GUARDIANS25: The Book of Sirrah

Rebirth

Some people are born leaders, while some leaders are made—built from conglomerates and factory-like organizations, with purposes most times unknown to the products they shape.

All leaders are different. Some dare to push the boundaries, and others find comfort within borders.

During the few months that had passed, I tried to lead from a place of love. Because, love is a form of safety, a comfort that comes from an outside source. But along with my powers, my leadership was still described as weak.

I wondered: Are we able to both lead and love? A question, or rather, inner conflict that had plagued me ever since the beginning. From the moment I was forced to lead a small team of indignant, super-powered teenagers tasked with the duty to save the world from inevitable peril.

I leaned against a building in an alleyway at the bottom of a high-rise building. I set an elaborate trap for one of Mitagi's Knights. We hadn't seen Tira since the day she left that meeting two years ago. And I could sense she was moving fast down the alleyway with the stolen goods The Institute had us warned was in her possession.

My mind was manic. This girl used to be our friend, our classmate, yet I spent an entire evening planning how to capture her. If I was going to be forced into leading, was there any other way to lead without fighting, growing to hate each other? I hated the idea of good versus evil, and even more, the idea of heroes and villains in the real world. When a villain comes into your life, and outside of a comic book, don't you realize how human they are? Don't you see how much they want what they want and empathize with their plight? Who would you consider the villain in your life? Your boss? Your bully? Or is that word reserved for those with special abilities to harm. And I struggled to understand, most of all, how to help maintain moral guidelines when everyone should have a fair chance and moments at freedom of expression and ideals. A very American mindsight, I guess—

I had to snap back to reality. I could sense my target was a few yards away and had spotted me waiting for her before I even had the chance to look up at her. She stood only a few yards away from me, panting slightly from her long run.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Tira exclaimed with a shocked expression. That's a great start to the plan, I thought. At the very least, we managed to maintain the element of surprise.

"You've been gone a long time, Tira, and you thought coming back to Red Lake City and risking capture for petty jewels was a good plan? What do you need with them? If you need help, we can help you!" I told her, glaring at her through my visor. My visor quickly scanned her body for vitals, weapons, and any other important information, and then displayed them on the visor screen in front of my eyes. It was a part of the specialized armor given to me by The Institute. Even more engineers, scientists, and the world's best specialists were stationed as The Institute became a more funded, important sector of the Space Force program. So, our technology had advanced quite rapidly.

Our armor was tailored to match our abilities as well, giving us more protection during battle. Although we looked more medieval, the metal was lightweight and colored to match our symbol. Mine was purple and protected most of my body, especially my bones, since I was used to being knocked around on the battlefield.

Tira was a tall, strongly built Italian-American girl. Her raven, silk hair had been cut short and put in a ponytail. Outside of her sports bra, cargo shorts, and boots, the definition of her arms, legs, and abs showed her strength to any of her opponents before battle. Whereas I wore so much armor, Tira was surprisingly bare and agile, especially given the fact she bore the symbol of technology. I did, however, notice a high-tech gauntlet on her arm that she did not have when she left. It was giving off a massive energy signal.