Random fact of the day: The Metal Gear Solid 2 soundtrack is excellent for this kind of fic-writing ;) *Bows and worships mp3 files*

A/N 1: As in the previous chapters – ideas for fic and character development, questions, plotbunnies, suggestions, flames, character pictures, corrections, additions, comments, and everything in between can be mailed to hack_heaven@usa.net

A/N 2:

XFreakx: 'Jerkier'? Well, the guy isn't exactly sane, you know *eg* And thank you for reviewing – one gotta love reviews ;)

SilentPegasus: Don't be too mad at Ryan – the guy expected a fair fight, after all. It's not his fault that Blade despises rules ;)

Maxwell Dark: Evil? Who, *me*? Impossible! *cough* Oh, and if I figure out a way to work it in, would you mind if I hooked Zach up with Deirdre?

Anonymous: Don't worry, there *will* be a Hal centred interlude later on (can't say exactly when, but it'll be there). Hal and Aaron are just very good friends – Hal will be hooked up with a new character later on. And yes, in a way she is a bit like Jubilee – she hides an awful lot of pain beneath the confident/careless facade.

Italics indicates thoughts

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Twisted Nights

* * *

The abandoned plant was eerily silent when Jordane and Aaron arrived. They had passed Blade's car, and an old van, but there was no sound of footsteps, no talking, no fighting...no sign that anyone was there.

Something was wrong.

Aaron and Jordane exchanged a look, and slowly continued, frequently stopping to make sure that they wouldn't walk into an ambush of some sort. They expected an attack any moment...

...But none came.

It appeared that they were completely alone. Utterly, completely alone, and for some reason this only served to make the duo even more nervous.

"You sure this is the right address?" Jordane mumbled.

"It's the address Blade gave you," Aaron whispered back. "Who knows if he gave you the right one."

Jordane shook her head slightly.

"I think he did. He didn't-"

Aaron held up a scaled hand, and Jordane fell silent. She concentrated, and then she heard it, too – the sound of slow footsteps.

They sneaked closer, careful to stay in the shadows. This way they hoped to keep the element of surprise on their side – after all, they were only two, and neither had very destructive powers.

They crept around a corner – and found themselves staring at a wide, relatively empty, area. At the opposite site a shadowy figure was kneeling next to a small pond. He moved slightly and the moonlight shone directly into his eyes, but he didn't react. He just stared at the mirror image in the pond.

"Cretes," Aaron hissed.

"So that's who Blade was gonna meet," Jordane whispered.

"Speaking on which...where is he? He hates Ryan – he wouldn't just let him go, would he?"

"Fuck!" Jordane muttered and nodded at an unmoving form a bit away. "I found him."

Aaron followed her eyes. It was Blade, all right – unconscious, judging from the slow movement of his chest with every breath.

"That asshole!" Jordane hissed and glared hatefully at Ryan. "That fucking asshole!"

"Jordane, no!"

Aaron tried to stop her, but it was too late – Jordane had already lost control, and was now far too strong for Aaron to handle.

"What the hell did you do to him, you fucking bastard!?!" Jordane screamed.

* * *

The sudden scream interrupted Blade's thoughts, and only then did he discover that he wasn't alone at the plant. It took him less than a second to realize the seriousness of the situation - Jordane had lost control and fully intended to kill the person she thought was Ryan. And Blade was still too drained to fight her for long.

Under normal circumstance he could have defeated her, but now...

No! Not now, Melee. Not now, damnit!

Blade stood up and forced himself to ignore the thundering headache. He would have only one chance to take down Jordane, and wasting it would be a bad idea.

Jordane came closer, the fury obvious on her face. When in berserker-mode, she grew considerably stronger and faster, but after knowing her for almost four years, Blade was very familiar with her vulnerabilities...namely the fact that in situations like this, she was too furious to even consider watching her back. When she lost control, she aimed for destruction, not for finesse, and that was probably the one thing that could save Blade's life.

Jordane attacked, and Blade got out of the way in the nick of time. She turned around, ready to attack again-

-And for the briefest of seconds, she let her guards down.

Blade reacted instantly and took her down with a well-placed kick. He pinned her to the hard ground, but it was only a temporary setback for Jordane. With her strength it would only be a matter of seconds before she got loose, and Blade had to get through to her before that happened.

"Stop it, Melee, damnit!" he barked. "Snap out of it, girl! Melee!"

The words found their way through Jordane's rage, and she slowly started to realize something – the man who had just defeated her might look like Ryan, but he behaved nothing like the leader of the Guardians. His words, his fighting-style, his hard expression – definitely not Ryan. If anything, he behaved like-

"Blade?" she whispered, almost disbelieving, and she stopped her furious struggle.

Blade slowly got up and rubbed his temples. The energy he'd needed to fend off Jordane's attack had caused the headache to intensify, and quite frankly, he felt like shit. Jordane got up again as well, all the while watching him carefully.

"Yeah," he finally replied. "It's me."

"But you're-he's...what happened?" Aaron asked confused.

Blade sighed and sat down on a pile of old concrete blocks.

"Long story. Short version – as far as I can tell, Ryan fucked up and caused a mindswitch."

Aaron and Jordane turned to look at Blade's – Ryan's – still unconscious body.

"So that's Ryan?" Aaron hissed.

"Yes," Blade replied, and rested his head in his hands.

"And what are we gonna do about that?" Jordane asked.

Blade sighed again.

"I have no idea."

Aaron frowned.

"Can't you just..." he trailed off and made a small, dismissing motion with his hand. "You know...?"

"No, I can't," Blade replied, slightly annoyed. "First of all I have no idea of what the hell Cretes did – hell, I don't even think *he* knows – and secondly, that headache he gave me pretty much prevents any use of telepathic power."

"Should we bring him back with us?" Jordane asked. "He might be useful to us."

"Bad idea – the Guardians would come looking for him as soon as they discovered that he was missing," Aaron disagreed. "I say we wake him up and make him say what he did to cause this. Then we can wait until the headache is gone and you can reverse the process," he told Blade.

"But who knows how long it'll take before the headache is gone?" Jordane objected. "Couldn't we-"

"Quiet! Both of you," Blade snapped, the pain making him even more short-tempered than usual.

Aaron and Jordane immediately shut up.

"Since I'm stuck in this body, I might as well use it to my advantage," Blade said, and sent his new body a rather disgusted look.

"Infiltrate the Guardians?" Aaron guessed.

"Exactly."

"Are you sure? I mean, you're still weak from the fight, and you don't even know where the Guardians are staying," Jordane objected.

"I'll wait for a while before I leave – regain some of my strength. As for the other problem...Aaron!" Blade ordered. "Search the van. See if there's anything that hints to their location."

Aaron nodded and hurried back to the cars.

"Are you sure about this, Blade?" Jordane asked concerned. "If they discovered the truth, they could-"

"-They couldn't do anything. I'd stun them and leave," Blade reassured her. The hidden meaning wasn't lost on Jordane – stun them, kill them, whatever worked. Blade wasn't picky.

Jordane bit her lower lip.

"Just...be careful."

"I will," Blade promised.

Quick footsteps signalized Aaron's return, and the two turned around.

"Got it!" Aaron reported and tossed something to Blade. The black-haired mutant caught it midair, then opened his hand and looked at a set of keys.

"'Holiday Inn, Pittsburgh'," he read and smirked. "And they even provided us with an address...how nice of them."

"Where and when are we gonna rendezvous?" Jordane asked.

"Chicago, in three days," Blade replied. "That's long enough to cause some trouble, but short enough to prevent too much suspiciousness."

"Where, exactly?" Aaron asked. "Chicago is big."

Blade frowned.

"Melee, do you remember the motel we stayed in when we had to lay low?"

"The Chinese one downtown, after the deal with..." she trailed off and sent Aaron a quick look. "The one we stayed in three years ago? How could I forget? We were stuck there for a fucking month."

Blade smiled faintly.

"That's the one. Let's pray it got better."

Jordane sighed.

"Whatever you say. You're the boss."

Blade just smirked.

"Good girl."

"Umm...sorry to interrupt, but what about Ryan?" Aaron asked. "We can't leave him here. I mean, you'll need your body again, right?"

Blade nodded slowly and crouched next to Ryan's – or actually his own – immobile form. He looked thoughtfully at the other mutant for a long moment, then stood up again.

Jordane and Aaron looked questioningly at him, but Blade just picked up one of his guns and hid it underneath his jacket. He sent Ryan another look, then finally turned around to face his two teammates.

"Break him," he finally ordered coldly. "You can use anything short of physical violence – psychological torture, mindgames, manipulations, I don't care...just break him."

* * *

Coming up: Ryan wakes up and gets the shock of a lifetime. But can he actually handle the suddenly transformation into his own nemesis? And how are the Guardians going to react to the sudden change in their leader's personality?