Here's yet another chapter. I think this is the longest story I've worked on thus far, so bear with me while I try to end it gracefully and un-awkwardly. The way it's going, I see a good few more chapters in store for this story…I'm doing the best I can!
chyp: Thank you kindly. Bringing back characters from old stories every now and then gives the whole series a kind of continuation, I like to think.
James and Matthew turned around to see a man, one who resembled the kidnappers from Matthew's premonition, along with three others. They appeared to come from nowhere, and surrounded the two brothers, each one laughing.
"Don't they look a little familiar?" James asked, keeping both eyes on the intruders.
"Like the ones who attacked when we were doing the Christmas lights?" Matthew answered as he and James slowly backed against each other.
"Four against two," James said with a sneer. "It's almost unfair."
Without warning, James jumped into the air, leaping over the sofa, and landed right next to one of the men. He threw a punch that landed in the man's stomach, causing him to keel over. With a follow up using his other arm, the man was knocked into the dining room table, smashing it in the process.
"Watch what you're doing!" Matthew shouted. "That stuff's not cheap, either!"
Matthew had meanwhile engaged himself with two men at the same time. He quickly ducked as they both threw their fists at him. Using his boxing reflexes, he grabbed both their arms and pulled them together, slamming them into each other. He kicked one in the back and the two found themselves backing uncontrollably into a wall.
James waved his hand at one of the chairs left standing. It rose from its place and hurled itself at the fourth man. The man crossed his arms and absorbed the force of the chair. The impact forced him back a few feet, but otherwise he felt fine. That is, until he saw James suddenly running at him. There was no time to react as James' fist connected with his jaw. The bone crunching blow took the man into the air as he landed on the floor with a thud.
"That's that," James said, brushing his hands.
"Jimmy!" Matthew called. "Watch out!"
James suddenly turned around to see the first man he thought was still becoming acquainted with the dining room table. He had taken one of the pieces of splintered wood and swung it at James with all his might. With a quickness, James barely managed to bring his hand up to protect his face. His left arm caught the full impact of the large plank. He quickly snatched his arm back in pain and looked at the man with an undeniable hatred. With his uninjured hand, he waved it ferociously at the man. However, a faint green aura flashed in front of him and his power came back at him, throwing him into Matthew, who was busy fending off the other two men twenty feet away.
He crashed into Matthew and the two of them fell to the floor, James still clutching his bleeding, splintery arm. Matthew had just enough time to sweep his foot under one of the men to keep him from attacking then. He jumped back to his feet, but with James still on the ground, the odds shifted to four against one as the four men regrouped and advanced together. His powers not completely offensive in nature, Matthew grabbed James off the floor and tried to settle him. James had passed out from the blinding pain in his arms, which now bled freely.
Each of the four men raised their hands, conjuring small green flames that hungrily flickered in their hands. They threw them at Matthew and James. Still trying to keep James on his feet, Matthew had no time to defend himself and the last thing he saw was green.
"Kill me now," Wesley muttered. "Manual labor sucks. We must've been out working for the whole day."
"It's only been a few hours," Joe said. "It's lunchtime. At least they give us that much."
After five grueling hours of digging in dank, dark caves, Wesley and the other witches stationed in his quarters finally received a brief rest period for lunch. Their superiors, a group of green military uniformed demons, allowed them to return to their quarters for one hour only to rest, eat, and prepare themselves for the afternoon part of the work schedule.
Wesley barely made it to his small bed and fell onto it, no longer caring that the bed's mattress seemed to be made from wood and other non-soft materials. Having never been forced to work so extensively, the five hours of the morning drained him completely. There was no way that he could be asked, or forced, to do anything in one lousy hour.
"Looks like we have a new witch in here," Joe said to Wesley, who paid him little to no attention. "I'm gonna go and introduce myself, calm him down a little bit. You rest up. They don't show any mercy."
Wesley lay motionless on his hard bed, wondering what kind of miracle it would take to get him out of this situation. He thought long and hard about using his powers, but grimaced at the thought of thousands of volts of electricity surging through his body. Somehow, it didn't seem worth the risk. There had to be a way out of those collars, he thought. What it was, though, he had absolutely no idea. If only Matthew or even James were there to help him…
Time seemed to race by as the seconds quickly added up. Before he knew it, Wesley had laid down for almost a full hour, and his condition seemed even worse than before. His joints ached. His muscles felt strained. No part of him felt fine. Joe joined him not much later.
"Hope you're feeling better," he told Wesley. "I've been talking to the new guy over there. He told me he was a phaser, whatever that means. Name was…"
"Matt!" Wesley chimed in, a smile crossing his face. "His name was Matt, wasn't it?"
"You know him?" Joe asked.
"He's my brother!" Wesley exclaimed, jumping up. "Long story, don't ask. Where did you say he was?"
