Guardians of The Earth Ch. 02

Tasha stared out into the nothingness lost in thought as she considered all Miguel had told her. "That would explain some of the urges I’ve been having lately, I suppose. Wanting to spend more time training and being alone." But she still seemed uncertain. "I don't know if I like the idea of losing my powers though Miguel. It's taken me a long time to figure out what I can do. I still haven't found very many limits." Then a new fear hit her. "You said you gave up you near immortality, does that mean you won't live as long...?" It was bad enough she would lose the close camaraderie they shared, with what they had done the night before. She didn't think she could handle it if he died before her though, not after losing the others to Julius. They might as well lock her up with her mother then.

Miguel took a deep breath. "Yeah I'm mortal again for the most part. I mean I'll have an extremely long life compared to humans. But eventually I will die, as long as someone doesn't kill me first. I can grow old, have children, all the things I used to before my powers were awakened. My body is tougher than steel, and I can heal virtually any damage given time. But loosing my head is no longer the only way I can be killed." He was no fool though and sensed her fear of losing him. "But if you decide to do this it has to be because you want it Tasha. Not because your afraid of being alone."

Tasha looked sharply at him. "I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid of anything!" She spoke more sharply than she had intended to. She glanced away not able to meet his gaze. "It just sounds... I don't know." She crossed her arms over her chest and took a few steps into the void. "It is our responsibility to protect and defend the Earth. If this will make me more vulnerable..." She turned to look at him again. "And J.J. has children, surely that is possible as I am. What you are suggesting..." She wasn't able to finish the thought. Children and the future had never entered her mind. Well it had but a family was for other people, not her.

Tasha thought for a few more minutes about what he had said about becoming weak in some ways, but stronger in others. Certainly his speed and reflexes were better than she could ever do alone. And he had even admitted that he might not be able to push her as far as he had gone. "It can't hurt to try I guess." She said finally.

Miguel wanted to give her the old Yoda montage of 'Do or Do Not there Is No Try.' But he wasn't about to push his luck. "Fine. First thing you need to do is to power up and summon all your power."

Tasha silently did as she was told, aware that she had annoyed him. The subtle rise of her power was not apparent by the way she looked. Tasha didn't change her appearance, though she was protected by an invisible protective shield. Now what?" She asked

Miguel sensed that her power was fully activated. "Okay now it's my turn." he said as he raised his power level. A bluish aura surrounded his body. At first it was only centimeters from his skin, but with in a matter of moments it grew until it was about 2 ft. away from his body. "Defend yourself." He yelled out as he moved in attacking her much faster the he had before.

Tasha moved to block his attacks as fast as she could. Using her control of air she slowed him some but he was still too fast. She didn't dare teleport in this void, she might find herself lost for years.

Miguel noticed her use of the wind to slow him down. His answer was simple, he moved so fast that he seemed to disappear in front of her eyes. He was able to maneuver around and behind her. Before she could react he had put his hands together and hit her with a tornado force blast of air at short range that knocked her back at least 75 ft. "That's my tornado punch." he told her.

When Tasha regained her balance she slowly walked back to where he was. "Sneaky, but impressive." She said dusting imaginary dust off her front. Then she threw a fire ball the size of volley ball in his direction. She came in fast after it kicking and punching where she could.

Miguel countered with a blast of energy that hit her fire ball and caused a blinding explosion. When the flash cleared Miguel was not where he should have been. "Up here!" he yelled, as she looked up a barrage of smaller energy blasts came raining down on her.

Tasha closed her eyes and let her senses ride the air around her. She creates a wind storm around her pushing every thing away. Giving up her solid form she moves through the currents and materializes again behind Miguel. She grapples him from behind. "Tell me more about the new powers you have." She asks as she holds his arm behind his back.

Miguel chuckled. I hope you have a tight grip. Before she had a chance to answer he began flying faster than he had ever flown before (at least that she knew of). As Miguel approached the speed of sound he began to incorporate twists and turns which made it feel as if Tasha was on a roller coaster. He was relentless as he continued to not only build up his speed to beyond that of sound , but also to increase the daring of his maneuvers.

As Miguel built up speed Tasha latched on to him with her other arm, then wrapped her legs around him holding on for dear life and loving every minute of it. Her ankles locked at his waist and she laughed softly in his ear. "Drop me and I'll have to kill you." She said as his maneuvers grew more daring.

"Okay You asked for it!" Miguel yelled out load as he put on another burst of speed. He then changed his direction and headed straight for the ground. A split second before hitting he dematerialized from Tasha's grasp and let her hit the ground all by herself.

"Now that had to hurt." he said standing some 50ft away from her.

Tasha rolled with the impact landing on her back. She shook her head to clear it and looked in the direction of his voice. "You could say that." She mumbles. Taking a deep breath to control her rising temper she stands. Then she takes a second deep breath. "I know your not TRYING to kill me.. What exactly is your plan here?" Tasha was unable to keep the irritation out of her voice.

Miguel didn't say anything. He just seemed to stand there within his guard up doing nothing.

Tasha concentrates on Miguel. the air around him grows thick and very hot. Hotter than most humans could stand and rising, the air too thick to breath.

Miguel holds his ground not moving as if the her attack had no effect on him.

She increases the heat and a fire starts around him. The air around him is unbreethable. As she does this she walk toward him slowly, still regaining her balance after her fall.

Miguel's concentration is unbroken by the increase in heat or the fire that is surrounding him. In fact his focus seems even stronger the closer she gets to him.

"I know I probably don't' want to know the answer to this but... What is your intention Miguel?" She asked again from twenty feet.

She got her answer in the form of a energy blast to the back that knocked her through the image of Miguel.

"Well you said you wanted to know what some of my new abilities were." he said as he stood not to far from where she had been.

Enough of this cat and mouse bullshit! Tasha charged Miguel with a fury he hadn't seen since he'd been back. She pulled herself off the floor and ran at him. Just before she got to him she dematerialized and reformed to his side. She did a roundhouse kick to his head and went back to a gas form before he could hit her again. She reformed elsewhere to hit him again, repeating the process several times.

Instinctively Miguel was able to parry her roundhouse hick and then her other blows. To an outsider the action would have been so fast that they would have appeared like a blur. But to Miguel everything was in slow motion, he just let her wail on him without her actually scoring a direct hit. Just as Tasha is about to surrender to her exhaustion Miguel drops his guard and allows her to hit him with every bit of her remaining strength….nothing happened to him. It was as if he had absorbed her shot.

Tasha backed off to about 20 feet away. She shook her head and fell to her knees in exhaustion. "Miguel, this is stupid!" She yelled clearly still irritated. "We both know I can't even touch you unless you want me to! And even then I have no effect!" Tasha almost growled with her frustration.

Miguel's watch alarm began to sound. "That was the point. To take you to the point of exhaustion." He said as he drew closer to her. He picked her up in his arms and carried her out through the doorway that appeared out of nowhere. Once back in her home he laid her on her bed and let her sleep. He wasn't sure If they had gone long enough, only time will tell now. He reset his clock to wake her In a few hours so she could make her appointment, then left the room. He had Some errands of his own to run.

tbc.....

***********************

I hope you enjoyed part two of this story. I'm always looking for feedback so don't hesitate to send me any, also don't forget to vote.