Chapter 26 – Number of the Beast
“No, no, no! You’re doing it all wrong! Jade, stop smirking and concentrate!” May let out an exasperated sigh and directed her attention to the newest member of her team. “Dominic, you have to feel the sparks, and once you do, you send your thoughts to the sparks. Stop picturing the person, and for god’s sake, you better not be picturing me naked!”
That started a general round of raucous laughter from the assembled psions in the circle. To his credit, Dominic blushed and looked away. “Look, the only girls I know who dress like that are trying to get me to bed them, okay?”
“No, it’s not ok!
Look, I dress for function when I need to work out. We don’t have a lot of time before the dance
tomorrow night. We must get you
integrated with the team!” May tried her
best not to glare at her team. She
couldn’t understand why guys just couldn’t keep their heads on straight
whenever a girl dressed down to work out!
Why couldn’t they all be more like…May gave herself an internal shake. Her latest
date with
“Aw, May, lighten up on the poor guy,” said Jade in a laughing tone. “Heck, we all saw who dropped you off this morning at the school. We have to wonder what the heck you’ve been doing at all hours of the night!”
This elicited another round of laughs from her team – except for Brandon, who seemed to be studiously ignoring that last comment.
May waved her hand in Jade’s direction and said, “That’s my business! Look, Dominic, you wanted us to drop our, how did you put it, ‘silly-assed superhero names’ right? Well, you’re gonna have to learned to talk to us with your gift then. Not only that, you have to learn to link our sparks together so that we can all talk to each other through you.”
“What am I?” asked Dominic indignantly. “Some kind of phone network?”
“In essence, yes, a Telepath’s role is to provide secure speed of thought communications for the whole team.” Everyone looked up at the sound of the new voice.
“Hi, Mom,” said May.
“Hi, Auntie Stella!” chirped Jade.
Both Jeff and Brandon said their hellos, and even Dominic gave Stella a nod of greeting.
Stella smiled to the whole group but directed her next comments to Dominic in particular. “A Telepath is vital to any team. Properly trained, a Telepath can not only send and receive messages; a Telepath can act as a relay for thoughts, images, and even sounds, smell and touch.”
Dominic relaxed at Stella’s comforting tone and gave her a rueful grin. “So, do I charge per minute or do I bill by the second?”
Stella chuckled and shook her head. “May, maybe it would be better if I took over Dominic’s training, one on one. There are things and concepts that just cannot be explained by words and I can get them through to Dominic much faster than you can.”
May nodded in agreement and gratefully said, “Thanks, Mom. Dominic, why don’t you follow my mother to a quieter part of the school? Since you’ve never trained physically with us anyway, I wouldn’t put you in the midst of the action anyway.”
“You mean I don’t get to fight?”
“Not tomorrow. Maybe after you’ve gone through at least our beginner’s class. You can take it with Jade.”
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” cried Jade indignantly.
Stella led Dominic away as the remainder of the team all had
a quick laugh at Jade’s benefit. For her
part, Jade fumed quietly and vowed to get even with
May cleared her throat meaningfully and looked around the circle. “Ok, now that we don’t have to worry about that, how about we get down to business?”
As everyone nodded, May said, “Jade, you’re going to spend
the rest of the night trying to ‘see’ Jeff’s and
“What?!” exclaimed Jade. “That’s not fair!”
“I mean it, Jade. We
need our eye in the sky tomorrow night.
Since I’m going to be in the crowd, and Tracy – well
“Awww…”
May ignored her petulant cousin and turned her attention back to Jeff and Brandon. “Ok, you two. The first thing I want to say is no grenades!”
There was a double chorus of “Awws” that mimicked Jade’s earlier tone.
“Be serious guys. Jeff,
those are going to be your schoolmates in there. I don’t want you blinding them or making them
deaf by accident. And
“Alright, alright, you don’t have to get so touchy about
it!” said
“Remember, Diablo can sense your presences from pretty far away. Jeff, how fast can you go in your suit?”
Jeff thought for a minute and said, “I’ve never really pushed myself but if I have to, I think I can go at least 60 kph. Tank promised to rig a speedometer for me as soon as he could.”
May nodded, and said, “Ok, try that tonight, after we’re
done here. Oh, and take
“Because you can’t move yourself as well as Jeff and he’s going to have to carry your butt into the action. One more thing, you two, keep property damage to a minimum, ok? Wait for my signal before you make your move. I’ll try to keep Diablo’s attention on me so that he might not detect you two before it is too late.”
“And when we get there?” asked
“Hit him fast and hit him hard. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to join in and we can hit him with a three pronged attack. And most important of all, keep moving! If you get hit with his psychic fire, try to remember that the burning sensation is only in your head!”
May nodded sadly and said, “I know. But we just don’t have a defense against it right now.”
“In that case,” said Jeff with a determined look, “it’s best that we just don’t get hit with it!”
“What about live ammo?” asked
May shook her head vehemently. “Absolutely not! I already don’t like the idea of conducting a battle in the middle of the school dance. However, I’m just glad that Jade dreamt it and brought it to my attention so that we can at least prepare for the Demons’ ambush and ambush them in return. I do not want any stray bullets hitting innocent parties!”
“How about my knives?”
May thought about that one but in the end, shook her head. “Diablo’s a powerful Telekinetic, don’t forget. If you throw a knife at him, he’s liable to not only see it coming when he combines Clairvoyance and Telekinesis, but he’ll also whip it right back you.”
“No,
May’s words hit the others like a locomotive. Jade looked sick to her stomach, Jeff looked
worried, and even
“Here’s the deal folks. We are dealing with a monster. Someone who is more powerful than each of us individually in our gifts, but can also combine them into new powers that none of us can equal or confront.”
May nodded in agreement and said, “Yes, in order to fight Diablo, I’m pitting you and Jeff’s Telekinetic powers, my Empathy, Jade’s Clairvoyance to help give us warning, and Dominic’s Telepathy to keep us all in touch with each other.” She looked around and saw that finally, she had them convinced.
“What about the students and the teachers at the dance?” asked Jeff quietly. “How are we going to keep them safe?”
“Leave that up to me,” said May. “I hope to have the gym cleared by the time you and Brandon make your appearance.
“No!” exclaimed May more sharply than she had intended. “It’s going to be bad enough if the Demons
are going to be firing blindly. The last
thing I want is for us to contribute to a mass bloodbath.” Seeing
“Is that what I think it is?” asked Jade almost reverently.
“Yup,” said May with a smile. “Tank just got a new shipment from his buddy. These are improved from my first set. They hold twenty flechette rounds each, have a further range and you can snap an extra barrel to them for another 40 rounds of fun sleepy action!” She snapped on the secondary barrel and passed the weapon around. “Careful though, if you have the second barrel attached and you press really hard on the firing button, you’ll activate the full auto mode.”
May felt a twinge of sadness at the mention of her cousin,
and she could tell that even Jade hadn’t totally gotten over Jared’s
death. However, she had to agree with
As
“Tank’s installing your present now Jeff.” At Jeff’s curious expression, May had to stifle a laugh and said, “Both of your shoulder grenade launchers are being replaced with glue cannons. The right one is rapid fire, and the left is continuous stream. And yes, before you ask, I do mean rapid fire - up to six shots a second now. Your rubber bullet Gatling is still there, but on your right arm, you’ll get a Gatling that fires similar flechette rounds.”
“What about me?” asked Jade just a bit petulantly.
May looked over at her and said, “You? You get to stay in the Nightcopter, out of harm’s way. Don’t worry, Tank’s going to fly, and you’ll have Dominic for company as well.”
Jade pouted and said, “That’s it? I have to sit this one out again?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” said May somewhat mysteriously.
Jade brightened and said excitedly, “You mean?”
“Yuppers. You’ll have the full range of non-lethal weapons available to you on the Nightcopter. If things go really sour, I want you to come in and pull us out.”
Jade’s eyes virtually shined at the thought of playing with all the weapons available to a fully loaded Nightcopter. She smiled vaguely as her mind played with all the possibilities.
May looked around at her team one last time and felt no small amount of satisfaction. “Okay, are we clear?” There was a series of nods and May said, “One more thing, out newest team member doesn’t like our name. He says that it’s too childish. I’m now taking suggestions for a new name that will describe us. Think about it in your spare time – what little of it you have.” In other words, May wanted her team to think of a new name, other than Children of the Night, but didn’t want them to take it too seriously. “Alright, Jeff, Brandon, you two head down to the Armory. Jade, you’ve got an appointment with my grandfather. Either you leave that appointment with the ability to see all of us, or your bed’s going to be very crowded tonight!”
As her team trouped out of the gym, May watched them go with
mixed feelings. She had prepared them as
best as she could, with the short amount of time that she had. She only hoped that it would be enough. She had desperately wanted to ask
---
On Friday night, at
“Hi Catherine, hi Linna, how are you two doing?” he asked politely.
“Just fine Michael,” said Catherine with just a hint of a
smirk. “Long time no see! And I can see that
“Yeah,” said Linna. “I can’t blame her either! Hey, if she ever gets tired of you, give me a holler, eh?”
The girls dissolved into laughter and Michael surmised that
There was a honk from outside and
The four of them headed out, after yelling good-byes to
During the ride, Michael was all but ignored as the girls caught each other up on all the gossip. Apparently, there were some rather harsh rumors spreading around in the school about the absences of Michael, May and Tracy. It was obvious who was starting those rumors, and in retaliation, graffiti depicting certain members of the football team and describing their lack of physical attributes and stamina were circulating around the school. Also, leaflets with more graphic descriptions were floating around the school as well. The girls, it seemed, certainly looked out for each other!
“But how did you get so many copies printed in such short
time? How do you keep up with the
schedule?” asked
Linna grinned like the
“Yeah,” said Catherine cheerfully. “Those dumb jocks don’t even suspect who’s giving out the dish!”
“Didn’t you used to date those dumb jocks?” asked May.
Catherine shook her head and replied, “Not anymore!”
“We’ve given up on that,” said Linna. “Catherine and I’ve been having too much fun with the rumor war that we haven’t even given much thought to dating.”
“Plus, once the war started, its like we’re finally seeing just how shallow some people could be, you know?” Catherine shook her head and said, “Besides, I think Linna and I are just gonna quit the dating scene for a while anyway. No point in giving the jackals anymore ammo than necessary.”
“Besides, all the best ones are taken anyway,” said Linna with a sidelong glance in Michael’s direction.
That started another round of giddy giggles and Michael sat
back and tried to relax. It promised to
be a rather eventful night, not just because of
As the limo pulled up to the school and everyone got out,
Michael couldn’t help but to notice a certain amount of coolness between
The gym was gaily decked out in Christmas decorations. There was a huge Christmas tree in the center of the gym with brightly wrapped boxes stacked underneath. Over by the stage, someone had decorated each of the massive speakers with bright wrapping paper, wispy cotton strands, and ribbons. Michael had to admit that whoever was in charge of the event had outdone themselves with the decorations. The gym looked great.
Michael found himself dancing near the center of the floor, a spot generally reserved for the social elite of the school. However, today, his group seemed to dominate it, and the jocks were congregating near the numerous exits along the back of the gym. Despite himself, Michael couldn’t suppress a grin at the thought that the newly refurbished and redesigned gym had so many outside exits. He could almost guarantee that there weren’t any garbage dumpsters anywhere close to any of them either!
As the night progressed, more and more people joined his group in the center of the gym. Michael recognized many of them and waved a greeting to them. Among the newcomers were members from the chess, photography and newsletter clubs. He even saw several cheerleaders as well, and saw that many of the cheerleaders and the ‘geeks’ were actually at the dance together. It seemed that during his absence from the school, a social revolution of some kind had happened in the school!
<<Young
one! Danger approaches!>>
What? Now?
<<Yes, the gang known as the Demons are fast approaching this
school. Diablo is with them!>>
A shiver of fear coursed through Michael. He remembered his last encounter with Diablo quite well. It had not gone well!
Make sure May knows
and help me find a place to change!
<<May already
knows, young one. She wants you – I mean
me – to stay out of it.>>
What? Why?
<<I do not know,
young one. I think she has a plan.>>
Great! Well, I don’t care! I’m not risking these people, and I’m
especially not risking
<<Young one, if
you interfere now, you may disrupt whatever plan of action May and her team has.>>
But…
“Please do not
interfere, at least not yet.”
What the…who was that?
<<I…I do not
know, young one.>>
“That does not matter
now. Please allow the events to
transpire naturally. May needs to do this.”
Who are you? How are you talking to me?
The second voice in Michael’s head was masculine, and firm. It was also somehow familiar, although Michael could not place where he had heard the voice before.
“You ask pointless
questions. May’s plan is solid. No one here will be harmed.”
I…what do you think
Big Bro?
<<I think the
question is a moot point right now. Look!>>
The main exit to the outside was suddenly ripped off its hinges. The jocks that had been standing there jumped in shock but were quickly brushed aside by the dozens of armed Demons that came charging through. As before, the Demons fired their guns wildly up into the air, scattering students and teachers alike. The music screeched to a halt as the partygoers fled before the onslaught. In the middle of this madness stood May, Michael, Tracy, Linna and Catherine. It was almost as if May’s calm reaction had a steadying effect on the others.
In a matter of minutes, the Demons had the partygoers crowded by the interior exits of the gym. They held them hostage there, with their guns threatening the terrified people.
Michael bristled as he took this in, but so far, no one had
been injured. Besides, his priority was
to stay close to
May stood calmly through all the action. She knew that it was her that Diablo had come for, and a bloodbath was something neither she nor Diablo wanted. A massacre at the school would call too much attention to the Demons, and she was sure that even Diablo couldn’t hold off a fully mobilized investigation. No, Diablo was here for one thing and one thing only: revenge for the trashing of his downtown headquarters. Behind her, she could feel the scared emotions of the students and the teachers who were there to chaperone the dance. Also behind her, she could feel the resolute emotions of Michael and Tracy, as well as the frightened emotions of Linna and Catherine. What the heck were they doing there still? She was about to turn back to order them to stay back when she suddenly felt a dark and malignant presence. As he did before at the make up Halloween party, Diablo stalked into the gym like a conqueror. He had a sneer on his face as he looked around the large room. His eyes found the small group in the center and he began to walk towards it.
May’s eyes never left her enemy. Now that she knew who he was, she felt less fear than before. She noted that Diablo was still wearing his trademark leather jacket, faded jeans and biker boots. His face and head were just as scarred as before, and his eyes were lit with almost child-like glee. For herself, May had dressed according to her plan. Her dress had puffy sleeves and it had a false front that was designed to be discarded in a hurry. She even had on long silky gloves. The dress was necessarily bulky because it had to hide certain surprises for Diablo.
Diablo stopped within a few feet of May and grinned his maniacal grin. “Well, Child of the Night, I find you again!”
“Those dreams again?” asked May tartly and with more confidence than she felt. “You must stop paying attention to them. They may lead you astray one day.”
“Perhaps, dearie,” said Diablo in his matronly grandmother voice. “It seems that my presence is not quite the surprise I had intended.”
“Surprise me once, shame on you. Surprise me twice, shame on me.”
“Really?” said Diablo in a deceptively sweet voice. His eyes narrowed and his body sudden tensed up.
A wave of sickly fear washed over May and her friends. She heard muted gasps from behind her, but she quickly pushed that out of her mind. She had problems of her own right now.
She had used fear to attack once herself. Back then, though, she had to be in physical contact with her opponent. Diablo was doing it from several feet away. She couldn’t believe his strength! The bile was rising from her stomach, and she felt as if her throat was constricting. It was a losing battle. She could feel herself starting to panic. In desperation, she closed her eyes and focused on her gift. She found her spark easily enough and took comfort from it. That was when she noticed something else. As she immersed her consciousness into her spark, she noticed a green veil that seemed to hang in the air. The fear that she was feeling was coming from the green veil. This must be the form of Diablo’s fear attack!
She thought of warm sandy beaches and of
Diablo was looking at her appraisingly and said, “So, the little duckie has been practicing! Tut, tut! What a surprise!”
May raised both her hands until they were pointed in Diablo’s general direction. She saw him tense and then relax as he noted her empty hands. In a slow non threatening movement, May clenched both her fists. Her closed fingers pressed the hidden studs under her gloves. There was a soft pftff and Diablo’s face sprouted two flechette darts.
He reeled back from the shock and May almost jumped in glee. It had worked! She had managed to defeat his sixth sense! She reached up and pulled off her shredded sleeves, revealing the two single shot dart launchers on her forearms. She unlatched them and let them fall to the floor. She also pulled off her useless gloves. It shouldn’t be long now. Soon, Diablo will fall asleep at her feet!
But he did not fall.
Diablo turned back to face her. The two darts were in his hand. “Nice try missy. Next time, use a stronger drug!”
May suppressed a groan. She should have known it wouldn’t be that easy! She reached up and gave her dress a hard fast yank and it came apart. Underneath, she was wearing a dark outfit. Tank had presented it to her this morning. Somehow, his buddy had managed to put some wire mesh in strategic places on the outfit to protect some of May’s more vulnerable parts yet still offer her freedom of movement. “Well, come on then, this is what you came for, right?” She dropped into a fighting stance. “You and me, Diablo, you don’t need to hold the rest hostage. I’m not going anywhere!”
Diablo gave her an evil grin. He spoke into a radio handset, “Get the people out of here. I don’t need witnesses when I tear this little girl apart!” He put his handset away and dropped into a fighting crouch too. “Come little girl, let’s see what you got!”
May could feel the activity behind
her as the Demons herded the students and teachers through the interior exits
and into the school. At least that
hurdle was passed! However, Michael,
Tracy, Linna and Catherine were still behind
her. She pushed thoughts of them out of
her head.
Diablo glided forward on the balls of his feet and May narrowly ducked a massive swipe. He was much faster than she had thought! She ducked under another one and danced in and laid a two punch combo right in Diablo’s mid-section. It felt like hitting a brick wall!
May dance out of reach and studied her opponent. He was still grinning his evil grin. She feinted a high kick and tucked down and tried to kick Diablo’s shins. Tried. Again, it felt like she was hitting a wall of some sort. Her blows were not getting through! What the hell was going on?
Her gift, provided the answer soon enough. There seemed to be a reddish yellowish glow surrounding Diablo. He was using his sixth sense to anticipate her attacks and then his Telekinesis to block them!
Diablo let out a chuckle and said, “Finally noticed, eh dearie?” He drove forward like a steam engine. May blocked a high punch but a low one got through. She let out a painful oomph and skipped out of reach once more. Damn it! Diablo was using his Telekinesis to move his body faster as well! If Diablo had formal martial arts training, he’d be completely unstoppable! She wished she had her nightsticks with her, but there was just no way to bring them into the dance hall. What the hell was keeping Jeff and Brandon? Surely she had been fighting Diablo for hours now!
Diablo charged again, and May had no more time for rational thought. His blows were coming incredibly fast and hard and it was all she could do to stay healthy. However, sooner than later, the inevitable happened and Diablo scored another hit that snapped her head around and knocked her to the ground.
As she lay on the floor, panting with exhaustion, she could hear Diablo laughing insanely. Where were Jeff and Brandon? There had to be some way through Diablo’s defenses! She took a deep breath and submersed herself into her spark once more. As she looked up at Diablo, she could still see the red and yellow glow surrounding him. She stood up and backed away. At the same time, she pushed out with her own spark and tested Diablo’s Telekinesis shield. It was not active all over his body. Instead, he was relying on his sixth sense to tell him where an attack was coming from and blocking only that area. Maybe an all over shield was too much, even for the great Diablo!
As she circled around him, May sent her spark in again, this time, feeling for Diablo’s corresponding Empathy spark. It had to be there somewhere – yes! She found it, and experimented with wrapping her own green spark around his. Diablo gave no indication that he noticed anything different. May charged in suddenly and feinted low. Diablo’s eyebrows rose up in surprise. His body was just beginning to flinch, in response to the low attack when May change course and instead launched a vicious aerial kick to Diablo’s head.
Diablo stumbled and half fell. When he turned back, there was an ugly welt on the side of his head. “How the hell did you do that?”
May just brushed aside the question. It had worked! She had managed to prevent Diablo from combining his Empathy with his Clairvoyance and thus, had prevented his sixth sense skill from working!
Diablo looked thoughtful for a minute and then said, “Ah, I see. Very resourceful, little duckie!” His eyes lost focus for a minute and then he glared back at May. “You! I know you now! Where’s my bitch? Where’s your mother?!”
“What?”
“That bastard Chang took her from me! Where’s Stella?”
May looked incredulously at
him. How had he found out? Something
Diablo tilted his head back and howled, “STELLA!”
Seeing an opportunity, May drove forward once more. All of Diablo’s defenses were down, now was her chance!
Just before she reached him though, Diablo dropped his head back down, held up his right hand and unleashed his psychic fire.
May screamed in agony and reeled back. She tried to backpedal out of the way but Diablo just followed her. Every nerve in her body was crying out: I’M BURNING!
Michael watched it all and he could feel Big Bro’s anxiety building higher and higher.
<<Let me
loose! I must save her!>>
Michael had never heard Big Bro sound so tense.
“Not
yet,
As for Michael, he could barely contain his own terror. When Diablo’s terror attack has washed over him, the only thing that prevented him from running in panic was the three sets of arms holding on to him. He desperately wanted to give up control to Big Bro, but somehow, the words of the mysterious voice was holding him back.
<<She is burning
up! I must save her!>>
“It is all in her
mind. She has the tools to defeat
this. She must learn to use them!”
<<But I love her!>>
“We love her too, and
that is why you must do nothing. Not yet
anyway.”
We? Who
the hell are you?
“People
who care about May.”
If you care for her,
how can you let her burn?
“Your time will come,
May curled up into a fetal ball, trying her best not to scream out her agony. As a child, she had once burned herself while playing by the stove. That one time had been enough to convince her to stay away from anything hot. This psychic fire was worse than anything she could have imagined! Try as she might, she could not convince her body that the fire was all in her mind. Once more, she submersed herself into her green spark, taking comfort in the knowledge that while her body and her mind may be failing her right now, her gift was still strong. Gift? She had used her gift once to defeat Diablo’s sixth sense. Could she use it now to defeat his psychic fire? Straining to ignore the pain, she surrendered her consciousness to her spark and allowed it to engulf her mind. Almost right away, the pain disappeared and she was able to think clearly. She couldn’t move her body while she was in this meditative state though. She sent her spark out once more, like before. This time, within Diablo, she encountered his green and red sparks intertwined. As before, she wrapped her spark around Diablo’s green one and totally separated it from the red. She felt a shudder of surprise from Diablo and she opened her eyes.
Diablo was pushing out with his hands, over and over, as if trying to coax some flames out of them. May stood up then; all the pain from the psychic fire was gone.
Diablo looked up as she faced him and cried, “You! You’re doing this!”
May allowed herself a mocking smile and said, “You showed me how. You told me that Empathy was the key. As long as I can counter your Empathy, you’re helpless!”
Diablo roared in rage and ducked his head down to charge at May. Suddenly, a large dark figure came crashing through the open door and separated into two distinct figures.
“What the fuck?!” Diablo was just starting to twist his body around when Jeff opened up with all his weapons.
May kept her spark wrapped tightly around Diablo’s. He could do nothing as he body was suddenly wracked in convulsions from hundreds of rubber bullets and flechette rounds.
May had to give Diablo credit for his fast recovery though. He managed to dive to the side just before Jeff’s glue rounds could immobilize him. When Jeff re-oriented his aim, Diablo held up his hands and managed to put a Telekinetic shield up, and none of the glue rounds touched him.
Diablo suddenly gasped in pain and his hand went to
side. It pulled out a bloody knife with
three curved blades. Before he could
throw it back at
Jeff continued rain glue on Diablo, further immobilizing him. May dove forward to deliver an incapacitating blow to his head, but suddenly felt herself being thrown backwards. Even without his psychic fire, Diablo was a force to be reckoned with!
Something, some unknown and unseen force seemed to stop
“Demons! To me!” cried Diablo at the top of his lungs.
Almost instantly, the Demons who were holding the students and teachers hostage outside of the gym came flooding back in.
They surrounded May and her team and leveled their guns at them.
Michael watched white-faced as May and her team battled Diablo to a standstill. Somehow, and he didn’t know how, May had overcome the psychic fire that had engulfed her. Then, working as a team, she, Brandon and Jeff had managed to defeat Diablo. But now, it seemed as if Diablo would have the last laugh after all. The crowd of Demons blocked Michael’s view of his friends. None of the Demons were paying him and the girls any attention.
“Now
But how do I change
without anyone noticing?
“Let us take care of
that!”
The hands that were clutching his body suddenly released their grips. Michael spared a glance at the girls, but they didn’t seem to take note of his presence. They were all still focusing on the unfolding drama. It was as if they couldn’t see him at all!
What the hell?
<<Nevermind that now, young one. Let
me have control!>>
With pleasure!
In record time, Michael felt himself falling back into the depths of his mind. With almost a cursory brush, he felt Big Bro diving – literally – into the driver’s seat.
Let us get this show on the road! said Big Bro’s voice with eager anticipation.
The being known as Big Bro surged into action. He concentrated on his other form, not the one his protégé had designed, but the one he had made for May. He wrapped his camouflage around himself and changed. When he dropped the camouflage, he noticed that no one had noticed him yet. His mouth quirked up into a derisive smile and his eyes blazed with excitement.
He launched himself up into the air, hovered over May and her friends and dropped a shield around all of them just as the Demons opened fire.
The hail of bullets bounced off the glowing blue shield, and at that range, ricochets were bouncing off and hitting the occasional Demon.
All eyes turned to him, at that moment. Several Demons fled the scene immediately, as soon as they saw who they were dealing with. Others dropped their guns and backed away slowly.
Big Bro reached out with his senses and scattered the remaining Demons. Just as he did that fateful night when he had first met May, he pushed and pulled at the various Demons until they were bouncing off each other, off the floor, and off the walls. Any Demon that made a run for the exit was left unmolested.
Soon enough, the only Demon left was Diablo. He was staring up in awe and horror. “What the hell are you?”
“I am the beacon of
hope in the ocean of darkness. I am the avenger
of those who have been wronged. I am one
who has been reborn and remade. I am
Diablo sneered and spit to the side. “
“Oh
really?”
Big Bro sent his senses out and pulled Diablo out of the glue trap. He could feel some resistance as Diablo tried to use his Telekinesis to resist him. As if he were brushing away an annoying fly, Big Bro brushed away Diablo’s feeble attempts and pulled him up until Diablo was eye to eye with him.
“You deserve to die, for what you have done. I know of the evils you have committed.”
Diablo, more helpless than he had ever been in his life, did the only thing he could. He spit into the face of the shining being before him.
Big Bro’s eyes blazed hotter and he gathered up his strength to crush the annoying insect in front of him.
“No! You must not kill him!” Said the mysterious voice from before.
Why not? He deserves to die!
“Believe me, no one knows that more than I. But he still has a part to play.”
No! I must end this threat to May once and for
all!
“He is no longer a
threat to her. She has defeated
him. There is a storm coming and Diablo
must play his part.”
What part is that?
“I cannot tell
you. Please, I beg you. I know you how you feel. I watched helpless as that worm raped my daughter
and killed my grandson. I want him dead
more than anyone!”
Your
daughter? Grandson?
<<Holy
shit! Is that Sifu Chang?>>
Just then, another voice echoed in Big Bro’s mind. This one sounded female. “Please,
You are both adamant?
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
Big Bro sighed and turned his attention back to Diablo. It was clear that Diablo had no clue of what
had just transpired and did not know how close his life came to be snuffed
out. To May and the rest of her team, he
directed his next comments, “I have been
asked to spare the life of this worm.
Very well, I will grant this request.
However, I will make sure that he does not bother you anymore
tonight. Farewell.”
Big Bro floated to the open door and dragged the helpless Diablo with him. May and the others followed him out of the building. As soon as he was outside, Big Bro gathered his strength and flung Diablo up and out into the night. It would be up to Diablo himself to make sure he landed alive.
As May, Jeff and Brandon watched Diablo’s figure recede into a tiny dot, Big Bro took the opportunity to fall behind his camouflage and make his way back into the gym. The other three girls that had come to the dance were still standing as still as statues. Their hands were positioned as if they were clutching an invisible person.
Big Bro changed back to the human body of his protégé and placed himself into position. At that exact instant, all three girls seemed to break out of whatever trance they were under and started to talk at once. Big Bro gratefully surrendered control back to his protégé. Let him take care of this part!
---
Michael thought that it was actually kind of cool to be clung onto by three very pretty girls. All three of them were talking at the same time and comments like “Did you see that” and “Wow” were in abundance. From their comments, Michael figured that they never saw anything out of the ordinary. As far as they were concerned, he was there the whole time that Big Bro was playing the puppet master. He shuddered inwardly at the power May’s mother and grandfather displayed. If they had that kind of power when they merged their gifts, he was damn grateful that Diablo never had a chance to add Telepathy to his repertoire!
As May, Jeff and Brandon made their way back into the gym, the three girls released their hold on Michael and rushed to May’s side. Michael could see both Linna and Catherine cast speculative looks in Jeff’s direction, and decided that Jeff’s future just got a little more interesting. He wondered if he should just tell Linna and Catherine who it was that was under all that metal. He also wondered if Jeff would thank him for it!
That train of thought led him to
For her part,
“Um May, was that your Da Gueur that saved you?”
“Hmm? Yes, of course. Of course we can call him
“Umm…but…”
“What is it,
“This seems kind of foolish now.”
“What does?”
“I was going to break up with Michael tonight, after the dance.”
“Whatever the heck for?” May was totally surprised. She knew something was bothering
“I know, but I thought that you loved him, and he loved you.”
“What?! Why would you think that? You already knew where my feelings lay!”
“I know, but for some stupid reason, I was convinced that
Michael and Da – I mean
“Are you out of your mind?
“I know…I just…I don’t know anymore!”
May grabbed both of
May smiled and said, “Because, you self-sacrificing fool, you were thinking of my happiness instead of your own!”
Michael couldn’t believe his good fortune. He had no idea what May said to