Arcbound: Tale of The Guardians

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The school buzzed with chatter as students moved between classes. On the surface, everything seemed normal. But beneath that calm, Guardian Base Alpha 2.0 hummed with subtle alerts.

In the Arc Chamber, Leo sat in front of the holo-table, eyes scanning a series of red pings blinking across the eastern sensor grid.

"Anomaly detected," ECHO's voice rang softly. "Arc reading: Class Zero. Power Level: Minimal."

Leo frowned. "Seems weak. Just residual energy." He tapped the comms. "Ping sent. Guardian team alerted."

---

History Class – Top Floor, Hall B

Henry, Nora, Natasha, Carl, and Kai sat scattered across the class. Caleb sat near the window, drawing absently in his notebook. Natasha glanced at him briefly before returning her attention to the lecture. Across the room, Leo peeked in from the hallway and gave Natasha a small thumbs-up before slipping back out. She rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

Henry, seated next to Nora, leaned closer. "You good?"

She nodded. "I was going to ask you that. You've been tense since morning."

He shrugged. "Just... got a feeling."

Their bracelets glowed faintly. Leo's voice crackled through the comms.

"Small threat. Arc-sensor flagged eastern wing tunnel. Not urgent. Henry, Nora, might be good for a sweep?"

Henry stood. "We'll check it out."

Nora followed. The others watched, unconcerned.

Carl stretched. "Easy cleanup."

---

Tunnel Access Corridor

The stone hallway buzzed with strange static as Henry and Nora stepped in. Faint tendrils of energy laced the air like smoke.

Nora read her scanner. "Still registering low-level."

From the shadows, a low hiss.

A figure stepped out—humanoid, but shifting. Its limbs bent at odd angles, like it hadn't decided what shape to take. Silver skin rippled over its body.

Henry raised his staff. "Guardian Merge."

Electricity sparked as he transformed, twin staffs forming in his grip.

"Merge."

Water coiled around Nora as her form shimmered into her Guardian armor, trident in hand.

They lunged.

But the creature was fast.

It struck Nora hard. She fell, dazed.

Henry moved to strike but the creature vanished and reappeared behind him, slamming him into the wall.

Static filled the comms.

Back in class, Kai sat up straight. Carl grabbed his arm. "Something's wrong."

Leo's voice came through, panicked. "Scratch that. Not Class Zero! Repeat: not Class Zero! It's reading mutable Arc signatures. It's a mimic! Repeat: a shifter!"

Natasha was already running.

---

Tunnel – Moments Later

Henry was unconscious.

Nora gasped for breath, pinned beneath the creature's foot.

It raised a clawed hand—morphing again into something grotesque.

But a fire whip lashed across its face.

Natasha.

She slid between it and Nora, flame roaring from her hands.

"Touch her again and I'll incinerate your DNA."

Carl's staff swung into view, knocking the mimic back.

Wind surged.

Kai dropped down from the ledge above, shield glowing with earthlight.

Together, the Guardians forced the creature back.

It hissed—then exploded into a cloud of smoke, vanishing.

---

Arc Chamber – Later

Henry sat with an ice pack, silent.

Nora sat beside him. "You okay?"

He nodded slowly. "I should've waited."

She placed her hand on his. "You trusted the data. It's not your fault."

Across the room, Natasha paced. Caleb was nowhere near—he'd never seen any of this.

Leo watched her carefully, then looked away when she turned.

Jay stood at the console. "It left something."

A melted tech shard pulsed on the scan table.

Leo leaned over it. "It's resonating with unstable Oria energy... and it's got a unique imprint. It's not just a mimic. It can become any of us."

The team went quiet.

Kai muttered, "So we can't even trust our own faces now?"

Nora looked around, her hand still on Henry's.

Carl spoke next. "Then we stop trusting the face. And trust the heart."

Jay nodded. "Name?"

Leo tapped the system.

"Codename: Alastor."

---

Outside – Nightfall

Natasha walked alone past the courtyard. Caleb caught up beside her.

"You disappeared earlier. Everything okay?"

She smiled. "Yeah. Just... life."

He walked her to her dorm.

"You ever feel like people hide a lot more than they say?" he asked.

She nodded. "All the time."

Not far behind them, Leo watched from the shadows, hand in his pocket, gaze unreadable.

Inside the Arc Chamber, a new alert flickered.

And Alastor watched from somewhere far too close.

---

The Arc Chamber hummed softly, a low pulse flickering through the walls like a heartbeat waiting to skip. Despite the glow of new tech, the lair felt quieter than usual. More... tense.

Henry sat alone in the lounge section, slouched on the couch, a half-empty bowl of popcorn in his lap. The screen in front of him played an old superhero cartoon—loud, colorful, and utterly unhelpful at distracting his thoughts.

Because his thoughts kept circling her.

Nora.

He didn't get why things felt different now. Well—he did, but… not fully.

She had fought beside him before. Countless times. But that night? When Alastor nearly crushed her windpipe and he was too dazed to stop it—that moment lived rent-free in his brain.

That, and the way she hadn't left his side since.

The door swished open behind him.

"Hey," Nora said.

Henry looked back, surprised. "You're back again?"

She shrugged. "Didn't feel like going home."

She moved closer, her steps casual but purposeful. A tablet blinked in her hand—open security logs—but she wasn't looking at it. She sat beside him on the couch, close. Too close.

Henry tried not to shift awkwardly. He failed.

Nora grinned.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're acting weird."

"Am I?" she said innocently, dropping the tablet on the couch and grabbing a handful of his popcorn.

"Yep. You hate cartoons."

"They're growing on me."

A beat.

They watched in silence for a few seconds. Then she said:

"You know you're reckless sometimes, right?"

Henry blinked. "Wow. Coming from you, that's rich."

"No, I mean… you ran in alone that night because you thought I needed backup. Even though the scan said Alastor was weak."

Henry rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Bad call."

"But brave."

He glanced at her.

Nora leaned forward, elbows on her knees. "I haven't thanked you."

"You don't have to—"

"Henry," she said softly, cutting him off, "I like you."

Silence.

The cartoon kept playing in the background, obnoxiously oblivious.

Henry stared at her. "Wait. For real?"

She didn't look away.

"I've liked you for a while now. But I'm always the cool, no-nonsense water girl, and you're... you. The leader. The guy everyone trusts. The guy who never takes anything seriously but somehow always does. And I just—"

"You just told me you like me," he said again, stunned.

"Yeah," Nora muttered, "and now I feel like an idiot."

"No—no! I mean, wow. Okay. Um."

He fumbled for the popcorn, completely missing the bowl.

Nora turned her head, a nervous smile twitching at her lips. "You don't have to say anything. I just... needed you to know."

Henry looked at her.

He saw all the times she'd kept him grounded. All the nights she'd stayed to help decode Arc glyphs. The way she always stood between danger and the others. The steady voice during chaos.

He liked her too. He just hadn't… known how much.

But she was looking away now, trying to play it off.

So he said nothing.

He reached for the remote, flipped to another cartoon.

A long pause.

Nora sighed and stood, brushing crumbs from her jacket. "Okay, I'll just—"

He turned to look at her—and froze.

Because she didn't walk away.

She turned back, leaned in—

—and kissed him.

Soft. Quick. But real.

Henry's heart did something weird. Like it glitched.

When she pulled back, her cheeks were red. "Sorry. I just had to—"

Henry stared at her.

Nora bit her lip, awkward and unsure. "Right. I'll go."

But before she could, the Arc shimmered faintly. And from across the room, Leo's voice buzzed through the comms system.

> "Uh... not to kill the mood or anything, but the sensors just picked up something weird near the west field."

Henry blinked once.

Nora was already straightening, wiping emotion off her face like battle mode was a switch.

He stood, heartbeat still rattling in his chest. "We'll talk later."

She smirked slightly, backing toward the console. "Count on it."

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