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The drive to the old warehouse was filled with laughter and horsing around. They pulled up and all piled out of the car.
"Well, here we go." Justin said as he closed the door.
"Here we go, one more time, everybody's feeling fine." Chris sang.
"Oh God. Now I'm going to have that stuck in my head all day." Lance said as he walked away from the group.
They all laughed and followed him in. They walked into the old building and looked around. It was very quiet just the slight sound of morning traffic outside.
"Guys I don't like this." Joey said as they looked around.
They all started to spread out and look around. JC could see the broken stairs, and remembered the fight.
"That was pretty cool." He thought to himself.
"Hey guys!" A soft voice said.
All five of them turned around at once and Lance quickly pulled out his sword.
"Geez aren't you a bunch of grumps in the morning." The wizard girl said as she put down a box of doughnuts.
"Don't do that! You scared the hell out of us." Justin commented as he got out of his fighting stance.
"Little old me.. scare all you sexy studs? Never."
"Shara, Stop harassing the little shits!" The Irishman said as he walked in.
"Oh your just jealous cause they sing better then you." She responded back in a mock Irish accent.
He smiled and looked at the guys.
"Well Laddy's. You ready for another arse woopen?"
"The question is Laddy......are you?" Lance said with a smile.
The girl laughed at Lance and then blushed at JC.
"Let me guess. You're a fan?" JC said as he noticed the blush and walked over to her.
"Who me.....Um....Yeah." Shara replied sheepishly.
"Like I said, you are plastered all over her wall." Xaina said as she walked in with the other two from the group.
"Mom! God, you can be so lame sometimes." Shara responded.
Justin laughed and turned his face away from her.
"What? You think that's funny Justin?"
"Yes.. Shara I think it is very funny."
"I'll show you funny." She said, with a smile as a fireball filled her hand.
"Come on, I'm gonna kick your butt this time." Justin replied as his hands began to glow with electricity.
Shara gave a small laugh and then threw the fireball at him. Justin quickly jumped to the side with a flip. This shocked Shara and Justin as well. The look on his face was of complete shock.
"Weird isn't it?" JC said as he looked at Justin with a smile.
"Hell ya, it's crunk." Justin replied as he looked down at his body.
"It's called your pagh. Pretty much it's your instinct. You will find it when you use your power more." The tall man said in his deep voice.
"It's time to teach you guys. JC your with me," Xaina said. "Lance your with Red, Joey your with Little John, Justin your with Shara, and Chris your with Kim."
Chris looked at Kim and asked,
"You have the same power as me?"
Kim simply shook her head and smiled.
"You don't say much do you?" He asked with a smile.
"She's mute." Xaina said as she went and sat down up against the wall.
"Oh." Chris said shocked. "I hope I didn't offend you."
Kim shook her head "no" and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Chris lightly blushed and she took him by the hand and motioned for him to follow her. He complied as they walked up the stairs. As they were walking the girl turned invisible and made Chris do the same. It was scary for Chris at first. He was only used to him doing it, and had only been able to do it for about 48 hours, so he was pretty new to it. He also couldn't think of how she was going to teach him anything. They couldn't even talk to each other and she couldn't really show him stuff when she was invisible. She was still holding onto his hand as she turned and smiled at him. They got to the pillar where Lance's shoe still remained. She let go of his hand and pushed him up against the pillar. She became visible and motioned for him to come at her. He hesitated and looked at her. She smiled and gave him a look and mouth "It's Ok."
"Are you sure, I don't want to hurt you." Chris said back.
She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to come at her. Chris stood there not sure what to do. She rolled her eyes again and then disappeared. Chris instinctively looked around for her. He could hear her footsteps, then they stopped. He quickly turned invisible and teleported to the floor above. She quickly teleported up with him and looked at him. There was some dust on the window and she went over and wrote. "You opened your eyes?"
Chris shook his head yes, and she smiled. She walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek again and then grabbed his hand and led him out of the room. And in his mind he could hear a female voice say,
"Then you're set to go."
Lance was walking with the Irish man around in another room. They were talking about everything that had happened and Lance asked,
"What was my weakness?"
"Your weakness Laddy, was that your kept backing off leaving yourself open for an attack." Red responded
"So what I need to do is just move in and not back away?"
"No, not exactly. The key to fighting with a sword is finding out the way your enemy moves. All you were doing was blocking my attacks. When ya nailed me with the butt of your sword, you through me off. I wasn't expecting it."
"So I need to try to surprise them?"
"Yeah, you already know what to do, but YOU have to be more forceful. And when you go up against the vampires, you need to be ready for anything. You're not as strong, but you're just as fast. Most vampires that use swords have been training for hundreds of years. Yet, you have an upper hand. You can fight hand to hand if you have to. They can't that well."
"So I need to be more forceful, and spontaneous? So, improvise when fighting. Use the area surrounding me. See what can be useful in the fight and do it?"
"Exactly. You want to try it?"
Lance looked down at the ground, then back up a Red and said,
"I guess."
Red quickly pulled out his sword from the holster and pointed it at Lance. Lance pulled out his sword at the same time and hit Red's to the ground. Lance body checked him making him fall to the ground. He quickly took his sword down to Red's neck. Red rolled out of the way and quickly got back on his feet. Lance charged at him again and the fight really began. Lance wasn't backing off and he and Red moved around each other. He wasn't getting tired this time as he quickly countered and attacked Red. Red then started to improvise. He hit Lance across the side of his face causing him to get a black eye. Lance quickly got off the floor and got back into a fighting stance. He waited for Red to charge at him. Red did so. Lance noticed a rather large board lose as he rolled over it and he positioned himself just in front of it. As Red ran towered him, Lance stomped his foot down and the board flew up hitting Red under the chin making him flip in the air and land face first onto the floor. He laid there dazed as Lance walked over to him. Lance kicked his sword away and pointed his beautiful cutlass down towards Red. The sun shined off the blade and the bronze colored handle with emeralds sparkled in the hand guard. As Red gazed up he said,
"If I didn't know any better I would say I was in the presence of Arch Angle Gabriel."
Lance smiled and put his sword down and helped Red up. Red glanced down at his watch and it said "9:58" The fight had only lasted several minutes, or so it seemed. As he looked confused at the watch he thought that in only two hours Lance had become more then a match for him. He was ready to face Lael. Yet the time wasn't right. They had to wait till the Vampires knew that the guys knew about them. And from watching Lael, he had picked Lance, why, he didn't know, but he knew if Lael picked Lance there must be a reason, what it was he had no clue and feared to find out.
Justin and Shara slowly walked through the bottom floor of the old building. She talked about how much she loved their music and when she found out that he was part of one of the groups, she almost flipped even more. Justin listened trying not to laugh at how fast she was talking. He smiled and kept looking at her then looking down at the book. As cute as Shara was all he could think about was Sammy. How she seemed so different when she left the book, and how she acted when she was in the book. While he was lost in his thought Shara continued to talk, mindlessly not being able to look at Justin.
She wasn't about to start a fight with him, cause he had the book to help him. But she did have to help him.
"You have to learn how to work without the book." She said finally getting back on track.
"Huh? What? I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Justin said snapping back into reality.
"I said, you have to learn how to work without the book. There will be times where you will not have it and will have to think on your feet."
"I know, I have. I don't always work with her."
"Her?"
"Sammy, the book."
"Okay.. Anyway."
"I've memorized some of the spells in it and it's been coming pretty good."
"Like what have you memorized?"
"Well, for one thing, the fireballs and lightning bolts that I shoot out of my hands."
"Well, that's easy!"
"Also, I can freeze people, um..what else did I do?"
"Isn't that the coolest?"
"What?"
"Freezing people!"
"Oh, yeah, I know!"
"Sometimes, when my mom is getting on my nerves sometimes, I just freeze her, walk away and then when she comes out of the spell and sees me gone, she's confused, then I just freeze her again and walk back into place and pretend like nothing happened."
"I gotta try that with my mom sometime!"
"Does she know about you guys yet?"
"No, we just found out ourselves, she's out of town."
"You should talk to my mom before you decide to tell her or not."
"Oh...ok."
"Anyway, back to magic!"
"Yeah."
"So, do you know how to move things?"
"Yeah, I've done it with the book."
"Well, that's different, when you do it that way, the book knows you want it and it comes to you. Have you done it with anything else?"
"Nope."
"Ok, we'll try it now."
"Ok, how do I do it?"
"Ok, I'll do it first. Look at that crate over there."
He looked at the crate and she simply looked at it and it flew across the room and hit the wall.
"Whoa! I gotta try! Now, how do I do it?" he asked.
"Well, concentrate on the object in which you wanna move."
"Uh huh."
"Then, once you can see it in your mind, concentrate on moving it."
"Ok..." he tried to move the crate, but it didn't work, "I can't do it!"
"Cause you're trying too hard."
"Huh?"
"Just picture it in your mind and envision it lifting and moving."
"Ok." He tried it again and it worked, while it was still in the air, he said, "Hey! I'm doing it!!"
Just as he said that it fell to the ground.
"Hey! What happened?" he asked.
"You stopped concentrating. You have to concentrate on it at all times until you are done with it."
"Ok, let me try again."
He tried again and this time concentrated the whole time.
"Good! You're a fast learner!"
"Thanks! You're great teacher."
She blushed a little and then said,
"Now that you've got that, how bout this?"
"What?"
"This." He heard a voice in his head say.
"Whoa!! Did you say that?"
"Yup." She said out loud, "We can all communicate with each other through our minds."
"Cool! How do I do it?"
"Well, again, it's all about concentrating. You gotta think of the person who you want to communicate with, then think of what you want to say."
"Like this?" he said with his mind.
"Now you've got it!" she said with hers.
"This is sooo cool!" he said out loud.
"Try communicating with one of the other guys."
"Not right now, it might freak them out and have make them mess up with whatever they're doing. I'll do it later and freak them out, when' they're not doing any training."
"Ok, well here's some more cool stuff."
Meanwhile on another floor Joey was with John.
"Ok, so let's see what you got!" John said.
"Well, I've only really used it like twice." Joey said.
"And, what have you done?"
"Well there was that ninja thing, and then I did this.." he said making his face look like he was sick.
"Eeew! You look like you're on your deathbed!"
"It does the trick."
"I would say so."
"So, what can I do with this power? I mean, whatever I turn into, am I capable of doing whatever it is they're capable of doing?"
"Yeah, you saw and felt that you could do all of those martial arts moves when you turned into the ninja."
"I was just confirming."
"Well, try something."
"Um..ok..what?"
"I don't know, what have you always wanted to be?"
"Oooh! I know!!"
Being the guy he is, he turned into Superman.
"Oh yeah! This kicks so much ass!!!!" He said as he started to fly.
"Be careful, the more power the person you change into has, the more power you will drain from yourself."
He landed and morphed back into himself and felt dizzy.
"Whoa! You're not kidding!"
"That's why you shouldn't morph into people with super powers and shit like that. Otherwise, you'll be really drained."
"Oh, ok... so what can I morph into without draining myself?"
"Regular people, animals, also you can make yourself adapt to your surroundings."
"What do you mean?"
"Camouflage."
"Oh cool!"
"Try it! Try to blend in with that brick wall over there."
"Ok."
He tried and it didn't work.
"I can't do it! How do I do it?"
"Just concentrate on your surroundings and you will start to blend in."
"OK."
He tried it and this time it worked.
"Did it work?"
"Yup!"
"Cool!!"
"Now you just lost it!"
"Huh? How?"
"Once you break your concentration, you've lost your hold on the shape."
"Oh, ok. Hey, can I do like Chris does?"
"What do you mean?"
"If I grab a hold of something or somebody, will it blend in with me?"
"Yes, but it won't work when you change into something."
"Oh, ok!"
Meanwhile, on the roof, JC was with Xaina.
"You have a strong spirit, and he can sense that." She said.
"Who?"
"Lael."
"Oh.. When do you think I'll be ready to fight him?"
"I don't know, only you know when you truly will be ready."
"Ok.. Whatever."
"Now, I have seen you move, and you are one hell of a fighter!"
"Thanks!" he said blushing.
"But, there are some rules you must learn."
"Ok.. shoot!"
"First of all, don't get cocky! You will lose every battle once you get cocky!"
"Ok."
"Second, never fight in anger."
"I knew that."
"Good, now, you must always be aware of you surroundings."
"Yes, this way I can be ready for anything."
"Good! You're smarter that I thought."
"If you say so."
"Fast learner too."
"I have a question."
"Go ahead."
"Um.. I saw something in the book.."
"About you or one of your friends dying?"
"Y..yeah! How'd you know?"
"The same thing happened to us when we first got our book."
"How long ago was that?"
"Hmm, let's see. Shara is 17, about, 10 years ago."
"Whoa! That was a long time ago."
"Not really. Well anyway, the point is, that it shows you that just so you can prove it wrong."
"Yeah, that's what Sammy said."
"Sammy?"
"Yeah, she's our `spirit guide' I guess."
"You have a spirit guide? Then you really are the chosen ones! Only the most powerful ones get a spirit guide!"
"For real?"
"Yeah! How did you find out about her?"
"Well, first thing, I said a spell that brought her out, then.."
"Wait! You said a spell?"
"Yeah, so."
"How did you know which one to read?"
"I didn't, I saw one that said `Spell of Understanding' and I read it out loud."
"Thank Merlin!"
"What?"
"We finally have a chance at beating these assholes!"
"Ok, anyway.. Then she appeared in Justin's room and scared the shit out of him. Then she appeared in Justin's, Joey's, and Lance's dreams. Then, she showed herself to all of us, then erased our memories and then came to us again."
"Wow!"
"What?"
"I wish I had a spirit guide!"
"So, Shara's been doing this since she was 7?"
"Huh? Oh, no! Since she was about 15."
"So, your team has only been complete for 2 years?"
"No, it's always been complete. She got her powers from her father."
"Oh."
"He was the original Wizard of the team, but then.. he.. Died."
"I'm so sorry!"
"No, it's ok, really! It was totally unexpected. The book didn't even show us anything either, his picture had him standing next to me with fire coming out of his eyes and holding Shara in his arms."
"How."
"How did he die?"
"Yeah, if you don't mind me asking."
"Lael killed him. We were in battle and he got captured and Lael tortured him to get some answers but wound up killing him because he wouldn't talk."
"How long ago was this?"
"Two years ago. After he died, he appeared to Shara and I in a dream. It was the same dream, he had a white light surrounding him and he was reaching out for our hands. We grabbed them and he led us to a field by a lake. He then told us that everything was going to be ok, and that he would be always watching over us. He then told Shara that she would have to take his place in the circle. Somehow, she understood totally and didn't ask any questions. He then told me that, some day, I would be apart of the fight that would destroy Lael, and that I would train the one who would kill him. He told me that I should never fight Lael, because he was too strong and it was suicide. He said that a chosen one would come forth and I would teach him to strengthen his powers and give him the knowledge he needs to destroy Lael."
"And I'm the chosen one."
"Yes, but like I said, only you know when you're going to be ready to fight him, no sooner. You will lead your team into battle and come out victorious, I know you will!"
"He said he was watching over you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Then you have a spirit guide, sort of."
"I never thought of it that way, you're right!" she said as she started to cry.
Just then, a gentle breeze surrounded her and she looked up and stopped crying.
"He's telling me not to cry!"
"He's always going to be with you."
"Thank you!" she said hugging him.
"No, thank you!"
"For what?"
"For giving me hope."
"Let's just call it even."
"Fine with me."
"I think we should regroup."
"Ok, but where is everybody?"
"Don't worry, they'll be there."
"Ok, whatever."
"Meet me in the lobby." She sent out with her mind to the rest of her team.
"Come on, we gotta go." Shara said to Justin.
"Let's go Laddy, we're being summoned." Red said to Lance.
"Come on, we gotta get downstairs." John said to Joey.
"We must go downstairs now." Kim said to Chris with her mind.
Everybody made there way to the lobby, as they were getting closer, the guys could see everyone else coming from a different direction. Once they all met in the middle, all the guys had the same question,
"How'd you know to come here?"
"Was it the mind communicating thing?" Justin asked.
"Yeah, you taught him that Shara?" Xaina said.
"Yeah."
"What mind communicating thing?" JC asked.
"Is that how you talked to me?" Chris asked Kim.
She shook her head "yes" a smiled.
"Can somebody tell us what's going on?" Lance asked.
"Well, since you are a team, you need to learn how to be able to communicate with each other no matter where you are. You will learn how to speak to each other, telepathically." Xaina said.
"Cool!" Joey said.
"Yeah, this is how you do it." Justin said.
"You know how to do it?" JC asked.
"Yeah, Shara taught me."
"Cool, show us."
"Ok, well, first you gotta concentrate on who you wanna talk to. Then, you gotta think about what you want to say."
"Yeah, then what?"
"That's it." He said to them all telepathically.
"Whoa!" they all said out loud.
"Try it!" Shara said.
They all concentrated and tried really hard, after about 10 minutes and a few tries they all got it down.
"That is soo cool!" Lance said.
"I know!" Justin replied.
"I think it's time to get some lunch!" Chris said.
"Yeah, I'm starved!" said John.
"What do you wanna eat?" Lance asked.
"How bout some burgers?"
"Nah, I hate fast food!" Xaina said.
"NO, not no fast food place! I'm talking a real burger place, come on, I'll show you!"
They all got in their cars, and followed John to a diner.
TBC..
This is now where the real action begins. I won't say exactly what, but you can expect even better more kick ass chapters to come! They've all opened their eyes and now it's time to do some damage! Tune in and find out! As usual, questions, comments should go to either David at Dtang2000@aol.com, and/or me Rob at Papito6187@aol.com.