Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 18:14:26 +0800
From: Leo Huang <dylan@celticwarrior.com>
Subject: Tales of a Superhero Band Chapter 22

With thanks to Jordi, Aeoros, Rune and Mikey for being the coolest friends
on the net! Thanks for being there guys!

Especially dedicated to Justin, Jeremy and Louis. The three of you have
inspired more new parts of this story. Quidditch and lightsabers forever,
brothers! :D

ALSO NOTE: I've been in National Service (fancy term for "slave of the
government") since Sept 17th, and I've gotten a few ideas down, but updates
will be coming slowly. Bear with me, things will be back to normal
(roughly) around December 15 or so! :)

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Disclaimer: This story is fictional, and says nothing about the
orientations of any member of the boyband N Sync, or any other character,
celebrity or otherwise. If you are under 18 or 21, or live in a country
where it's illegal to read something like this, leave, though I seriously
doubt you will. If you don't like the idea of two guys in a relationship
with each other, or having sex with each other, what are you doing here in
the first place?

Though maybe none of the characters will be appearing, ideas taken from
these places will show up:

Star Wars, Copyright LucasFilms, Created by George Lucas
Buffy, Copyright 20th Century Fox, Created by Joss Whedon
X-Men, Copyright Marvel Comics, Created by Stan Lee
Charmed, Copyright WB, Created by Aaron Spelling
Animorphs, Copyright Scholastic, Created by K.A. Applegate
Harry Potter, Copyright JK Rowling (due to James' addition of Harry Potter
to his Dark Knight series, I find myself adding it in too, but the
character may never appear in the story. However, loving Quidditch as much
as I do... :D  )

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Chapter 22 - Deception

	"Rachel, now is a really, really, really bad time to be calling
me," I groaned to my mobile phone. Rachel ignored my comment.
	"Well, I thought it should concern you," Rachel said, and I could
imagine her customary pout over the phone. "How many vampires do you know
fly planes, and how many slayers do you know get mass murdered?"
	Rachel had followed Joey to San Francisco for some reason or the
other that he had told me the other day, but the concerns about my friends
had distracted me. I told him to take Rachel with him in case of anything
(I was scared that Juffrey may target Joey if I wasn't around) and
apparently they had ran into something mysterious in San Francisco, but I
had other, more urgent thoughts on my mind.
	"Could I call you back?" I asked. Rachel mumbled an affirmative and
hung up. I put my cell phone back into my pocket, then looked up at the
Friends of Humanity guards who had their weapons pointed my direction.
	"Sorry about that, guys," I said. "Important call." I mentally
reminded myself to put my phone on silent next time I wanted to infiltrate
an armed building.
	With a grunt, the guards began shooting at me, their bullets
whizzing harmlessly through me. I could hear Wei grumbling over the psychic
"channel" that Jumadi had set up in our minds so we could communicate with
our thoughts. So I ruined the plan a little by getting caught, it wasn't
like they could shoot me to death.
	<Looks like Plan B now,> Wei said rather sarcastically. He may be a
muggle-born wizard, but he still carried their prejudices against druids
and hedges, which irritated Khan and I to no end.
	<It's not Dylan's fault,> Dean said. Dean is Sahruddin's nickname,
by the way. It was easier for us all. <I distinctly remember him putting
his phone on silent.>
	<Then why isn't it on silent?> Wei asked. I thought about it for a
moment. <Eddie! He controls anything electronic!>
	<Why would he be helping the FOH?> Khan asked.
	<Well duh, use one enemy to get rid of another,> Wei said
matter-of-factly. <Are you guys that dim?>
	<Apparently yes,> Dean snapped. <Happy now, Wei?>
	<No need to be so nasty,> Wei replied. I just shook my head. <Guys,
we still need to think of another way in that isn't going to be very
subtle. The alarm has been set off anyway, and Eddie can sense me coming.>
	"If you say so," Dean said, dropping the illusion around himself
and the others. The five-on-one odds earlier suddenly became one-on-one,
and we had the upper hand, the stupid guards having wasted all their
bullets on me. A swift double roundhouse kick to the head rendered the one
in front of me unconscious. An energy blast from Khan knocked out the other
one. Dean formed illusionary minions to fight the third for him, then
kicked the back of the guy's head when he was distracted. Jumadi knocked
the fourth out psychically, and Wei's "petrificus totalus" spell left the
last guard in a rather comatose state.
	"So Plan B was basically to storm in and forcefully obtain the
files we're looking for?" I asked. Jumadi nodded. "Pretty much."
	"What do we need those files for anyway?" I asked. "What's it got
to do with Juffrey?"
	"It has a record of all the places he's targetted recently," Dean
said. "With those records, we'll be able to figure out his base of
operations and rescue our friends from his control."
	"And why couldn't we just hack the computer?"
	"Because of me. Are you guys just going to stand here and talk all
day?" The five of us turned to look at the speaker. Eddie was relatively
tall with average looks and monkey ears that I enjoyed pulling. His face,
usually contemplative, looked positively sinister. I could sense something
around him that made me uncomfortable.
	"Blab, blab, blab," another voice said. "Unlike the master, they
lack action."
	"CK," I said. Chee Keong, of Keong for short, was another friend of
ours, and a cousin of Wei's. Like him, he was Chinese as well, and had the
typical black hair and dark, almond shaped eyes. He had changed from
glasses to contacts, making him look less studious and "gwai" as he called
it (it generally means "goody", or "obedient"). His mutant powers were
considered "useless" by many people (all he could do was make litle lights
that couldn't do any damage whatsoever), and he was often quiet and shy,
but today he was also out of character.
	"Keong, you too?" Wei asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of
his nose. "How did you get controlled by that madman?"
	"He doesn't control this body," Keong replied. "He controls me, who
controls this host."
	"Is that some kind of Zen thing? Because I really don't get it,"
Dean said.
	Keong flung his hand out, tossing Dean back a few feet, but with
such force that Dean was unconscious before he even hit the ground.
	"That was not one of his powers," Wei muttered, shaking his
head. Khan's anger blazed, his eyes shooting sparks. He gathered energy
into his hands to shoot a blast at Keong.
	"Energy blast," Eddie stated, and Keong nodded. Khan's plasma blast
shot towards Keong, who blocked it easily with his hand, and threw it back
at Khan, knocking the mutant witch out.
	"Three on two now," Wei said, his voice strangely emotionless.
	"Three on four," Jumadi corrected. "I sense four life-forms there,
not two."
	"Are you sure?" I asked, summoning energy to myself. I heard Eddie
calling out "summoning spell, fleas," but I ignored him. The fleas were too
small and fast for Keong or Eddie to hit them with powers, and the itch
caused by their bites could really ruin a person's concentration, buying us
time. A swarm of fleas descended on them from all directions, called from
their homes on every single stray dog, cat and rat in the area (and judging
by the number of fleas, there were plenty in this area).
	Both my friends cursed and began swatting in all directions in a
desperate but futile attempt to keep the fleas off them.
	"Oh, thanks," Jumadi said sarcastically. "You just screwed my
life-form scan."
	"Anytime," I replied. "So what was it you said about four
life-forms?"
	"That there are four life-forms there, not two," Jumadi said. I
couldn't tell if he was kidding or being serious. Wei assumed the
latter. "Well that really helps us," he said snidely.
	"Well, actually, it does," I said. I ran through the mess of fleas
and grabbed Eddie, turning him intangible. I heard a large splat, and a fat
slug-like creature landed on the ground. Eddie quickly grabbed it up and
shoved it in the pocket of his cargo pants, then zipped the pocket
closed. I requested the fleas to leave, and they did, leaving Keong
standing there alone, scratching his arms and legs. I grabbed him before he
could react, and did the same thing to him that I did to Eddie. As I
expected, another of the slug-like things fell to the floor. Keong gasped
and shook his head. "No!"
	In an unusually swift move, he grabbed the creature and began to
run. Wei pointed his wand and shouted "Locomotor mortis!" Keong's legs
immediately stuck together as if they were magnets, and he fell, dropping
the creature. Jumadi scooped it up and put it in his cargo pants
pockets. We always wore cargo pants when we went on missions, even the
scenario ones we did in school. They're useful to carry things around in
like a stake, a holy symbol of some sort, or some documents we found.
	"What the heck are those things?" Wei asked, walking to Eddie.
	"They're called yeerks," Eddie replied. "They take over the brains
of their hosts and they're able to read all our memories. But I found it
works both ways, we can sometimes access their thoughts and
memories. Juffrey snuck one up on me while Keong distracted me."
	"Why did you do that?" I asked Keong. His face was pale, and looked
rather distressed, continuously glancing at Jumadi's pocket containing the
yeerk that had infested him.
	"He's a voluntary," Eddie said, sounding disappointed. "He
willingly accepted the yeerk. When it leaves him to go to the yeerk pool,
he doesn't get grabbed screaming and kicking by the hork-bajir or the
taxxons."
	"Woah, woah, hold it," I said. "You're gonna have to explain things
a lot more, it's way over my head. And possibly somewhere safer too."
	"Yeah," Eddie agreed. "Those five goons could wake up any time, and
the rest are at the yeerk pool. There's one hidden in this building."
	"Are all the Friends of Humanity infested?" Wei asked. Eddie shook
his head. "This is the only installation of their the yeerks infested. It's
low-security, and provides a perfect cover to keep troublemakers away."
	"Come on, then, let's go," Wei said. "I hate this place even more
than I first did."
	Keong rose to his feet, tears streaming down his furious face. "No,
I won't go with you."
	"Come on," Jumadi said, holding his hand out to Keong. "We have to
leave, the yeerk jerk thing messed with your brains."
	Keong slapped the hand away. "It didn't, I chose for myself." He
slipped into a martial arts stance. "I'll fight you if I have to."
	"Vocare ceruchus," Wei said. Magical ropes appeared from nowhere,
binding Keong up. "Sorry cousin, but we need to get some sense into your
head. Now lets get the two sleeping beauties and get the hell out of here."




	"Keong." My friend ignored me, pushing the bowl of cold cereal away
from his face. I sat across from him, the leaning forwards on the back of
the chair. "Keong, what's wrong?"
	Keong scowled. "Nothing." I couldn't understand it, he had always
been cheerful and optimistic, despite being teased for having what many
considered a useless power. He tended to think a little slowly as well, and
earned him many hurtful names such as "retard" and "386", despite him being
a straight A student. But through it all, he maintained an air of
confidence and brightness about him that made him beautiful, inside and
out. He had a curious nature, and retained a childlike innocence about him,
even at twenty. But all that seemed to have changed.
	"Keong, please," I pleadedm trying to look him in the eye. "Tell me
what's wrong."
	Keong sighed. "I'm useless, I'm stupid. Even the yeerk said so, and
he could tap into more areas of my brains and powers that I can't. I'm a
waste of time, a stupid mistake."
	I gently picked up his hand, and squeezed it none too gently when
he tried to yank it out of my grasp. "That's not true at all."
	"What do you know?" Keong asked, tanking his hand, this time
succeeding in breaking my grip.
	"I know that there's power in you," I said truthfully. "A power
that no one else sees, hidden behind your powers of making lights. It's a
power stronger than any magic or power I could summon. A fire of the
spirit." I smiled a little. "Forgive me, but your eyes make me feel poetic,
they're so soulful."
	Keong smiled a little, but lacked his normal radiance, but at least
it was a start. Jumadi walked over to the small wooden table we sat at and
joined us. He reached up and touched Keong's forehead with his fingers. I
felt energy disperse through the room, and Keong shivered, his eyes wide.
	"I finally figured it out," Jumadi grinned. "Remember Fury? I
always ended up fighting him, I should have recognised his trademark. He
could control other peoples' emotions, and his was rather subtle about
it. He would instill a subtle emotion like depression or despondancy, and
then a week later hit his target with some other active emotion to cause
trouble and chaos. I had to remove both his obvious and subtle effects, but
I overlooked it this time."
	"Too concerned with the yeerks, huh?" I asked. Eddie had explained
about the yeerks being a parasitic alien race that infested the minds of
their hosts and can read every thought. They had an mutual symbiosis with a
race called the taxxons, which looked like giant centipedes with red
jello-like eyes, and they had enslaved another alien race called the
hork-bajir, creatures taller than a man with spikes and blades protruding
from their bodies, which Eddie said was used for cutting bark and branches
from the trees on their home planet, but the yeerks used for attacks. What
was most disturbing was the number of voluntary human-controllers, most of
them with low self-esteem and inferiority complexes, or with destructive
tendencies. And they were Juffrey's allies.
	"Yeah," Jumadi said. "We came up with a plan earlier, we need to
strike back and rescue our friends. Eddie can help us get into the yeerk
pool, but we'll need to strike hard and fast to get our friends out. Our
odds are roughly fifteen to one, and all of them are armed with either
guns, lasers or natural weapons. There's also a possibility that the Chaos
Mongers will be around to help the yeerks, since Seer often reads our plans
with his powers. We'll be seriously outmatched, but it's better than
nothing."
	"We can get the non-gifteds to help, can't we?" I asked. Jumadi
nodded slowly. "That'll help us a little. I'll bring it up with the
others."




	"So lemme get this straight," Joey said over the phone. "Everyone
in your school has powers."
	"Yup," I confirmed.
	"So what in the world is the difference between a gifted and a
non-gifted?" Joey asked comically. I laughed.
	"Gifteds are those born with their powers, like mutants, or witches
whose familes have had the power for at least seven generations. Melvin's
kindred powers only developed after school, so he was considered a
non-gifted because he's only the second generation in his family to have
the power from his parents."
	"And you?" Joey asked.
	"My family can trace through the generations to at least 500BC," I
said. "That's why I was a gifted, even if I didn't have kindred powers,
which are relatively new to my family, I'm a third generation kindred."
	"So all this fuss..."
	"Is really all crap," I finished for Joey. "Exactly my point. But
Juffrey doesn't agree, and he's proven many times that he'll do anything to
prove his point. That's why I'm asking you to come with me, because Ian and
the others have saw you the other day on the beach with me, and if they
truly are under Juffrey's control, I don't want you anywhere unsafe."
	"But I promised my mom I'd take care of the house while she was
away," Joey said for the hundredth time.
	"I don't care," I said, also for the hundredth time. "I can lay
over it with protection spells and what not. Heck, I'd ask every witch,
wizard, druid and magician I know to protect it if it would get you out of
there."
	"Magician?" Joey asked. I sighed. Apparently I hadn't explained
this to him either.
	"Muggles who use magic, true magic, are magicians," I said. "Those
who are born with the powers are wizards. That's how you differentiate."
	"And how about witches?" Joey asked. "Some are inherited, right,
and some seek the powers?"
	"Yes," I said, "but they're all called hedge-witches by the
wizards. It's complicated, and annoying because the wizards always loved
having everything in rigid order and control with all their ministries and
schools and laws on magic. That's why the druids and hedges broke off with
them long ago."
	"Ahh," Joey said. There was something in his tone that made me
worry. "Look, I've got visitors, I'll call you back?"
	"Visitors?" I asked before he could hang up. "What kind of
visitors."
	"The regular kind," Joey said, his voice still strange and
tight. "No need to worry." He quickly hung up.
	I rolled my eyes and muttered, "No need to worry, my foot."
Switching to the telepathic linkway, I called, <Wei, I think my friend's in
trouble, could you get me there as quick as you can?>
	<Tracking your friend's psyche signature now,> Jumadi
replied. <I'll pinpoint his location at about... now.>
	A large, swirling portal appeared before me, and glancing into the
bluish tube, I could almost see the destination, and the other connectors
that my friends would take to reach Joey.
	<I set the route to go through the Otherworld,> Wei
announced. <That way the druids among us don't get completely cut off from
the earth and end up gasping on the floor like dying fish for hours.> The
Otherworld lay in between the fully astral and the fully material planes,
thus accounting for the fae-folk to exist in both places at once. I took a
deep breath and entered the vortex. Light swirled around me, and I felt a
slight tingling in my body, but nothing uncomfortable or painful, just a
feeling of warmth. I smiled as I was pulled through the portal. Wei was as
good as his word, and didn't lack any talent, knowledge or skill when it
came to his magic. He was one of the best wizards around, no doubt about
it.
	I emerged at the exit of the portal just behind Joey. He was
standing outside a house which I assumed was his mom's. In front of him was
a large purplish robot of a kind I had seen before.
	"Dammit, Dylan, I told you to stay away!" Joey shouted. "The bloody
thing can't hurt me, I'm not a threat to it, so it's against programming."
	The sentinel's mechanical eyes focused on me and with its dead
metallic voice stated, "Target identified as threat to humanity. Aggressive
mode activated."
	"Shit, that things fucking huge!" Wei exclaimed from behind me. My
other friends were appearing around us now, save for Jumadi and Dean, who
were still looking after the distraught Keong. Though he was freed from
Fury's control, he was still in a slight state of shock.
	The sentinel pointed its massive arm towards me, and the forearm
compartments opened to reveal four small missiles. The giant launched all
four at once, aiming towards me. I didn't know what to do. If I phased, my
friends would get hurt. If I didn't, we'd all get hurt anyway. The four
missiles turned suddenly, zooming round and round above the sentinel's
head, then smashed and exploded all at once. The headless sentinel
collapsed to the ground, sparks flying from its neck.
	"Sorry I'm late," Eddie said, putting his hand down. "I almost
forgot I can control anything mechanical."
	Wei narrowed his eyes on Eddie. "Forgot?"
	"Almost," Eddie corrected with a grin. Wei scowled and crossed his
arms.
	"This was kinda like overkill, wasn't it?" Khan asked, looking at
the wrecked sentinel.
	"Well, it served to catch your attention and bring all of you here,
didn't it?" a familiar British voice said. The five of us turned and
realised we were surrounded by fourteen guys, hovering in various heights
around us. I recognised the costumes of five of them, the Chaos
Mongers. The remaining nine were the rest of the Braves still under
Juffrey's control. I shoved Joey towards the still-open portal. "Get out of
here!"
	"Oh no you don't," Malek said, throwing a blue bubble at Joey. The
stasis globe encased Joey inside, trapping him outside time, but also
protecting him from events around him. Wei shut the portal to conserve his
energy while Khan tried to retaliate with a plasma blast of his own, but
nothing shot from his hands. He snarled and spat on the ground, glaring
angrily at a rather round man. "Blockade!"
	Our opponents slowly lowered themselves to the ground surrounding
us. Ian pointed at us. "Finish them!"
	Chaos ensued immediately, energy blasts ensued, coupled by spells
and physical battles. I found myself having to dodge what Eddie called
dracon beams, which were a type of yeerk laser weapon, which could still
hurt me even when I was intangible, for some reason. I withdrew the
lightsaber that my cousin had made for me, and deflected a few shots back
to the shooters. The lasers must not have been set very high, since
according to Eddie, they were able to slice through nearly anything, but
they did seemed to just injured whoever they hit. Eddie had mentioned
during planning that if a yeerk dies, the host is free, but if the host
dies, so does the yeerk, so they would not have set their dracon beams to
prevent themselves from killing each other.
	We were moving closer together, using more distance attacks than
close-ups. We were tiring, and hopelessly outnumbered. I had a few gashes
from bites and tears and slices, but nothing I couldn't handle. Wei was
waving his wand in a desperate attempt to deflect the dracon beams, but it
was futile. They had won, and we knew it, we were just prolonging our sure
defeat.
	Suddenly, a loud roar thundered in the air around us. A large
grizzly had entered the fray, flinging Ivan in his velociraptor form to one
side. He banged into a wall, and slipped into his human form again,
unconscious. Terry was in his stegoceres form, and he headbutted the
grizzly easily, knocking her to one side. A tiger leapt seemingly from
nowhere, latching his teeth around Terry's neck. Terry shook him off, but
the tiger's quick reflexes allowed him to take a huge bite out of Terry's
leg.
	<What the hell,> Eddie said. <There's a gorilla and a wolf here
fighting!>
	<There's a hawk and some sort of blue centaur!> Wei said from
behind me. I turned to look, and he was right, there was a blue
centaur-like creature there, save that its body was slimmer and smaller
than that of a horse, and it had a tail with a blade that would make
scorpions envious. It had no mouth, and two extra eyes on eye-stalks that
could look anywhere at once. Its hands also had too many fingers for a
typical human five.
	"Andalites," Ian shouted. "We retreat for now!"
	The yeerks were retreating now that the fight was more
balanced. They grabbed the metal bands around their wrists, and began to
levitate. "Another time!" Ian called, as he shot into the air.
	"Oh no you don't!" someone shouted. Keong, dressed in green and red
traditional Chinese robes, descended from the skies with a flying kick. And
I mean a real FLYING kick, knocking Ian to the ground. Ian recovered
quickly and swung a punch at Keong, who easily knocked it aside with his
arm. With a swift movement, he had grabbed Ian's extended arm and twisted
himself around, his back facing Ian. With the force of momentum, Keong
flung Ian easily over his shoulder. Ian wiped blood from his mouth and
sneered. "So you're free. Not for long, we'll find and conquer every last
one of you! The Horseman wills it." He got to his feet and shot off into
the air again. Keong flung his hand out, and a long strip of blue silk
reached out for Ian and wrapped his foot. With a flick of his hand, Keong
brought Ian crashing down to earth again, this time knocking him
unconscious. The silk rope untied itself from Ian's leg and disappeared
once again into the long sleeves of Keong's robe.
	"That was for tricking me," Keong said simply. Wei smiled. "Nice
moves, cousin. How long have you been practicing?"
	"My whole life," Keong smiled. Khan's eyes were as widely opened as
his mouth. "What kind of magic was that?"
	"Not magic," Keong said. "Ancient Chinese Shaolin martial arts at
full power."
	"Nice!" I grinned. "Maybe I should take it up too!"
	Eddie rolled his eyes at me. "I'm sorry, but we have our own
martial arts in our history, we just need to recreate it."
	"Our Irish martial arts never taught us how to fly or shoot silk
ribbons," I retorted. "Although they did have a few good techniques for
beheading a person without a weapon. I should practice that one on a
vampire some day."
	<You guys had better leave, you've drawn the attention of the
Friends of Humanity,> Jumadi spoke in our minds. <The real ones this time.>
	<Does it make a difference if they're real Friends of Humanity or
yeerk-controlled?> Wei asked. <After all, both the free and controlled ones
seem out to kill us.> But he made the portal anyway, and we slipped through
before they came, dragging our captive friend with us.

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To be continued...