Chapter
12 Starts Now...
<Transport room>
' "C" have you found out his name
yet?' 'Yes, it's Corbin Craig.' 'Good, set our beacon to start
in one hour. I'm outta here.' 'Confirmed.' I teleport to the
roof of the Venue.
<Venue>
I 'pop' behind the marquise and start to
look around. I crouch down and think, 'Perfect…I can see
the area fine. Now why do I feel like Batman?' In a couple of
min.s I hear a roar and applause and the people start to leave.
'Ok now about a half hour, should have brought some coffee with…oh
well.' In about 25 min.s people start to leave again. I see
the bus' leave then, <Swoosh> I look up and here the sentinels
come. They land on either side of the kid and call out 'Stop
mutant.' Corbin looks up and says 'I'm not a mutant.' 'You are
now.' 'Corbin…run between them and I'll grab you.' I hit
both sentinels with a force beam, they are pushed back a ways,
I fly between them, grab Corbin, open a portal, and fly thru.
Check the beacon and open a portal back home.
<Transport room>
I put him down and close the portal. 'Please
state your name for voiceprint identification.'
'Corbin Craig.'
'Confirmed.'
And Corbin faints. I pick him up and teleport
to the medics
<Emergency room # 1>
I teleport in and put him on the gurney,
'A little help please, I'm in ER. # 1.' Julie walks in, 'What'd
you do to the poor boy?' 'Saved him from 2 sentinels, and portaled
him here.' She comes over and scans him, 'Well he just fainted.
He'll come to in a while. Did you time it?' 'My normal hour.'
'Go ahead and leave him here I'll make sure he's ok.' 'Ok I'm
going to get a drink then head back to San Diego.' 'What you
doing there?' 'Relaxing and goofing off, but if you need me
call.' 'Could you postpone it for a day? You should be here
when he wakes up.' 'Why?' 'You may look mean…but you give
off a settling feeling, and a calming influence.' 'Thanks …I
think. Oh…Ok, Julie. "C" have Trav get a single
ready.' 'Will do Bob.' 'I'll be back in a few, I'm going to
get my stuff from the hotel.' 'Sorry.' 'Yeah…right.' I
teleport to the hotel room.
<Hotel room>
I grab my stuff and teleport back to my room.
<My room>
'Pop' into my bedroom and put my suitcase
down then head to the rec. room.
<Rec. room>
Go in and get a large Windsor and 7, then
it's off to ER. # 1.
<ER. # 1 -medical section>
As I go into the room Julie finishes checking
Corbin again. 'Well?' 'He should be coming around soon.' she
replies. 'Good. Now that we have some time, lets talk about
BSB's solo party.' We talk for about 10 min.s, then Corbin starts
to moan, Julie and I walk over to the gurney. He opens his eyes
and sits bolt upright, 'What the…Where…How…?'
'Calm down Corbin, your safe.' he looks around for a second
and like he's ready to run. I put my hand on his shoulder, 'Relax…relax…your
safe.' 'But how?' 'First things first, Julie please check Corbin
out.' when she's done, 'He's fine physically. Now it's your
turn.' 'Ok, if you say so.' <grin> 'But…you need
some rest too.' 'That's what I was trying to do before I had
to rescue Corbin.' I say as I tousle his hair. 'Well please
try again. I'll leave you two alone.' 'Just a sec., Julie this
is Corbin, Corbin this is Julie, she's a healer and the head
cook. They shake hands and Julie turns to leave, I give her
a quick hug. 'See you later Jules.' 'You too, get some rest.'
she says as she leaves. 'Corbin, would you like something to
drink?' 'Yes please.' he says quietly. I get him some water
for now. 'Now for us, I'm Bob and your at the Complex, a mutant
community. And it started…' I give him the normal briefing
and a tracking ring. 'But I'm not a mutant.' 'Maybe you weren't,
but you are now! May I link so I can find out what happened?'
'Y…yes.' 'Don't worry it won't hurt. Just open your mind
and relax. I'll also see what your power is.' 'I'll try.' I
slowly link and go into his mind, find his power. He's a mimic,
and like me he seems to be able to have more then one power
copied at once. He also seems to have a good time sense also.
I delve a little deeper and figure out what happened. I back
out of his mind and sit back for a second. 'You ok?' I ask.
'Yes.' 'Good, well Corbin you're a mimic like I am, and I think
that you can copy more then one power like I do, you may even
have the time sense also. Let's experiment, what time is it,
and what time zone?' he closes his eyes, then '12:30 AM, and
mountain time zone.' 'Close for now, I probably through you
off with the time shift I did when I rescued you.' 'Time shift?'
'Yes, I had to go back in time to rescue you, then ahead so
I didn't come to close to myself.' he looks puzzled, 'I'll explain
it in more detail later. "C" would you see if Pat's
awake? 'Will do.' 'Thanks "C", you feeling better
Corbin?' 'Yes.' 'Good, from what I can see you had an adrenaline
rush meeting BSB twice in one day, and it blew the barriers
on your power apart and you copied their powers.' 'Bob.' 'Yes
Trav.' 'How about putting Corbin in 206?' 'Sounds good, please
give him some towels, and anything else you think he'll need,
all he has are the cloth on his back.' 'Sure thing.' 'Thanks
Trav, I'll talk to you later.' 'Later.' 'Bob, Pat's asleep.'
'Thanks "C", get the Danger room up and running, we'll
be there in a few.' 'Confirmed.' 'Corbin there's something else
I need to talk to you about, I didn't try to, but I did sense
something else we need to talk about. I did sense that your
gay.' he starts to blush very red, and he looks at the floor,
'It's ok, nothing to be worried about…I'm gay also, and
so are others that you know. We'll talk about that some more
later if you wish.' he nods, 'Yeah, I'd like that.' 'Ok Corbin,
lets get something to drink. Are you calm enuff to be around
other people?' 'I think so.' 'Kay, we'll stop by the rec. room
on our way to the Danger room.' 'Kay.' as we leave we say 'Good
night.' to Julie and head to the rec. room.
<Complex>
As we walk along, Corbin looks around with
a shocked expression on his face. 'Told ya.' 'Yeah…but
seeing it and hearing about it are two different things.'
<Rec. room>
We go to the bar and order something to drink,
and I get a snack to take with us. Kevin walks over to us, 'Well
I see you get him.' 'What'd you expect? I got you didn't I?
So one kid shouldn't be to hard.' <grin> 'Thanks a lot.'
'No problem Boo, oh …do you have an extra pair of stretch
shorts? Corbin will need to barrow them so I can see if he copied
your power.' 'Sure do, I'll have Howie take me to my room and
get them. Then where?' 'The Danger room please.' 'Sure thing.'
Just then J.C. walks up, 'So that's what's taking you so long
Kev., Hi Bob, I see you got the new recruit.' 'Don't I always,
I got you guys didn't I?' 'Well…' 'That's a deep subject
for a shallow mind.' <grin> 'Thanks a lot.' 'Sure Josh.
Oh, Kev would you have all the Boys join us in the Danger room?'
'We'll meet you there.' 'Later guys.' then we head out.
<Complex>
'You ok Corbin?' 'B…both BSB and N sync
are mutants?' 'Yes they are. Don't faint, I don't to have to
take you to the medics again.' 'But you treat them like ordinary
people.' 'As far as I'm concerned they ARE . They maybe celebs
, I do like their music, but deep down they are ordinary people.'
Corbin thinks about this all the way to the Danger room.
<D.r. #1>
I enter my personal code, the doors open
and we walk in. 'Computer this is Bob, authorization "Testing
the beast."' 'Confirmed Bob.' 'Corbin…you need to
be careful with your power. I don't know if you copied the BSB
powers or not, if so you have 4 powers now, if you copy too
many powers you could burn yourself out. So you have to learn
how not to copy powers. I can give you a temporary "switch"
on you power for now if you wish.' 'Please' 'Ok, relax and I'll
do it.' 'Kay.' I go in to his mind, 'Corbin, join me.' 'How?'
'Just think about me…I'll help.' 'Here I come.' in a second
I see a ghostly figure start to appear. 'Your getting there.
A little more.' and the ghost condenses into Corbin. 'Nice,
now watch what I'm doing. I'm basically going to put an on -
off switch on your power… it will only effect your mimic
power, not the ones you've copied. This way you can shake hands
with out having to be careful. That good?' 'It's great.' 'Good…now
return to the outside.' As I watch he starts to fuzz out, then
he's gone. I check to make sure everything's ok, then I go back
to my body. I shake my head to change focus. I look around and
both BSB and N sync are there. 'What were you doing?' 'Well
Lance I gave Corbin a safety switch on his powers.' 'Why?' 'He's
a multiple mimic like me, can't have him get burnt out, can
I ?' 'That's good of you.' 'Thanks Curly, but who invited N
sync to a BSB affair?' <grin> 'Well…' 'It's fine
B-rok, you know that by now. Boo did you remember the shorts?'
'Yes I did.' 'Good…give them to Corbin, I hate to do this
to you, but since you only have the one set of cloth, you'd
better strip down so you don't destroy them. I'll get you a
robe and be right back. Computer, a privacy screen please.'
'Confirmed.' I teleport to my room, grab a robe, then 'pop'
back. I walk over to the screen and reach over it and drop it
in. 'Here you go Corbin.' 'Thanks, it's a little big.' 'No,
it's a lot big , for now. But if you did copy Kev's power, it'll
be about right.' 'Kay…I'm ready.' 'Computer, screen down.'
The screen goes down into the floor and we all start to laugh.
He looks funny, a medium guy in a 2XL robe. In between fits
of laughter, 'Kev, go explain how you use your power, then we'll
see if he copied it.' 'Kay.' he walks over to Corbin and they
start to talk. 'Computer, a couple of crates please.' 'We're
ready.' Kevin yells to us. 'Do it.' as we watch Corbin starts
to enlarge and turns a dull gray. When he's done he is 6'9"
and the robe fits his body fine, but is a little short, just
below the knee. 'Good going, now reverse.' and he's back to
flesh and bones. 'Change back into your cloth. Bone your next.'
when Corbin is changed, A.J. walks over and they start to talk.
And the rest of us start talking about other things. In a few
we look over and their gone. 'Good job you two, now who are
you going to morph into?' The next thing I know I'm looking
at two of me. 'Ok smartys , I guess it'll be me vs. BSB for
the solo test.' <evil grin> 'Change back quick.' Howie
says, and they change to normal. 'Bob…your joking…right?'
'You'll see A.J., you're up D.' Howie and Corbin start to talk,
'Bob…please don't be pissed, we were just having fun.'
A.J. says. 'I'm sorry.' 'I'll think about it.' <grin>
I sit down on a kinetic chair and watch as Howie and Corbin
walk to, then thru the wall, then back out. 'Ok Bri your turn.'
they talk for a few, then 'The crates?' 'Yeah Brian.' Corbin's
eyes start to glow then he shoots a beam right in the center
of the top crate. 'Good job Corbin, guys, that's it. I'm going
to go crash.' I get up and head for the door, 'Computer, completed
"Testing the beast'. shut down when we leave.' 'Confirmed.'
We head to the R & R section. I show Corbin where my room
is, then take him to his room, and get him settled, then I go
to my room.
<My room>
Go to the bed room, strip down, and crawl
under the covers. Howie comes in, strips down and joins me.
We snuggle close, then we start to kiss. 'Bob can we?' 'In a
couple of days Dear, I'm getting it set up so it'll be perfect,
I hope.' 'If it's with you it'll be prefect.' 'Thanks Love I
just hope I can make you happy.' 'You do that now B, who could
ask for more.' Howie snuggles closer and goes to sleep. I watch
him sleep for a few min.s more, and I'm out.
<10:00>
Get up, shower, shave, and just put on a
pair of shorts and robe. Grab a cup of coffee, sit down and
go thru my messages and email. Nothing important, so I surf
the net for a while. All of a sudden I get a flash of inspiration,
I'll take Corbin and BSB to N syncs concert. ' "C"
Corbin and BSBs location?' 'The Danger room.' 'Put me thru to
Pat please.' 'On line.' 'Thanks, Pat what's BSBs schedule?'
'They should be done between 11:30 and 12:00. Phyllis' pushing
them today.' 'Is that it for today?' 'Yeah, that's it.' 'Good
I'll 'pop' over in a few. Please make sure Corbin gets portal
training today.' 'Sure thing, later.' I pull out my phone and
call Tim, N syncs head of security. 'Tim…it's Bob. Please
don't say my name' 'Ok…what can I do for you?' 'Would you
mind a few extra people there today?' 'How many?' 'Between 1-9,
not sure yet. Just thought about it.' 'Dare I ask who? And I'm
away from the guys.' 'Myself, a new recruit, a guide, and maybe
some other friends that haven't seen an N sync concert.' 'Any
one I need to worry about?' 'No, I'll look after them.' 'Should
be ok then.' 'Where are you at now?' 'The venue, sound check
for ½-1 hour yet, then it's dance practice for at least
an hour.' 'Ok just let your guys know I'll be there later. Thanks.'
'Later.' I get up, grab a cup of coffee, then go change into
my black outfit. Make sure everything is put away, then teleport
to the danger room.
<Danger room- control room>
I 'pop' in and say, 'Hey Pat.' 'Hi Bob…why
you dressed like that?' 'Going to have some fun later.' 'What
are you planning to do?' 'Going to go to the N sync concert.
Going to see if Corbin and BSB want to go along.' 'Do the guys
know?' 'No, just thought about it since I was going to take
today off any way, might as well have some fun.' <grin>
'Your evil. Wish I could join you. I'd love to see their faces.'
<evil grin> 'Join us. I can handle you too. Shawn can
handle the Danger room. Give him some good practice.' 'Hum,
OK…I'll do it. What should I wear?' 'What ever you want.
And we're going shopping, need to get Corbin a R & R outfit'
'Sounds like fun.' 'Good…now I'm going to mess them.' I
throw up my shield, go to the landing, take off and fly around
the room. Corbin sees me and waves, the rest notice him, then
they look up also, <groan> 'What are you doing here?'
Kevin asks. 'Just keeping you on your toes, and I need to talk
to BSB and Corbin when your done.' 'Kay…lets do it.' Phyllis
says. They workout for around a half hour, 'Ok that's good,
lets call it a day.' Phyllis says. I land and say 'I'll grab
us a table, see you guys in a few.' as the trainers leave, 'Ok,
what do you need Bob?' A.J. asks. 'Do you want to have some
fun?' 'Sure.' Nick says. 'What?' Brian asks. 'Shopping, need
to get Corbin some cloth and personal items. And I need a break.
Then N syncs concert.' 'But how?' Howie asks. 'The camo hoods.'
'Forgot about those things.' Kevin says.' 'Do you know the area?'
'Not well.' they reply. 'Kay…I'll get us a guide. Go shower
and please let Corbie barrow whatever he needs.' 'Sure thing.'
Howie says. As they leave, Pat comes down, 'Ok I'm free.' 'Didn't
know you charged for your services.' 'Jerk.' 'Thanks…"C"
I need a driver/guide for Atlanta, do we have anyone there?'
'Yeah…Franks there.' 'Please contact him and have him meet
us at N syncs hotel in about two hours. Oh, he'll need to get
a large van, there's going to be nine of us total.' 'Will do.'
'Thanks "C". Ok pat lets go.'
<Dinning area>
Pat and I get our food, grab two medium tables,
sit down, and start to eat. The trainers show up first, then
BSB and Corbin. We eat and chat, when everyone's done , 'Ok
Pat, Corbin, Boys, you ready?' 'Yeah.' Pat replies and the rest
nod. I get up, 'Head to the transport room, I've got to get
my masker.' 'Kay.' Brian says. We drop of our trays, then head
out.
<My room>
I get my masker, and look around to see if
I'm forgetting any thing. Looks like I'm ready so I teleport
to the transport control room.
<Transport control room>
I 'pop' in as they're opening the door. 'Shit!
Bob will you quit that, now I have to go change my shorts.'
Pat complains. 'Sorry Bud, but lets get ready to go. Grab your
maskers, and I'll get the passes and tickets.' after that's
taken care of I get the camo hoods out and help the Boys put
them on. Then we head for the transport room.
<Transport room>
I pull out my cell and call Tim, the guys
are just finishing up dance practice so I can portal to their
rooms. ' "C" N syncs beacon on, mine on standby.'
'Confirmed Bob.' 'Corbin, may I link with you?' 'Sure…why?'
'So you can learn how I use the beacons.' 'Do you think I'll
need to use them?' 'Yeah, I may have to send you out on your
own.' 'Kay…I can see it then.' I open the portal, throw
up a shield and we walk through. 'Now watch and sense how I
do it.' we go over to the beacon and I check the call sign and
open the portal into the hotel suite.
<Hotel suite>
' "C" N syncs beacon off. Well
Corbin did you see how I did that?' 'Yeah I did.' he says with
a smile. I close the portal, and pull out my cell and call Frank.
'Hello.' 'Hi Frank, where you at?' 'Trying to get in to the
parking lot. There's a large crowd out here.' 'Try for the back,
we'll head that way, if you find a better place give me a call.'
'Ok, see you on a few I hope.' We go out and head for the lobby.
As the elevator doors open my cell starts to ring, 'Yo.' ''Bob,
I got a place to park on the north side of the building. I'm
driving a full sized blue van.' 'Ok, we're on the way. <hang
up> this way guys.' When we get outside, Frank has the doors
open for us. 'Hi Frank, it's been a while.' 'Yeah it has.' we
say as we shake hands. 'You remember Pat?' 'Who could forget…you
two were the biggest pains in the Complex.' we all start to
laugh. When I quit laughing, 'Ok…this is Kevin, Brian,
A.J., Nick, Howie, and Corbin, our new recruit.' 'Pleased to
meet you.' Frank says. 'And this is Frank, our driver and guide.'
'Same here.' they reply. 'Ok, lets get going, we need to get
Corbin some essentials, and a rescue outfit. Then where ever
the Boys want to go.' we pile into the van and we're off.
<On the way to the mall>
When we're under way, Frank shoots me a quick
glance. 'Ok Bob, spill it. By "Boys" did you mean
Backstreet Boys?' 'Yeah I did.' 'Illusion?' 'No, the camo hoods.'
'Well they work good, I'd never have guessed by looking at them.'
'I forgot something…do you guys have you're A & A or
Jive cards?' 'Both.' 'Good, use which ever one you want. I'll
pay for your stuff Corbin.' 'But I have one of my own.' 'Well
we'll get you one of ours also, your working for us now.'
<Mall>
I get Corbin the stuff he needs and the Boys
pick up some stuff for him also. They have a good time being
able to shop in peace, with out screaming fans around. I check
the time and it's about 2 hours till the concert starts, ' Sorry
to break it up, but it's time to head out. Meet up at the van.'
we load all the stuff in to the van and we're headed to the
venue.
<Venue>
As we get out of the van, 'Hey Frank…do
you want to join us?' 'Sure, that sounds like fun.' 'Thought
you'd like to, so I grabbed an extra pass and ticket for you.
Guys remember to leave your hoods on, lets see if they can figure
out who you are so use your jive names.' 'Why the secrecy ?'
Kevin asks. 'Don't want the crowd to go crazy having you in
the stands. And you seamed to like being treated like normal
people in the mall.' 'Yeah that was nice.' Nick says as I give
Frank his stuff. Then we lock up the van and head to the backstage
door. When security sees me they just wave us thru, 'That was
easy.' Corbin says. 'That's what you get by being with me. Hi
guys, where's Tim?' 'Just around the corner.' one replies. 'Thanks.'
I say as we head in that direction. As we turn the corner, Tim
is headed our way. 'Hi Bob, you expecting trouble?' 'No just
goofing off, and these guys haven't seen an N sync concert before.'
'Ok but if you do feel something please let me know.' 'Will
do, but I'm not expecting anything.' 'Follow me.' 'Thanks Tim.'
I reply. Tim shows us to the dressing room, I knock and walk
in. 'Hi Bob, what's up?' 'Not much J.C., just goofing off. And
these guys haven't seen one of your concerts, so I brought them
along. I also showed Corbin a few tricks of the trade.' I do
the "introductions", and they start to talk. then
it's time to head to our seats.
While they talk normally, Gary talks to me
mentally. 'Bob…you really just goofing off, or it there
something that I should know?' 'Nothing to worry about, that
I know of anyway.' 'Good…just making sure. Who are those
guys anyway? I don't recognize them.' 'Everyone will find out
after the concert. Just try to figure it out.' 'Ah…ha,
a challenge.' 'If you want, hadn't thought of it that way. Time
to get to our seats.'
Tim comes in, 'Come on guys I'll take you
to your seats.' When we're seated, 'I'll have someone get you
after the show, I'll be busier then.' 'Ok, but stop by when
everyone else is gone.' 'Will do, later.' I kick back and relax.
Everyone else tries to but since it's their first time, they
fidget till the lights go down. They really get in to the concert.
I have a hard time deciding who to watch, the guys on stage
or the guys beside me. It ends up being about a 50-50 split.
When the concerts over one of Tim's people comes over to us
and escorts us to the dressing room so we don't have to fight
our way through the crowd.
We go in and start to chat with the guys,
then in a couple of min.s the rest of the people with passes
start to show up for the meet and greet. They all have a good
time talking and in about 45 min. everyone else is gone except
for the guys, the Boys, the rest of the A & A personal,
and Jive security. Tim comes in, 'Ok they're gone what'd you
want Bob?' 'Well Gary…did you figure out who my guests
are?' 'I'm gonna guess…BSB.' 'Well I'll be…your smarter
then you look.' 'WHAT!!!' N sync say in unison. 'Bob… you
jerk, what would have happened if someone would have found out.'
Tim asks. 'And how did you disguise them?' 'Ok guys take the
hoods off.' I say before I start to laugh. 'This is how.' I
say as I motion for Kevin to give Tim his hood to check out.
He looks at it for a min., I walk over and help him put it on.
He looks in a mirror and jumps back, 'Well it works nice.' 'Yes
they do, that's why I wasn't worried about any one finding out
who they were.' 'Your still a jerk.' he says as he takes the
hood off. 'Thanks Tim, all complements are appreciated.' they
all start to laugh about that. 'Well I'm going to head back.
Whoever wants to can come with me, the rest can go with Gary
.' the guys I brought decide to leave with me. We say "Goodbye"
to everyone else, and head out to Franks van. 'Thanks a lot
Frank, good to see you again.' 'Yeah…even though you're
a still a pain.' 'But it was fun wasn't it?' 'Yeah it was. But
I gotta head out.' 'Just give me a sec.' as I walk over to him
I look around to see if the coast is clear. We shake hands,
'We'll leave from here. And any time you want a rematch in the
Danger room, just let me know Frank.' 'Yeah right…it'll
be a cold day in…' the rest of the guys say good to Frank
and I open a portal. ' "C" we're coming home, Beacon
on.' 'Ready.' We go thru and I check the beacons call sign and
I open the portal into the transport room.
<Transport and transport control rooms>
I close the portal and say 'Well guys, did
you have fun?' 'Hell yeah. That was awesome.' Nick replies.
'Lets get the maskers and the rest of the stuff put away, then
I'm going to put my purchases away, then I'm heading to the
rec. room' 'I'm buying the first round.' Pat says. We get the
maskers, hoods, tickets, and passes put away, then Pat heads
to the Training section, and the rest of us go to the R &
R section.
<R & R section>
We split up and put our things away, then
meet up and wait for Pat. When he shows up a few min.s later
we head to the rec. room.
<Rec. room>
We walk in, grab a couple of tables, and
order our drinks. They hit the dance floor while I kick back
and think about the BSB test. About 20 min. later, N sync shows
up, they sit down and stare at my. 'What?' 'It wasn't nice to
bring the Boys to our concert.' J.C. complains. 'Well they didn't
complain when we went to theirs.' 'That was because we rescued
them from the sentinels.' Joey adds. 'Do you all feel that way?'
Lance and Justin shrug, J.C., Joey, and Chris nod. 'Well …later
then.' I get up and leave.
<Complex>
I walk around for a while, then head for
the danger room.
<D. R. #1>
I enter my code and walk in. 'Computer, lights
on. Authorization F-16C, total lock out. No one is allowed to
enter till I'm done.' 'Confirmed Bob.' 'Level 7' in a min. 'Ready.'
'Begin.' in an hour, 'Program off. Shut down in one min.' 'Confirmed.'
I 'pop' to the outside.
<Outside>
I walk around for a while, then I find a
nice clearing, I lay down on the soft grass, and watch the stars.
After a while I look at my watch, it's 3 AM. I teleport to my
room.
<My room>
I look around to make sure no ones there.
' "C" if anyone bothers me I'll take you apart one
chip at a time.' 'Understood Bob.' I go into my bedroom, strip
down, and lay there for a while thinking how big and empty the
bed is. But in the mood I'm in…it's a good thing that Howie
isn't here. It takes a while but I finally relax and go to sleep.
Email
me or fill out this respond
form with your comments.
.gif){kind=tracking}
