This is going to be one of those really silly stories. Don't expect much serious stuff this chapter. Thanks to Jesse for volunteering to be my editor, that saves me from reading my own story... hehehe. Thanks to Lucas, my unexpected and unlikely spell-checker and error-corrector. He isn't supposed to, but he does anyway since he gets everything in advance... haha. Jordi, Aeoros and Rune for being the coolest friends on the net! Thanks for being there guys! And never forgetting Mikey... hugs! "I'll be there for you 'cause you're there for me too!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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:
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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 11 - The Sentinel And The Stone
"What stone is this?" Melvin asked, examining my gift closely. Everyone had gone to sleep for the night, and JD and Jeremy had left. Melvin and I were alone in the kitchen area, discussing the events not too long past. "I throbs with power."
"It's a lodestone," I said. "Any idea what it can be used for?"
"Physically, no," Melvin said, glancing at me. "That's your job. But I can make charms, talismans and amulets with this."
"What sort of charms?" I asked as he handed me back the rock.
"From what I can tell, luck and money charms," Melvin said, gazing at the ceiling as though his thoughts were forming as words above his head. "Also quite powerful in protection. And curing male sexual dysfunction."
I coughed and blinked at Melvin. "Excuse me? Did you say...?"
"Yes, I did," Melvin smiled. "From an offensive point of view, I can make amulets to attract bullets."
"Oh, and how does that help us?" I said sarcastically.
"Well, you could wear it and draw all the bullets towards you," Melvin said. "They can't hurt you if you're intangible, and it leaves the rest of us free to attack. JD should wear one too, since his power is the same as yours."
"But won't the bullets hurt someone as they fly through us?" I asked.
"Not if you're standing in front of a wall," Melvin said, taking the stone. Most of our tools were laid out on the counter so we could prepare for tomorrow, and Melvin reached for his knife and scraped a few shavings of the lodestone, struggling to keep the shavings from sticking to the rest of the stone.
"So the plan will basically be JD and I attracting the bullets to us, safely away from everyone," I said. "Joy will protect from the energy blasts, and Reuben, Jeremy and you will be taking care of the human units. I use the lodestone to smash gaping holes in the sentinel, and that's the end of the battle."
"Slight flaw with your using your ring to attract the lodestone back, though," Melvin said. "You can't attract it back with your ring unless you can control the lodestone without physical contact."
"Which you know I can't," I said, frowning. "So how do we get it to return?"
Melvin and I thought it over for a moment, then his eyes widened, and I could almost see the imaginary lightbulb above his head. "D'oh, that was so simple. Use the amulet to draw the lodestone back."
"Won't that be really taxing on it?" I asked. Melvin nodded his head, then shrugged. "That's the best option we have. Maybe we'll find something new next time, but for now, it'll have to do."
"Okay, then we're pretty much set," I said. "Need any help with your charms?"
"I'm charming enough, thank you very much," Melvin grinned, raising his eyebrows and letting them drop quickly, like he bouncing them. I rolled my eyes at him, and he giggled.
"Nah, I'm fine," he said. "You go get some sleep before Justin freaks out by finding you in the kitchen with me. I don't think he's completely over the fact that we kissed."
"Yeah, and whose fault was that?" I asked in a mock serious tone. Melvin shook his head and said, "I have no idea."
"Asshole," I laughed as I left the kitchen to go to sleep.
"Keep calling me that and I just may have to invade yours," Melvin cheekily called after me. I gave him the finger, and he laughed. "Yeah, that's what I'd use too."
"Dylan?" Justin murmured as I climbed into bed. Seeing as how there was only one double bed per room, we all had to share. Not that I minded sharing a bed with Justin, of course, though I would much prefer to sleep with Melvin. He sleeps like a log, unlike Justin who kicks hard and tosses and turns often.
"Get some sleep, sweetie," I whispered. "You have a concert tonight, and two in the morning is hardly the time for you to be awake."
"You shouldn't be awake either," Justin mumbled. "Come to bed, Eric."
I blinked in surprise. If I remembered correctly, Eric was the name of Lance's boyfriend. Justin must have been dreaming, and I suppressed the slight feeling of hurt, reasoning that he had been in love with Eric once, even if it was the result of a spell. I lay down next to him and he unconciously put his arm around me. I sighed and closed my eyes, pushing the inevitable excitement of an upcoming battle aside in an attempt to sleep. As I was dozing off, Justin's leg jerked and kicked me off the bed. Groaning, I grabbed a pillow and curled into a ball to keep warm in the cool room and finally fell asleep on the floor.
"You must roll a lot in your sleep to have fallen on the floor," Justin teased, surprisingly cheerful. I glared at him, feeling grumpy and irritable. It was as though we had switched personalities during the night.
"Ugh, what time is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"Eight thirty," Justin said chirpily. "I made breakfast too!"
"You're not going to poison us, are you?" I asked. "What did you make?"
"Shrovetide pancakes," Justin grinned. I thought for a moment, then muttered, "I'm still dreaming. Justin can't cook, he doesn't know what shrovetide pancakes are, and even if he did, we don't have ingredients in this place."
Justin looked at me, a strange grin on his face. "Do you always talk in your sleep?"
I felt something nudging my rib cage as the scene began to fade away, except for Justin's voice saying, "Dylan, wake up. It's breakfast time."
I opened my eyes, fully awake now, and gave myself an extra pinch to make sure I was really awake. It hurt, so I assumed I was awake. But to me, dreaming and waking felt the same anyway, so I just dropped the whole concept of being awake and decided to go with whatever was to happen.
"We ordered pancakes from room service," Justin was saying. "Did I kick you off the bed last night? I've got a great bruise on my toe, though I doubt it'll affect my dancing tonight. Are you ready to eat? You prepared for tonight?"
"My, you're chatty when you're nervous about a concert," I remarked, adjusting my neck from its awkward position.
"I know, isn't it great?" Justin laughed, jumping onto the bed and bouncing on his knees. "If I'm hyperactive, it'll probably make me last longer when we have sex."
"Or it'll make you cum the moment you touch yourself while I sleep in the living room," I said, a subtle reminder to Justin that I was only going to have sex when I was ready.
"Sorry," Justin said, still bouncing on the bed like a five year old kid. "It's just that concerts make me h..."
"Horny?" I smirked. Justin laughed, then completed his sentence. "Hyper."
"Well come one, Hyperboy, let's get some breakfast," I said, holding out my hand.
"Yippee!" Justin yelled, bouncing onto the floor and grabbing my hand. "Breakfast!"
"Oh grow up," I laughed as I dragged Justin out of the room.
"So where are you going?" JC asked. "We're supposed to be testing the sound and rehearsing."
"You guys go ahead," Reuben said. "We've got some personal business to take care of."
"Don't take too long," JC said, finally letting us leave the room. Joy, Reuben, Melvin and I walked to the door, all of us clad in cargo pants and jackets with many pockets over our tee-shirts. Lance stopped us at the door. He had a look in his eye that showed a concern, as well as a look of resignation, like he had done this many times, but was still unused to it.
"You take care, all right?" he said, looking each of us in the eye. "Come back safely, we wouldn't want to lose any fine friends like you."
"Your boyfriend is a policeman?" I asked. Lance shook his head. "Mutant."
"Ahh, that explains how you noticed we were going to fight," I said. Lance nodded. "I've seen that look on Eric's face, though he might deny it. There's some subtle feelings of anticipation and excitement, similar to what we feel before a concert, but still different. I wish you guys the best of luck!"
"Thanks," I said, pulling him into an unexpected hug. Melvin and Joy did the same, and Reuben shook Lance's hand.
"We'll be back," Joy said. "I promise."
Lance nodded, and closed the door behind us after we left. We hailed a cab and gave him JD's address, which I had gotten earlier on and soon we were at our destination. JD and Jeremy were waiting outside the house for us. After a quick introduction of Joy (she had no chance to meet either twin the previous night due to Diane's talkative nature) and her powers, we explained the plan to them. Once everything was explained, we got into our positions and waited for the sentinel and the FOH force.
It must have been an hour later before I felt a slight rhythmic tremor in the ground, announcing the arrival of the sentinel.
"It's coming," I said to no one in particular, preparing myself for the battle. I could not see any of my friends, but I knew where they were. JD was right next to me, but we were both invisible. We were to draw the bullets towards the wall behind us without anyone noticing us. If the sentinel shot an energy blast at us, we would be dead, so the less conspicious we were, the better. Plus I did not like the idea of the sentinel seeing the lodestone coming and blasting it with a shower of bullets, missiles, energy blasts, or whatever kind of weapons it used. A van with the words "Friends of Humanity" on its side pulled up in front of the driveway. People in the streets scattered in all directions, some watching the unfolding scenes from seemingly safe places, waiting for the action to start. The sentinel was still not in sight, which I found surprising since it seemed too large to be concealed. The tremors had stopped, though, and I suspected the worst. My gut instinct was screaming, but the adrenaline in my system was clouding it out. A dozen people in military style clothing, all with the letters FOH on the front and back, stepped out of the van. Another guy, the driver, came out with a megaphone.
"Cecelia Johnson, you have been identified as a mutant," he shouted. "We have you surrounded, come out and surrender, and all will be well."
"They have us surrounded?" JD said. "I don't think so. They don't even have a sentinel."
A large shadow at the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked up at the sky. Three large sentinels were hovering over the general area, waiting for orders to attack. I felt around for JD and tapped him the moment I found him.
"What?" JD asked.
"Look up," I said, pointing upwards, not caring that he could not see me anyway. He must have looked up because I heard him mutter an obscenity under his breath.
"Damn, I didn't know they could do that," I said. "This complicates things. If we destroy them in this position, they'll fall on the house and probably kill all of us with that weight."
"We need to distract them," I said. "Can you find the others? Change of plans. I'll try to take out the sentinels, the rest of you guard the house."
"That's too dangerous," JD said. "You can't handle them by yourself."
"I have a plan," I said, holding the lodestone tighter. "Go on. The Friends of Humanity won't wait forever."
As if on cue, the guy with the megaphone shouted, "Cecelia Johnson, you have until ten to show yourself and surrender. One."
"Amateur," JD muttered as he ran to tell the others of the change in plan. I rubbed the lodestone's smooth surface and concentrated on drawing out its power. I felt it flowing into me, a strong magnetic force surrounding me. I focused the energy on the sentinel furthest away from the house, the one hovering over the Friends of Humanity, hoping my plan would work.
"MUTANT DETECTED," the robotic voices of the other two sentinels declared. They both raised their palms and shot a blast of energy at the third sentinel. The mob below scattered as the flaming wreck plummeted down towards them. Those that recovered quicker than their comrades began firing at the house. Windows shattered and chunks appeared in the wall. I was infinitely glad that the twins' mother had left to go to the doctor about an hour ago. I was exhausted from using the lodestone's power in such a great amount, and I could feel my powers weakening. A few bullets went right through me, and I could slightly feel them as they passed through, a sign I was becoming solid once more. I closed my eyes and hope Reuben had come up with a plan.
A sharp scream pierced through the air, drawing my attention. I opened my eyes and saw a man writhing on the ground, screaming like a madman. Another one was struck down with fear as well, followed by a third who fell asleep on the spot. Way to go Melvin, I thought. I could vaguely hear Reuben's voice over the din of gunfire, then I saw him and the twins rushing towards the soldiers. Bullets passed harmlessly through JD, and I knew that Reuben and Jeremy were not bullet proof, despite being super strong. A bullet headed straight towards Reuben's face and my heart jumped in panic. It collided into an invisible wall and bounced off. I sighed with relief, knowing that Joy had them protected. Reuben, Jeremy and JD were all in the same Taekwondo class, and were all black belts, as well as the teacher's assistants for the newbies. They could easily take on the hateful mob. The sentinels were a different matter. One of the sentinels flew downwards, a blast of energy forming in its hands. I quickly drew out the lodestone's power and focused it onto the sentinel's chest. The magnetic power began building up and I clutched the lodestone tighter, trying to increase the force of impact. The sentinel aimed its palm at Reuben and I let go of the lodestone. The black projectile zoomed towards the sentinel at an alarming speed and struck it squarely on the chest, then flew out the other end. The magnetic attraction was still there, and the lodestone curved back, bashing the sentinel through the head before collapsing to the ground. The wrecked robot crashed to the ground, its energy blast dissipated. Reuben and the twins reached the human army and began taking them out with their fancy kicks and moves. I sat on the ground panting from the exertion, glad that no more bullets were being shot my direction. I couldn't do a thing about the third sentinel, exhausted as I was. The third sentinel was hovering over the mob, trying to aim for any of the offenders. My friends were moving too fast for it, and it kept floating there like a giant ornament.
A gust of wind blew my hair to the side, and I could feel a tingle of magic within it. The sky was darkening as storm clouds began rolling in, then becoming brighter with small flashes of lightning. Melvin was calling the elements, and I figured out his plan. The storm clouds grew thicker and angrier, thunder crashing like the roars of a god. A blast of lightning streaked through the air, engulfing the area with light. I could feel the static in the air as my hair stood on end. The lightning was so bright that I covered my eyes. When I opened them again, the last sentinel was lying on the ground, electrical fires spouting from various places on its robotic body. Having done their work, the elementals and storm clouds drifted away, the sky brightening once again. Those of the Friends of Humanity still standing turned and scattered in all directions.
Reuben gave a thumbs up to all of us, shouting, "Great job, everyone! Great job." Then he collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Melvin and Joy appeared from behind their hiding places and made their way towards him, and I followed suit. The six of us looked at each other, and agreed to leave the area immediately, knowing that the mess would be cleared up by another group of Friends.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To be continued... I know it's short, but I felt that this was the best place to end it. Comments, questions? Email dylan@celticwarrior.com