Project Earthbound part 20

"Truths and Lies,"

"Alright we let you guys sit with us, so none of that High School shit alright," Angela advise the two men as they slid in to the booth.

"High school shit, what does that mean?" Jeff asks

"Allow me to demonstrate," Tracy says sipping her drink. "My Paula your hair looks great today, you do something different?"

"No, nothing different, why?"

"Well you decide I have this shampoo you must try!"

"Oh, why thank you!"

"That is high school shit…" Tracy mutters.

"I don't get it…" Jeff said.

"Two PhDs and cant catch shade…" Angela mutters while shaking her head.

"Why do you think we hang out with him so much," Paula said with a laugh.

"We all have our hang ups," Ninten says.

"Don't worry we won't be doing that, at least it wont be that complex. After all I'm sure Ninten already has an issue going through the day buying shirts too small for him."

"And how Ness stopped wearing hats once he realized how lopsided his head is."

At this Ness and Ninten share a laugh with each other. "Well I'm glad you two have come to an understanding, and all it took was a 15-minute conversation." Angela raises her hands in mock amazement. "Who knew?"

"Yes Angela you were right, I'm glad you have that to lord over us now," Ninten says. "But lets shift gears, so we have a new dad at the table!"

"Yay…" Jeff mutters.

"Come on I have to know more! What made you adopt?"

"It wasn't something I saw myself doing or something I planned to be honest. But Luke is a really special kid that I think deserves having good things to happen to him. I felt I can give that to him I suppose."

"Ah, that's precious!" Angela says.

"He's a really sweet kid too," Paula adds. "He's already had an affect on Nicky and Lauren. They really like him and I'm sure that was a concern of yours."

"They're your kids of course I didn't have too much concern about that. You two wouldn't raise selfish kids."

"How's James, I know he's missed hanging out with Nicky?" Angela asks.

"He's a little…put off I admit. Of course, that's my fault, I let my personal stuff mess with his relationships. So, I think this sleepover will be good for him to reconnect."

"Good for you Ninten."

"So, what is being a queen of a country like ms city girl?"

"God, it was a lot to get used to…" She groaned.

"Yes, there was some growing pains," Poo admits. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you."

"Well you did all you could. You'd even teleport out meetings just to see to me. Let me tell ya gals, when your husband blows off world leaders for you, ya can't help but feel a little special."

"Didn't he also install a bar fully stocked for you?" Ness questioned.

"My king made sure I had the essentials when I transitioned," She said rubbing Poo's arm. Even at this stage of their marriage she's still the only one who can make Poo blush. "I admit the politics was a little tricky to understand. Although when it came to public relations I was happy to be a big help especially when we began having more people come into Dalaam. Plus having a council to help deal with some of the politics allowed us to become more focused on spreading the culture. The Dalaamnese people are very spiritual in nature which was a big shock to me, but understandable considering their king."

"Dalaam style yoga has done wonders for me," Paula adds.

"Ya know who I miss, Teddy, how is he?" Tracy asks.

"He's good, he's thinking of going in to politics, like a council member or mayor. I'm sure he thinks having some influence in his hometown would be helpful since he can only go so far as a performing artist."

"Geez why are so many people in this group becoming politicians?"

"Well we've seen some of the evils this world has to offer, also the evil from other worlds. It helps to not easily be frightened in those types of arenas," Jeff points out to her.

"Ah forgot I'm sitting with a group of superheroes. So, what is the craziest journey you guys have been on?"

"I mean that Dalaam coup was pretty crazy…" Paula states.

"There was a what!" Angela almost coughs on her drink. "First I've heard of it! What the hell hun?" She says turning to Poo shocked.

"It's a blemish I'd rather not cause attention to if I can help it. It was early in my career as king and it wouldn't be a good look if that was public knowledge," Poo explained to her. "However I do understand why it happened which is why a council was created. I think learning from mistakes is important, but it would be foolish to hand your enemies the noose to hang you with."

"I get that perspective, but I think we should get ahead of that if it ever does have the chance of going public," She advises.

"That child PSI ring we had to bust was more disgusting than incredible…" Ness adds.

"Oh, what about those Happy Happy weirdos?" Ninten asks.

"Oh, okay yeah that was crazy weird!" Paula exclaims.

"Kinda embarrassing it took us and Ninten's group to deal with that nonsense…" Jeff says.

"Those are the people who wanted everything painted blue right? Didn't they like create their own town and stuff?" Tracy asks.

"Yeah, it was super suspicious but there wasn't anything wrong they were doing. Until we learned it was storing chemical weapons and forcible converting people into their way of thinking. Jeff and Loid went undercover to see what was up." Ness said.

"They made me rather quickly unfortunately, Loid was able to fly under the radar since we tried to pretend that we didn't know each other. Not one of my proudest moments I admit…"

"Loid said he had to shoot you," Ninten says.

"I don't recall that…"

"I did always wonder who would win in a fight between you and Loid."

"That's childish."

"Sounds like something the loser would say," Ness says. At this Ness and Ninten fist bump with a laugh.

"I think I missed it more when you two didn't get along…"

"Come on we always got along, we mostly fought to get on Lucas' nerves since nothing really bothered him," Ness says. Paula seems to bristle at the name Seemingly getting on guard to diffuse the situation should it escalate. Everyone else is on similar states at the mention of the name.

"That's true. But honestly I'd say our craziest was when we fought the creator of PSI."

"Yeah, what was his name, Gabby or something?"

"Gavin," Paula politely corrects.

"Something like that I think, heh, I'm sure Lucas would be mad we got his dad's name wrong. Kinda weird that whole culture honestly. I still don't quite understand being loyal to someone you disagree with so much…"

"I've heard some of that story, but not the whole thing. Okay so give me the details," Angela says leaning forward with interest.

"Well our little brother Lucas, well little brother by adoption,"

"How can you adopt a little brother?" She asks.

"Don't interrupt," Ness cuts in waving off her statement. "Continue Ninten."

"Thank you sir," Ninten says with a nod. "So our adoptive little brother Lucas turned out to be an alien with like six other siblings. They were made to be these immortal soldiers who could live through pretty much anything. Like I've seen Lucas be stabbed and walk it off, literally the craziest thing ever!"

"Isn't that normal with PSI?" she asks.

"Not necessarily since it only helps the healing process or speeds it up. It takes a large resource of energy to heal an injury. It's not optimal mid combat most times unless it's a minor injury. To be able to heal instantly and then be able to heal the injury with PSI ultimately makes a person invulnerable to all forms of damage. Which is what made them so amazing." Poo explains to her.

"That's right, so with them they were trying to help Lucas remember his past and the plan they had made to defeat their creator. It took all of us, Ninten's group, Lucas' friends from the future, and his siblings to bring that guy down."

"Wow, the fact it took all that must've been crazy since this guy basically created the power you guys use…I can't imagine anything being surprising after that…"

"Well the surprise came much later when a whole bunch of people started revealing they had PSI." Jeff says. "The thing that powered the Immortal Soldiers gave off a residual radiation, and as they were hoping all over the timestream. The radiation gave an odd effect to humans since our species is naturally inclined to have access to PSI powers. Because of our exposure and the use of their powers the radiation permeated throughout the land, so PSI powers began to awaken for many people worldwide."

"So, is that why PSI powers have become such a norm? I hadn't known that…"

"It's a closely guarded secret," Jeff responds.

"Plus no one would believe the answer to the question of why so many people having PSI powers being," Ninten fixes his posture and holds up his hands. "Aliens."

"How do you even know that meme?" She asks.

"The Queen of a country asked the time traveler," he responds with a laugh.

"Oh, grow up Ninten we all have important jobs now," She retorts.

"Speaking of, we should send someone to check on the kids huh?" Paula says.

"I'm sure their fine," Ness says waving the question off.

-000-

The small platoon is beginning to set up a perimeter around the house. This was Luke's chance to pick off a few before it could be established. He had to be quick before the leader could notice and issue orders to the rest. He claws up his hand while perched among the branches of the trees. Tendrils from his back reach down to the soldier below. They grab his arms and throat quickly silencing him with a quick snap. The tendrils release him as the body flops to the ground. Luke moves on to the next diving down toward the soldier slashing their exposed throat and delivering a hard kick sending the body far in the distance as if they were piece of dirt. He jumps back into the branches to move to the next. He sees his next target that noticed that that they were suddenly alone in their advancing on the house. Luke is upon them before they could radio in. Hitting them with a flying knee strike knocking them into a tree. He instructs his symbiont to make him taller so that he is face to face with the person and stare them in their petrified eyes. He grabs him by the face as his tendrils from his hand start moving around the man's face with the tendrils from his back flailing behind him to show his rage to play up his image of a demonic monster.

"Why are you targeting this house?" Luke questions in his distorted voice. He is very clearly angry and the distortion of his mask made his voice come across chilling. The man tries to fight off Luke. He doesn't answer only reaches for the trigger with his finger. Luke noticed too late as the weapon discharges. The brief ring of gunfire is silenced as Luke takes the gun and silences him permanently. "Damn it, sloppy…" he growls. Now the rest of the platoon is on high alert. Luke takes the intercom from the fallen soldier.

"Shots fired! We have a possible bogey, circle around the point of origin."

"Damn it," Luke says. His eyes scan the forest for the platoon before he begins shifting position. He had counted each one and held a memory of each of their location when he saw them. They'd be on him in moments. However, he sees that one of them have either ignored the order or has a different task as he continues to move toward the house, a large burly man. Luke shoots out a tendril from his wrist that attaches to the advancing man. He gives a hard yank pulling him back into the woods before he could set foot on the back porch. He moves to confront that one first but he found himself shot in his side. He recoils at the hit as it felt like a heavy blow that took him off his feet. He quickly rolls, his symbiont repairing the damage before jumping up into the trees again. It wasn't long before gun fire began to lit up the woods. Their aim was precise as they seemed to always lick at his heels. He pulls out one of his handguns to return fire with PSI bullets as he moves amongst the trees. They are quick to find cover under Luke's returning fire, especially since his bullets were able to blast through wood and stone. With the brief reprieve he looks to see the big man had made it to the backdoor. Luke growls it outrage moving toward the house again. The soldiers were pretty well trained as every shot wasn't wasted clearly have weapons with burst fire as there function. His tendrils on his back flail about also successful blocking more bullets from hitting him or the house hopefully. When he touches the back porch he's in position he quickly about faces raising a hand.

"PK Shot!" he exclaims shooting out multiple white arrows of white PSI. The shots aren't precise as they would normally be. The basic idea was to disorient them and give him some cover as he moves toward the house. When he reaches the back of the house, he is surprised to see the burly man come crashing through the glass back door. He ducks down low as the body comes flying past. He looks forward to see Talia with a menacing glare.

"You all will regret crashing this joyous occasion." She lunges at Luke.

"Wait!" he exclaimed deflecting her first punch with his forearm. She snaps her leg up in a kick that he blocks by raising his knee. His tendrils spring from his back to try wrapping around her but she flips backwards deflecting them while in midair.

"A strong opponent, they should've sent you in first," She remarks. Luke glances back seeing the burly man raise up to his feet. He is distracted as Talia moves in again giving a hard right cross into his face, a hammer fist into his head, an open palm strike across his cheek, and a spin kick that knocks him back to the ground. He rolls getting away from her axe kick. He swings his leg tripping up the big man, turning as he falls to throw him back. He turns his attention in time to raise his forearm to block a punch from Talia. He pushes her away, then vaults over her using his shoulders as he uses his gun to shoot the big man back down. He lands behind her but she is quick to swing her leg in a back kick that Luke side steps. He grabs her leg pulling for her to fall into a perfect split. She punches him in the gut, turning then getting on her hands to swing her legs into Luke. He's knocked against the wall of the house. She is on her feet again rushing him. Luke claws up his hand to strike forward that Talia side steps easily in a flash. However, this was planned as he wraps the arm around her back blocking a burst fire of bullets using his arms. He forcible turns her with his arm wrapped around her switching positions. He holds out his gun to fire out into the woods knowingly scoring a direct hit on the shooter.

This was unbeknownst to her as she knocks the arm around her away to give a hard kick knocking his gun away, then blasting him in the stomach with a telekinetic push. It knocks him right into the arm of the big man. He closeline him as he charges and grabs Talia too as he continues his charge, rushing into the wall of the house. His grip was like steel on them both as he smashes them both against a wall. Luke was quick to throw his leg up in a crescent kick. Talia aims for the man's solarplexes with her own kick. The man wasn't budging though.

"Let her go!" a voice exclaims smashing into the man's face knocking him to the floor. Luke sees that it was James that had delivered that hard blow.

"Are you guys okay?" Lauren asks running over to Talia. She glances at Luke who only gives a brief nod before turning his attention to their downed opponent.

"Who is that?" James asks gesturing toward Luke.

"Ghost, he's an ally as far as I can tell," Lauren says.

"But he brought these assassins here!" Talia exclaims.

"I did not, but I will take care of them," Luke says diving toward the man.

"PSI Berserk II!" the man exclaims. Luke is taken aback as the man suddenly knocks Luke away with a hard backhand sending him across the room. Luke flips in the air for his feet to land against the wall.

"PK Beam!" James yells firing a focused beam of PSI. The attack defreacts around the man as he charges forward. James is startled but before he could get closer Luke dives in wrapping his arms around the man's neck. Using his strength and momentum he forces his face into a wall.

"Open the front door!" he exclaims.

"Why?" Lauren asks.

"You want more holes in your house?" Luke retorts.

"Got it!" Nicholas exclaims with the door opened.

Luke pushes off the wall turning with his hips to throw the man through the open door. "Leave him to me," Luke says rushing past them.

"What the heck is going on?" James asks.

"No idea, but that guy has PSI."

"But there are more in the backyard, what about them?" Talia asks.

"Talia and I will deal with those guys, you back up Ghost," Lauren says moving to the back. Talia is slow to understand but quick to follow after her cousin.

"I missed hanging out with you guys," James says cracking his knuckles.

"Keep that enthusiasm, lets go," Nicholas says rushing out the front door with James on his heels.

Luke hated this. Detested this. He was supposed to handle situations like this before the others got involved. He was supposed to deal with them before things escalated like this. Now he's fighting this guy out in the open where anyone could see. What's worst, he was threatening his new family. A family that accepted a monster like him in all his ugliness. They shouldn't, they should hate him, it was human nature after all. He wasn't worth the care and compassion they had shown him all day. He felt that deep within his bones to be true. With each strike he gives, with more blood being spilled, he sees it all as his failure to protect them. He hates humans but wants to be accepted by them so much. How can he do that if other humans kept getting in his way. He wants to kill them all! He wants to kill this man for simply existing! But for some reason each strike he dishes out wouldn't fall the bastard. He was trying to resist the urge to just disembowel the guy in front of his new family. His sort of way to try and pretend he isn't the monster that he truly is but it was looking like that was the only option to end this fight at this rate. Luke's claws slash across his face, stabbing at joints, and he even pushed the man's face into the concrete with an axe kick. However, this behemoth kept going nonstop. He's taken by surprise by a fist that drops down toward him. He crosses his arms taking the blow as his feet sink into the concrete.

"Got your back!" James exclaims smashing his fist into the guy's face knocking him back.

"PK Flash!" Nicholas exclaims throwing out a wave of green psionic energy. However it only sparkled around the man's head. "Damn it, a dud…"

"I said I would handle him," Luke says as his rage subsides into panic.

"Now, we'll handle it," Nicholas says giving Luke a light shove in the shoulder. Luke doesn't say anything only looking at Nicholas. "Don't worry dude, you got our backs we got yours," he mutters in a low voice.

Luke sighs, "Alright, let's blitz him!"

"Alright!" the two other boys exclaim. Nicholas being the fastest get to him first. Using PSI Oscillation his molecules separated as he vibrates. The man's fist passes through him surprising the burly man. Luke slides across the ground to swing his leg, sweeping the forward leg for James to come down from the air to deliver a double fist drop grounding the man in one blow. James jumps back as Luke reaches with his tendrils to wrap around the man's legs and proceeds to slam him back and forth against the ground. The bruiser of a man wasn't done yet as he kicks his legs free rushing forward again. Nicholas and James slide feet first tripping him up for Luke to push his hands out to use this attack that had been itching to come out.

"PK Love!" a burst of white cyan energy shoots out his hand smashing into the soldier so hard his body began trying to merge with the ground. The man lay motionless not moving after that last attack.

"Well, that was great," Nicholas said.

"We overwhelmed him in moments…" Luke says rather astonished. His precise strikes did nothing, but with the combined force of James and himself they knocked him flat. The openings were only possible thanks to Nicholas. It was odd that three of them played to each other's strength so well, as if it was natural. "Odd…" he mutters.

"Nice teamwork," James says turning to Nicholas with a smirk.

"Yeah, working together should made that easy," Nicholas says turning with a sly look at Luke that the other boy chooses to ignore.

"We should probably check on Luke, he didn't come out the bathroom during all that. I guess he's not used to this type of craziness. He must be curled up in the bathroom scared out of his mind…" James says in a bit of concern.

"Yeah, that must be it," Nicholas says glancing at Luke in his Ghost get up.

"RRRAAAGGGH!" yells out the soldier who suddenly came to life again. This surprised all three boys.

"Gotta make sure he's down before ya celebrate," came a voice as the fist is stopped. Luke's eyes widened as he sees Ninten catching the fist of the man with one hand. He caught it with his left hand. The man's struggling to pull his arm back showed the clear difference in strength. With his hand wrapped around the fist, Ninten pulls the arm making the soldier tumble forward, then Ninten pulls back his right arm. He delivers a powerful blow into the man's face. The blow was like an explosion of sound that left everyone's ears ringing as if it was an explosion of thunder. No way was that guy getting back up, maybe not in a week at least. "Been a while since I hit someone that hard, felt good." Ninten crouches down to check the soldier. "Guess he can't take a love tap."

"Dad!" James exclaims rushing up to his father. "What are you doing here?"

"Unsupervised kids with crazy psychic powers, who wouldn't check up on you?" Ninten asked.

"Well we had it handled," Nicholas says.

"I could tell ya did for the most part. You guys have really gotten good," Ninten says ruffling his son's hair. "Thanks for the assist…Ghost was it?" Ninten says as Luke was turning to try and make his exit until Ninten called him out. "Do you know why this happened?" he says looking at their direction.

"These kids are high profile individuals. If something were to happen to them the Chosen Four would go on a war path, most likely creating a situation that could cause war. No doubt they may've wanted to turn them into martyrs."

"Kinda hard to believe they would do that with so few people."

"Well they were well trained and organized. Plus, they had their trump card there. Thank you for your assistance sir."

"Before you go, I have one thing to ask."

"I have no obligation to answer anything."

"I figured, but I want to at least ask," Ninten approaches Luke as the boy hadn't turned to face him. "Does the name Lucas mean anything to you?"

"…I've heard it, but that name means nothing to me," Ghost says before leaping into the air. He lands on the house before jumping away again and out of sight.

"I see…that may be true, but it may not," Ninten says before he lets out a heavy sigh. "I guess I just hope it's true."