Chapter 19 - Training Daze

Michael flew through the air with all of the gracefulness of the proverbial brick. He landed with a loud oomph that drove all the air from his lungs and momentarily blurred his vision. As he looked up, he was surprised at how pretty the fluorescent lights on the ceiling were. He groaned theatrically and got back to his feet, amid raucous laughter and cheering. He looked over at the girl who had so expertly thrown him and wondered what the hell he had got himself into.

Tracy was bowing and blowing kisses to the assembled children who were sitting cross-legged on the floor. They were lined up on one side of the impromptu ring, watching her sparring match with Michael. She looked back at Michael and grinned impishly. He was groaning and moaning and generally playing to the crowd, trying to garner sympathy. The children loved it and cheered him on. The 'ring' that Tracy and Michael were on was an area of the gymnasium that was covered with mats. As such, she knew that Michael was not seriously hurt, but she still intended to make it up to him later anyway. It was an unfair contest to begin with. She had been sparring with May for as long as the two of them had been friends while it was obvious that Michael had no previous training. Still, he was being a good sport about the impromptu match and she loved him dearly for it.

Michael finished playing to the crowd and resumed his stance. His left foot was forward and his right was behind and a little off to the side. Both feet were about shoulder width apart and his knees were slightly bent. His body was twisted so that he was facing the direction of his left foot. His left hand was up in a guard position while his right was pulled back to his stomach area. It was a basic karate stance which Tracy had shown him just that morning. He inched cautiously forward to where Tracy was waiting. She had a sly grin on her face. Sparring was a new concept to Michael, who still had difficulty throwing a punch at the girl he loved - even if it were a fake punch.

Tracy suddenly slid forward; her body was a blur of graceful motion. His left arm shifted up an inch as he flinched in surprise. The small movement was enough for Tracy to get inside his guard. Her left arm snaked past his as she hooked her left leg around his. A hard shove was all it took to put Michael back on the ground.

Michael looked up at Tracy's sweaty face as she grinned down at him from her lofty position. "Alright, alright, I surrender!" he said with a grin as he held his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm sorry that I said your outfit was too sexy to fight in!"

"About time!" said Tracy. She held her hand out to help Michael back to his feet. "I've been throwing you around this ring all afternoon."

Michael eyed her outfit as he got back to his feet. "I still think you look damn sexy, but I think you've proven your point. You can definitely fight in it."

Tracy's outfit was basically nothing more than her sports bra and a pair of spandex riding shorts. That in itself was not odd, but the way the tight clothing hugged her curvaceous body was visually distracting and had prompted Michael to say so.

The group of assembled children clapped their appreciation and their guide called out to them, "Ok kids, the show is over. Time to get on with the rest of the tour!" The young woman winked at Tracy and gave her a thumb up as she left the gym.

"Well, you've proven you can distract straight men with your body. How about we see how you hold up against a gay man?"

At the sound of the haughty tone, Michael and Tracy both whirled around to see Brandon striding purposefully towards them. Tracy arched her eyebrow and said, "Back so soon, Brandon? Where's May?"

Brandon shrugged and said, "She's bringing our latest recruit to see Sifu Chang. As an alumni of this school, he wanted to pay his respects to the Master." Brandon shrugged off his jacket and tossed it out of the ring. "So, how about it? We haven't sparred in a while."

Before Tracy could accept, Michael stepped up and said, "How about going a round with me?"

Tracy turned to Michael and said, "Are you crazy, Michael? Brandon's been training all his life. There isn't a belt color to classify him with."

Michael just shrugged and said, "I'm sure Brandon will go easy on me. After all, I'm just a beginner." Inwardly, Michael cursed his impulsive decision. Still, he should have seen this confrontation coming sooner. Ever since he, Tracy and May had arrived at Sifu Chang's school earlier that week; Brandon had made no secret that he felt that Michael did not belong. Tracy was accepted due to her long acquaintance with May, but Brandon acted as if Michael had to prove himself.

A young slim girl walked up beside Brandon. She eyed Michael with a critical eye and said, "Kick his butt, Michael. Brandon's been getting too big for his pants ever since his shoulder healed."

Michael nodded his thanks at the new arrival. "I'll do my best, Jade. Thanks for the vote of confidence." Michael wasn't sure where this conflict with Brandon had arisen. He was sure he had never given Brandon cause for disagreement. Maybe it's because he's gay? Even before he finished the thought, Michael knew that wasn't it. He gave a mental shrug and adopted his basic fighting stance. Whatever the reason for Brandon's dislike, he would have to get this over with sooner or later.

Brandon adopted his fighting stance and Tracy and Jade cleared the makeshift ring. Michael reached out with his senses - something he didn't do with his match against Tracy - and waited for Brandon to attack. He wasn't confident enough in his own sparring ability to launch an attack - at least without inadvertently hurting Brandon.

Brandon didn't keep Michael waiting long. Gliding forward on the balls of his feet, he delivered a thunderous roundhouse kick to Michael's head. Michael ducked under the kick and backpedaled out of range. The swiftness of the kick had surprised Michael. It didn't seem like Brandon was holding back. There was a gasp from the sidelines. Someone was thinking the same thing.

Brandon followed through with a series of rapid punch combinations. Even with his senses ranging out and predicting Brandon's every move, Michael was hard pressed to block all of them.

From the sidelines, Jade called out to Brandon, "Lay off, Brandon! He's just a beginner!"

Brandon resumed his stance. "Beginners have no place with the Children of the Night. What's he going to do when we face the Demons?" he said through gritted teeth.

So that's it.

<<Indeed, young one. What do you intend to do?>>

I'm not sure. He's really good; I'll give him that. I don't think I can beat him without using my powers openly. Besides, as long as I keep defending, I'm in no real danger.

Brandon leapt forward again. This time, he went straight from his stance into a flying kick. When Michael dodged that, he turned up the heat with another blistering round of punch and kick combos. Michael blocked those that he could and managed to dodge the rest - barely.

"That's enough!" exclaimed a strident voice.

Both combatants backed off and looked at the source of the voice. May strode purposefully into the gym. Her latest recruit followed a couple of steps behind.

"Take a break, Michael," said May as she brushed by him.

Michael backed gratefully off the mats. May's anger was spilling out in waves and Michael was glad that it wasn't directed at him. As May confronted Brandon, Michael looked over at the new arrival, curious to see who it might be. He did a double take as he recognized the Children of the Night's newest recruit.

"Hey, Michael! How's it going dude?" said Jeff Burns amiably.

"Jeff? What the hell are you doing here?" exclaimed Michael.

Jeff gave Michael an easy smile and said, "Same thing you're here for, I guess. Except unlike you, I'm a psion."

Michael rocked back on his heels. "A psion? But...but..."

Jeff clapped Michael on his back. "Sorry, bud, that wasn't something I could tell you easily. I spent several summers here to learn how to control my gift."

"But I though you spent your summers surfing?"

"Not the entire summer!" scoffed Jeff. "Besides, despite my parents' history, they didn't want me to get too involved, you know. As soon as I could control my gift without embarrassing myself, they pulled me from the school."

"History?" asked Michael.

"May told you about the psion rebellion, right?" When Michael nodded, Jeff continued. "My parents were part of the same rebellion. They were there the night Sifu Chang and Stella Li staged their coup. They don't talk about it much, but the horrors they witnessed that night left them scarred."

"Horrors?" asked Michael with a frown.

"Aw come on, Michael." said Jeff slightly exasperated. "Don't be naive. What do you think happens when a bunch of oppressed psions suddenly fight for their freedom and their future?"

The light of understanding dawned in Michael's eyes and Jeff nodded grimly. "As I understand it, it was a pretty grim and bloody night. My parents saw things and did things that they would forever have to live with. I guess they didn't want me to ever have to face the same situation."

Michael nodded his acceptance and understanding. "I guess in situation like that, you have to do what you have to do." Michael his friend a sudden sardonic grin, "So, what's your gift anyway?"

Jeff grinned back and instead of responding, he suddenly floated a couple of feet in the air.

Michael gasped and exclaimed, "Holy crap, you're a telekinetic?"

Jeff floated back down and laughed. "Yup, but unlike Brandon over there, my gift is inwardly directed."

"Huh?"

Jeff took a deep breath and explained, "Telekinesis falls under two basic categories. No one really understands why but it just does. Telekinesis is the gift of moving objects with the mind. All telekinetics can do this. Some just happen to move objects better than others, and the other type move themselves better. For example, Brandon over there can throw something and hit anything he can see. However, he'd be hard pressed to move his own body as well as I can."

"Ah, I see." Michael looked over at the subject of their discussion. Brandon was in a discussion as well, but his was not going nearly as well. "What's that about?" asked Michael as he gestured to the ever increasingly heated argument.

Jeff followed Michael's gaze to where Brandon and May were now facing off. May had stripped off her jacket and her sweat top, leaving only her sports bra and her sweat pants. Brandon had stripped off his top as well and was facing May naked from the waist up. The shedding of clothes meant that both combatants were serious about their upcoming match and neither wanted very many clothes that could either get in the way or be used against them. "Brandon's always been a bit of a tight ass. But, he's been taking Jared's death harder than the rest of us. May, on the other hand, was only recently given the leadership of our motley little group. She's got to prove that she's not afraid to make difficult choices or to dress down someone when they're out of line."

"So fighting will prove who is right?" asked Michael as he shook his head in disbelief.

"No, not really, but it will let them vent their frustrations. Besides, fighting is Brandon's forte, and he'll respect anyone willing to go a couple of rounds with him. Which brings me to my question for you - what the hell do you think you were doing taking him on?"

Michael shrugged nonchalantly and simply said, "I guess I have something to prove too."

Jeff shook his head and clapped Michael on his back again. "Man, you've got a death wish if you want to tangle with Brandon. Even while using my gift to move my body faster, I still get trounced by him."

At Jeff's comment, Michael started to feel worried about May. The two combatants were now bowing to each other and adopting their respective stances. They circled each other warily, each searching for a weakness in the other's stance. "What about May? Is she in any danger?"

"May? Nah. Brandon's going to get his butt kicked," replied Jeff.

"Really?" Feeling somewhat reassured, Michael focused on the fight.

May cautiously side stepped slowly as she studied her opponent. Brandon was adopting a low guard stance with his left hand held low and his right hand high and slightly behind his ear. From this position, he could easily block low kicks or turn blocks into throws. May had a similar stance except her right hand was held open in front of her chest. From past experience, however, May knew that stances didn't mean much for someone like Brandon. The man could be standing stock still one second and leap into action the next.

As if following May's line of thought, Brandon charged in with his right hand. May recognized the feint, dodged to the side and lashed out with her right foot towards Brandon's midsection.

Brandon caught May's foot and instantly heaved upward, hoping to unbalance May and knock her to the ground.

However, May had anticipated the reversal and used her upward momentum to somersault back to her feet. Brandon gave her a respectful nod and they continued to circle one another.

Suddenly, Brandon charged in again. His left leg arched up and around towards May's head. She spun as she ducked and her own foot swept Brandon off his vulnerable right leg. He fell backward but bounced right back up to his feet.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Brandon - he wasn't even breaking a sweat. "I'm not trying to challenge your leadership or anything. I've always respected you."

May replied in a clipped tone, "Trying to beat up one of my best friends is a poor way of showing me respect."

"I wasn't trying to beat him up," protested Brandon. "I just wanted to show him that he was out of his league."

"Oh, so you're doing him a favor?" snapped May.

"Exactly! The Demons won't show that same kind of restraint I have."

"That's bullshit and you know it, Brandon!" hissed May. "Don't ever try to lie to an empath."

"Good point," said Brandon. "He's not a psion nor has he ever had combat training. He doesn't belong here."

"And I say that he does," said May. "He's going to be risking his neck along side of ours soon and he should be respected for that." May stopped her circling and dropped her guard. Brandon quickly followed suit. "I'm tired of sparring. Let's make this more interesting."

"I'm listening."

May looked over at Jade and said, "Jade, would you mind pulling over that rack over there?"

Jade looked to where May was pointing and complied. When Jade pulled the small rack of practice weapons over, Brandon looked a little startled.

"Are you sure you want to do this, May?" he asked.

"Pick your weapon, Brandon."

"Should we call for a medic?" asked Brandon as he walked over and examined the weapons rack. He considered for a moment and picked a set of nunchaku off the rack. He stepped back into the ring and twirled the nunchaku around his body expertly.

"Don't bother," said May and she took her turn in front of the rack. She picked up a pair of tonfas and said, "I promise that I won't hurt you - much."

At May's words, Brandon grinned evilly. "Getting cocky since your training days, eh? Maybe I should take you down a notch."

May held her tonfas at the ready. Both tonfas had their longer ends nested under her forearms. She regarded Brandon confidently and said, "You can try, Brandon. You can try."

They circled each other again. Brandon started to twirl his nunchaku in a complex pattern around his body. Twirling the nunchaku was more than just for show. He was actually building momentum to give his strikes more force. In mid twirl, he suddenly lashed out towards May's face. The nunchaku came to within 2 inches of May's face before rebounding back. She didn't even flinch. Brandon whistled in appreciation. "Ah, so that's how it is!" he exclaimed. He started bouncing from foot to foot, in a jerky seemingly random dance, reminiscent of Bruce Lee. Brandon lashed out with his nunchaku again. This time, May blocked it with her left tonfa as she drove in with her right. Brandon barely danced out of range in time. He twirled his nunchaku around his body again as he considered his options. May's counter attack had almost taken him by surprise. He had thought to intimidate her with his skill but she refused to be intimidated. Clearly, this was not the same girl he had helped to train over the years.

May watched as Brandon's expression changed from haughty to understanding. She gave him a grim smile. She knew that Brandon would not be able to resist showing off with the nunchaku so she had chosen her own favorite weapon. The nunchaku was great for speedy attacks and combos, but as a defensive weapon, it truly sucked. Her tonfas, on the other hand were great for both. Keeping them nested under her forearms meant that she could swing them out with a flick of her wrist to give her attacks more power. So far, she had kept her actions on the defensive side. She knew that for Brandon to win with his particular weapon, he would have to go on the offensive.

Brandon must have made the same logical conclusion because his twirling nunchaku suddenly leapt out like a striking snake. May calmly watched his technique, waiting for the inevitable opening. She batted aside the blows that would have struck her and ignored the feints.

The opening came almost right away. An overhead strike came in just a touch slow and May blocked it with the long end of her left tonfa. The chain of the nunchaku wrapped around her tonfa for barely a second. It was enough. Her right hand came up and her wrist flicked to give her tonfa extra speed as it knocked Brandon's nunchaku out of his hand.

Like the professional that he is, he did not instantly jump up and down, waving his hand in pain. Brandon simply retracted his wounded hand and adopted a basic defensive stance.

May arched an eyebrow and gave him a questioning look. In response, Brandon sighed and bowed to May. "Alright, you win," he said simply.

"And?"

Brandon looked at May's determined expression and walked out of the ring. He approached Michael with his wounded right hand extended. "Michael, please accept my apology."

Michael shook Brandon's hand while searching his face for any of his earlier arrogance. There was none. "No problem, Brandon. You know, you're as good as they say. I could barely keep you from touching me!"

Brandon chuckled and like a mask falling off, his whole demeanor relaxed. "Thanks, Michael. Most people can't keep me away when I go full out like that. You must have some pretty serious natural talent!"

"Probably just luck," replied Michael.

"No one's that lucky," scoffed Brandon. "Tell you what, stick with me for the rest of the week and I'll train you personally, ok?"

Michael nodded and said, "Thanks, Brandon, I'd appreciate that."

May looked on as the rest of her little band closed in on Brandon and Michael as they joked and laughed amiably like old friends. She had known that Brandon was not being intentionally mean. He, more than anyone else, had felt responsible for Jared dying the way that he did. After that had come all the resignations as the rest of the Children of the Night had realized that it was no longer a game to be played in their spare time. Brandon had been unable to keep the team that he helped Jared build together. May had been forced to build up a new team from scratch. She needed all the help she could get. Without a telepath, her group was still lacking in the communications area. A single telepath would have helped to coordinate things in the field. As it was, her group would have to rely on good old-fashioned radios. As such, she had tasked everyone in her group to come up with their own call signs. Jeff had chosen Tinman because of his special outfit. Jade had chosen Crystal whereas Brandon would be using Dragon. Tracy and Michael would be in charge of central communication and surveillance. Tracy's call sign was Blondie, but Michael had refused to choose a pseudonym. He had claimed that 'Michael' was just a common name and that it really didn't matter. May had been tempted to follow his lead, but she knew that her group was expecting something similar from her. She had finally settled on Angel, as a tribute to her guardian angel who had mysteriously disappeared after her rescue.

Ever since she, Tracy and Michael had come to Sifu Chang's school, Da Gueur had not appeared once. May thought that she may have felt his presence from time to time, but for whatever reason, Da Gueur was remaining silent. She doubted that it was the distance because Da Gueur had already proven that he could find her wherever she was.

May picked up her discarded clothes and slung them on her back as she headed for the shower. Behind her, she could hear loud laughter as Tracy tackled Michael to the ground once more. This whole training had been Tracy's idea from the start. She had claimed that since she and Michael were now involved, they needed to be trained properly so that they could function with the rest of the group. Somehow, Tracy had persuaded her father to speak with Mrs. Hoover and convinced her that he would take care of the trio's education while he was on sabbatical. Mrs. Hoover had agreed as long as the trio handed in assignments on the specified dates and showed up for written exams.

May had questioned Tracy on her decision. After all, the school had even less privacy than either of hers or Michael's houses. The sleeping arrangement for the students was a dormitory style with the girls separated from the boys.

In response, Tracy had grinned tartly and said, "The current crisis is more important than sex. Besides, the enforced abstinence and the anticipation of the eventual event will make the experience both sweeter and more explosive!"

After a refreshing shower, May headed over to her grandfather's suite of rooms. She looked forward to her upcoming training session. Every day, she spent at least a couple of hours alone with Sifu Chang in his study. He had been helping her to focus her gift through meditation and mental exercises.

At his door, she knocked discreetly and was let in by her grandfather. She kissed his cheek and followed him in. "Gon Gon, how are you today?"

"I am fine, May. Thank you very much for bringing Jeff Burns to see me. It was fun to reminisce briefly with him."

May smiled at the old man and said, "Yeah, I especially liked it when he first came here and tried to control his gift. I think the dent in the ceiling where he crashed into it is still there!"

Sifu Chang laughed quietly at the thought. "Indeed. I have purposely left that there as a reminder to all newcomers of the importance of control. Did you have many problems with his parents?"

"I did at first but as soon as I mentioned Toby's name and the possibility of the re-emergence of the Centre, they caved."

Sifu Chang shook his finger reprovingly at May. "That was not nice, May. You know as well as I that if the Centre were operational once more, Toby would not be trying to seek revenge. He would be knocking on their door begging them to turn him into a god."

May shrugged nonchalantly. "They were being obstinate, even after I told them of the special suit the Armory is making for Jeff."

"And how is that project coming along?"

"Pretty good, actually. All we need to do is have Jeff try it on for final fittings." May peered suspiciously at her grandfather. "In fact, I'm surprised at the speed at which the Armory got it ready. You wouldn't have had anything to do with it would you?"

Sifu Chang grinned and for a moment, looked twenty years younger. He tapped his temple knowingly and said, "Perhaps. I do have certain advantages you know."

May took her place on the floor, sitting cross-legged while Sifu Chang lounged on his LAZ-boy chair. May was just closing her eyes in preparation for her mediation when Sifu Chang stopped her. "Wait one moment please, May. Today's lesson will be a little different."

May regarded her grandfather and asked, "Different?"

Sifu Chang nodded and said, "Today you will learn about merging."

May sat straight upright at these words. She had not expected this! "With you?"

Sifu Chang shook his head. "No, not me. I'm afraid my old body will not be able to handle the stress. Besides, your enemy uses psychic fire. In order to combat him properly, you must understand and learn to use it as well."

May grimaced at the thought of using the same weapons as Diablo. "I don't think I want to learn that!"

"May," said Sifu Chang reprovingly, "psychic fire is not evil. Like real fire, it can have its legitimate uses too."

May remained silent for a moment as she got used to the idea. Finally, she sighed and asked, "So, who's the other unlucky psion?"

As if to answer her question, there was a knock on the door and then it suddenly opened. Brandon strolled in with a haughty grin. "Hey Sifu, hey May. So, what're we doing today?"

May frowned at Brandon's somewhat disrespectful tone. "Brandon? What are you doing here?"

"I asked Brandon to come," said Sifu Chang. "In order to create psychic fire, you will need a telekinetic of considerable strength."

Brandon sat down next to May. "There's no one here stronger than me!"

May snorted at Brandon's comment. She still had not quite forgiven Brandon for his rash actions earlier. "I just brought Jeff Burns in. He's pretty strong too."

Brandon gave her a sly grin. "True, but merging means getting REALLY close with your partner. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. How well do you know Jeff and how well do you want to get to know him?"

"I don't buy that one bit," said May through clenched teeth. "You and Jared were pretty close and you still couldn't do it."

At the mention of Jared's name, the haughty smile dropped from Brandon's face. He fell silent and Sifu Chang stepped in. "Jared did not have sufficient power in his gift, May.”

May frowned and said, “So Diablo was right? Empathy is the key to merging?”

Sifu Chang nodded solemnly. “Not just any empath. It must be an empath of sufficient strength.”

“What about getting really close mentally and emotionally?”

For once, Sifu Chang did not have a ready answer. Instead, he sighed deeply and said, “I am not sure about that, May. I myself have only ever successfully merged once before. That was the night of the rebellion and both your mother and I were under extreme emotional stress. Since then, your mother and I have never duplicated the feat nor felt the desire to do so.”

“So,” began May slowly, as if searching for words. “Basically, you’re telling me that you really don’t know how to merge?”

Sifu Chang gave her a sad smile and said, “Correct. Today, you and Brandon will be starting from scratch in an attempt to duplicate what Diablo is able to do at will.”

May sighed and turned to Brandon with a resigned look on her face. “Don’t get too smug or anything like that.”

Brandon held up his hands in a mock ‘I surrender’ motion. “Hey, don’t get me wrong. I’m not looking forward to this either.”

May looked at him quizzically. At her look, Brandon shrugged his shoulders and said, “Hey, spending any amount of time in deep meditation in the presence of an empath has a tendency of revealing all your secrets.”

“What secrets?”

Brandon shook his head and said, “Never mind. If we’re going to do this, I guess you’re going to find out sooner or later.”

Sifu Chang gave Brandon a meaningful look. “Brandon, if you are uncomfortable with this, we can enlist the aid of Jeff.”

Brandon shook his head again. “No. This is for the best.” He sat down cross legged on the floor beside May and said, “Shall we begin?”

May nodded and said, “Ok. What do we do?”

“For now, May and Brandon, all I want you to do is to concentrate on your own gifts.” said Sifu Chang. When both of his protégés closed their eyes and began to regulate their breathing, Sifu Chang continued. “Open yourselves to that spark within each of you. That spark is your gift. Feel it. Draw it out.”

As May’s breathing deepened and her mind cleared, her grandfather’s voice began to slip into the background. This was a concentrating technique that she had learned when she was a child. She found her spark easily enough. In her mind, it resembled a small glowing green dot. She imagined her hands caressing the green spark, slowly drawing it out. Then, as gently as opening the door on a sleeping baby’s nursery, she allowed her consciousness to flow into the green dot. Instantly, her awareness opened up into the emotional world around her. Although her eyes were shut and she could not physically see Brandon or Sifu Chang, she could feel their respective sparks. Brandon’s spark was red while her grandfather actually had two sparks: one green and one yellow. How could she have ever missed the fact that Sifu Chang had two gifts?

She focused on Brandon’s red spark. She imagined pulling it closer to herself. As she did, Brandon’s emotions seemed to surround her and envelope her. May opened herself up to Brandon’s emotions, letting them swirl around her like leaves blowing in a gentle autumn breeze.

Not surprisingly, Jared must have been on Brandon’s mind a lot. May could feel Brandon’s love for Jared and, in a way, it mirrored her own feelings for her beloved cousin. Jared had always been the single point of commonality between her and Brandon. Interlaced with Brandon’s love for Jared were feelings of guilt, uncertainty, and a deep sense loss. There was another emotion, flittering around the others. Like a dipping and diving hummingbird, it flitted to and fro, almost as if it were trying to dodge May and her empathetic net. Curious about this new emotion, May centered on it, and, as if catching a butterfly in a gentle net, she caught the errant emotion and examined it. May’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

Brandon was looking straight into her face. Sadness and guilt seemed to be written all over his face. “How long?” demanded May. “How long have you been in love with me?”

Brandon let out a loud exhalation of breath that was full of relief and other pent up emotions. “I don’t know if I can actually put a time frame as to when I started to have feelings for you, May.”

“But…you and Jared,” stammered May. “Aren’t you gay?”

“To be honest?” said Brandon sadly. “I’m not sure anymore. Jared once confessed to me that he was worried about you and your sense of sexuality.” May flushed red at this but Brandon trooped on. “I’m sorry, I know it was confidential, but as you well know, you can’t keep secrets from an empath. Anyway, you thought you had it tough? Imagine what it was like for me.”

“Are…are you…”

“Bi-sexual?” asked Brandon with a small smile. “You can say it, May. It’s not a perversion or anything. We live in a modern era after all.”

May started to apologize but Brandon waved her off. “It’s ok, really, May. I’ve had a lot more time than you to get used to it.”

“Did Jared know?”

“Who do you think helped me through it?” asked Brandon sardonically. “If anything, he encouraged me to explore my feelings for you. Jared, as you well know, had a very big heart.”

May’s eyes watered as she thought about her lost cousin. Encouraging someone to be happy, even at the potential hurt to him, sounded a lot like something that Jared would do. “What do you intend to do now?” she asked.

Brandon gave her a little shrug. “I don’t really know. It’s not like I ever planned on you finding out. I had thought to keep this under my hat but obviously when Sifu asked me here, I knew it was bound to come out.”

“Then why did you agree?”

“Some things are more important than personal feelings.” Brandon gave another small shrug, “May, don’t worry your pretty little head about this, ok? I’m sure it’s just a little crush. We can’t let it get in the way of our mission.”

May knew Brandon was lying and that he was trying to brush this off. The level of emotion that she had felt was far from being a simple crush. “Brandon, I don’t know what to say. Certainly I’ve respected and liked you as a friend all these years, but –“

“Say no more,” said Brandon with a raised hand and a pained look on his face. “Please, if you want to spare me pain, just say no more. No ‘just a friend’ speeches or anything like that. Besides, I know you well enough to know that your heart belongs somewhere else right now.”

“I –“

Brandon forestalled May once again, “Please, don’t even apologize. It’s ok, really.”

May was about to protest again when Sifu Chang cleared his throat meaningfully. “If I may interrupt, I do believe that lessons are over for today. Neither of you possess the mental and emotional stability necessary to continue today. I suggest that both of you retire to your rooms and rest.”

Brandon bowed low to Sifu Chang and said simply, “Thank you, Sifu.” He got up and without another word, left the room.

May looked at her grandfather and said, “Gon Gon, I’m sorry.”

“For what? You have done nothing wrong. It is I who should be sorry. I should have detected this emotion from Brandon long ago. Perhaps his long association with Jared had taught him a few things about hiding things from empaths.” Sifu Chang cocked his head to the side and looked directly at May with his closed eyelids. “You have had a long day, child. Perhaps you should go rest too.”

May nodded and first bowed low to her grandfather before getting to her feet and then giving him a warm hug. She left the room and headed for the girls dormitory. She hoped that Tracy would be there soon because she desperately needed someone to confide in. The internal turmoil she was feeling needed some of Tracy’s unique brand of healing right about now. Not for the first time that week, May wondered where her Da Gueur was and what he was doing right this instant.

---

Michael whistled in appreciation the first time he saw Jeff’s special suit. The suit that earned him the nickname of Tinman.. Big Bro, on the other hand, was not so impressed.

<<Both the Valeans and the Praecetorians have basic infantry suits that can outperform this glorified paper weight.>>

Yeah, but they’ve the advantage of thousands of years of technological superiority to make them. Besides, the Valeans and the Praecetorians probably use some pretty powerful power sources to power their armor. Jeff will be using nothing but his telekinesis.

<<True, but he looks quite comical in that outfit. The weight alone must be tiresome. Duralloy would have been a much better material.>>

If you can come up with some of this ‘Duralloy,’ I’d be most happy to slap on my friend here.

Michael allowed himself a small smile as his last rebuke silenced Big Bro. Although some of Big Bro’s criticisms hit close to the mark, he had to admit that Jeff looked pretty cool in his new get up.

He and Jeff were currently in the school’s Armory, where Joe ‘Tank’ Williams was putting the finishing touches on Jeff’s suit of armor. Jeff’s particular brand of telekinesis left something to be desired in the form of offensive capability. Levitating one’s own body is great for show, but when the opposition had lots of guns and had already proven their willingness to use them, something had to be done to make Jeff a more active participant in future endeavors. Tank was the Armory’s chief mechanic, and what he had created under the direction of Sifu Chang was nothing short of a miracle. Lacking the resources that the military would have, Tank had still been able to create something that could hold its own against the worse the Demons would have to offer.

Tank made one last adjustment to the power pack on Jeff’s back and then gave Jeff a slap on his shoulder. “Well, kid, that should do it. Give it a shot now.”

Jeff raised his right arm and pointed it downrange in the Armory’s internal firing range. Inside his metal gauntlet, he suddenly flexed his fingers and thumb, pointing them all in the same direction. There was a loud poof and the weapon pod connected to his forearm released its payload. A round black blob shot out from the pod and raced downrange. As it flew, it quickly flattened and expanded. It hit the far wall and stuck to it like crazy glue. “Well, it worked!”

“Indeed it did, kid. Good shot by the way,” said Tank with a grin. “Now, if you have multiple targets, just keep your hand in that position and the glue gun will go into rapid fire mode.”

Jeff raised his hand again. “Like this?” He flexed his hand once more and held his fingers in position. The glue gun on his forearm started spewing glue rounds at a rate of about 3 per second. Jeff relaxed his hand and the glue stopped firing. “You call that rapid fire?”

Tank shrugged his large shoulders and replied, “What’d’ya expect? A friggin Gatling? If you’ve got a bunch of goons in front of you at 10 feet or less, just slowly expand your fingers and see what happens.”

Jeff raised his right arm one more time. He flexed his fingers and this time, did as Tank instructed. Instead of a steady stream of glue rounds, the glue gun on his arm hosed the area in front of him in a steady stream of sticky goodness. “I guess it’s good for putting out fires too, eh?”

Tank nodded his ponderous head and said, “Yep, if you ever find yourself in that situation, that glue gun works as a decent fire extinguisher too.” Tank patted Jeff on his shoulder and said, “Now, we’ve already tested the rubber rounds on the Gatling gun on your left arm, let’s see how the launchers on your back work. Let’s try the sonic-launcher first.”

Jeff raised his left arm up and over his shoulder. He grasped the handle protruding from there and pulled the sonic-launcher into position. A targeting reticule appeared on the HUD inside his helmet’s visor. He aimed for a spot on the far wall and pushed with his thumb. The computer targeting in his helmet highlighted the spot and calculated the distance and trajectory. The launcher on his left shoulder automatically adjusted its incline. The highlighted spot flashed red as the computer locked on. Jeff pulled the trigger under his index finger and a round orb shot out from the muzzle of the launcher. The orb hit the far wall just shy of the projected target spot. The orb stuck onto the wall and began to emit rapid beeps.

Tank looked up from his computer terminal from where he was linked to the on board computer in Jeff’s helmet. “Excellent,” he exclaimed. “Off course, you’re loaded up with dummy rounds now. I want to spare my old ears!”

“Good idea,” said Jeff. “I know this helmet can muffle sounds, but I’m sure Michael appreciates the dummy rounds too!”

“You know it!” said Michael with a grin. He turned to Tank and asked, “Hey Tank, those sonic grenades, are they the same as the ones that Tracy and I will be outfitted with?”

“Heh, noticed it did’ya?” said Tank. “Yuppers. If Jeff here runs low on ammo, anyone with spares can give them to him and vice versa. Ditto with the optic-grenades.”

“What about live ammo?” asked Michael.

Tank narrowed his eyes and stared at Michael intently before answering. “Sifu Chang forbids the use of live ammo.”

“That doesn’t really answer the question, Tank.”

Tank took a deep long breath before letting it out. He glanced furtively around before dropping his voice. “Look, kid, between you me and Tinman here, every non-lethal projectile weapon we have at this school can be loaded with live ammo at a moments notice. Sifu Chang doesn’t want unnecessary casualties on either side, but he’s a realist, you know?”

“So, if the need arises, we’ll unleash the hard stuff?” asked Jeff from inside his helmet.

Tank just nodded solemnly.

“Tank, what kind of psion are you?” asked Michael suddenly.

Tank smiled sadly and said, “Sorry, I’m one of the few non-psions here. Alright, Jeff, try out the optic-launcher on your right shoulder and then try moving around.”

Jeff pushed the sonic-launcher back up and pulled down the launcher from over his right shoulder. Following the same procedures as he did for the sonic-launcher, he fired another round orb downrange. This one stuck on the wall right next to the previous one. Almost at once, it began to blink in rapid pulses. “Cool,” said Jeff. “Now let’s see if I can move in this monstrosity.”

“Take it nice and slow, kid,” said Tank. “Your suit’s got internal gyros and stabilizers but we haven’t yet figured out a way to generate enough power for you to move fast enough. You’ll have to depend on your gift for that.”

Jeff took an experimental step and nearly tumbled. “Geez, it’s like walking in mud!”

Tank laughed at Jeff’s comment. “Sorry, kid, we don’t have the ability to create a true power armor suit yet. This walking tank was the best we could do. The actual power source is you and your gift.

Jeff tried taking another step. This time, he focused his gift on moving his legs. His second step was a lot smoother. The third step was even smoother still. He walked a few more steps and then stopped. Jeff focused once more on his body and slowly, his armored form began to rise into the air. His face scrunched up in concentration and sweat began to bead on his forehead. The suit was heavy! He gathered his strength and suddenly pushed off in a single bound. The suit came within inches of hitting the ceiling before landing with a loud crash several feet away from where he started.

“Whoa, easy there, kid!” exclaimed Tank with a shocked look on his face.

“Sorry about that,” said Jeff contritely. “I guess I don’t know my own strength!” Jeff tried again and this time managed to achieve less height and more distance.

“Hey, Jeff,” quipped Michael, “maybe we should rename you the incredible bouncing boat anchor!”

Both Jeff and Tank laughed at the joke. Tank recovered first and said seriously, “He’s got a good point, Jeff. Stay away from water. That thing is nowhere near water tight. If you ever find yourself in such a dire situation, stretch out your arms and legs as if you were doing a jumping jack. That will activate the emergency blow out system. Don’t do it now!”

Jeff retracted his arms from where he was stretching them. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

Tank shook his head. “Sheesh, kids these days. Anyways, as I was saying, the emergency blow out will literally blow the suit off you. If you were surrounded by enemies, hopefully all that flying steel will knock a few of them senseless and give you enough time to run for it.”

The phone beside Tank’s terminal began to ring. Tank picked up the phone and began to speak into it. Jeff took advantage of the break to make his way back to where Michael was standing. There was a hiss of escaping gas and Jeff’s helmet opened up. Sweat was literally dripping down his face. “Whew,” he said, “it’s as hot as Dante’s Inferno in here.”

Michael pantomimed waving his hand in front of his face. “Yeah, maybe you should get Tank to install a ventilation system in there!”

Tank hung up the phone and turned to the two youngsters. “That was your fearless leader. She wants the two of you back upstairs asap.”

“Is something wrong?” asked Michael.

“Nah,” replied Tank. “She just wants to take the whole team out for dinner. Tomorrow, you guys start your field exercises and training and she wants you all to be well fed and rested before that.”

“Field exercises?”

“Yup. Three whole days out in the wilderness without shelter except for what you take with you. It’s supposed to build esprit de corps among you youngsters.”

Jeff rolled his eyes dramatically. “Great. I remember those. I got poison ivy all over my body one summer.”

Tank grabbed a wrench from off his tool belt. “Come on, kid; let me help you out of that.”

Michael watched in silence as Tank helped Jeff out of the suit of armor. Big Bro was right in the sense that it was pretty primitive. However, primitive or not, the suit was by no means lame. Earlier, Tank had demonstrated the suit’s armor rating by blasting it with various guns ranging from small arms to assault rifles. None had come close to denting its tough exterior. Michael was glad of the protection his friend would have. Theoretically, he would be in a mobile command post with Tracy, monitoring the movements of the rest of the group. He knew that he could keep Tracy safe from just about anything. Now, all he had to worry about was how to keep May safe when they finally took on the Demons on their own turf. Perhaps he could sneak out and change? Or maybe on the night of whenever they attack the Demons, he could plead a sudden illness and then to make an appearance with his other form? He would have to be careful with the second option. He still wasn’t sure about May’s powers, but he was reasonably sure that she would be able to sense him if he were in control. Therefore, Big Bro would have to take charge. Plans and options churned in his head as he and Jeff went upstairs for their dinner date with the rest of the team.