3 Chapter 2- Explanations

Streak hot-wired a truck in the parking lot and stepped on it, making a be-line for Grand Central Station. He pulled out his phone and dialed one of the only numbers programmed into it. She answered on the third ring. "Hello?" "It's Streak. They've found us. Meet me at Grand Central Station". There was a muffled curse in Latin on the other end, then,"I'll be there". She hung up. Streak rolled down the window and threw his phone into traffic. He wasn't taking any chances. And then the questions began. "Who are you really? Who was that on the phone? Where are we going? What are you? What do you want with us?" These all came from Dan, who asked questions in that rapid fire machine gun way of his. He took a deep breath, getting ready to fire off another clip of ammunition. Streak held up his hand, stopping the oncoming barrage. "I will answer any and all questions you have Dan, but first give me a chance to speak. Dan shut his mouth with an audible CLOMP! Ash was silent, thinking, watching, listening. That was the biggest difference between the two. Ash thoughtful and calculating, Dan inquiring and investigative. Which would be great if he thought about some of his questions first. "My name is Streak, and I am a Guardian. The person on the phone was my... colleague, Sleek. And if you were listening, we're going to Grand Central Station." He turned the corner, bringing the Station into sight. "As for what I want, well I would very much like to keep you alive." "What was that thing at the stadium? What did it want with us?" This question came from Ash. "That was a Shadow Warrior by the name of Stalker, and he would've very much liked to kill you, me, and every other Guardian," Streak said as he parked the truck three blocks from the station. "And he's not the only one, so let's get a move on." The three of them moved at a slightly faster pace than the other pedestrians around them. He spotted Sleek standing next to a newspaper stand, pretending to read a fashion magazine. She was a few inches shorter than him, had red hair, green eyes, and a slim figure with a slight build. She was wearing a light leather jacket over a teal top, jeans, and running shoes. When she saw them, or smelled them more likely than not, Sleek put down the magazine and hurried over. "Where are they?" She demanded sniffing the air. "Not far. We have to hurry." They cut through the crowd and into the station. Streak and Sleek checked the air constantly as they made their way to the platforms, receiving looks from other passerby's when they did so. They had almost made it to the train when the front of the building exploded violently inwards. People screamed. Damn it. So close. Standing where the wall to the street had been were four Shadow Warriors. A huge rhinoceros with metal clad fist, a Komodo dragon welding duel short swords, a panther holding two straight daggers, and a leopard brandishing a short spear. "Go", he said. "I'll take care of these four." "No, I'm not leaving you behind. Four is too many." "You know that's not true. I've taken more." "And there might be more!" "I don't have a choice. Get the kids to safety. They're more important". Sleek gave him a sad look. "Come back to me". She rushed Ash and Dan onto the train just in time. The train sped off into the tunnel. Streak turned around and walked up the stairs, changing into his true form as he did so. The marble stairway cracked under his tremendous weight. He summoned his sickles, preparing for battle. The panther sized him up, taking in his ready stance, the familiarity that he held his weapons. This was a seasoned warrior, Streak knew, and would be no push over. You could always tell by the way they looked at you before the stat of a fight. Intense. Calculating. Deadly. "Where are the children? Hand them over, and maybe we'll let you live, for now." She peered behind him as she said this, looking for them, and probably other Guardians as well, not that there were many to find anyways. "You're too late. They're gone and you'll have to go through me to follow them." The panther sighed, shaking her head. "A foolish choice, though I expected no less from the son of the Great Wolves." She was referring to his parents, who had been some of the greatest warriors to ever live. It hadn't saved them. They still died in the war. The panther turned to her companions. "Kill him quickly." The rhinoceros steps forward eagerly. "I'm going to enjoy this," he said. Streak rushed him using his speed to close the distance. The leopard stabs at him with his spear, and Streak knocks it away with a flick of his sickle before plunging it into the leopards neck and ripping it out. Not slowing down he reaches the rhinoceros, who in turn swings his metal clad fist at Streak's head. Too slow. Streak was already stepping inside his reach, deflecting the blow off his forearm and slashing the oaf across the stomach before sweeping his feet out from under him. It wouldn't kill him but it would slow him down. Streak turned to the dragon and began his assault, driving him back. Sensing the rhino at his back, he began spinning in half circles, fighting them both at once. A glancing blow to his side breaks several of his ribs. A shallow cut on his left bicep, a deeper one on his right thigh. He had rendered the Komodo dragons left arm useless by spiking the blade of his sickle into his shoulder and twisting it before ripping it out, shattering bone and dislocating the shoulder. He had destroyed the rhinos chest by slashing it repeatedly. But it would take hours for that to kill him. If Streak didn't dispatch one of the two fast, he would be dead in minutes. I'm out of practice he thought, furious with himself. Gathering his strength, Streak jumped straight up, spinning as he did so, and delivered a vicious kick to the dragons neck. SNAP! Neck broken, the dragon crumples. Streak was still in the air, still spinning. As he came around to face the rhino, he brought his knee up, slamming it into his jaw, right before he brings the bottom of his right sickle crashing down on his skull with a satisfying crunch. The blow drives the brute to his knees where Streak sinks his sickles into his throat. He kicks him away to face the panther who studies him with a warriors eye. Watching his fighting style. "You are a skilled warrior," she said to him as she advanced. "You will die honorably, before joining our ranks". "I'll never join your ranks!" He snarls. Streak attacks, sickles flashing. They wove around each other, engaged in an intricate and deadly dance. Neither could land a killing blow, but they were slowly cutting each other to pieces. Enough, he thought. Streak flipped over her and before she could turn around, kicked out with all his might, connecting with her spine. The panther flew into a pillar, demolishing it, and hitting the wall on the other side. "Back to the shadows with you," he growled. Streak looked down at the mess they had made of his body. His fur was caked in blood. Multiple small cuts, cracked ribs, and the one slash on his thigh that was weeping blood. The floor was slick with it his and the Shadow Warrior's who had already dissolved into shadows themselves. His wounds were going to take a little longer to heal than usual. Streak limped out side. A ring of police cars greeted him, every single officer's gun pointed straight at him. Please, he thought, rolling his eyes. Fifty caliber bullets were annoying at best, nine millimeter pistols and shotguns? Pfft. His fur was too thick, not to mention his skin. What worried him was the dozens of Shadow Warriors with bows trained on him from the buildings above, each with thousands of pounds of draw weight. Without warning, Streak leaps straight over the ring of police cars. Gun shots rang out. Overhead there was the musical twang of bows. Arrows rained down from the sky. Most of them impale themselves into the street or skid off it, but two bite deep into Streak's skin, one in his shoulder, one in his hip. Streak howled in pain and, putting on a burst of speed, made true to his name. He became a streak of brown on the asphalt, running just under the speed of sound where he topped out(Sleek and him had tested this). He stopped outside of the city to break off all but the last six inches of the five and a half foot arrows. He then set about laying a false trail for the Shadow Warriors to follow. He would make the trail as far as Vermont before he simply disappeared. Then he would head down south.