Because I think that it's so important to thank the reviewers (that, and I admire Mysterious Midnight for doing it), I'ma thank the people who review every chapter from now on. It's a nice thing to do!

Raya: As usual, I always appreciate any crumbs you throw my way. Thanx for the continued support. And you need to update "Broken Promises" like yesterday. I been waitin' forever…

Chyp: I'm diggin' your style of reviewing. Short, sweet, and to the point. About the whole new getting new powers: keep in mind that this is a long-term series of stories, spanning all four years of college. Developing new powers takes time, but James may be the first to get one (soon, thanks to you). Trust me, when they start getting new powers, I'm sure they'll be the good, brand name, whoop ass kind!

Okay, a lot goin' on in this chapter, so try to keep up!

"And that," Professor Lewis explained, "is one of the primary functions of the occipital lobe of the brain. So, the next time you get whacked in the back of the head, where the occipital lobe is located, what might happen if you got whacked hard enough?"

"You'd lose your vision," James answered, raising his hand.

"Yes," Professor Lewis responded. "You might want to put a little extra padding in the back of your hats when you go out at night, then."

"Or walk backwards," Wesley commented to James as the clock struck three o'clock.

"That's all for today, people," the professor said as students began to noisily pack up their belongings. "Don't forget to read chapter twenty-two for next time. Ohh!"

Dr. Sharon Lewis, a psychology professor, was putting away the human brain that she had brought to class as a visual aid. It was stored in a formaldehyde solution, which kept it preserved and prevented it from decomposing. She had reached for the brain when one of the students had accidentally bumped into her. The brain was just about to splatter all over the floor when everything suddenly stopped moving.

"What are you doing?" James asked, annoyed. "There are a room full of people in here! You can't do that!"

"The brain almost got smashed," Wesley said. "Besides, everybody's frozen. Nobody will ever know."

He carefully squeezed through the mess of frozen people and made his way to the brain, which was literally inches from the hard floor. He wasn't wearing gloves, like Professor Lewis, so he had to move the organ with his bare hands. It felt like he was holding an unusually heavy spongy melon. He quickly replaced the brain back on the table, maneuvered his way back to his original spot, and unfroze the classroom. He looked back at James, who only clapped in reply. They left the classroom and went on with the day. Wesley went straight to a bathroom to wash his hands.

Lina paced back and forth in her room, trying to come up with a new way to deal with the three brother witches known as the Complete. So far, the best she had been able to do was get other demons and warlocks vanquished. It wasn't making sense to her; she was one of the best demonic assassins in the Underworld. She had killed so many other witches that she lost count. Why, then, was she having such a hard time with this latest assignment, which she took on months ago?

It wasn't Wesley. In fact, he was the one she would make sure she got rid of first. Somehow, he had started to figure out what she was doing. That had to stop…soon. It wasn't Matthew, either. He was formidable, though, so he definitely would have to go. It had to have been James, the oldest. She had fallen for him after all. She could no longer deny her feelings for him. It was her love for him that kept her from doing her job. She knew that as long as they continued seeing each other, she would always end up helping him and his brothers at the last minute. It happened with Krasney, the Demon of Choice. It happened with Thomas, the nearly-impossible-to-vanquish warlock. Who knew who it might happen to next?

And then it hit her. She had been going about this the wrong way. Dealing with ordinary witches was one thing, but these were the most powerful witches in history. She finally theorized that the answer did not always have to be supernatural. If she could break them apart from the inside out, that might be a lot easier to handle…

"It was a clean save," Wesley defended himself. "You can't say that it wasn't, Jimmy."

"Okay," James said. "It was a clean save."

"And you're sure nobody saw you?" Matthew asked.

"For the millionth time," Wesley sighed, "yes! Trust me, people."

"Fine," Matthew said. "Just try to keep the time freezing to a minimum."

"I'll use mine as much as you use yours," Wesley said as the phone rang. James went to answer it. "Can I do that, Matt?"

"No," Matthew answered. "I'm older and more mature. You can't handle the responsibility."

"That's crazy," Wesley said. "You're only one year older, and I'll give you a whole three months of extra maturity."

"And I will take those three months," Matthew said. James hung up the phone and rejoined his brothers.

"That was the bookstore," James told Wesley. "They need you to come and work this weekend for their anniversary sale party or something."

"Sounds like fun," Wesley said sarcastically. "I guess I'll be busy this weekend."

"You didn't have plans," Matthew said.

"Ouch," James said, taunting Wesley.

"At least my plans this weekend aren't shady," Wesley replied, looking at James and congratulating himself. "Ouch!"

"What are you trying to say?" James asked.

"I don't care what you think," Wesley said, "but I still think that girl Lina is bad news and you need to stay away from her. Right, Matt?"

"Don't put me in the middle," Matthew commented.

"You were born in the middle," James said. "Now whose side are you on?"

"If I had to say," Matthew said, "I'd be on Jimmy's side. Sorry, homeboy. I just don't see anything wrong with her."

"I didn't wanna say this earlier," Wesley said, his tone changing from light to serious, "but remember the two demons we dealt with earlier, Thomas and Krasney? I think that I saw her hanging around both times. And I really think that Thomas was talking about her right before he…you know, exploded."

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that," James said, his tone changing as well. "She's not connected with anything supernatural. If you don't like her, then just say it. Don't give me any crap about her being evil. You're spreading lies."

"First of all," Wesley corrected, "you agreed not to talk about it. Second of all, I don't like her. Third of all, I'm not lying."

"A minute ago you said you thought," Matthew pointed out. "Now you know all of a sudden?"

"No," Wesley said, confused, "I mean yes, or not. I just don't trust her. Some things about her just don't add up."

"What if I started saying bad things about Stephanie?" James suggested. "How would that make you feel?"

"I'd feel fine if what you were saying was true," Wesley said.

"Okay," Matthew inserted, "end of round one. Jimmy, go to your room. Homeboy, go sit over there. I think we've had enough for one day. Shake hands before you go."

James glared at Matthew, who glared at Wesley, who glared at James. With a little forceful nudging, Matthew pushed Wesley towards James and they hesitantly shook hands, although James' grip was a lot stronger than usual. They both commented on how lame Matthew was before leaving each other's presence.

James sat at his desk, furious with what Wesley had said about Lina. He had no right to accuse her of anything, he thought. Wesley didn't even know her! He tried to put the whole thing out of his mind when someone knocked on the door. He calmed himself down first, then opened the door. He was surprised when Stephanie walked inside his room.

"Hey, Jimmy," she said. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Uh," Jimmy said, "sure. Come in."

So, Wesley is getting into the knack of "saving the day" all willy-nilly. He and Jimmy also seem a lot more argumentative than usual now. I wonder what's goin' on with that. Now Stephanie wants to talk to Jimmy about something. What!? Coming up: whatever happened between Jimmy and Stephanie seemed to prompt her to have a talk with Wesley. Plus, the shit starts to hit the fan!