migraine.”

            “I apologize, mayor.  I will find my source and invest more time researching my information so I am not wrong next time.” Junicon told Luke.

            “No, don’t.  It may only lead to more trouble.” Luke said as he shook his head, “Now, on to more important matters, gentlemen.”

            Ryan crossed his arms together and thought, “Yeah, like what’s going on with Junicon’s face.  I’ve never seen anything like that, or felt for that matter.”