Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 23:08:03 -0700
From: joanbanks@ivillage.com
Subject: TG Story - Absolute Power 11

Absolute Power 11
Mind Game
By Joan Banks

Previously in Absolute Power

Larry Jacobs comes into the possession of a Lamp of the Djinn and wishes
from a Djinn named Omar.

"...then for my last wish I want the ability to cure anyone of any
infirmity that I name."  He becomes a healer, making his way through
hospitals and accident scenes.  He helps where he can.

But power comes with a price and, when his powers are discovered, he is
driven from public life and the opportunity to help others.  Debby is a
nurse of Larry's acquaintance who suggests a disguise; Larry transforms
himself into young woman so he can continue on his mission.

For months Larry transforms into Sarah, his female persona, each morning
and back to his own male form at night.  Then, without explanation, his
ability to become Larry again disappears and greedy people lust after his
power.

Casper Collins, a wealthy elderly man, covets Larry's power for himself and
kidnaps Sarah to get what he wants.  Larry, rescues her and the two of them
take to the road to both avoid the spotlight and to somehow find a way to
transform Sarah back into Larry.

To throw Casper off the trail, Casper's son Robert is transformed into a
perfect duplicate of Sarah and then transformed into a small child with
full witnesses.  Robert is given amnesia.

Sarah and Debby seek out another Lamp of the Djinn, so they can discover
why Sarah is trapped in female form.  Casper wants it for more selfish
reasons.

In an effort to prolong his own life, Casper has transferred his mind into
the only host available - a woman who had been caring for Robert, Molly.
And Robert has regained his memories.

Casper obtained the Djinn but had to share the wishes with his feeble
minded son.  In an impulsive wish, Robert gains the same powers as the
Whisperer but doesn't realize it and has no idea how to use them.

Meanwhile, Casper still has Sarah's friends imprisoned.

******

A third explosion rocked the house.  Kirsten stared out the window but
could find no clue of what was really happening.

"Daddy!" Corey said, squirming in Abdul's arms.  Remarkably, he got free
from the immortal being.  He ran to the television. "See?"

"Ted!" Sarah said, relief in her eyes.

The television was showing a newsbreak.  A haggard and crazy sounding Ted
sat in an interrogation room.  His eyes darted around sporadically and he
spoke in short bursts.  Subtitles flashed on the screen below.

"There is invasion." (We have invaded you).

"No. Whisperer disease. Stop." (We have infected your weakest with the
Whisperer Disease.  Your children will die.)

"Evil, Collins, stop." (Casper Collins has dealt us heavy damage.  He must
stop."

The news report went on.  Through a disjointed tape and liberal use of
subtitles, Ted confessed to a whole scale invasion and a plan to kill all
the children in the world.

"Daddy?" Corey touched the screen, confusion and tears in his eyes.  The
picture changed to one of Corey himself.  His mood changed suddenly.  He
looked back at the group and smiled.

"The invasion force is growing.  Already they are preparing their
replacement troops."

"Turn it off." Sarah said, picking Corey up again.

"But we might find..." Z started to suggest.

"I said TURN IT OFF!" Sarah held the boy to her chest.

"This war ends today." She said today. "Bull, Z, let's get out of here."

******

"This is fun, isn't it Robert?" Casper held Roberts hand as they walked
from the television studio. "I think we'll get their attention."

Montgomery followed directly behind them with a wary look in his eye.

"Do you want to play our game again?" Casper asked hopefully.

"Dressup?" Robert asked hopefully.

"No...the other game."

Roberts face fell.

"Maybe later, Mommy."

Montgomery smiled.

******

Sarah stood just behind the house and turned her pheromones onto 'full
stink'.  Occasionally she heard the booming noises that they thought were
explosions but could see no evidence of what was causing them.

Any male within a hundred yards would be drawn to this spot.  She smiled.
Z and Bull sat inside the house protected from the outside environment.
The last thing she needed was two horny guys with her on this rescue
mission.

"Hey Jimmy, I'm gonna check out this group of trees again." A guardsman
wandered towards the wood.

"Not if I get there first."  The second guardsman picked up the walking
pace and eventually broke into a run.

"Stop, Jimmy!"

"Like Hell.  What the..."

Both guardsmen fell unconscious to the ground.

******

It was a small ward, Dr. Grainger noticed, and not much to do.  Wealthy
people in comas, that was all they were.  No, he corrected himself, they
are patients.  These people need my help.

He started his rounds.

"This one must have been really afraid of death." The Doctor noted to
himself.  He read through the resuscitation plan. 'Keep alive at all costs'
was pretty drastic.  He read further and noted that the order was signed 15
years previously.  This poor sap probably didn't even remember signing it.

"He's not brain-dead at least." He noted the EEG and examined the rest of
the chart.  "But these reading are like nothing I've ever heard of."

He poked his head in the door and glanced at the patient.  He's had no
visitors, no family.  The life support equipment was so cumbersome over his
face that even if he did have visitors, no one in the world would recognize
him.

******

"You can't leave." The sentry told them.  "And no civilians in the
vehicles."

"It's an emergency!" Bull told him.  A huge booming sound shook the
vehicle.

"Damn, them jets are getting too close.  Listen Jimmy, rules are..."

"AHHHHH!" A scream of pain emanated from the back seat.  Sarah sat up and
screamed.  She was wearing a short dress and no costume underneath.  Her
legs were bent in a classic 'about to give birth' pose.

The sentry got a full on view of the whole thing.  He watched
as...stuff...started coming out. He nearly regurgitated his rations.

"We'll be right back.  She has to get to a hospital!"

"Just go!" The sentry raised the gate and signaled them through.

The tires squealed as they passed.  They turned onto the highway and sped
down the mountain.

"Man, that was great!" Bull said, his features changing into something more
like his own.

Sarah was stripping off the dress and started to wipe herself with it.  Its
material was not absorbent enough to help.

"Great? Yeah."  She tossed the dress into the back. "Ewww.  Anyone bring a
towel?"

******

Montgomery sat at the terminal, hands poised on the keyboard.  Quickly he
tapped a couple keys.

"Montgomery, what are you doing?" Casper said from the doorway.

"Pretty pictures." Montgomery said.  Casper looked at the screen.  A
children's game was running.  Disgusted, Casper left, his skirt swishing in
the doorway.

Montgomery changed screens again and leaned over the microphone.  Replay of
security tapes were playing.

He didn't remember much of the day he watching, although he could see that
he was present.  Casper had a small group of people at a stalemate.
Montgomery's unconscious form lay still on a table in the background.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose.  His father was flailing madly.  He backed
up the replay and leaned over the microphone. What had caused Casper to go
crazy like that?

"Isolate and enhance audio from grid 7F." He said.  After a moment the
computer signaled the completion of the process.  He started the replay
again.

"Rh." The woman said.  This was the thing that drove his father to
destruction.  He watched Casper's reaction over and over.  The Whisperer
saying the word, Casper's glance back to Montgomery's unconscious body, and
then Casper's wild tirade.

And Montgomery understood.

******

Sarah sat in the backseat, having now changed into sweats over her costume.

"You can look now." She said.  Z instantly turned around. "Do you have any
idea where to go?"

"Only by inference." Z said, "Abdul could not tell us directly where to go
but we developed a code that let him tell us." Z handed her a map of the
city, at least it used to be.  Whole sections were obliterated.  Only a
small, one block area was left unmarked.

"So he showed us where not to look?"

"Exactly."

"So how did you find...."

"The Djinn?  Actually it was Kirsten..." Z replied excitedly.

"Actually, it was Omar." Bull interrupted. "Kirsten didn't know about him
being a Genie and all.  Omar figured out who helped you and...well...became
friends with her.  He knew eventually she would invite you up when you got
back to town."

"So he wasn't directly searching for me."

"He knows all about you, hon. He wanted us to tell you that he was real
proud of you...and real disappointed."  Bull said, a little venom in his
voice.

Sarah looked away.  She knew exactly what Omar was referring to.  In a fit
of rage and anger she had blinded and stole the voices of several police
officers.  It was much in the same way that her voice was taken away.  She
remembered the frustration and anguish that came with the loss of so
primary an ability.

The moment caught up with her, she started to cry.

"I'm sorry..." she said.

"I know, Sarah.  But you have to make it right." Bull said.  He pulled off
the main road and started the hummer up a steep dirt road and stopped at a
random place with forest on one side and a sheer drop on the other.  Z got
out.

"I've been preparing this place for months." Z said, smiling at Sarah.  He
disappeared into the forest.  Shortly, several trees started moving
(apparently they weren't really trees at all), and a narrow road was
exposed.  The trees closed in around them.  Z pulled a palm pilot sized
device from his pocket and stared intently at the screen.

"It's hot." Z said, "Come on Sarah.  Bull, we'll meet you at the park."

Bull looked suddenly nervous.

"C'mon Sarah, get a move on." Confused, Sarah got out.  The hummer threw up
dirt as Bull pulled away.  Sarah stared at Z.

"It's a wrap-around radio detector." Z said, knocking on the nearest
faux-tree "It detects radio signals but doesn't block them unless we want
it. Someone had a tracer on the hummer.  Don't worry, Bull will meet up
with us later, he has to dump the vehicle, preferably at a hospital."

"But he left us in the middle of nowhere." Sarah said.

"Not likely." Z said, "My place is close, we can walk from here."

******

Robert hated naptime.  If everyone was in such a hurry for him to grow up
then why did they insist on a stupid childish nap in the middle of the day?

"I'm not tired." He told Monty, who was leading him by the hand.

"You ARE tired." Monty said.  He helped him into a nightgown and tucked him
into bed.

"I can't sleep." Robert said petulantly.

"You will sleep." Monty said patiently, "Repeat after me, I can't fall
asleep because I am so excited."

Robert was tempted to play word games with Monty, but he liked the big guy.

"I can't fall asleep because I am so excited." Robert repeated.

"Too excited.  Not sleepy." Robert smiled.  Monty was trying to trick him.

"Too excited. Not sleepy." Robert repeated.

"I will fall ri...." Monty started again, but stopped.  Robert was fast
asleep.

******

Robert fell directly into a dream state.  It was almost shocking in its
suddenness.

"Sarah Jean!" the woman called.  Robert knew this woman now as Momma Casper
but that wasn't her name then.  It was Molly then.

"Yes?"

"It's time for your nap young lady." Molly said.  There wasn't any threat
in her voice then, just caring.  Robert realized that he was smarter then.

"I'm not tired!" He said, but not with the petulance that he had just used
with Monty.

"Well...what do you want to do?"

"Nothing." He said.  He needed time to think, to plot.  How was he going to
overcome Casper's empire?

Molly's face grew a huge grin.

"That's not what the...tickle monster says!" She said, sappily happy.
Robert was determined not to give in this time, he wouldn't laugh.

Molly tickled him with a ferocity that he could not comprehend.  It was
futile to resist the woman.  Robert fell to the floor clutching for Molly's
fingers, giggling.

Half an hour later, his tiny body had given up to exhaustion.  He gladly
crawled into bed and let Molly tuck him in.

In his dream, he happily fell asleep.

The next dream was closer to a memory.

"Robert! Grow up!" The woman yelled.  Her demeanor was harsh, her voice
shrill.  This wasn't Molly any more.  It was Casper.

"Yes Mommy." Robert replied.  He tried to do as the Casper wanted but it
was hard...and scary.  The nurses tested him and if he didn't act just
right, he would pay.  This all might be a test, better to be just a good
little girl.

In the dream Robert was picked up bodily and shaken.  The woman didn't
smell right anymore.  She smelled like cigars and funny food.  The Casper
smelled like an old man.

"Robert, are you in there?  Snap out of it!  What did that Whisperer
creature do to you?"  The Casper shook him.  Robert heard a growl behind
him and a scared look on the Casper's face.

Casper put him down and backed away.  Monty kneeled down on the floor.
Monty had stopped the bad Casper.

The Casper Momma was bad but it used to be good.

Monty was a hero.

******

"Is that the place?" Sarah asked.  The passenger seat was full of all sorts
of electronic equipment. She sat in one of the two open seats in the back
of the conversion van.

Z parked the van and climbed into the back himself.

"Yes, that's the only building in this area owned by Collins.  How do you
wanna do this?"

"The roof, I think." Sarah said.  She started to remove the sweats that
covered her costume. "The sooner the better.  I'll just have to be fast."

"You mean WE will just have to be fast." Bull said, sliding in through the
driver door. "You really should lock that."  He said to Z.

"No I meant I, Bull.  Just me." She said testily, "It's way too dangerous."

Bull stared at her, he wasn't taking no for an answer.  She whispered and
gave both of them their own faces again.

"Debby's in there, Sarah.  They'll probably have them separated, you'll
never get to all of them in time."

"No Bull.  I'm not losing you too."

"I don't see how you have any choice. I'm going in with or without your
permission.  Unless you want to blind me too?"

They stared each other down.  Sarah turned and continued to strip down to
just her costume.  This time, however, she wore the full body stocking that
went under the armored torso.

"There's a couple tricks to the speed thing.  We'll want to go over that."

Bull smiled, but inside he knew that with this one, there was little hope
of survival for any of them.

******

Robert's dream changed again.  He and Momma Molly were in a big white room.

In front of them both the old man Casper and Monty were lying on tables
just like a hospital.

"Molly! How are (cough) you and dear little...Sarah doing?" Casper tried to
sound gracious from his hospital bed.  These people always called him
Sarah.

"I can see this is a bad time...." Molly said, she had been crying.

"No time like the present." Casper rasped out. "Now, my dear, what (cough)
can I do for you?"

Molly started acting a little funny.  Her eyes welled up with tears but she
tried to hold them back.

"It's....it's...." Molly sat on the floor, unable to stem the tide of tears
any longer.

"Problems at home, dear?" Casper croaked.  Molly nodded.  She looked up a
glanced back and forth between Robert and Casper.

"He's tired. He has to be.  Stan thinks that Sarah is..." She covered
Sarah's ears but didn't manage to block any sound at all "a monster." She
lifted her hands and played with the little girls' hair. "Isn't that
ridiculous?"

Casper tried to laugh but he quickly degraded into a long coughing fit.
Finally, he recovered his voice.

"Play tape 331G for her." Casper said to no one in particular.

A monitor lit up and showed a road in the forest.  A naked woman that
looked a lot like Sarah ran onto the screen.

"Is that her...mother?" Molly asked.

"Just watch." Casper told her.  The woman on the monitor was screaming
something hysterically.  Amazingly she began to shrink...and shrink.  Until
eventually the woman had transformed into the little child she was holding
in her arms.

Molly's eyes opened wide and she set the child away from her.

"You knew?"

"Of course.  And now, my dear, so do you.  I cannot stand the sight of a
traitor, as you are to Stanley. You know far too much to remain useful in
your current state." He spoke into the air again, "Maneuver 1313."

Two burly-looking men entered the room.  One tried to restrain Molly while
the other held a hypodermic, ready to use.  Neither was expecting Molly to
fight, but she did.

One man tried to ignore the deep scratches on his face while the other
continued towards her despite what he thought might be a burst testicle.
All it took was a blow to the head and blood spurt out of Molly's nose.
The groin-wounded guard viciously jabbed the needle into Molly and emptied
its contents into her.  She fell unconscious immediately.

"Dispose of that." Casper rasped.  The two burly men took the woman and
left.

Casper turned back to little Sarah.  The little girl had an impassionate
look on her face.

"Don't be frightened, dear.  I won't do that to you."

In the dream, Sarah/Robert knew it was time to end the pretenses.  The
child walked fearlessly up to the old man.

"I know you won't...father."

******

Someone fumbled with the lock and Debby's heart twinged.  She was sure she
couldn't take another marathon session with the cameras and
the...interrogation.  Who knows how she was being portrayed?  Knowing
Casper the tapes were edited into....who knows?  Her mind was too tired to
even contemplate what was going on.

The door opened and a woman was pushed inside.  Debby scrambled out of the
chair and crouched in the corner.  At least they didn't shackle her to it
anymore.

She looked terrible, the woman looked like she had dug her way out of
prison.  Debby wanted to help her but was almost too tired to move.

"Debby?" The woman said weakly.  She scrambled on her hands and knees over
to where Debby was crouched.

"Freddy?" Debby asked.  The two women held each other, Freddy wailing in
loud sobs.

"It'll be okay, Freddy.  We'll be okay..."

The two women sat in silence for a long time.  Finally Freddy found her
voice.

"Debby?  How did you handle it when they....I mean, I haven't been a woman
very long and I don't know how to deal when they...." Her voice trailed
off.

"What?" Debby demanded.  She held both of Freddy's arms so she could look
her in the face. "What did they do?"

"You know..." Freddy offered, "They found out that I wasn't always a woman
and they....they....they said they'd show me how to treat a ...."

"They RAPED you?" Debby asked.  Freddy nodded.  Debby held her friend and
tried to comfort her wailing.

The lights shut down again.  But something was different about this time,
the incessant buzzing died completely.  Shortly, the lights came on again.

And someone was fumbling with the lock again.

******

"Okay, we're in." Sarah said into her radio.  She clipped it back to her
belt. "Turn the power back on before they figure it out."  The corridor
hummed back to life.

Carefully, Sarah and Bull made their way down the corridor.  Bull wore his
sweatshirt but it looked a little fuller than normal.

"How are we gonna find them?" Bull asked.

"I had an idea about that. Smell." Sarah said, "I have enhanced my sense of
smell so I can pick up on Ted's pheromones.  I think we should try to do
this by different methods.  It'll double our chances."

"Why just Ted's?" Bull asked suspiciously.  He could see that Sarah was
turning bright red even under her mask. "Oh."

"And I will enhance your hearing so you can hear them.  If you find any of
them, get them out of here."  She told her friend, "And get away.  It's
still not safe in here for you."

Bull grunted non-commitally.  Sarah sniffed at the air.

"I think I have a lead." She said, starting to walk off. "Hearing. Speed."

Bull heard her footsteps dwindle off into the distance.  He held his breath
and concentrated on the sounds.  Was that her?  He started down the
corridor.

He passed a clock and noticed that it did not appear to be working right.
Each second ticked laboriously slow.  He continued on, trying to hone in on
Debby.

Sarah latched onto the scent of Ted easily; the only problem was isolating
it.  She entered the stairwell.

Sarah had perfected the stair-falling trick since the first time she tried
it.  She found that if she did it while after speeding herself up, it was
much more manageable.  She stood on the railing, facing the nearest wall,
and stepped back.

In real time, she descended quickly, by her own perception it was painfully
slow.  She breathed deeply as she fell, occasionally grasping at the stair
railings as she dropped near them.  She did not maintain her grip on the
railing; she just used it to slow her fall even further.  While she felt
she was falling slowly, the power of the plummet could kill her.

The railings felt slippery in a way.  It was difficult to maintain any grip
at all.  When she felt undue stress on her joints, she let go.  What floor
was she passing? 10.....9.....8.....getting
stronger.....7......stronger......6......fading slightly.

That was it! He was on the seventh floor!  She slowed more at the fifth
floor and stopped completely on four.  With renewed hope, she started back
for the seventh floor.

******

Bulls mind was full of noise.  The sounds of hearts beating, people
talking, sneezing, and generally just living filled his awareness.  His own
footsteps were nearly deafening.  He tried to concentrate on snippets of
conversation.  Was that her?

"You won't get away with this." He heard Debby say.  It was the sweetest
music he could hear.

"Quiet, bitch!" He heard a hand slap against skin, "Or you'll be in for
what your friend went through."

Bull swiveled his head, trying to locate the source of the sound.  With a
general direction decided on, he started running.

"Big man, picking on women.  Your mother would be so proud." Debby said
again.  Her voice was getting stronger.  The sound of his feet pounding on
the ground was becoming more and more painful.

He went down two floors.

It was Debby, all right.  She was really giving the guard a hard time!

Bull found his way blocked by a locked door.  He started jiggling the knob,
fast.  At his current rate of speed the knob grew hot and eventually popped
off in his hand. Unfortunately the latch was still secure.

So much for a stealthy entrance, Bull thought.  He stepped back several
feet and prepared to break the door down.

As the doorframe bent and gave way, so did Bull's shoulder.  Loud sirens
pierced the air, sending Bull to the floor, squirming in excruciating pain.
The guards found him in moments, in a fetal position, hands over his ears,
tears streaming from his eyes and barely conscious.

******

Robert awoke with a start, screaming.  Alarms were blaring and the lights
were flashing crazily.

After a moment he realized that screaming wouldn't help.  A minute later,
his screaming stopped.

Monty raced into the room, concern in his eyes.  He scooped up the little
girl and carried her out.

******

The alarms stopped as suddenly as they began.  This is not a good thing,
Sarah thought.  Ted's scent was getting stronger; she knew she was getting
close.

If she was going to deal with him, she decided, then we'd better be able to
communicate.

"Normal speed." She said, and the world snapped back into real time.  The
scent was almost overwhelming.  Up ahead was a door.  It was almost
certainly the one that Ted was behind.

She broke the door down with ease and found herself in a darkened cell.
There was a CLANG! of metal on metal.  A vault like door had swung into
place where the old door had stood.  She was trapped.

She looked around frantically.  Ted's pheromones were overpowering.
Apparently Ted had spent a lot of time in here.  The scent was everywhere,
but there was no Ted.

******

"So, this is the remainder of the Whisperer's team.  It was quite ingenious
of you to penetrate my defenses.  Stop that infernal screaming!" Casper
snapped at Bull.

Bull, still accelerated and with enhanced hearing did not understand a word
of what Casper was saying.  When Bull tried to respond, all that anyone
could hear was a high buzzing sound.  When he screamed however, the
high-pitched wail was painful to be near.

Monty came into the room, carrying Robert.  He set the little girl in the
pink nightgown on the floor.  Both of them watched silently from their
darkened corner of the room.

Bull, Debby, Ted, and Freddy sat tied to chairs, side by side.  Bull's
facial twitches were making everyone nervous.  He looked like he was
twitching nervously at an insane rate.

"You need to calm down." Debby heard a little voice come from the edge of
the room.  Bull's twitching eased.

"Too loud." Bull said quietly, his senses and actions returning to normal
speed.  Casper actually walked up to him, smiled, and said loudly.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" He giggled and Bull cringed.  He looked to Monty "Get him
something to cover his ears.  He's taking away my fun."

Monty left and returned shortly with a pair of earplugs.  He walked behind
the group of prisoners and put them in the young man's ears.

"By the way, don't expect a sudden rescue by your pretty little friend.
That's was taken care of yesterday.  She's not very pretty any more and..."
he laughed again, "she's not a she and....well....let's just say a cold day
in hell will probably be warmer than where she died."

Debby shot Bull a panicked look.  Bull tried to remain impassive.

Casper picked up a chair and placed it in front of the group.

"Now, let's talk about how your late friend used to use these abilities..."

******

The lights in the room changed randomly, Sarah noticed, but she tried to
ignore it.  The door was a solid vault construction, a thick metal plate
that fell into place automatically.  The ceiling looked to be metal as
well, but the floor was some kind of tile.

She crouched on the floor, examining the material.  Peeling up a tile, she
saw that the floor was metal as well.

******

"So none of you have any idea how she used her power?  Come now, do you
honestly expect me to believe that?" Casper stood and paced in front of
them. "Now, I know it involved speech but that could hardly be the entirety
of it.  Robert, come here!"

"Yes Momma." Robert said obediently and walked over to Casper.  Casper
grasped the child's arm and sliced it with a knife.

"Ow, Momma!  You cut me!" Robert said in a confused voice. "I'm cut."

Instantly the wound healed.

"Say that I am a man!"

"You're a man." Robert said.  Nothing happened. Casper stood there as
before, male.

"Go away now Robert." Casper dismissed the child.  Sulkily Robert returned
to Monty at the side of the room.

Casper stood and wheeled a tall device to the front of the group.  A device
designed to fit into a closed fist was attached to the machine by a long
wire.  After fiddling with the device for a moment, he spoke again.

"Montgomery, come here and release their bonds." Casper smiled, "I do not
recommend standing up, by the way.  This thing has a hair trigger.  The
results would be quite fatal."

******

Sarah peeled up a large section of tiles.  Somehow she knew that this would
be the best way out.  She beat on the metal floor, scratched at it.
Nothing she did even made a dent.

She sat back for a moment, frustrated.  Then Sarah saw, in the corner of
the room, a single chair.

Attached to the chair was a leg shackle.

******

"You do remember the neuro-toxin that took poor Stanley's life?" Casper
crowed, "Ah yes, I am sure you do.  Tragic, not even your vaunted Whisperer
could do anything about it.  Well, this little treasure is just chock-full
of those cute little darts."

Bull and Ted shifted in their chairs.

"DON'T even think about it." Casper said. "This is a dead-man switch.
Anything happens to me and ALL of you die."

Bull and Ted sat back.

"Good boys." Casper walked up to them.  He stopped at Debby and fondled her
hair, "Such potential.  What a waste."

Bull's eyes flamed with fury.  Casper noted his reaction and lingered a
little longer with Debby.

Ted looked at his sister.  Freddy did not look good.  She looked beaten and
dirty.  That wonderful lively spark was gone from her eyes.

Bull examined the device.  It was five foot tall and it appeared to have a
single barrel.  It would have to shoot them all sequentially if it were to
get the whole group.

******

Sarah held the shackle in a gloved hand.  She kneeled over the spot she had
cleared on the floor and began to rub.

Quickly, her hand was a blur and the metal of the floor was starting to
glow.

******

Another alarm sounded.  The earplugs were not enough to block the sound and
Bull collapsed to the floor in pain.

"Fire, eh?" Casper spat.  He stood and kicked the squirming Bull. "A little
present you left for later, eh BULL?"

Casper's heel dug deep into Bull's flesh.  Ted started to ready himself for
an attack while Casper was still distracted.

"Don't!" Casper warned and backed away.  The alarm stopped. He held the
trigger tight in his frail-looking hand.  Ted sat back.

The earplugs had fallen out and Bull lay on the ground making grunting
noises.

"Get up." He told Bull. "You can't tell me that you were beaten by a GIRL?"
Casper laughed.

Slowly and painfully Bull made it to his feet, something clutched in his
hand.  He had a look of proud determination on his face.  Then his face
began to twitch at an insane rate.

"SIT DOWN!" Casper said, brandishing the trigger.

Almost instantly a knife was sticking into Casper's chest.  He looked down
shocked.  He looked up and smiled.

"NO!" Debby and Robert screamed at once.  Casper dropped to the floor and
Bull looked as if he were attached to the device.  The barrel was right at
chest level.

The little girl quickly started running to the fallen Casper just as the
sound of percussive air sounded from the device.  Whump! Whump! Whump!
Whump!

Bull fell backwards and hit the floor with a loud crack.

He wasn't moving and four darts stuck out of his chest.

"Momma, Momma." Robert was saying. He took the knife out of Casper's chest
with his childish hand.  He held Casper's head in his lap and rocked back
and forth, trying to say soothing things.

A loud pounding started.  It grew in volume and intensity as the moments
passed.

"What is it now?" Ted said. "We need to get out of here."  He took the two
women by the arm and started dragging them towards the door he perceived to
be an exit.

The pounding increased and now there was a groan of metal as well.

Debby was hysterical, she kept trying to get back to Bull but Ted continued
to pull her away.  Monty was now at Casper's side as well.

Crash!

The door fell out of its frame and landed on the floor with a jarring
sound.

Sarah stood there, a look of seething anger on her face.  She was no longer
wearing the mask.  Seeing that the immediate danger was over she rushed
over to her friends.  They gathered close around her and they greeted each
other with the ferocity of those who had been through war together.

"Isn't this touching?" A familiar voice said from the other end of the
room.  "She returns to DIE with her friends.  To die again, apparently."

Casper stood, healthy and whole.  He pushed Robert and Montgomery away.

"You see, I too have a whisperer now." He chuckled and kicked Bull's
unmoving form.  He laughed. "Too bad she won't help your STUPID friend
here. Eek!"

Bull was grasping Casper's leg.  Casper jerked free and backed away.

"It's not possible.  Death was instantaneous!"  He backed
further. "Montgomery, kill him!  Kill them all!"

Monty crossed his arms defiantly across his chest.

"No." He said, more lucid than anyone had ever heard.

"Then I'll have you killed, you ungrateful clod!"

"STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!" the little girl shrieked.  Everyone in the room
was taken aback.

"No! You weren't mean before.  Now you keep hurting people! Ever since you
came back!  There's something wrong with you, Momma.  You're sick!  I wish
you were all better, Momma Molly."  In his mind, Robert had made the
connection.  Momma Molly was just sick and needed to be herself again.

"What.....no!" Casper went into a panic.  He felt his memories slipping
away, one bit at a time.

"NO, I HAVE THIS BODY NOW!" Casper said, forcing out each word.  His early
memories were slipping now, his formative years.  The time when the idea of
self is truly developed was suddenly replaced in his mind.

He tried with all his might to hold onto each event, as if sheer force of
will could stop the process.  Each moment slipped easily from his grasp.

Casper Collins saw his own imminent demise and collapsed.

Sarah stood by Robert now, a hand on the shoulder of the child who would
one day look like her.

"I know you want to wake her.  Give her a minute."

Carefully, Bull plucked the darts from his chest and tossed them aside.
There was no blood and no winces of pain.

Debby nearly tackled him and smothered him with kisses.

"How could you do that?" She demanded when the kissing stopped. "I thought
I'd lost you!"

"I don't think Casper's guys knew this was armor.  Ow! That's not armor!"

The woman stirred.  She sat up and tried to catch her bearings.  When it
was obvious she would faint, Sarah rushed behind her and whispered a word
to help.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Casper's."

"I was just talking to Casper and.....no....NO!  Get away from me!" She
backed fearfully away from Robert.

"Momma?"

"You're not a child. You are a MONSTER!"

"Please Momma...."

"I am not your Momma!  I will never be your Momma.  You creature, you have
no MOTHER!"

Robert started sobbing, huge wracking sobs.  Montgomery was the one who
comforted the child.  Sarah shooed Molly back towards the crowd.

"YOU did this!" Robert pointed a stubby finger at Sarah.  Montgomery picked
up the child and started for a door.

"You will pay.  I know who you are, Whisperer!  You stole my Mommy and my
Daddy.  Everything was good until YOU came along!  Stop Monty, stop!"  She
ineffectively beat on Montgomery's back.

Montgomery kept walking towards the door, carrying the screaming child-man.
It was not a day for revenge and Robert would not, could not hurt him.

"I'll make you pay!" Robert yelled as the door slammed behind him.

Molly looked utterly confused, but Bull took Debby and her and once again
started towards the door.

Ted was standing staring at Sarah.  His eyes looked so lost yet so full of
emotion.  Sarah didn't know how so much could be said with just the eyes.
She wanted to get lost in those eyes.

"Everybody FREEZE!" A commanding voice came from the door.  The entire
group looked to where these orders were coming from.  Twenty heavily armed
men came into the room. Each of them with a weapon pointed at one of them.

Everybody froze.

The man who shouted walked directly up to Molly.

"Should we take them into custody, sir?"

Molly looked around.  Bull and Debby nodded for her to play along.  She
tried to get her bearings.

"No," she said, trying to imitate a man's voice, "everything is under
control.  Tell your men to stand...to not....to go away."

"Sir?"

"You heard me.  Do I have to repeat myself?

"No sir.  Everyone stand down." He shouted back to his men.  Freddy
whispered something in Debby's ear.  Debby stepped over to Sarah who in
turn spoke to Molly.

"Have those two stay behind!" Molly told the departing captain.  After some
sorting out, it was determined which two she was talking about.

"Get the rest of those men out of here!"  Molly commanded.  The guards
complied.

The two men stood nervously in front of Molly.  Sarah started to speak to
them.

"So....gentlemen.  No, I guess I can't call you that, can I?" Sarah
started. "A gentleman doesn't RAPE."  She turned her head and whispered
something under her breath. "Freddy?"

Freddy walked up to the men.  Sweat was beading down their faces.  She
kneed the first one in the groin.

"Just to show you what you'll be missing." She turned and did the same to
the other guard.

On the floor, grabbing their groins, the men wallowed in pain.  They
grabbed their testicles as if they were precious jewels.  And then those
precious jewels slipped out of their hands as their manhood shrank away.

"Please, don't make us women." One said, feeling desperately for pieces of
his body that were no longer there.

"Oh, I'm not." Sarah said. "I'm just giving each of you his very own pussy.
Everything else will be just the same.  But don't worry; you are still
attracted to women. I've made sure of that.  But you aren't lesbian and you
can't do anything the way you used to. Now can you?  You are going to be
horny and unsatisfied for the rest of your miserable little lives. AND IF I
EVER HEAR OF YOU HURTING ANYONE...." She let the final thought dangle
unsaid.  She held the hand of one of them.

"Married?" she asked and dropped the hand, "Pity."

Sarah walked up to Ted and took his arm.  It felt good; it felt right to be
with him.

Molly, realizing that she could do anything she wanted now within the
confines of this building, led them all through the front door - to
freedom.

******

Z's mountain hideaway was three bedrooms, two baths, and maximum stealth.
Still, the crowd of nine threatened to burst its seams.

"Corey!" Ted saw the child hurtling towards him and nearly super-sonic
speed.

"Daddy!" Ted picked up the child, and hugged him silently.  He didn't want
anyone to see the tears streaming down his face.

"About an hour ago the house just disappeared." Kirsten told Z, "Abdul told
us that everyone was safe and that he had interfered enough.  The next
thing I knew we were sitting in your living room."

Corey was tiring of the hug and struggled to get loose.  Ted disagreed but
Corey held his arms out to Sarah.  Happily, she joined the two with
uncharacteristic tears on her face as well.

"Think she'll change back?" Bull asked Debby.

"What?  She can change back now?" she asked.  Bull nodded.  Together they
looked at the three people that were just happy to be in each other's
presence.

Debby shrugged.

"How did you know what to do anyway, honey?" Debby asked Bull. "You know,
when you attacked Casper?"

"Sarah told me." Bull said with a smile, "My hearing was still all enhanced
and stuff.  She knew that she couldn't get through the door fast enough so
she fixed my hearing and my shoulder and sped me up so could get it done.
Z worked up this great vest that's kinda like Sarah's costume so I knew I
could take the darts.  At least I was pretty sure."

"Inside everyone." Z insisted, "Kirsten has some things we need to know."

Gathered in the small living room, Z pulled up a recorded television
report.

"The team of Whisperers, alien invaders intent on world domination, is now
thought to be at large.  Explosions at a GeronTech research laboratory lead
authorities to believe that all known Whisperers are now once again, at
large.  GeronTech spokespeople have been unavailable for comment.  The
Federal Government does not acknowledge the threat and still will not
comment.

The known invasion force is comprised of these individuals."

The screen showed photos of Sarah, Debby, Bull, Ted, Freddy, and Corey

"Any leads as to their whereabouts should be reported directly to your
local authorities."

Z turned the report off.

"For some reason, Sarah, they have not linked you in costume with you out
of costume.  Our only other advantage is the fact that Kirsten and I have
not been named."

Sarah thought for a moment and said the obvious.

"We need a plan."

******

Sarah shut the door of the RV, kissed Ted and sat in the passenger seat.
Corey jumped onto her lap.

Corey now sported jet-black hair and a different nose.  He thought it was
funny that everyone was changing faces all the time - and it was a fun
game.

"Okay, they've agreed." She finally said.

"When?" Ted said, his face sad and worried.

"Right now.  They want to give me a chance to say good-bye.  That, and to
change."

"Can't I talk you out of this?"

"Just because I did it for you?  No, I went too far." She hugged Corey
tight against her chest and kissed the top of his head. "Two months in
local jail and they let me work in the hospital once a week.  For that they
leave my identity off the records and forget the whole thing."

"This jail can't hold you."

"It can if I let it."  Corey pushed on her arms.  Apparently she was
squeezing too tight.  She set him down.

"I love you Corey." She said, hugging him before he ran to the back of the
RV to play.  She stood up and sat on Ted's lap and kissed him furiously.

"I appreciate your staying like this for him." Ted said, playfully
squeezing a breast.

"I couldn't do that to him.  He was so upset by the other me.  Besides,"
She kissed him again, "there are fringe benefits.  I love you, Ted."

"Mmmmm, I love you too, Sarah." He lifted her up and set her on her
feet. "Now you better get going before I don't let you go through with
this."  He spanked her lightly.

She looked for a moment as if she would change her mind.  But she realized
that she should pay for what she had done.  Blinding police and taking
their speech could not be taken lightly.  If ever she could get the world
to understand she had to have SOMEONE on her side, even if it had to start
with this small town.

As she walked to the courthouse, she altered her features again.  Her long
auburn hair fell out only to be replaced by a short blond pixie cut.

Bull had told her that she had to make it right.  Funny thing about Bull,
she had never known him to be wrong.

Ted watched her walk in.  He waited a long time before finally starting up
the RV.

Two months is a long time but it isn't forever.

End Part 11 and Season 2

joanbanks@ivillage.com
The Story Alcove
http://www.geocities.com/dejahcarter