With the posting of this chapter comes a wonderful announcement! I've just finished writing this story in its entirety! Congratulations to me! Now, I'm hard at work on the next episode, but if anyone has ANY ideas, no matter what, by all means shoot me an e-mail.

chyp: I'm glad you liked it.


James awoke with a long, rumbling groan, not by volition, but from the searing pain in his arm. He looked at it. Someone had treated it and it now rested in a cast, but the pain still remained there, not ready to leave. He slowly sat up and examined his surroundings. He appeared to be in a large room full of other people with injuries. Long lines of beds spanned the length of the entire room. No one seemed to be around to treat any of them, though. He stood to his feet, feeling a little woozy.

"Where are you going?" a voice asked. "They're not gonna let you leave."

"Huh?" James asked. "Who are 'they?'"

"The Order," the voice replied. "Once you're here, you're here. I should know. I've been here for years."

"Who are you?" James asked. "Are you a witch?"

"The name's Jacinda Tavaras," the woman responded, "emphasis on the 'va.' And you are?"

"Jimmy Armstrong," James said, "emphasis on the 'arm.'"

"I can see that," Jacinda said, pointing to James' injured arm. "How'd you get it? Were you in a fight? Was it supernatural? What kind of powers do you have?"

"Do you always ask so many questions?" James asked as politely as he could muster. "Sorry. I'm just a little confused right now. I hurt my arm fighting the people who brought us here, the Order, I guess."

"Who's 'us?'" Jacinda asked. "You were brought here with someone else?"

"Yes," he answered. "My brother and I were both taken."

"You have a brother?" Jacinda asked. "That must be nice. Are you two close? I wish I had siblings, but I don't. It's kinda lonely, not having brothers or sisters, but it has its perks. I don't have to share anything with anyone."

"If I died would you stop talking?" James asked, sounding as if he had been the one talking excessively.

"Sorry," she said. "Sometimes I get too caught up in my talking. It happens sometimes."

"No matter," James said, scratching his head. "What matters now is finding my brothers so that we can get the hell out of here, wherever we are."

"Brothers," Jacinda asked, "as in more than one?"

"Two," James replied. "Me and my two brothers."

"How many powers do they have?" Jacinda asked. "That's how they separate us, by the number of powers we have. We're still in the medical ward, so they just bunch us all in here together. But when we get out, it's back to the quarters. I've got two, myself. I'm an electro-kinetic and a teleporter."

"I'm telekinetic," James said, "and can clone myself. My brothers each have two, well kind of."

"If they can control it," Jacinda explained, "it counts."

"Then one," James corrected.


Wesley tiptoed to Matthew's bed, despite the extreme soreness that engulfed his body. Bells had rung just seconds before, causing all the other captured witches to file out of their quarters in their usual depressed fashion. He made sure to keep a low profile, to avoid any suspicious activity lest he be found out. He slunk over to his brother's bed, where Matthew lay with a bandage on his head.

"Matt," he whispered, "what are you doing here?"

"Homeboy?" Matthew asked, raising his head briefly before dropping it again. "I have a killer headache and a cold collar around my neck."

"Yeah," Wesley said, "they're not a very good look for anybody around here. Listen, where's Jimmy?"

"I don't know," Matthew answered. "I just got here. All I know is that he was hurt pretty bad before I ended up here."

"Damn it," Wesley cursed silently. "We have to get out of here. Any ideas?"

"Me?" Matthew asked. "You're the one who's been here longest. You got anything to share?"

"Sorry," Wesley said, throwing his hands up in defense, "didn't mean to start anything. Well, apparently, these collars keep us from using our powers, so if we can get them off, then maybe we can go from there."

"That's a monumental conclusion," Matthew said. "That's all you've been able to come up with?"

"Yes," Wesley said, smiling a little bit.

Just before he could open his mouth, his face immediately scrunched up and twisted to one of utter pain and discomfort. He fell to his knees, shaking uncontrollably as something unseen sent jolts of electricity surging powerfully through his body. A guard walked in soon after, with a small green remote control in his hands. He grinned slyly as he watched Wesley suffer. Matthew reached over to help him, but the moment they came into contact, he began shaking as well, somehow sharing the same pain as Wesley.

"You shouldn't touch someone with an activated collar," the guard said as he reluctantly used the remote to switch off the two brothers' collars. "It'll just activate your own. No wonder it went off in the first place. Missing from the caves, I see. And from the looks of it, I'd guess that you two are a couple of the special ones, if you know what I mean. I think it's best that you get back out there to those caves, time-stopper, and leave the phaser alone until he's ready to work."

"I have a name," Wesley said as he still shook involuntarily.

"Of course you do," the guard said. "It's OIMC4SW3. Now get to work."