Chapter 24

The Corps

“The…the Corps is dead?”

“Did he just take down one of the Corps’ skyships with a single shot?”

“I don’t understand! Guardians, why are you running? Help us!”

The dissension was growing. Raymond could feel it on the air. People that were freed were standing stock-still, watching one of the many screens around the stadium. Chapman had stopped talking, and many of the Guardians had dropped to their knees in complete fear. The captain couldn’t fully blame them, not after having seen his own skyship taken down so easily.

“Stand up!” a voice ordered, the same girl that had been with his sister earlier. “Are you a Guardian or not? Stand and fight!”

“How are we supposed to against someone that can do that?” a Guardian argued back. Stone flew behind Raymond, dusting his hair. Maria had leapt out of the attack path of Amelia, sporting a wide grin.

“So, he actually said it,” she cackled. Her glee was uncontrollable, matched only by the scowl on Amelia’s face. “Hee hee, you guys have really got it bad now!”

“Since when has the Corps grown so weak that you can claim them dead?”

“But look at them, cowering. Half of us are still sitting here, chained.”

“This is bad…” Raymond breathed. His sword snapped into its original shape, and his brain grinded for a way to fix the mounting fear that was enveloping the stadium. Rico’s declaration had been a blow to morale that none of them could have taken. Only those tested by the fires of battle, like Emily and Jay, were continuing without issue.

What was worse was that the citizens saw all of it play out. The Corps’ demons were laid bare.

How many uphold the same principles as you? If the world were so perfectly clean from the Corps, why then does the Order exist? Why are these Renegades here?

The Reaper’s words returned to him, and not in a way he wished. Looking around at such a panicked populace, at fearful Guardians, he could begin to see how so many would lose faith. Were starting to lose faith. The Renegades, for all their terror, had too much of a point.

“And since when?” Raymond had to look at the screens for himself, now. Rico wasn’t alone on the screen. He was joined by two others, including his sister. Their parents gasped in the crowd, but from what Raymond could see, Meredith was unrelenting. “Since when are you the person who decides what the Corps is or isn’t? You don’t even know them!”

“And you do?” Rico said. His voice was heard far and wide, his lips twitching. “They ran and hid from a simple operation as ours. They failed to protect the Metropolis but for one man. They failed to even protect the people of the alchemic settlement, leaving that to us! Then they let such scum live. How can such a group that does nothing but protect themselves be considered anything but dead?!”

“Because there are still people who are more than that!” Meredith’s words reached. Raymond found his steps taking him closer to a screen, drawn to his sister’s magnetic words and presence. The mumbles returned, these trending more positive than those before. “There are still people willing to give their lives in service of others. Willing to fight for others. People who want to become Guardians, like me, and Vivian. Who are you to take that away because they don’t match what you think they should be?”

“They don’t even match what they claim to be!” Rico was looking angrier now, his forehead pulsing. “They say they’re the protectors, but even some of their highest officers are more concerned with fame and glory. It’s poisoned at its root. No amount of new Guardians, young or old, will ever fix that. I’m tired…tired of seeing people who have everything taken from them ignored. Tired of those who slip through the cracks because they’re not viewed as in need of protection. If that’s what the Corps is, a bunch of bullies who fly around acting on their own sense of grandeur and self-righteousness, then we don’t need a Guardian Corps at all! Tonight has proven it!”

“Childs! Stop staring!” Raymond whipped backwards, avoiding the metal nails that had been launched at his head. Maria and Amelia hadn’t ceased battle in the midst of Rico’s confrontation with his sister. While the citizens could afford to hang on every word, Raymond knew he could no longer. He extended his sword, the blade flying with speed towards Maria.

“So fast!” Maria ducked, the blade catching on her cloak, but missing her. She skidded across the ground on all fours and leapt for the captain. He pulled the blade back and she took a knife out with a feral grin. “Has your sister emboldened you? Or are you just enraged at Rico’s words?”

Raymond slashed, blocking Maria’s strike. Amelia moved in, summoning a line of windy arrows and letting them fire. Maria pulled off, the attacks peppering the stone harmlessly. The captain kicked, and Maria did a backflip that sent his chin snapping backwards. He stumbled while Amelia moved in. Two snaps later and cyclones were whirling around, sucking the Renegade in and tossing her towards the sky. She fell with cackling.

“I wonder what the world’s gonna look like tomorrow!” she screeched. Some people watched her, but most were transfixed on the battle taking place on screen. His sister had begun battle with Rico, still screaming words of challenge, but Raymond remained focused on the battle at hand. “Your Corps is crumbling! What’s gonna be left standing? Are you going to still believe in such a broken relic of an old society?”

“Broken relic?” Raymond asked. He pivoted his foot backwards, digging it in. His sister did the same on-screen, and they both rushed at their opponents, blades locking. “If that’s what you believe, you’re very wrong about the Corps.”

“Is that so?” Maria disengaged, pulling out another knife. She spun with rapid strikes, the metal of the knives changing shape and becoming longer. He twisted his sword, turning it into an elongated pole that he blocked each strike with. “Then how do you explain all your little companions, scurrying away like rats.”

“There are always people who will cast aspersions upon a group of people trying to do good,” he said. He pushed his pole forward, locking one of Maria’s hands with it, before twisting the weapon and disarming her. “But we are the Guardian Corps! We have stood for far longer than your own ideals have been borne! That is not done through selfishness, but by courage, and a willingness to make the world a better place, whatever it takes.”

“Ugh, the knight in shining armor act. You all look so ugly in it.”

“Yes, but I think you’ll look better in chains.” Amelia clapped her hands together with her statement. A vacuum of storms appeared in that spot, shuddering outward. What was left of the walls of the stadium began to crack, and Maria was thrown back, hitting the wall with a great “oof!”. She didn’t stand down, though her stance was woozier than it had been before. “The Corps is old, Maria of the Renegades, but we are far from finished. There are people who will carry on the will from the Guardians of old, on and on. Like those children who stood against you.”

“Them? Rico will make short work of them. They’re nothing,” Maria taunted. Her grin was back, but Raymond could see she was hurting. Shadows gathered in the halls behind him. “Not even worth much of a notice to them by comparison. You think they matter? They represent the old ways, a society that lost its way. Why should we believe in an old and broken system when the world has moved on? How do you answer that change and that violence?”

“By not being like you.” Raymond didn’t know the voice, but the boy appearing next to Maria, giving her a cocksure grin, was enough distraction that he was able to take. “Sorry, I don’t think you’re so beautiful. Girls, let’s go!”

Raymond felt a chill invade the air, though he didn’t know where it came from. Vines opened beneath Maria, like a snare of tree branches that encircled her legs and began to freeze them. Maria was rendered immobile. Whoever was attacking, Amelia knew them, because she whirled her finger around, creating a pocket of air above Maria that pushed down on her, holding her there before bindings snapped her limbs to her body and caused her to fall over.

“Benny, you couldn’t have cut it closer,” the commander said. She blew a kiss to the professor at Lacardia, who blushed, but patted all three of his students on the head. “Nice work, Lacardia.”

“Hey, credit’s due to these two,” the boy said, arms slung around the girls. His copy had disappeared. “I see Mera and the others are on the attack. Guess that means we do our part. Professor?”

“Go. I’ll back you up. Let’s talk when this is over, Amelia.” He gave her a peck on the cheek and raced right after his students, leaving the two Guardians alone once again. The commander smiled sweetly after him.

“He always has the perfect timing…”

Raymond wasn’t about to argue with a woman in love, and he turned to Maria, only to find her gone. The bindings had been shed and the roots snipped to pieces. “Damn it! Commander!”

Amelia looked, and while she wore a frown, she seemed otherwise unconcerned, merely sighing and shrugging. “That woman’s such a snake.”

“You could stand to be more worried, commander. She could be going right for Mera and the others. If they’re forced to fight-” Amelia slapped a hand to his mouth and steered his eyes in the direction of the screen. The crowd in the stadium gasped. Some ducked to avoid the Home Guard clashing with the Renegades, but others looked at the blazing bullet, streaking down, that was… “Eddie.”

“Look well, Raymond,” the commander said. Pride etched her lips and eyes, brimming with a confidence as the explosion on the Communications Tower was felt even in the stadium, shifting yet more of the rock. Eddie was revealed, heaving and smoking, but standing tall. “Today, regardless of who wins, the future will be made.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. Amelia chuckled.

“Because I’ve watched them fight, tear each other apart, and come back together.” She looked to Raymond, hauling an arm around him and grinning. “You’re too stuck in what the Corps is to see what it can become. What they can become.

“Meredith and her friends are the future.”

“And since when?” Meredith demanded. Rico blinked, surprised she would challenge him. Vivian kept her arrow ready, but the leader of the Renegades paid her no mind. Meredith stared him down, challenging his statement. “Since when are you the person who decides what the Corps is or isn’t? You don’t even know them!”

“And you do?” Rico said. His voice echoed around the city, from every screen, as his lips twitched. “They ran and hid from a simple operation as ours. They failed to protect the Metropolis but for one man. They failed to even protect the people of the alchemic settlement, leaving that to us! Then they let such scum live. How can such a group that does nothing but protect themselves be considered anything but dead?!”

“Because there are still people who are more than that!” Meredith yelled. Terrill was encouraging her from within his blade, nodding in agreement. Vivian chuckled under her breath, too, but Rico still didn’t give her attention. “There are still people willing to give their lives in service of others. Willing to fight for others. People who want to become Guardians, like me, and Vivian. Who are you to take that away because they don’t match what you think they should be?”

“They don’t even match what they claim to be!” Rico was apoplectic, his forehead pulsing, a vein visible there. “They say they’re the protectors, but even some of their highest officers are more concerned with fame and glory. It’s poisoned at its root. No amount of new Guardians, young or old, will ever fix that. I’m tired…tired of seeing people who have everything taken from them ignored. Tired of those who slip through the cracks because they’re not viewed as in need of protection. If that’s what the Corps is, a bunch of bullies who fly around acting on their own sense of grandeur and self-righteousness, then we don’t need a Guardian Corps at all! Tonight has proven it!”

“Oh, don’t go forcing your twisted view on others, Renegade,” Vivian shouted. Now, she got Rico’s attention. Meredith stepped to the side, forcing Rico to keep her in his view. “I mean, you’re right, of course. There are plenty of Guardians that couldn’t give a damn about protecting the people. The ones who use it as only a means of fame and glory while forgetting what it’s supposed to be.”

“Hey!” Meredith said. Her friend waved her off. Beyond the two, she could see Eddie reaching Emil with Felix’s help and kicking him in the face. There was hesitation in Emil’s movements, and an uncertainty in his soul. Vivian was far more certain.

“Come on, you know it’s true,” the blonde said. Her eyes remained trained on Rico, but her words were the sterner blade against him. “Had it not been for you and Eddie, I would’ve just gone down the path my father had laid out for me. The path to glory and power that didn’t care what weeds I stepped on along the way.”

Meredith’s head dipped a little bit. The words rang true, the face of the sneering Victor Lacroix in her mind. He was certainly everything Rico wished to expose about the Corps in a single person. It stung to think that. “Okay, fair point. But what does that matter, Viv?”

“My own point is that, sure, there are a lot of people who only care about the Corps as a means to an end for themselves,” Vivian said, getting to her point at last. Her eyes twitched to the side, and then down, and Meredith got the signal loud and clear. “But there are also people who want nothing more than to save others the world over. People like Meredith, here, who have their dream, and none of it involves any of that. If the future of the Corps, the next generation, is built by those kinds of people, then you don’t get a Corps that’s died. Just a better one.

“And it won’t be dictated by you!”

Vivian fired, her energy aimed to Rico’s feet. He was thrown backwards and Meredith dug her foot in before rushing forth, slashing her sword upward. The energy spiked, the souls visible as Terrill clashed with the man who held the spear. Rico had blocked the blow. He swiped, setting Meredith off-balance, but Vivian moved in, her bow changing to a blade. Rico twisted, blocking that attack as well. The shockwave of energy shuddered down the tower, lights flickering from the output. Meredith stomped, and the top of the tower was eaten by stones that put Rico off-balance. She and Vivian moved in.

“I’m not asking for anything to be dictated by me!” Rico countered. His spear spun back, splitting into the two blades he’d used before. The two girls slashed down, their attacks bouncing off Rico’s scimitars. He whirled, sending them skidding backwards. “I’m asking for a world that doesn’t toss us aside like trash! That doesn’t consider us worthless!”

“Then try to make it better a different way!” Meredith yelled. She stabbed the ground and flung her sword up. Spires jutted from the stone of the roof, each getting progressively taller until Rico slashed them apart. Vivian moved behind him, thrusting forward and finally getting him on the side. He turned, his sword swiping up to cleave at her shoulder. Blood dripped, but Vivian didn’t relent, holding his attention while Meredith bounded up the steps of stone she had created to get above Rico. “Try to change it from the inside, or trust in the generation that will make it so.”

“That generation will lose its way. It always does.” Meredith dropped, her knee colliding with Rico’s face before her sword came screaming down towards him. He lifted his arm to deflect the blow before it could make contact. Wind encircled the scimitar and ripped outward. Meredith’s body was flung backwards, tumbling to the edge of the roof. “The new adopts the old. They grow complacent. Pleased with what they’ve done. Time isn’t kind to naïve idealism. How many generations would we have to wait before true change is made?”

Meredith bounced along the roof, nearly falling off but managing to grab the edge. Her fingers nearly lost their purchase, but she held tight. Vivian clashed with Rico, the two Legendary Weapons causing the tower to erode just a little more. The leader of the Renegades was proving stronger.

He does have a point…Terrill said. Meredith scowled; she didn’t need such insinuations. The Corps as I see it today is a far cry from what it was in my time. More a means to an end than the end itself. It saddens me, and I can only imagine how it affects those less fortunate.

“Whining about it doesn’t fix the problem, though!” Meredith yelled. She swung her body, hoping her fingers would hold until she flipped back on the roof. Her timing was less than perfect, and Vivian was tossed into her. The two fell, only catching a lucky break when their bodies glowed blue from Vivian’s enchantment. They flew over the edge and hit the next roof of the structure, rolling along it. Rico landed with all the grace of a wind sprite. He looked up, and the girls followed his gaze.

Felix and Eddie were still grappling with Emil, the Lacardian student punching Emil across the face. Eddie formed a whip of fire and he wrapped it around Emil, flicking him down towards the roofs that rested beneath them. The boy righted himself, though his course correction sent up dust that wafted right over to them.

“Felix, you’re getting really annoying!”

“So are you!” Felix shot back. Eddie fell from Felix’s grasp, but Meredith trusted him to have a handle on the situation, stabilizing himself with an outpouring of wind. “All your talk of poor me! Guess what, Emil? We’ve all had crappy things in life! Eddie didn’t know what he wanted! I had magic I could barely control without getting hurt! Conrad’s dad disappeared! The twins grew up looking like they had incompatible magic, and you know how that can feel in a place like Lacardia where magic is everything!”

“Yeah, get a grip, Emil!” Eddie skidded along the edge of one of the roofs, looking to the girls for a second before his wind acted as rocket thrusters that pushed him back into the air towards Emil. He and Felix reached the boy at the same time, each grabbing hold of him. “Your life is no more unfair than others! You have no right to whine on and on about not getting the attention you wanted, or doing stuff like this!”

“Yeah, well neither of you have a better answer for what should be done, do you? You have no idea what I’ve been through in life, so don’t think you can tell me what to do!” Emil punched out, his palm slapping against Felix’s abdomen. The force of gravity increased and Felix was flung forward, slamming straight into one of the buildings. There was nothing to break his fall and he fell down, his path slowed by the many things he banged into before hitting the ground. Meredith was only assured by his soul remaining stable.

It inspired her to stand, glaring at Rico, who seemed more interested in the battle above than the one he was already fighting.

“What’s the point of believing the next generation can fix things when the Corps continues to breed discontent by ignoring that very generation? They toss them aside like trash. Is it any wonder those who strive to become Guardians uses it as a crutch to live a cushy life?” Rico looked down, addressing the two girls as they stood. Meredith’s body glowed red from Vivian’s enchantment and the two dashed for him. He blocked them with both of his blades. “Remember the Metropolis, trial girl. How instead of helping citizens that were injured, they protected their home, instead. Human lives are less important, right? Who cares that Emil was nothing but a puppet for his parents until we took him in? Who cares that he was all alone and ignored? It’s the thought of being a Guardian than counts right?”

“And what about you, Rico?” Meredith was pushed back, and up above, Eddie was tossed back as well. Her foot dug into the stone of the lesser roof, pushing off for another strike while Eddie launched forward with wind and frosted Emil’s chest. The Earth-Splitter met the scimitar, while Vivian hacked at Rico, only to be blindsided by a twist of wind. “What happened to you to make you think you had the right to break down everything the Corps tried to build?”

He pushed her off of him, his scimitar flashing out. She changed the direction of her sword, reaching up to block with a backhanded approach. Most of it was stopped, but part of the blade cut into her already wounded shoulder. He kicked, pitching her backwards. When he straightened, he regarded her with contempt and pain.

“Everything.”

His statement was resonant, silencing what voices there were in the city. The popping explosions of Eddie’s duel with Emil continued, but the reduced frequency and the cry as Emil socked him across the face indicated that Eddie had heard Rico’s words. Meredith’s breathing became ragged, her chest recovering from the second smarting blow that Rico had managed to land on her. From within the Earth-Splitter, Terrill became saddened, understanding. She couldn’t blame him, her own soul feeling for the man who seemed to now be so driven by loss that he had to rage against the world that he felt made it so.

“I lost everything. My parents. My friends. My town. Razed by the very same Beastmaster that couldn’t be stopped,” Rico said. He stalked forward, his twin blades becoming as one. “Where was the Corps then? Why couldn’t they stop him? Why couldn’t they stop anything before more tragedies occurred? Because they were too content in their ivory halls and their own righteousness. What did a man, tossed adrift to the tides of fate, matter to them? Nothing. I was nothing to them. They were nothing to them.”

“Oh, give me a break,” Vivian snarled. She was standing, too. “No wonder Emil found you, you’re both so alike, bitterly complaining about how unfair life is. Blaming everyone for how bad your life is but yourself.”

“I don’t think that’s entirely true,” Meredith said. Vivian cast a frown in her direction but didn’t bother to refute her. “The Beastmaster hurt people and caused a lot of destruction. That was no one’s fault but his…but choosing to live each day in resentment of everything around you…Rico, that’s just on you!”

“You give the Corps no blame? Even after they tossed a friend of yours to the wind?”

“Why would we?!” Eddie yelled from the sky. All of the screens in the Metropolis gave focus to him, radiating his words. He punched Emil across the face. “Emil made his choice. He chose to be bitter about his lot in life! Why should the Corps be responsible for that?!”

“Of course, they’re not perfect,” Meredith said. She was back in action, her and Vivian’s blades clashing with Rico’s spear again. The shockwave nearly sent them tumbling, but all three held on, straining against one another. “But they try their best, and there are people willing to stand and protect. At the very least they’ve moved on. They haven’t let their pain control them! They chose to be better, and that’s what you don’t get, Rico!”

“It’s not about waiting for someone to save you,” Vivian claimed. “It’s about saving yourself!”

“That’s why you’re no different from the Order. That’s why…” Meredith broke off and pointed the Earth-Splitter right at him. Her declaration rang across the sky. “…you’ll never understand what we fight for. The Corps still lives, because we fight for it!”

An explosion tinged the air orange, rocking the ground. Neither Meredith nor Vivian allowed themselves to be unsettled. Rico was, and the girls took off. He raised his spear, ready to block, but the girls ducked. Vivian’s sword transformed back into a bow and her energy impacted against Rico’s chest just as Meredith slashed at his exposed leg. He flew back, into the wall of the tallest tower building. He fell to support himself by his spear, coughing from the hit.

“Rico!” Emil shouted, and Meredith saw his head turning so fast, between his two allegiances, it was a wonder he didn’t get whiplash.

“Don’t take your eyes off me!” Eddie arrived, slinging his hand forward with stony darts that battered Emil’s prone body. The dirty-blond slipped in midair but managed to fire out an orb of gravity. Eddie was sent flying, fire and wind spraying from his hands to stabilize himself. Once he did, and before his body could fall too far, he threw both palms behind him and the dual elements exploded in a magnificent blaze. “If you’re so confused, then make a choice, here and now! Do you want to keep focusing on the past you cling to like your scarf, wallowing in bitterness and despair? Or are you going to save yourself and keep moving forward with us? It’s not up to Rico or the Renegades. It’s not up to us, either! You have to decide!

“But always remember what Mera told you: you’re not alone! We’ll go through hell for you! So, choose!”

The blaze consumed Eddie’s body. Emil froze up, transfixed by the sight of Eddie streaking for him. Eddie had no problems tackling Emil with a roar. The dirty-blond’s magic gave out, his eyes widened, and the two fell until they crashed into one of the roofs. Fire plumed and wind whipped about. Rico huffed as he stood, his own eyes widening at the sight on the roof below when it cleared.

Eddie was standing over a downed Emil, his body smoking from his own elements as Emil twitched with fear, unable to move. Meredith and Vivian smiled, almost laughing at Eddie’s victory. Over the screens, his face was shown, growling and triumphant, while a cheer rose.

Then, he started to fall.

“Sorry…but…I think that…was my limit…” Eddie finally chuckled out, the smile on his lips. “It’s up to…you two. Go get ‘im…”

“Right!” Meredith and Vivian responded simultaneously, bumping their fists against each other. Round two with Rico was ready to officially begin.