Chapter 28 – Aftermath

Debris rained down from the large hole in the ceiling but May paid no attention to it. She, like her two friends, were still in a state of shock at what they had just witnessed. It had only been a couple of minutes since the end of the fight, but May still couldn’t believe what she had seen.

At first, she had been elated to find out that she wasn’t going to die right then and there just yet. The arrival of Michael and Tracy had been a lifeline that she had not anticipated. Because of her broken leg, she was forced to watch the fight from the ground. Her teeth were gritted tightly from the pain. Jeff was too exhausted from his part in the creation of the psychic flame and could only watch from a sitting position too. Tracy watched over them both, with both hands on her gun. May could feel the anxious emotions from Tracy, and for the most part, they mirrored her own. Michael, Tracy’s precious boyfriend, the one boy she had ever loved, was engaged in a life and death battle with a monster and there was nothing that anyone else in the room could do.

May had watched the fight as dispassionately as possible. The martial artist in her catalogued every punch, every kick, and gauged every move on a martial scale. Not very surprisingly, neither Diablo nor Michael scored very high on her mental scale. Michael, she knew, was only a beginner and had only a few lessons. From her fight with Diablo, she knew that while Diablo was incredibly fast and strong, it was only because of his Telekinesis, and not because of any martial skill. What did surprise her though, was the incredible pace at which both combatants moved. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn that what she was witnessing was not a real fight, but a choreographed brawl in a cheesy action film.

Diablo, thanks to his sixth sense, was able to predict the impact zone of every punch and kick that Michael threw at him. Even May’s tired mind could see that while not very complex, Michael’s attacks were extremely fast. A part of her mind harkened to an almost forgotten memory of an almost forgotten sparring match between Michael and Brandon. Wasn’t there something unusual about that match? Try as she might though, she could not jog the memory from her tired mind.

Diablo’s mad roar drew her attention back to the fight. Diablo was apparently on the offensive now. His attacks were also incredibly fast yet simple punch and kick combinations. However, no matter how fast they were, Michael always seemed to have a block ready. How was that possible? Having fought Diablo hand to hand before, May knew how difficult it had been for her, a trained martial artist, to anticipate and block those savage attacks. Even when a block had been successful, Diablo’s Telekinetically enhanced strength had a tendency of barreling through defenses. How the hell was Michael even standing up to that storm?

Suddenly, Diablo leapt straight up in the air and aimed a mighty downward blow with his hand. May knew right off that it was a feint, but before she could cry out a warning, Michael fell for the trap. Diablo’s leg flashed out in a massive horizontal kick that appeared to hit Michael square in his face.

Michael sprawled to the floor and May heard a muted gasp from Tracy. She turned to offer reassurance to her friend but another suppressed gasp from Tracy forced May’s attention back to the fight. Michael was back on his feet! There also seemed to be no mark or bruise on his face from the blow he had taken. What the hell?

If possible, the fight seemed to pick up in pace after that. Diablo went on the offensive and maintained a blistering rhythm of punches and kicks that kept forcing Michael backwards. None of Diablo’s attacks seemed to adhere to any known school of martial arts that May was aware of. In fact, it seemed to May that Diablo’s attacks were beginning to lose any kind of precision and were becoming more and more wild.

One particular move from Diablo – if it could be called that – had Diablo leaping up in the air, kicking out with both feet and then slamming joined fists down on Michael’s head. Somehow, Michael blocked both blows and then retreated several feet to get some breathing room.

May wasn’t sure, but something changed in Michael’s demeanor then. His back straightened and his shoulders set themselves like a bull getting ready to charge. May could feel his fury boiling out of him like tidal waves as he suddenly charged in at Diablo.

If May hadn’t seen Michael’s next move with her own eyes, she would never have believed it. It wasn’t that she had never seen anyone else perform the move before. Jeff, with his Telekinesis, had tried that very same move one summer against Sifu Chang and was swatted out of the air. But Jeff was a psion and Michael was not. Nevertheless, Michael performed the move with such speed, accuracy and strength, that it would have put any movie directed stuntmen on cables to shame.

“TATSU MAKI SEN PUU KYAKU!!!”

Yes, it would have sounded cheesy in any other setting, but here, it seemed just right.

The Hurricane Kick blasted Diablo from his feet. However, Michael didn’t stop there. As if sensing his advantage, he charged in once more and delivered another picture perfect Street Fighter II move.

“SHOU RYU KEN!!!”

May couldn’t believe it. Michael was in a fight for his life and he was resorting to video game moves! In real life! And they were working! While she was staring in disbelief, her eyes clinically catalogued the height at which Michael reached while at the top of his Rising Dragon Punch arch. From her angle, it was difficult to estimate, but she could have sworn that Michael’s fist reached at least fifteen feet.

But that was impossible!

Unless.

Unless Michael did have extraordinary powers after all? But she had scanned him in the past and had come up empty. Could it be that the life and death situation had woken some latent psion gift?

May closed her eyes and summoned her Empathy. She focused on Michael and searched for a spark of any kind. Once again, she could not see anything out of the ordinary.

A scream of excruciating pain snapped her concentration and she opened her eyes in time to see Michael double over as he tried to deal with the ocean of psychic fire surrounding him. Diablo was grinning evilly as he washed the spiritual flames all over Michael’s body.

May felt Tracy’s fingers tighten on her shoulder and she could sense her friend’s anxiety. May closed her eyes once more and reached out with her Empathy. She had to close off Diablo’s source!

However, before she could, she sensed a loss of focus on Diablo’s part. She opened her eyes again and studied his face. Streams of sweat were running down his head and his eyes had taken on a desperate kind of look. She suddenly realized that he was straining his gifts! Just like how May had drained herself when she summoned psychic fire earlier that night, Diablo was showing signs of being drained too. Plus, just like earlier, when she did not hear any cries of pain from Diablo, she realized that Michael was no longer screaming either.

The flow of spiritual fire slackened and then died out. Michael emerged from the flames like a phoenix reborn from its ashes. Could it be? It didn’t seem possible, yet the scene she was watching was impossible too. Michael’s expression turned grim as he held his palms up to face each other. May recognized the motion instantly.

What was he thinking of? He didn’t really think he could, did he? This wasn’t some kind of stupid game! May opened her mouth to shout, but no words came out. Her jaw dropped lower as she watched the impossible become possible.

A spark of light ignited between Michael’s palms. He pulled his hands apart and the spark grew into a blazing sphere of light. He drew his hands to his waist for a moment and then pushed them out in a fluid motion.

“HA DOU KEN!!!”

The power sphere hit Diablo high on his chest. He went flying back and landed in a crumpled heap. This time, he stayed down.

May felt as if the world was crashing down upon her. All the little clues in her mind were swirling around in her head: Michael surviving a gun blast; Michael hitting Brandon in a sparring match without touching him; Michael standing up hand to hand with a monster like Diablo; Michael pulling off physically impossible video game type moves; Michael creating a fiery ball of light and using it as a weapon. It was the last move that had clinched it for May. She had seen those power spheres before. They had been used by an alien that resembled an angel in almost every aspect. They had been used by her paramour to destroy the Demons’ warehouse the night he rescued her. She herself had given the alien a name from human legends. Phoenix.

As if to prove her point, Michael turned to face them. On his face, May could see the realization of the import of what he had done. It was a secret that he had been hiding from all of them, and now the secret was out. His body blurred and became brighter and brighter. The light quickly enveloped his entire body, and when it died down, Michael was no longer standing there. In his place, was a silvery winged being with a head shaped like predatory avatar. Phoenix.

Or was it?

“I’m sorry, Tracy. I’m sorry, May. I’m sorry, Jeff. I’m sorry, everyone.”

The winged being launched himself into the air, blasted a hole in the ceiling and disappeared from sight.

“How could he? That lying two-timing sack of shit! I was right all along!”

The raging rant was coming from Tracy, who seemed to be barely containing her anger. Her emotions were broiling out of her, and among them, May could taste anger, disbelief, and a little bit of jealously. With a little bit of thought, it wasn’t too hard to realize why Tracy would be feeling jealous. Michael was her boyfriend. However, just barely minutes before, he had revealed himself to be something else entirely. That something else happened to be May’s boyfriend, Phoenix. On the surface, it appeared that Michael had been playing both of them at the same time. Or was he?

Something was nagging her at the back of her mind. It was small but important.

“Tracy, can you be quiet for a second? I’m trying to think!” said May sharply to her best friend.

Shock at May’s tone stopped Tracy in mid tirade. It didn’t take her long to start up again though. “But May, you saw it just like me! Michael is the same as Phoenix. He’s been two-timing both of us! I can’t believe I fell for it! I was so sure, but then you told me he wasn’t, and then I slept with him last…”

Tracy stopped in mid-sentence as she realized what she was saying and to whom. “Uhhh…”

“Too late, Tracy,” said Jeff with a tired but impish grin. “The cat’s out of the bag! So, how was my buddy in bed?”

Tracy turned to Jeff and starting scolding him with her index finger straight out, “None of your business, that’s how he was! And for your information, your buddy has been two-timing me and by best friend. When I get my hands on him, I’ll-“

“You’ll what? Looks to me like he can just fly away at any time!” said Jeff with a half-bitter retort.

Tracy took stock of his expression and her own temper softened. “He didn’t tell you either, did he?

Jeff shook his head sadly. “I had no clue! I guess it’s only fair in a way. I sprang my psion gift on him rather suddenly, but I guess…”

Jeff trailed off with a sad faraway look in his eyes. Tracy laid a friendly hand on his shoulder and then tried to change the subject. “Hey, not to change the subject or anything, but you’ll never guess who’s been asking May about the ‘mysterious hulk in the suit’!”

Jeff looked at her quizzically and asked, “Huh?”

“You know, last night, after you took off with Brandon. May and I had to talk really fast to get Catherine and Linna on to our side. However, all Catherine wanted to know about was, oh how did she put it, ‘the big guy in the cool suit’.”

Jeff looked up at her dumbly and said, “You mean…me?”

“Yes you, you big lug!”

“Um…Catherine…that’s the really tall one with the legs that won’t quit, right?”

Tracy lightly punched Jeff on his shoulder and said, “As if you didn’t know! Come on, I’ve seen you stare at her often enough in class!”

To his credit, Jeff blushed beet red and tried to recover his dignity. “Uh, um, yeah…uhhh…do you think she noticed?”

Tracy sighed theatrically and said, “Jeff, she’s a girl. We girls always know when and who is staring at us. For example, up until a few months ago, the only person that Michael would stare at was May!”

As if splashed with cold water, that last comment brought Tracy up short. All the anger, anguish, and - dare she admit it – jealousy came back to her with a vengeance. However, instead of starting up with her rant again, she looked to her best friend, who had to be hurting inside at this betrayal.

“Oh May, I’m so sorry! Look, when we catch up with that creep, I’ll hold him while you kick him where the sun don’t shine, ok?”

When Tracy didn’t get an immediate response, she dropped to her knees in front of May and looked at her face. May’s eyes seemed to be staring far away into the distance. “Helloooo. Earth calling May! Don’t get too choked up over your boyfriend there. We’ll get him!”

May’s eyes slowly reoriented themselves to Tracy. In an almost whisper, May said, “That wasn’t my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d dump him after finding out him. I’m going to too-“ Tracy suddenly stopped as May’s hand grasped her hand in a strong grip.

May looked Tracy right in her eyes and said, “That wasn’t Phoenix.”

“What do you mean? Come on! We all saw him change!”

May looked away and shook her head, as if to clear up cobwebs. “I…I don’t know how to explain it, but that wasn’t Phoenix. I’m an Empath, remember? I can tell people who they are just from their emotions. That…being, was Michael.”

“Huh?” exclaimed two very confused teenagers. Both Tracy and Jeff were looking at May as if she had lost her mind.

May sighed and explained as best as she could. “Look, everyone has a unique emotional signature, ok? Like, even without seeing you two, I can pin point both of you in a crowded pitch black room. That…that being…that had Michael’s emotional signature – even after he changed.”

“You mean there’s two of them out there?” asked Tracy incredulously.

“I don’t know. Besides, Phoenix doesn’t look like that…well not at first anyway. When I first met him, he looked like that, and then we…um…well when we uh…”

Tracy nodded impatiently and said, “Yeah, yeah, when you kissed and became official, we get it.”

“Well, he changed his appearance. Right before my eyes, he morphed his head into something resembling a human face. Then, after that, whenever we met, he always used that face instead of that helmet-like thing we just saw.” As May spoke, she became more and more sure in her convictions.

“That’s it? That’s how you know?” demanded Tracy.

May sighed again and tried to be patient. She could tell from the small spark of hope coming from Tracy that she really needed Michael and Phoenix to be two different people. “That plus all the other little things.” When May saw that Tracy wasn’t going to be satisfied that easily, she forged ahead. “Look, you all heard that telepathic message, right?”

Both Tracy and Jeff nodded and May continued. “When Phoenix talks to me, his speech patterns are more formal sounding and more mature. For example, Phoenix doesn’t use contractions.”

Tracy waited for May to say more, but when she didn’t continue, she blurted out, “So, because he looked different and he used contractions just now, you’re saying that that wasn’t Phoenix?”

May didn’t need to be an Empath to feel Tracy’s disbelief. However, because she was an Empath, she knew that deep down, Tracy wanted to believe but was scared of getting hurt. She grabbed Tracy’s head with both hands and looked her in the eyes. “Tracy, I will spell this out. I. Am. An. Empath. I think I can tell who my boyfriend is, ok? That was not my boyfriend. It was yours. I can’t explain it right now, but I’m sure once we catch up to him, we can ask him, ok?”

“Ok,” said Tracy in a small voice.

“What the hell happened here? Hey, you got the bastard!”

All three teens looked up at the sound of the new voice. At the entrance to the gym, they saw Jade supporting Brandon. It was Jade who spoke. Brandon was leaning heavily on Jade. There was a bloody bandage on his left thigh and a dark ugly bruise on the side of his face.

“Jade! Brandon!” cried Tracy as she ran over to help Jade in supporting Brandon.

As they came over, May looked sternly at Jade and asked, “Jade, what are you doing here? I thought you were helping to take my mother and grandfather to safety?”

“Oh that? Tank’s got it covered. I figured that once he got everyone up into the air, there wasn’t much I could do to add to the escape so I came back here. Good thing too. Guess who I found bleeding in one of the hallways?”

Tracy and Jade eased Brandon to the ground. He glanced over at where Diablo was lying in a boneless heap. “So, you got the monster once and for all.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“Actually, it was Michael who got him,” said Tracy. She couldn’t quite keep the proud tone out of her voice.

“What? Michael?” asked Brandon. He looked over at May for confirmation.

May nodded solemnly and deflected further questions by saying, “We can talk about that later. Right now, we have a more immediate problem. What are we going to do with Diablo? He’s starting to wake up so we don’t have a lot of time.”

“What do you mean? For as long as he’s alive, he’s going to be a threat to us, right?” asked Jade in a serious tone. “I say we end that threat once and for all!”

“I second that,” said Brandon. “That guy is a monster. Nothing in the world would be able to keep him confined.”

“Wait a minute,” protested Jeff. “We can’t just kill him in cold blood! That would be murder!”

“Jeff’s right,” said May. “Besides, I have reason to believe that my grandfather and my mother both want him alive.”

“What? After what that sorry sack of shit did to them?” asked Jade angrily. “Don’t forget who gave the order to kill my brother, Jared!”

“Besides, Sifu Chang and your mother aren’t here right now,” said Brandon quietly.

“I can’t believe you two!” cried Jeff. “He’s the monster, not us! We can’t just murder him!”

The argument quickly heated up after that. Both Jade and Brandon were in favor of killing Diablo here and now and Jeff was in favor of allowing the justice system to do its job. May tried to follow the argument, but the pain in her leg as well as her exhaustion was quickly catching up to her.

“QUIET!”

All eyes turned to look at Tracy who was the only one still standing up. “I have had it with all you’re bickering. I don’t have time for this! I have to catch up to my boyfriend, but before I can do that, we have to get you guys some medical attention. Jade, get on the horn and call Tank back. He’s got the doctors with him and they can patch up May and Brandon. Make sure you tell him to make sure the Nightcopter has enough fuel for another trip.”

Jade nodded and said, “The Nightcopter shouldn’t be a problem. Tank took the others out on another ‘copter. But what about Diablo?”

Tracy’s expression turned grim. “Look, when a monster threatens the lives of me and my loved ones, and I know that no law enforcement agency in the world could contain him, and I know that his continued existence will threaten the future, I’m not going to sit around and argue ethics!”

Before anyone could think to stop her, Tracy cocked her handgun and calmly walked over to where Diablo lay. When she stood above him, she could see that he was awake and his eyes were alert. Tracy took aim, and before she could change her mind, she pulled the trigger.

As the sound of the gunshot reverberated through the gym, Tracy turned back to her friends. She met their shocked stares with defiance and her eyes blazed angrily. “I’m not going to let some piece of trash continue to harm my friends and get away with it! Now come on, we’ve got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time. Let’s hop to it people!”

---

They were fighting again. The little boy pushed himself deeper into the dark closet and covered his ears with his hands in a vain effort to drown out the shouting and the sounds of fighting. A loud crash caused him to flinch and whimper in fear.

“That’s my money!”

“No, it’s all mine! You didn’t do nothing on this caper!”

“What? I kept a lookout for the cops!”

“Like hell you did! Where were you when I was grabbing the dough? Across the street stuffing your face!”

“I was hungry!”

“Yeah? Well you can eat this cause you ain’t touching my money!”

There was a dull thump followed by a loud crash. Tears rolled down his face as the little boy tried his best not to cry out. It seems that every time he played out on the street, his uncles always ended up fighting over something called money. He didn’t understand it, but somehow, he knew it was all his fault. He knew that he had been a bad boy and he was trying to forget memories of splashing blood as much as he was trying to forget the sounds of fighting on the other side of the closet door.

Suddenly, light flooded the little closet as the door was thrown wide open. The little boy whimpered some more because he knew what was going to happen next.

“Michael,” said a deceptively calm voice. “Come on out, Michael. It’s alright.”

The little boy shook his head vigorously and sobbed incoherenly.

“Come on out, Michael, no one is going to hurt you,” crooned the voice again.

The little boy sobbed some more but refused to budge.

The voice turned savage and extraordinarily long arms reached out for the boy. “Get your ass outta there, Michael! Come on, move it!”

The little boy cringed and whimpered in terror.

“Come here, you dumb ass kid! Michael! Michael!”

<<Michael! Michael!>>

Like a swimmer sloshing through a thick soup-like fog, Michael slowly became aware of his surroundings. Unfortunately, his surroundings were simply the deep blackness of space.

Huh…what…where am I? Big Bro?

<<Michael, are you alright?>>

I…I don’t know…wh…where am I?

Big Bro sighed deeply in Michael’s mind. It appeared as if his young protégé was back!

<<I am glad you are back, Michael. I was starting to become worried.>>

What happened? Did I drift again?

<<Yes, after you fled the scene, you simply kept flying.>>

Hmmm…I just remember that I had to get away from there. Oh no! Tracy! May! Jeff! They saw! They know!

<<That is right.>>

Oh no! I can’t face them again

<<Yes you can, Michael. They deserve to know the truth. They are your friends and they will understand.>>

How do I explain something like this? I had to talk really fast to get Serena to believe me. I don’t know if I can convince Tracy and May. They’re going to think that I’ve been cheating on both of them!

<<I think perhaps that you are underestimating our loved ones. As you said, your sister Serena believed you, why should Tracy and May not?>>

I…I…

<<You love Tracy as much as I love May. Do you not think that they deserve at least some kind of explanation? Belief or disbelief is up to them after we have made the attempt. If you just run, I…I may never see May again. I think I deserve better.>>

I…You’re right, Big Bro. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just panicked and ran out. All right. I’ll give it a shot. Maybe I’ll stop by the house to talk to Serena. She’s a girl. She can give me pointers on how to explain all of this.

<<That sounds like a good plan, Michael.>>

Now that that is settled, let’s figure out where we are! Hmmm…I think I feel something in that direction…something familiar…but I think I feel the sun in the other direction…

<<Michael, I believe I know what it is you feel!>> Big Bro’s mental voice contained barely concealed excitement.

What, you mean over there? That familiar sensation?

<<Yes! I feel it!>>

What is it?

<<Something I thought never to feel again! Come on!>>

Michael had the weirdest sensation, as if Big Bro were mentally tugged and pulling on his body. He flew towards the direction where the familiar feeling was coming from and sent his senses ranging out.

Up ahead, in the darkness, he found an object. And what an object it was! At first, he thought it was some sort of giant spaceship, but as he examined the object more, he realized that it had none of the features he would have associated with a spaceship. Not that he had a lot of experience with real space ships, but even the Valean sting ship that he had destroyed had engines, a fuselage, and a cockpit of sorts. The object in space had none of those.

As he got closer, he was able to truly appreciate the scale of the object. The object was huge. It was round, like a giant sphere, and was several kilometers in diameter. There was also a faint glow coming from the object, and a black sort of nothingness or void beside it.

Wow, what the heck is that?

<<Speak to it, Michael.>> Big Bro’s mental voice seemed to be very excited.

Huh?

<<Speak, Michael, with your mind.>>

But-

<<Please, Michael. Trust me.>>

Ok, you’re the boss. Michael focused on the object and projected his thoughts outward. <<Umm, hello?>>

Michael felt somewhat foolish as he waited for a reply. There was none. At Big Bro’s urging, he tried again, and then again. However, no matter how many times he tried, no matter what the message was, Michael did not receive any replies.

At last, Big Bro asked him to stop. His mental voice was sad and heartbroken. Michael started to have suspicions as to the nature of the giant sphere but wanted confirmation. He waited for several more minutes before asking Big Bro.

Um, Big Bro? Is that what I think it is?

<<Yes, Michael. That is or was one of my brothers. That is a Shiza-haran, or what is left of him.>>

That’s a Shiza-haran? What happened to him? Why isn’t he responding to me?

<<He is not responding because he is dead.>>

Dead? But I thought Shiza-harans exploded when they died? Wait, I remember. You mentioned another way, right?

<<That is right. When a Shiza-haran is drained of too much energy, the mind or sentience of the being fades away, leaving behind a mindless hulk.>>

But couldn’t I just transfer some of my energy? Couldn’t I revive him?

<<When the sentience is gone, there is no recovering it.>>

I’m so sorry, Big Bro. When we felt that familiar feeling, you must have thought that one of your brothers were still alive. Then, we come here only find that he is dead. What is he doing here anyway? And what is that black void that seems to be hanging around over there?

<<He was waiting for me.>>

You?

<<Well, maybe not me specifically, but someone to come and help relieve him. Before my unfortunate incident with the Valeans, I was to come to this sector of space, make physical contact with my brother here, and then travel through the gate to find a safe haven.>>

Gate?

<<That is the strange spatial anomaly you call a void over there. That is a gate.>>

What is it? What does it do?

<<It is exactly what the name implies. It is a gate or doorway to another area of space. One of the most powerful abilities of the Shiza-harans was to reach out with our senses, find a distant destination, and then create a link to that destination.>>

Sounds like a wormhole or warp point or something like that.

<<It is similar in concept, but not quite. If you were to travel through that gate, you will experience no sensation of travel. One second you will be in front of the gate, the next second you will be light years away. This of course, takes a tremendous amount of energy on the part of the Shiza-haran maintaining the gate.>>

Wait a minute. If that Shiza-haran is dead, how is the gate still there?

<<Quite simply, my brother was ordered to open and maintain the gate at all costs. Gatekeepers often receive orders like that. However, there was not enough ambient energy here for my brother to maintain his life. All of his available power went to power that gate. I suspect that if you were to scan his body, you will find that his energy reserves are almost completely depleted. When they are gone, this gate is cease to exist.>>

So he just kept the gate open until he died? Why would he do that? That doesn’t make sense. Don’t Shiza-harans have a natural survival instinct? Couldn’t he have shut down the gate, flew closer to the sun to recharge and then come back?

<<He could not because his simple orders did not allow for it.>>

What is he, some sort of robot? Following orders blindly until death? I don’t like the implications of that. If you never met the Valeans and duked it out with them, then you would have come here and possibly taken his place until you died too, right?

Big Bro did not respond right away. He seemed to be lost in thought and Michael decided to allow him time to think. When Big Bro did speak up again, his words sent shivers running through Michael.

<<I have been having memory flashbacks too, similar to the ones you have experienced. While some of them have been pleasant, some of them have been quite disturbing. In some of these memories, I am following orders blindly, without question. I can see now that ever since I joined with you, I have experienced more freedom than I have ever had before.>>

So what, you were just a slave? That doesn’t say very good things about your former masters, the Pracetorians.

<<I know. Believe me when I say that this disturbs me very deeply.>>

Sounds like your memory flashes are becoming just as weird and disturbing as mine. That last one of mine was psychotic! I don’t remember anything like that! I wonder if Serena knows anything?

<<It is something that is worth exploring.>>

So, what should we do about our brother over here?

<<We can do nothing him now. We can, however, explore the gate if you wish.>>

Nahh, if that gate can disappear at anytime then I don’t want to risk not being able to come back here. Besides, I need to get back home. We have some explaining to do to two very lovely young ladies.

<<Agreed. However, if we ever get the opportunity in the future, I would like to come back here. I find the presence of my brother to be tragic yet comforting at the same time. Besides, I may yet find more answers here.>>

It’s a deal. I’m rather curious myself. However, if we find any aliens, whether they are Pracetorians or Valeans, let’s use lots of caution, deal?

<<Deal.>>

---

It was almost midnight when Michael reached his house. He rang the doorbell and was surprised when the door opened right away and strong arms pulled his camouflaged body into the house. The same strong arms hugged him tightly before letting go.

Serena dropped some clothes onto the floor and said, “Get dressed. You’ve got company.”

Michael dropped his transparency disguise and quickly pulled on the clothes. “Company? Who is it?”

Instead of answering, Serena took his hand and led him into the living room. Sitting on the couch, were two pretty teenage girls, both of whom were sleepily rubbing their eyes.

Michael could see that May had a cast on her right leg, but was relieved to see that other than that, both she and Tracy seemed to be unhurt. Whatever had happened after he left didn’t cause either of the girls more harm.

When Tracy’s eyes were fully open and alert, she let out a little shriek as soon as she saw Michael and threw herself into his arms. She was talking rapidly, almost incoherently but seemed rather happy to see him. It was a much warmer reception than what Michael had been expecting, even though his mind was still trying to come to grips with the fact that both she and May were in his living room.

“Shhh, Tracy, I’m here. I’m sorry for running out like that. I guess I panicked and was scared of facing your reaction.” He stroked her hair as he spoke soothingly.

Tracy sniffed and brushed away tears. “I’m the one who’s sorry, Michael. I thought the worst of you and totally justified your fears. If it weren’t for May and Serena here, I’d be hating you instead of loving you right about now.”

Michael looked up and May and Serena, who were patiently allowing the young lovers their reunion.

Serena spoke up first. “I had to tell them everything, Michael. I hope you don’t mind. Besides, everything I told them only seemed to confirm what May had surmised all on her own.”

Michael nodded and then frowned. “Um, Serena, you…ah…know about May?”

Serena shared a smile with May and said, “Tonight’s been a night of revelations.”

Michael didn’t know what to say to that so he looked over at May. “Um, May, how did you know?”

May grinned impishly and said, “I’m an Empath, remember? You and Phoenix have two very distinct emotional signatures. Speaking of Phoenix, is he here now?”

Michael mirrored her grin and said, “Yup, Big Bro is always watching. Would you like to speak to him?”

May nodded vigorously as Michael gently pushed Tracy to the side and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, it was Phoenix who was looking out from them. She still wasn’t sure what had happened. She had been watching with her gift, and one moment, the emotional signature was that of Michael and the next, it was Phoenix. He still looked like Michael, but he felt like Phoenix. She took a tentative step forward and reached out with her hand. Phoenix seemed unsure as he did the same.

When their hands touched, she could have sworn that she felt a spark ignite between them. Then, as if in a dream, Phoenix moved in and swept her from her feet. May closed her eyes and surrendered to the emotions coming from within her. It was strange. With her eyes closed, she could no longer see his face physically and could allow herself to believe that she had found her soul mate.

Tracy watched the scene with teary eyes. She was happy for her friend, wasn’t she? May was finally with the man she loved. Just because that man happened to share the body of Michael…that shouldn’t matter, right? If that were true, what was that tight fist clenching feeling inside her chest?

---

The man in the general’s uniform deployed his Hydra soldiers as soon as his helicopter landed. He still wasn’t sure what had happened but somehow, some time during the late afternoon, a device long forgotten and long abandoned into a dark corner of his desk had suddenly come alive. It was almost dawn now, and it had taken him all this time to round up enough Hydra soldiers for this covert operation.

He looked down at the small screen in his hands. It was still beeping. A blinking red light was flashing on a miniaturized map. As he walked, the blinking became more and more rapid until it became a steady tone. He quickly ordered the Hydra soldiers over and gave them instructions to start digging.

Years ago, during the disastrous psion project, he had given instructions to have GPS devices implanted in every psion that ever got operated on in his facility. He wasn’t sure if any of the other Centers had taken the same measures, and at the time, had felt very smug with his own idea. However, the psions had proven to be even more resourceful and had somehow deactivated the homing devices during their rebellion. In hindsight, he knew that he shouldn’t have been that surprised. GPS at the time was a blossoming technology and its top secret nature had prevented the type of innovation that would have made it the robust and vital technology that it is today.

Anyway, after the rebellion, he had thrown away all of his monitors – all of them, except one. One particular psion had always held a special place in his heart. This psion was one of the very few who had ever participated in the project actively. Toby Clark was also the one huge success that the Center could boast about. Unfortunately, he had also disappeared, along with every other psion at the Center. The general had always hoped that Toby would come looking for him. That he did not made the general assume the worse. It took a while, but the general finally managed to get on with his life.

It was a life that seemed to have come full circle. The special monitor had suddenly blinked to life, and with it, gave the general hope that maybe, just maybe, Toby Clark was alive after all.

The Hydra soldiers stopped digging and a couple of them dragged something out of the hole. It was a large body bag. One of the soldiers carefully slit the bag length wise and a large body spilled out. The general recognized it instantly, and for a moment, his heart seemed to stop. The body didn’t seem to be breathing.

The general knelt down beside the body of Toby Clark and examined the small bullet hole in the head. He noted that it was probably a small caliber round that was stopped by the steel plating in Toby’s head. It was probably also what had kick-started the ancient GPS device too. The general grinned and laid the monitor on Toby’s forehead. The steady tone faded away to be replaced by rhythmic pulsing beeps. The general sighed in relief. He was still alive! Whoever did this to Toby didn’t know about the other very secret operations that had been done to Toby!

The general signaled to one of the Hydra soldiers. The soldier trotted over obediently with a large non-descript machine in his arms. The soldier placed the machine on top of Toby’s chest and pressed a button. Toby’s body convulsed as if stung with large amounts of electricity. In fact, what had happened was that the machines inside Toby that had kept his internal organs working at minimal capacity so as to fake the appearance of death were suddenly ordered to resume full operation. Toby’s chest began to rise and fall.

The general gazed at Toby’s face and said, “Why didn’t you ever try to find me?”

Toby’s eyes flashed open. They stared at the general’s face and Toby mouthed a single word, “Father?”

The general patted the side of Toby’s face somewhat awkwardly and said, “Yes, Toby. It’s me. Rest now. I will take care of you.”

Toby’s eyes closed and the general stood up. He still had no idea how his son had come to be buried in this unmarked grave, or who had hurt his son to the point of death. All of that didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was that his son was back, and suddenly, the general’s future didn’t look so grim anymore.