Some of them are mine. Some of them are not mine. I’m not making any money off this.

Growing Up A Superhero #4f/g
Angel of Death

Cal’s blue eyes were black as he came through the door, his face white and drawn. “I don’t feel so good,” he whispered before falling to the floor.

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He woke in his own bed, the night outside dark and quiet, like people were trying to let the dead rest. His head hurt something fierce, and his back felt wet. He sat up, then touched his back. Growing from his shoulder blades were two leathery things, and Cal knew, with complete certainty, what they were.

Standing, he spread his wings wide and shook them out, spattering the walls with blood. He strode purposefully to the door, remember Edan’s last words to him “get your brother,” and feeling a bloodlust like he never had before.

He walked down the hallway, hearing Kit around the corner talking to himself. No, talking to Chance. He paced around the corner, taking both people by surprise. Kit stood up, snarling as he saw the change in the boy. His red hair had darkened, leaving it the color of dried blood. His blue eyes were black and hard, his shirt in shreds, black, bat-like wings sprouting from his back and covered in blood. His skin had a gray tone to it, and his hands were like talons.

Before Kit could move one wing lashed out, slamming the man into the wall and knocking him unconscious all at once. As he slid to the floor, pieces of wall coming down with him, blood streaking what stayed up, Cal turned to his brother and, grabbing a hold of his nightshirt, gave a sweep of his wings and took them both through the ceiling, then through the roof.

The alarm went off, far too late to do anything other then send blood red light and the wail of the dead through the nighttime air.

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Cal stood still as he watched his brother scream through the one way mirror. He really didn’t care right now what happened to him. He just wanted to do something else--kill someone, inflict great pain and torment on someone, that sort of thing.

Edan laughed, reading the boy’s emotions off his face. “Take it easy, my angel of death. Hmm, that has quiet the ring to it, doesn’t it? Angel of Death.” Edan smiled.

“We have a problem,” Alyson said as she walked through the door without knocking. Edan scowled, but let it slide since she was such an asset. “That boy is deaf.”

Edan looked at her, wondering what planet she’d been visiting not to have known that. “Your point?” He sipped his wine and glared at her.

“In order to get to him,” she jerked her thumb in Cal’s direction, “We used sound. It’s one of those things that help. Sure, I could have made him want to work for you the long way, but it’s much easier to make him violent and then use pain to make him want to work for you.”

Edan shrugged. “So make Chance want to work for me the long way. In the meantime, I think my Angel of Death and I shall go . . . have fun.” He smiled and wrapped an arm around Cal, leading him out the room.

As soon as they were gone Alyson collapsed, the mind that had been controlling her body gone. Chance walked in the room, giving thanks to what was left of his brother. Chance’s back itched something fierce, and he figured that was the wings he’d seen on Cal’s back wanting to come through on his. Cal figured he had less then a few hours.

The other twin had developed telepathy with his wings, and when he knew that he’d be unable to keep It from taking over and warping his mind he’d transplanted himself, taking what were left of his memories, feelings, etc, and shoving them into his brother’s brain. In the process he’d killed his brain, leaving only that warped thing that walked around thinking it was Cal. Essentially, Cal’s mind was inside Chance. Cal’s brain was dead.

Using his own growing telepathy, Chance had managed to make everyone think he was being changed, while in reality he was controlling that woman. Now he had to get home. That shouldn’t be too hard, no one knew they--he--had escaped. And now Cal said it was okay to tell the others that they were both okay. Frankly, Chance would have told them right off. But Cal said they needed to know North’s plan. Chance really didn’t see what it was.

Chance picked up the phone, dialed home and waited for someone to pick up. It was one of the twins, trying to figure out where he’d been taken most likely.

“Hello? Hello? Look, if you’re going to crank call at least think of something interesting.” February hung up the phone in disgust. A second later it rang again. Everyone turned to look at it, and Jonny finally picked it up. “Chance? If that’s you, you know what to do.” It was an emergency system they had figured out years ago. Jonny hung up the phone.

It started to ring again, and Jonny whooped. He picked up the phone, still laughing. “All right, we’re coming to get you. Just don’t hang up!”

On the other end Chance laughed silently and set the phone down. They’d put a trace on it and would be there soon.

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They got the boy out without difficulty, bringing him home. Explaining what had happened to Jessie and Jonny wasn’t so easy, though.

“So you’re saying that both your brain and Cal’s are in your head?”

Chance nodded.

“Then who has Cal’s body?”

#Not sure. Who ever it is thinks he’s Cal though.# Chance paused, then #Cal says that it’s sort of a shadow of himself. He says--# Chance arched back as a stab of pain shot through his body, ripping down his back. When his eyes opened they were almost black.

Jonny’s eyes widened, recognizing at last the physical changes he’d missed in the boy who wasn’t really his son. (This was getting confusing.) “Chance, did they try and activate latent powers in you too?”

He nodded, his big eyes thoroughly upset.

Jonny turned to Jessie. “Call your dad and Risk. I’ll get a hold of the twins.”

Chance frowned as the two of them raced around in the small plane, finding phones and dialing numbers. Within an hour they were home, and the four they had called were waiting for them in the lab.

“Risk,” January was asking as she leaned over a microscope, “Did they have any emergency drugs that would change the processed person into a normal human again when you were in the Agency?”

Risk shook her head as Race dug through the old medicine cabinets filled with odd things. “But they had something that would halt the progress.”

January nodded as February took Chance to a seat and drew blood.

“Get it.”

With those words Race was out the door, not even bothering to take his leather jacket.

“Anything we can do?” Jonny asked, hovering around one of the female twins--he wasn’t sure which.

“Nope.”

“Would you tell me what you’re doing?”

“Nope. Go ask Feb.”

Jonny nodded and turned to the other twin. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to halt the power process.” She stopped suddenly and looked up at Jonny. “Unless you don’t want it stopped.”

“Stop it!” Jessie shouted right away. Many people had died in the process of gaining powers. Most had them introduced into their bodies, true, and Chance already had them, they just had to be activated, but she didn’t want her son taking that risk.

January was looking at the boy’s blood now, frowning. “It’s moving too fast. By the time Race gets back here with the stopping stuff he’ll be too far gone. You have to give it within the first three hours, and it’s been almost two and a half.” She looked at her sister and both sets of eyes went vacant as they spoke in their heads. “Right,” January sighed at last as February pushed Chance down onto a table.

“What are you doing?” Jonny asked, trying not to get in the way while failing miserably. January gave Jessie a LOOK and she took Jonny’s arm, leading him to the far corner.

“We’re going to give him a blood transfusion. Use January’s healing factor to slow the process,” February explained.

“Will that work?” Jessie asked uncertainly.

“Theoretically, if everything’s just right, it could.”

January laid down and February inserted the needle. The woman winced, hating anything that caused pain. Heightened senses meant touch too, but most people didn’t think about that. February held it down, trying to keep the skin from healing around it. Healing factors were such a bitch.

“And if everything’s not right?”

“Then Race better get here fast.”

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Race pushed the excelorator down farther, feeling it hit the floor. That was the nice thing about car pool lanes at this time of day; no one was on them. He cornered like a professional, hitting the brakes and gas at just the right moments. He shifted gears as he slowed down, still running at better then 90 MPH, but slow enough to make the turn off to the Quest-Bannon mansion.

He jumped out of the car without even bothering to turn it off, grabbing the computer readout and running inside and then down the basement steps. It had been easy to get the formula for the stopping fluid, the government had put that project aside years ago when some of the powered agents went rogue, and the rent-a-cop on duty there didn’t want to fight Race for some unreadable text. Race only prayed one of the female twins was able to read it. They should be able to, that was their job wasn’t it?

He took the stairs three at a time, jumping down the last five on his way to the lab. Bursting through the doors he shoved the paper slip into Risks hands and then bent over, hands on his knees to catch his breath.

Risk turned to February, handing it to the genetics expert, and she started barking out orders. Chance lay on his stomach, drugged so that he slept deeply. His back was bleeding as the wings tried to come through, hindered by what little of January’s blood and healing factor was being accepted.

February took what she was given, putting it together swiftly as she kept an anxious eye on Chance. She wasn’t done when January’s healing factor was finally overrun, and the wings came through at last. His hands and feet were turning gray, his fingers turning into talons when she raced over with the shot and plunged it into his bloodstream. All mutations stopped instantly, a few even backing up ever so slightly. His skin had a gray pallor to it, but his hands weren’t claws. He still had wings, shining wet and with an almost newly hatched quality. February shook her head slowly as January sat up, taking the IV out of her arm, and out of Chance’s.

“Now what?” Jessie whispered into the silence.

January looked up. “North. He’s got to have some sort of backup plan if these boy’s powers were out of control. We find North.”

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