Well, I had requests for continuation of my continuation of Tomorrow People US and here it is. Those familiar with the original series might notice some plot elements from that version cropping up. Hopefully there's enough of me in here for it not to be too derivative... Enjoy.
CHAPTER ONE
The chapel had been ruined and abandoned for some time. It was the perfect meeting place. The acolytes all stood in a semi-circle around their leader, a tall man with shoulder-length dark hair, dressed in white robes similar to those worn by a monk. His name was Amos Trevelean. He looked over them all approvingly. "We are gathered here today, my children, to seek the blessing of the Almighty, whose will it is that you obey me. Your service to my will must be absolute or his wrath will be upon you. His power has fallen upon me!" Trevelean bowed his head as though in prayer. "Lord, let your servant be granted the consecration to show these disciples the truth of your power." He raised his head and every item on the stage with him, chairs, stands, instruments, rose into the air in response to his gestures. There were gasps of astonishment from the acolytes. Trevelean nodded approvingly.
Stephen tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me."
Trevelean spun round, a look of shock on his face. "How did you get in here?"
"Oh, it's just something I do." Stephen walked around the stage, taking in the scene. "I got to hand it to you, this is something we have not seen before. Setting yourself up as the new messiah, that takes real ambition and a certain amount of charisma. I'm not so sure it's entirely putting your abilities to good use though. And a couple of your new recruits might have things of their own to say about it."
John and Astrid stepped into view from the group of neophytes. "You were good,"John assured him. "Lots of showmanship. But that whole floating thing, bit pedestrian isn't it?"
"If you'd actually managed to play the organ while levitating it, that would have been impressive,"Astrid suggested it.
"Or even something as simple as this,"John interjected. He raised his hand and two staffs floated into the air. They began striking each other, as though being wielded in a sword fight by unseen users.
The acolytes, who had been somewhat surprised by the unexpected direction their gathering had taken, began to back away with gasps and murmurings.
"This is a trick!"Trevelean roared. "I am the servant of the Almighty! These…" – inspiration suddenly seemed to strike him – "…these are our enemies. Servants of the Devil!"
His ploy might have succeeded if he had not heard a voice in his head at that moment. "You really want to try and pull that one, Amos?"
John and Stephen did their best not to react. They could hear Cara's voice as well, of course, but no-one else could. They stared at Trevelean as he looked around wildly. "Who said that?"
"I did,"Cara answered. "The Almighty."
"But…you sound like a woman!"
"Oh, you really want to question what I sound like?"
"No, no." Trevelean looked around at his disciples desperately. "You can hear that, right?" His response was a series of awkward and nervous negatives.
"So you're going to go with these nice people,"Cara continued,"and we're going to have a bit of a chat."
John and Astrid stepped forward. John placed a hand on Trevelean's arm. "Sorry about this,"he remarked before they all teleported out.
Stephen suddenly found himself standing alone in front of the semi-circle of confused acolytes. "Okay,"he told them. "I'm now going to have to give you a speech about the concept of free will."
It was some time later that Stephen was back at the Refuge. He headed towards the office where Cara was waiting and gave her an amused grin. "So, how'd you like being God?"
"Some people would say it's the role I've been dying to play for a long time,"Cara replied.
"I'd never say that,"Stephen replied, his face the picture of innocence.
"How's Trevelean?"
"Checked in on him on my way up here. Irene's in the middle of giving him a long speech about where his powers come from. Pretty much boring him with science. I've a feeling that by the end, confronted with the fact that there's an awful lot of people around here who can do everything he does, possibly better, he won't be feeling all that superior anymore."
Cara winced. "Ouch. I almost feel sorry for him. You think he'll stick around?"
"With us? Probably not. Guess he's one for us to give the 'We'll be watching you so use your powers for good' speech to and then send him on his way."
"He'll probably go along with it if we do. Doesn't strike me as the type to make a stand."
"My thoughts exactly."
"Which just leaves one question…what are you doing tonight?"
Stephen raised an eyebrow at the segue. "You have something in mind?"
"Just dinner round my place and then…we'll see where the mood takes us." She kissed him intensely and he responded instinctively, their bodies almost seeming to mould together.
"It seems to me, Stephen,"chimed in Tim,"that you have a very appealing proposal put to you."
Stephen sighed. "Tim, what have I told you about listening in on private moments?"
"Oh, I apologise. I've interrupted your mating ritual. See you later." The lights on Tim's screen went black.
Stephen looked at Cara, who was trying hard not to laugh. He sighed. "One day I'm going to give that guy a serious reprogramme."
"You are seriously cute when you get flustered."
"Hey, you're the one that flusters me more than anything else."
"You want to continue our mating ritual then?"
Stephen gave her a quick kiss. "Not in front of the break-outs." He nodded towards the window where most of the TPs in the rec area had turned to stare at them.
Suddenly, it was Cara's turn to look flustered.