To Nadja, a great writer and a wonderful friend. Oh, and I bought a present for you, babe. They're made of metal, they need a key to be opened, there's a chain hanging from them, and they have fake, pink fur around them...*eg* Warned ya, didn't I? ;)
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: VFgirl: Oh, gold star! Shiny, shiny!!! Don't worry, we'll get to some action...eventually *eg*. Right now I'm having too much fun with the mindgames ;) And no, despite persistent rumors among friends and enemies alike, Blade and Jordane don't normally sleep together (well, there was this one night, but really...;)
Maxwell Dark: Of course *g*. Ah, it's great to be evil ;)
Phoenixdreams: Don't worry, I won't kill anyone off just yet. I'll wait a while - I only kill characters when I have a reason to do so *g*
Archangel: Well, babe, then you better behave or I'll sic Ocelot on you...;)
Italics indicates thoughts
'...' indicates a conversation between Jhonen and a spirit
Well, what do you know? With this chapter, we just passed the 100 pages.
* * *
Chapter Twenty: A Whole New Dimension of Bad
* * *
In the past, there had been days when Blade had wondered why the hell he had ever created the team. Days when Pheonix stubbornly resisted any weapon training, when Hal curled up in her room and tried to lose herself in the timestream, when Zach and Aaron got into once screaming match after the other, when Laetitia moped around, alternately cursing her father and mourning her lost childhood, and when Jordane looked at him with eyes that said 'Come on, give them another chance.'
Those were bad days. Luckily there hadn't been too many of them, but they had been there.
Then there were the few days that were worse.
Backstabbing customers, meddlesome cops, murderous FoHs, gunshots and the like belonged in that category.
And then there were days like this: trapped with a bunch of goody-two-shoes that were all determined to protect humanity from him.
That wasn't bad. That wasn't even in the same fucking dimension as bad. This was so goddamn horrible that Blade would gladly have surrendered to the FoH, just to get away from the Guardians. Unfortunately, he couldn't. They had only gotten to Lima that day, and he still had to survive two more days before the rendezvous in Chicago with the others.
He had waited until the Guardians were fast asleep, then disappeared outside, the only place where he could be fairly certain that no one would bother him.
Because he'd already had more than enough of them.
Diana had been fussing around him all day, alternating between worrying about his health and yelling at him for not telling them where he had been going. He had tried to explain to her in as Ryan-like a way as possible that it was one of those things he had had to face alone. Diana had just thrown her arms up in exasperation and muttered something about 'stupid macho-behavior'.
Blade sighed. It was days like this that really made him appreciate Jordane's less mothering attitude. Sure, she'd behaved that way once or twice, but only when there had been a good reason for doing so. There had only been one good things about Diana's behavior – Blade had easily been able to convince her that he was too exhausted to use his powers, and let her get them across the border instead by making the guards trust them.
Then there was Deirdre. She had almost assaulted him, in the sense that she'd thrown herself in his arms and told him – repeatedly – how happy she was that he was okay, and that he shouldn't have gone out alone. Then she'd hugged him again, and Blade had fought the strong urge to push her away. He didn't care much for physical contact, especially not with some loud, attention-craving fifteen-year-old girl.
Unfortunately, he knew that Ryan didn't mind and thus Blade was pretty much forced to put up with her behavior.
Kyle hadn't been nearly as bad. His only comment had been 'you're crazy, Ryan' and that was the end of that subject. The guy was pretty quiet compared to the others, but there was no mistaken the intelligence hidden behind his dark blue eyes. Very smart, very observant...under different circumstances Blade might even have grown to like him.
Ben had reacted pretty much the same way. The guy was even quieter than Kyle, and seemed awfully fond of solitude. He had healed the worst of the bruises, and then packed his bags quietly while the others had discussed their future plans. That suited Blade just fine – the less contact he had with the Guardians, the less chance of discovery.
Jhonen...Blade didn't know what to make of that kid. One moment he was funny and optimistic, the next he seemed almost cynical.
Must be his powers. Hearing voices in your head all day could drive anyone crazy.
But apparently, he didn't pose any real threat to Blade, who quickly decided to focus on other, more dangerous, opponents...like Prue.
Prue had been the wild card. Blade had no idea that Ryan had picked up a new teammate, so Prue's sudden appearance had shocked him to say the least. To make matters worse he didn't know anything about her. Not a thing. It had taken half an hour before someone had called her by name, and Blade had yet to find out her last name, powers, and history.
That wasn't good. That wasn't good at all. It would only take a few, wrong comments for people to get suspicious, and once that happened he would have a very hard time keeping up his charade.
He couldn't even use Ryan's powers to manipulate them, or control their minds. It required a lot of a training, something which Blade didn't have. He suspected that he *could* use the mindbolts, but if he did, it would be very unlikely that he could control who and where it struck.
Great. Fucking great.
And finally there was Suzuka, whom Blade know already knew had certain suspicions. It had been his own, damn fault, too. She had asked him if he wanted to train with her, since she needed the exercise. In his amazing stupidity, he had agreed and forgotten one very important thing: he didn't fight the same way Ryan did. Their styles were fundamentally different, and Suzuka should have blind to miss it.
Fuck! Blade thought and hit the wall with the palm of his hand. You fucking idiot.
Suzuka had spent the rest of the day watching him cautiously. Sure, she tried to hide it, but Blade knew what to look for. He also knew that it was only a matter of time before she figured out exactly what had happened.
Great job. Less than a day and one of them already suspects you. Nice going. Very sneaky. Very intelligent. Idiot!
He slammed his hand into the wall again, then returned to his brooding.
* * *
'So he's outside, brooding like there was no tomorrow. Grated, it *is* a little unusual for Ryan to brood, but he's had a bad couple of nights. Can I go back to sleep now?' Jhonen asked, more than a bit annoyed.
He had been pulled out of his nice, peaceful sleep by Erik, who had insisted that Jhonen should take a look outside.
Quite frankly, Jhonen failed to see what was so damn interesting out there.
'Don't you think there's something...different...about him?' Erik hinted.
Jhonen sighed exasperated.
'Like what? A new haircut, maybe? Listen, whatever it is, I don't care. It can wait until tomorrow.'
Erik sighed.
'You're telling me that you didn't notice anything different about him today? Nothing whatsoever?'
Jhonen was about to tell Erik to shut up when he realized something: Erik was right. Ryan *had* been acting a bit differently. Not much, but now that he had been alerted to it, it was hard to miss.
Ryan's claim that he was too exhausted to use his powers, for one. Even the few times Ryan had used so much strength that he'd collapsed, he had still be able to use his powers the next day.
Then there was his behavior around Diana and Deirdre. If Jhonen didn't know any better, he would have thought that Ryan wanted to get away from them. He certainly hadn't appeared too happy about their constant worrying.
And Suzuka – she'd commented that Ryan had fought differently than usual. And she would know, would she? After all, she and Ryan had been training together regularly for quite a while.
'See?' Erik asked.
'Okay. You got my attention,' Jhonen admitted. 'What's wrong with him?'
'Ever heard of something called a mindswitch?'
'Sure...it's when two minds switch bodies. But it can only happen between two telepaths, right? And he's the only telepath around here,' Jhonen remarked.
'Nope,' Erik replied smugly.
'Who would---no way. That's not possible, okay? You're fucking insane, man!' Jhonen objected when he finally caught up with Erik's train of thought.
'And why would it be impossible? No one was around when they fought, and although Blade is a low-level telepath, he *is* telepathic,' Erik disagreed.
'You're crazy. Fucking nuts. You're telling me that Ryan switched minds with Blade? You're lying.'
'I'm a spirit, moron. You have completely control of my world. I can't fucking lie to you, even if I wanted to!' Erik snapped.
Shit.
Jhonen sank to the floor and leaned against the wall.
We're in trouble. We're in so much trouble it's not even funny.
'I gotta warn the others,' he finally said. 'We gotta do something – now.'
'NO!' Erik almost shouted, and Jhonen could have sworn that he sounded almost scared.
''No'?...Whose side are you on, anyway?' Jhonen asked, only half joking.
Erik sighed.
'Haven't you learned anything, dumbass? First of all – they wouldn't believe you. I mean, how the fuck would you prove that he isn't Ryan? Ask him about a so-called secret? He could get the answer by using Ryan's power, damnit!'
Jhonen paused, and Erik continued.
'Secondly...do you have any fucking idea of how someone like Blade would react if you backed him into a corner? No? Then let me tell you. He would do anything within his power to take you out, even if it meant his own goddamn death. And I can guarantee you – he is not unarmed.'
Jhonen closed his eyes briefly.
'Oh, damn. I hadn't thought about that. Okay...okay. You seem to be thinking a lot more clearly than me right now - what do you suggest we do?'
Erik waited a moment before he replied, and Jhonen could almost hear the wheels turning inside his head.
'We talk to him,' he finally replied. 'We tell him that we know who he really is, and have a chat with him.'
'What?! Are you insane? Do you want me to walk out there and say 'Hey, Ryan. Listen, I know you're actually Blade, so why don't we sit down and have a long talk?'. He would kill me! They would never find the body! I'd end up as one more number in the missing person statistics! He'd-'
'Would you calm down for a moment? I didn't say you should go out there *now*. Wait until tomorrow. That way the others will be awake and nearby, and Blade won't be tempted to do anything to you,' Erik explained patiently.
'He's gonna kill me!' Jhonen repeated.
'No, he'd not,' Erik half-growled. 'If he wanted you dead, wouldn't he have done it by now?'
Jhonen sighed.
'Okay, then let's pretend that I'm going along with your idea. What would the point be, anyway? Endangering my life?'
'How about getting to know your enemy?' Erik suggested. 'I mean, think about it. You have the chance to talk with Ryan's worst enemy without endangering yourself. How many times in a lifetime do you think that fucking happens?'
'Forget it. I know his reputation - there's no way I'm going anywhere near him.'
Erik shrugged.
'Have it your way. Just think about it, okay?'
Jhonen sighed. If it would get Erik off his back...
'Sure. Why not? I'll think about it, but I'm not promising anything.'
Erik's only reply was a confident smirk.
* * *
Coming up: How is Kyle going to react to Suzuka's suspicions? What's Jhonen going to do with the information Erik gave him? And just how far can Laetitia push Ryan before he gives himself away?
