The Chrono Driver floated in Ajax's hand, its single disk rotated listlessly around the dim gem like the ring of a planet. Awed by it, Ajax momentarily forgot about the monsters’ presence.

“Don't ignore your surroundings,” prompted Amalthea as a Monster Mutton charged him. “Keep moving if you don't want to get bashed again.”

“Ahhhhh, sorry!” Ajax dodged the mutton’s horns. The device dropped from his hand and cluttered underneath the Muttons’ feet. Ajax stood with his back against the cold, black bark of a large, dead tree. “What should I do?”

“Transform,” she reminded him. "The Cyclops still looked confused all around him. "Use it to prove your mantle, child. Crush the enemies under the Titan's might."

Ajax dove after the device floating under the sheep’s feet. He had dreamed of becoming a Guardian ever since he was a child, and now it was in his hands. It was all he could dream of. All he had ever wished for.

Wrestling himself free between all the cotton, Ajax held the device high.

“The stars are at hand.” Ajax grinned with the confidence of a thousand suns. His heart pounded loudly, filling him with a surge of excitement. Shouting loudly, Ajax declared his will, “Transform!”

Brilliant rays illuminated the dark forest, blinding the sheep and Cyclops. Pristine colours, some of which Ajax had never seen before, filled up the area, fracturing and reflecting like a kaleidoscope. The single disk around the gemstone rotated, unfurling the colours until the device dropped and the colours vanished.

“Huh?” Ajax stared, perplexed, at the device on the ground. “What happened?” He hastily picked up the device again and shouted, “Transform! TRANSFORM! Why's it not working?”

“My eye!” Roared Polyphem, the Cyclops, rubbing his imposing eye with tears streaming down between his fingers. “I'll eat you, elf! My ewes, Whack’em!”

The colour drained from Ajax’s face like the device just had. He probed it again, but it remained hovering dead in his hand. 

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” he laughed disbelievingly. “Did that woman prank me? Was I fooled all along?”

The blasting baaing of Mega Ewe filled the forest. Ajax stashed away the device and whipped away the cold tears on his face, drawing his club. “Come at me, you stupid muttons!” He sniffed. “I'll*sniff* get you.”

Ajax charged at the nearest sheep, swinging his club madly. Left and right, Ajax vented his emotions on the sheep, barely keeping them at bay as they banged their heads against him, cracking his ribs.

The blood rushed through Ajax’s body like a torrent. He felt a raging heat brewing inside him that set his muscles aflame. The Muttons didn’t stand a chance one-on-one with Ajax, but he lost concentration. His club slipped off his hand.

The Mega Ewe headbutted Ajax, cracking his ribs and smothering him with her cotton. “Baaaaaaah!” The Mega Ewe declared victory.

“Stop agitating my sheepie!” Warned the Cyclops loudly, petting his sheep affectionately to soothe himself. “You hurt my ewes. Bad elf, baaaaaaad.” Polyphem reached out for an old tree and uprooted it, holding it up like a giant club. “I’ll crush your bones and maketh soup of you, elf. Hurting my sheepie is a crime—”

Polyphem buckled forward when a boulder hit him on the side of his head and exploded into wild plaster. He sputtered for words, “Pah, who’ there? Is it the stranger's voice again?” 

“No, it’s us!” 

Ajax could hear the quick beating of drums carrying in the wind and rustling the trees like a melodic flute. From the corner of his eye, two costumed figures struck dramatic poses.

One was a burly, short person in a pink jumpsuit, his oversized, pink gauntlets nearly as big as his body. The other was a petite woman perched on a branch, kicking with her sizeable feet playfully as if performing for an imaginary crowd. Her bright yellow jumpsuit stood out sharply against the forest green, and she twirled her kukri blades with flair. Both wore edged helmets concealing their faces and eyes behind black visors.

“We are your saviours!” They took on a pose, and an explosion erupted behind them, amplifying their entrance. “We are the Star Guardians, here to save our friend!”

‧. .ᯓ★. .‧

“What the hell is that!?” Ajax yelled. “Why are you wearing these?” 

“Rejoice, pedestrian! We've come to save you!” An explosion rocked when Marius flexed with his flabby body underneath the suit.

“Chosen by the Chrono Drivers, we are your saviours!” Another explosion set off on Lydia's announcement.

Ajax couldn't help but scrape his nails at the hard ground stone below him, ripping and breaking them. “Why did you two become Guardians!?”

Ajax stared at their pink and yellow outfits, the black visors of their helmets, and the prominent black star shape on their chests. The alien design was unmistakable. They had become Guardians.

Lydia gracefully leapt off the tree. With ease, she gracefully landed on her feet and skillfully manoeuvred through the Monster Muttons, swiftly cutting through them with her kukri blades and littering the forest with wool. Marius, meanwhile, slammed the ground with his fist for a landing and sent out shockwaves. He brute-forced his way through the Muttons. Their strength, agility and confidence spiked like nothing Ajax knew. 

“It's as if they've become different people.” Ajax held back his anger. “They never believed in the Guardians, but I did. So why… why did they become Guardians?!”

“Hiyaaah!” Lydia cut off a chunk of wool from Mega Ewe, scattering cotton in the air. “Now, Marius!”

“Coming!” Marius, the stout, pink dwarf, sprinted their way and slid underneath the gigantic sheep. “Hgnh, hgnh, hgnh!”

Ajax heard some very strange noises from Marius, and before he knew it, a weight slowly lifted off him. Marius easily bench-pressed Mega Ewe like a seasoned bodybuilder. 

Lydia grabbed Ajax by the arm and Marius by the foot. “Got you two!” And pulled them out. Mega Ewe keeled over to the side like a collapsing chimney.

“Baaaaaaaah!” Mega Ewe baaed when she fell on top of the other sheep, whirling up dust, dandelions, and cotton.

The trio hid behind a line of trees to avoid the monsters’ sight. Mega Ewe and those crushed underneath her wool bleated loudly in distress.

Ajax turned to his friends. “What are you two doing here? And what's with the outfits?” He asked, almost yelling from jealousy.

“Cool, aren't they?” Marius struck a pose, flexing his hidden muscles. White streaks wrapped around his arms and belly, merging into one larger design on his back, resembling the mountainous homes of dwarves. 

“I had my doubts at first, but this looks kinda spacey,” Lydia added with admiration. Her suit had the same white streaks, but they were gentler and formed a pattern resembling grass and rolling hills. “Where’s your outfit, Star-boy? Thought you would be the first to get one.” 

Though their visors obscured their eyes, Ajax could still feel their gazes locked on him. He clenched his jaw, hiding the broken device in his hand. A wave of heat flushed his face, barely concealed by the drifting clumps of wool in the air.

“Nooooooooo!” Polyphem wailed loudly. The friends peeked around their hiding spot. “You killed my sheep! My faaaaavourite sheeeeeeep!” 

Lydia and Ajax looked incredulously at Marius. “You killed it!?” they complained. 

“What, n-no! What? NO!” Marius pointed at Lydia. “You must have hurt the sheep with your knives!” 

“Oh, grow up! You know how thick that wool was?” 

“Why did you hurt my sheep?” Polyphem cried, cradling Mega Ewe in his arms, who croaked like an amateur actress desperate for attention. Polyphem let Mega Ewe go, who giddily bounced away to eat her fill. “Imma make you hurt like you hurt my sheepie.” 

“Great, just great.” Ajax turned to his friends, frustration clear in his voice. “What do we do now? Did you receive any kind of special powers?”

Lydia and Marius exchanged glances and shrugged, clearly just as clueless about their newfound abilities. It was obvious they had only just received them with no idea how to wield them.

Ajax let out a distressed sigh. “Alright, follow my lead. We’ve got to get out of here before Polyphem finds us—”

“GraaaaaahWWWWW!” bellowed Polyphem, uprooting all the nearby trees—and the one they hid behind—with his club. He breathed down their necks angrily. “Found you, sheepie bullies.” 

“A-ajax…” Marius stuttered. “W-what do we d-do now?” 

“Y-yes.” Lydia turned to him. “Wh-hats the plan?” 

Ajax had one last plan in store. The most sensible idea he knew from a legendary brave under the banner of the rooster and a knight of the Triangular Table.

“Run away!” Ajax shouted with all the resolve he could muster.

Without missing a beat, his two friends joined in unison, chanting alongside him.

“Run away!”

“Where would you be going?” asked Amalthea, standing in their way. With a cane in hand, she stepped on Ajax’s foot, who howled in pain. “Why are you running?” 

“What do you think?!” Ajax shouted, jumping on one foot. “You set us up on a Cyclops and his layer of sheep!” He then looked away, trying to swallow his anger at the failed device.

“IMMA KILL YOU AAAAAALL!” bellowed Polyphem, stomping at them with the tree club over his head, defoliating the leaves above him. 

Amalthea held up a finger toward the towering Cyclops, her lecturing eyes never leaving the children. "One moment," she said, her voice calm but firm. "I need to have a quick word with the kids."

Baffled, Polyphem paused, his single eye blinking in confusion at Amalthea. He then glanced at the teens, who were equally perplexed by her. "Imma not stopping!" Polyphem bellowed, stomping the ground with his fury. "Those who hurt sheepie, Imma crushing them all! AAAARGH!"

Unfettered, Polyphem heaved his massive club high, both hands gripping it tightly as he roared. The crude weapon swung downward with terrifying force, aimed at the four. Ajax felt his life flash before his eyes, realising he might never see the stars. Beside him, Lydia and Marius dropped to their knees, overwhelmed by the looming threat.

Amalthea, however, remained unphased. "I told you to give us a moment, didn’t I?" Her left hand shifted, the metal rearranged into an intricate red-and-black gauntlet with angular designs. The plates clicked into place with precision, emitting a low hum of static energy.

Amalthea caught the club with a single hand, stopping the strike mid-air. "Why does no one listen to me?"

Her gauntlet tightened around the club, crushing it effortlessly. The wood disintegrated into dust, crumbling at her feet. As the remnants scattered, her eyes gleamed, reflecting the distant stars, as if the cosmos itself danced within them. She allowed them all a brief glimpse of her true celestial power.