TaeJean had just left Ameer's compound and was about 4 miles into his trip on Interstate 75, when he suddenly felt the conceptual energy of Ryu-Tora flare up behind him. Just as suddenly the boy was right next to him, face to face. They looked each other in the eye, and Ryu spoke: "Wow you're slow." He then built up even more speed and jetted past TaeJean out of view. TaeJean worked on boosting his own speed, and came to the end of the highway, reaching exit 235. From this point, it would only take T.J. about 20 seconds to reach his school. He heard the emergency vehicles well before his initial sprint down the high way ended. He smelled and saw the smoke as he approached. As Ameer's drone followed, TaeJean heard his voice trailing behind him. “This drone has the ability to detect electromagnetic waves. Don’t waste your energy. Once he prepares to fire off another attack, we will detect him instantly!”
T.J. spoke "I guess that's my backup?". Ameer responded, "His name is Ryu-Tora. His abilities are actually a good fit for this situation." T.J. reduced his “Glow” to “Flow” as he entered vicinity of the school. He was hiding in the woods near the track field. He looked up, seeing Ryu in the trees. The older boy looked down and spoke: "What took you so long?" Before TaeJean could quip back, the drone rang an alarm! Ameer spoke “There it is! He’s right by your old front office!” T.J. instantly went back into “Glow” and got down like an Olympic sprinter about to blast off. Ameer spoke up, as the alarm rang. “Get ready! He’s about to fire off another one!”
T.J. blasted off! Suddenly, a sonic boom resounded throughout the school grounds from an opposite direction! The surrounding civilians and emergency workers hearts jumped as they saw a blue streak come from behind them! “OH MY GOD!” “ANOTHER STEM?!” The fact that T.J. created an air current in his wake didn’t help. Some of the people were knocked over! Ameer: “TaeJean!” “Sorry!” the boy yelled, as he entered the school, and low and behold, he saw Cory release his bullet at the ground at point blank range, towards a figure laying there. Suddenly, he had an increased burst of speed. TaeJean made it just in time to grab Keshawna, moving her out of the way as the pressurized mach cone of the projectile grazed him! He looked down, recognized the face of his friend and instantly got to work with the vial. “Damn! Not Kee!” He injected her as he heard Cory say “Home free!” T.J. realized his enemy could not see them through the debris cloud and had a thought, “You know what? I’m going to humiliate him.” Within a split second, he was close enough and grabbed the back of his old foes neck. TaeJean spoke, “Are you sure about that playboy?” Cory: “TaeJe--!” T.J pushed his old foe down into the hole his attack made, and suddenly felt a pulse of energy emanate from Keshawna. He decided to come back to Cory later. “Wait right there. Daddy’s gonna come down too whoop you in a second!” Upon walking over to his friend, he saw clear neon-purple wisps coming from her body, almost like Flare. He heard her breathing and felt more pulses as her body and soul slowly became filled with Conceptual Energy. He breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing she would be alright. “Now for Cory," he thought, as he turned towards the hole.
Down in the hole, Cory gripped his broken nose. He was mad. Not only was this the first time someone survived his powers, but it was TaeJean of all people! And he had powers?! Oh no, Cory did not like this at all! His new found rationality gave way to his childhood rivalry. Or perhaps he was being super rational and realize T.J. would never let him get away. “F*** RUNNING! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” he yelled as he started charging a bullet. Upon hearing his words, TaeJean jumped down into hole. In fact this hole was the sewer. The boy activated his “Flow”. . The instant Cory saw his enemy land, he released his bullet! Just as he did, TaeJean began to feel great fatigue, and his “Flow” started to dissipate! “Oh, s__!”, he thought as he began to fall over! As the mach cone of Cory’s bullet neared his body, TaeJean concentrated his remaining energy into his palms and brought them in front of his face, activating Glow and being driven back by the force of the projectile! BRRRAKKOOOMMM!!! The sewer echoed as TaeJean crashed into the back wall.
Cory approached the hole TaeJean made, while charging another bullet. Not only was his nervous system on fire from over use, he only had four bullets left. Still, he realized T.J. could obviously regenerate, so he could take no chances. Since he would have to release the bullet either way, he figured if TaeJean was dead, he would just fire it off in the direction he was escaping to clear his path even more.
TaeJean on the other hand, was feeling bad as well. He recalled Ameer's words about not over doing it. “Damn it!” He wasn’t out of the fight yet. He saw the glow of electricity approach through the dust of the hole he had made. He felt the bullet he caught in his hand and suddenly had an idea. Using a portion of his remaining energy, he held the bullet between his index finger and thumb like a dart, then he launched!
Cory saw the light disappear from his right eye first, heard the sound of the sonic boom, then felt the pain! “AHHHHH!” He fell back, clutching his mangled eye socket, and TaeJean was on him instantly! He had almost no Conceptual Energy left! However, the amount he had would be enough to finish off Cory! The strength, speed, and stamina he had remaining was three times that of the strongest Olympic athletes! “No wasted blows!” He began sprinting towards his grounded foe! Cory on the other hand, had not dropped the bullet he had charging! Now he released!
T.J.: “Damn!” TaeJean put the very last of his Conceptual Energy into dodging off too the side! He overshot his leap, wanting to stay out of range of the arcs of electricity! Now he was right above the sewage! The moment he saw T.J. in the air was all Cory needed! He smiled, revealing his third to last bullet, charging between his teeth! T.J. instinctively kicked his legs from under him, right before Cory fired! The bullet went flying at an upwards angle, crashing through the area above them! Had T.J. dodged a quarter second later, he would have been hit! This created a different problem however. He landed in the sewage on his hands and knees! Some even splashed his face!
“UGGGGH! DISGUSTING!” T.J. said as he looked up at his foe. Cory was panting and barely standing. He had his hand in his pants pocket. He only had two more bullets, and he might have to use them against U.N.S.E.A. So he decided to have a conversation with his old enemy.
“You know, I like that look on you.” T.J. stood up. His dirty fists were both clenched. Cory: “Before we try to kill each other again, just hear me out a second. Why haven’t we ever gotten along? You know we have a lot in common. I’m not even going to waste time listing them! And personally, I feel this is a good time to reconcile and start over. U.N.S.E.A is gonna be down here in a second! You’re a Stem too right? We should work together and leave!”
T.J. paused. Then he burst out laughing. Laughing without a smile, but with an unhinged look. He then threw the bits of sewage and debris in his left hand at Cory, aiming directly at the eye socket wound he had created earlier. A direct hit! Cory winced. “Yuck!”
T.J. stopped laughing. “One, I’m no Stem. I’m something you could never comprehend. Two. You are a bigger dummy than I thought. We are two totally incompatible beings, and do you know why?” He began taking steps towards Cory. T.J. had no remaining Conceptual Energy left and he knew it. He took note of Cory’s hand in his pocket. When it moved that would be the tell tell sign that Cory was about to fire, and T.J. would counter with the ball of sewage he had in his other hand!
Cory’s shoulder moved and T.J. launched the sewage! Cory leapt off to the side! It was the same feint TaeJean had experienced earlier! T.J. jumped towards Cory’s landing spot with a swing kick! CRRRRAKKKK!!! T.J. hit his target! Cory’s firing arm lost function as the cartilage of the elbow snapped! “AAAGGGHHH!!!” The boy fell over in pain!
T.J. began preaching to him. “We may both be law breakers, but there are somethings I would never do! You on the other hand?! Well I see you are down for whatever you find convenient!” He put his foot on the back of Cory’s neck. “You know, one twist, and I could severe your spinal cord.” As he said this, the boys heard a rumbling, then the smell of sewage intensified, and the finally saw the wave! Both boys had the same thought. “Awwww sh-” as the wave washed over them!
As the wave dissipated, the figures of the 2 boys reappeared, though covered in sewage. Cory was resting on his good hand and his knees. Both of them threw up. T.J. didn’t even catch his breath before he was on Cory again. He was pissed off! Had it not been for Cory, he would not have just taken a bath in sewage! Cory turned his head towards TaeJean as he saw him leap towards him. With a downward punch, T.J. hit Cory right on his temple! THWAAAAKCCK!!! The sound of Cory’s head hitting the concrete echoed through out the sewer, as it snapped up at a strange angle. Suddenly, Cory felt his body go cold?! No, it went numb?! No, now it was gone?! Then it dawned on him what had occurred.
T.J. was standing over him. Cory yelled “I, I CAN’T FEEL MY LEGS! I CAN’T FEEL ANYTHING! YOU PARALYZED ME, YOU BASTARD!” TaeJean looked down at him and simply replied. “And you killed people. Paralysis is the least you deserve.” He turned away from his old foe and began to walk off. “Better hope U.N.S.E.A finds you before the rats.”
Cory was mad now! Madder than he’d ever been! He though once he got Stem powers, he would never have to worry about TaeJean or anyone else again! Now here he was, stinking on a sewer floor, half blind, paralyzed, and left for dead! Worst of all, it was all TaeJean's fault! Cory did not like this. He did not like this at all! Within his brain, the electricity surged! It began traveling down his spinal chord until it reached the severed area, then returned back like a lightning bolts return stroke! With no path, the bio-electricity traveled to all neurons within the mouth, and Cory spat forth a particle beam. It went right through TaeJean's liver area, leaving a smoking wound in his side! He fell over in pain, gripping his abdominal area! He began to sweat! “Ugh. Damn it!” He wasn’t healing! “If I slowed down just a bit, I’d still have more energy to fight!”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Suddenly voices could be heard! “This way! Scanners suggest this area was the one the Stem would be attacking from! Be careful, this is a strong one! At least Class 3!” It was U.N.S.E.A! TaeJean began to panic “CRAP!!” Cory became excited. He may have lost and been paralyzed, but he would be able to take TaeJean down with him. In fact, TaeJeans life would be worse! Cory was paralyzed and would likely receive the death penalty. T.J. on the other hand would be imprisoned for life and experimented on, especially after they learned he could regenerate. Non existence was surely better than a miserable existence! Cory took this opportunity and began to yell. “AYE! U.N.S.E.A! WE’RE HERE! WE’RE THE COUPLE OF STEMS WHO KILLED ALL THOSE PEOPLE! WE’RE PARTNERS IN CRIME AND HAD A FALLING OUT! I’M DISABLED! MY PARTNER IS STILL DANGEROUS!”
T.J. grew pissed but was impotent due to his injury. “Cory, you bastard!” Cory continued to laugh and call for U.N.S.E.A, who they could both hear approaching. He taunted TaeJean. “See what happens when you try to play hero?!”
TaeJean suddenly 'felt” two pulses of Conceptual Energy. Ryu and Keshawna! Ryu-Tora approached behind Cory with the girl draped over his shoulder. “This is how you screw up your first job and I’m supposed to work with you?” Cory panicked upon hearing a voice suddenly behind him. He couldn't turn to see this new being at all! Suddenly, the new figure was right next to T.J. while holding another figure on his shoulder! U.N.S.E.A came around the corner, weapons drawn “Freeze Stems!” the commanding officer yelled. Their gray S.W.A.T like gear was much darker in the sewer. One figure had it's back turned towards the officers, with what appeared to be someone draped over his shoulder. The other seemed to be keeled over on the ground. Suddenly from the standing figure, a flash of lightning the color of polished gold surged forth. “FIRE!” the commanding officer yelled. A rain of gunfire rang forth!
The volley ended. The U.N.S.E.A agents approached. They saw only Cory laying on the ground, and a hole in the street above. They pointed their guns at him. “DON’T MOVE FREAK!” They called over the radio. “One Stem is down. I repeat, one Stem down! Canvas the area for the other one! We have reason to believe they escaped!”
The officer began to interrogate Cory. “WHERE IS YOUR PARTNER?!” Cory let out an angry cry: “TaeJean!”
Elsewhere in the sewer, Ryu-Tora had placed TaeJean and Keshawna down. They heard Cory scream T.J.s name. TaeJean: “Well he’s screwed isn’t he? Thanks for saving me. ” Ryu-Tora responded. “You can thank me by not making such dumb decisions when you are working with me.” He pointed down at Keshawna. “You should have secured her before going after him. When I arrived, U.N.S.E.A agents were all around! What would have happened if they put her in an ambulance and drove off?” TaeJean looked over at his still recovering friend, feeling the pulse of Conceptual Energy emanate from her. Suddenly one of Ameer's light bending drones appeared before them.
Ameer's voice spoke: ”T.J., Ryu. I’m glad you guys have met. T.J. you look like you’re in bad shape. So this next part is all on you Ryu. I have a vehicle coming by. It’s invisible, but I will have it float right above you guys. It will be about 75 meters directly above your heads in 2 minutes!” Ryu-Tora nodded and looked over at T.J. and Keshawna. “I guess I’ll be carrying you guys again?” TaeJean stood up. You could now see bare muscle and sinew where Cory struck him with his final bolt. T.J. took a quick assessment of his body and realized, though a bit of Conceptual Energy had returned, he probably couldn’t make the jump in one go, especially breaking through layers of concrete. He picked up the still sleeping Keshawna and draped her over his shoulder like a rug. His powers weren’t even 2% restored, but this was indeed a strength feat beyond most fifteen year old boys. “Were you going to carry me while I carry her?” Ryu shook his head with a no. He looked over at the drone. “Ameer, you could help out some more.” Right after he completed the sentence, a sudden beam of light crashed down through the sewer 7 meters in front of them. SKOOOOM! Suddenly they heard the voices of the U.N.S.E.A operatives speak up. “What was that?!” “The other Stem?!” “Stay ready to shoot!!”
Ryu looked over at TaeJean. “The path is clear now so if you don’t mind.” He held is hands down in a cup, and TaeJean knew what he wanted instantly. He placed his left foot into the cup of Ryu-Tora's hands. “I need you to work with me a bit here,” Ryu said. “If you can’t make it in a throw, I’ll do the rest at the top of the arc.” Suddenly, dozens of approaching footsteps were heard! Without warning, Ryu lifted his hands up, sending T.J. flying! Ryu made his jump the instant U.N.S.E.A agents came around the corner! They heard a gust of wind as he lifted off! As T.J. approached the area where Ameer's invisible sky vehicle likely was, he saw Ryu dash past him and disappear into the invisible hatch. He began falling back to the ground with Keshawna as he saw Ryu looking down. “Damn it!” He though, when suddenly, he saw Ameer's drone approaching along Ryu’s path! With quick thinking, he maneuvered so his right foot landed on the small drone! Then he jumped off, at the same time releasing Flare from his soles! The drone was destroyed, but T.J. and Keshawna were on the ship! Ryu breathed a sigh of relief. Ameers voice came over the communications. “Cutting it close no doubt?” TaeJean looked around, as the floor hatch closed. Ryu-Tora covered his nose. “You know, I didn’t have time to stop and notice before, but the sewer is all on you!” The ventilation system came alive as T.J. responded. “Yeah well, sorry about that. I didn’t expect Cory to take the fight there. Oh, and sorry about the drone Ameer.” Ameer: “Oh don’t be. I have plenty. I also have plenty of clothes, so feel free to dump those when you get here.”
As he looked down and surveyed the school's destruction, T.J. spoke up. “You think they’ll execute him?” Ameer responded. “I don’t know. He is only 16. Either way, he is definitely going to Burning Falls before he goes to trial. Given the devastation, I doubt it will be delayed.”
The rest of the flight was silent. TaeJean watched his friend, seeing and feeling as the S.A.N.S did its work. Ryu-Tora was quiet. He didn’t know anything about the girl laying down, other than she was in the process of becoming a Soul-Borg. As for the boy TaeJean, he realized he definitely had skill and experience as a fighter. As far as if he liked him as a person, only time would tell.
Within the mansion Siobhán and a boy named Miguel were watching the news on a 320 inch TV screen. It wasn’t something available in stores, but instead personal technology assembled by Ameer. In fact it was much more than a mere television.
As the news went on about the details of Cory’s attack, the red headed girl commented. “They should have let us out there. What ‘s the point of having powers if we’re not using them, right Miguel?” She looked over at the other teen as she said this. He was just blankly staring at the T.V. In the 45 days since they had been there, the only real action they had seen was the night of the break in, taking out several of the robot proxies belonging to whoever assaulted the facility. Siobhán had also tried to get through her new roommates shell. They would be working together after all! Better to be on good terms with coworkers, especially in a line of work that involved danger and violence. She thought to herself: “Uuugh what's with him? He’s unapproachable, and Ryu-Tora comes off as a narcissist!! I hope the new kid is at least friendly. And can we have another girl?!”
Suddenly she heard the tell tell noise of the sky bus landing. She got up and headed towards the door. Miguel continued sitting down. He just looked over. The door opened. From the vehicle came Ryu-Tora, followed by T.J. carrying a girl on his back. Ameer and Cherrae had come out to meet them. No one noticed, but Cherrae shut her nostrils with hidden flaps. “My goodness you stink! You can’t come in the house like this! You either Ryu! You’ve been trapped in that box with him!” Suddenly, 6 of Ameer's Photon Bending Drones appeared. They separated into three pairs, and formed 3 spheres. Ameer: “Hop in.” T.J. looked skeptical. “Is it safe?” Ameer: “I figured out a way to dampen the heat output when I want to long ago. The drones can absorb the heat from the Concentrated Photon Fields that I use to form the constructs.” TaeJean recalled how the construct limo driver didn't set the car on fire.
Cherrae spoke up. “I can’t have the poor girl stinking. It can’t be helped. One bubble will take her to the washroom. In time the S.A.N.S will heal her completely. I’ll bathe her, get her a change of clothes, and put her to bed.” T.J. complied and put her in a bubble. “Get well soon friend,” he said. Cherrae: “Now you two will be going to the lab to shower in the locker rooms! TaeJean you are filthy, so I assume there is a sewage spot in the sky cruiser?” T.J. nodded and said “Yes ma’am.” Cherrae didn’t even think it over before deciding who would clean it. “Siobhán, go grab Miguel. You two are going to clean the sky cruiser. Supplies are in that closet near bathroom 1.” “Why do I have to do it?!?,” the girl spoke up. “You both have to do it,” said Cherrae. “And it’s because every other teenage Soul-Borg on the premises has done something today.” The girl walked off annoyed “Aye! Miguel! We got work too do!”
“Cherrae, my dear,” Ameer addressed his wife. “A lot has happened today. I feel this is just the beginning of many more events.” Cherrae: “Yes, my love.” Siobhán spoke up, “Awwwww. I want that one day. You guys are so cute <3. That aside, I hope I get a chance to be involved in these events!” She and Miguel were approaching with cleaning supplies. Ameer addressed the 4 teens next. “After everyone's done doing what they are doing, assemble in the lab. We have much to discuss.” As he and Ryu's photon bubbles started floating away, TaeJean yelled to Cherrae: “LET ME KNOW AS SOON AS SHE WAKES UP!” Cherrae began walking into the mansion, Keshawna's bubble following. “I guess after I’m done with you, I’ll shower myself,” she thought.