My Name Is Justin

Chapter 4

"I Heard the Devil Call My Name"

The super sophisticated jet shot through the evening sky, headed out to sea and its destination. More advanced than anything in the military, the plane had full vertical take-off and landing capabilities as well as Mach-4 flight and special armor that was lighter than aluminum but stronger than titanium.

On board the plane were five people. At the controls was Jetstream, a skilled pilot whose own power of flight made her the perfect candidate to fly the jet through the obstacles they knew would block their journey. Next to her sat her husband the Commander, who was raw power given physical form. He had proven there was nothing physical he could not break or lift, but now he was content to sit and let his wife do what she did best…handle the fine work.

In the seat behind Jetstream sat her son Will, who had just gained the usage of the powers genetically bequeathed him by his parents; he had both his mother's ability to fly and his father's super strength. Only fourteen, Will was being groomed to be part of the next generation of super heroes, and while he looked forward to his destiny, at times he seemed totally clueless as to what to do in certain situations. This was, to date, the strangest situation yet.

Next to Will sat Warren Peace. Only a year older than Will he looked almost his total opposite; tall, powerful and somewhat dangerous with his shoulder length black hair with blood red streaks. Warren was the son of Baron Battle, once a great hero who had gone mad and tried to kill his former friends. Warren had grown up bearing that stigma, and his fearsome power to generate flames and hurl fireballs combined with near physical invulnerability had only made people fear and shun him more.

Behind Warren sat the reason for this flight. Justin Battle had proven to be what he looked like; Warren's twin brother. Save for his snow-white hair, Justin was the physical image of Warren in every way. But where Warren constantly brooded, Justin was usually happy go lucky and friendly…until he had learned of his true heritage. Now he was in a state of wondering and worrying that made the average concerns of being a teenager trivial by comparison. While all teens wondered about themselves and where they came from, Justin had just learned something shocking.

He wasn't supposed to even exist.

He was Warren's twin, but one who had not been born at the same time.

He apparently had not been born at all.

But through putting together a few pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that was Justin's existence, they had found the clues that would lead them to the one who would have all the answers to what was going on.

That man was Dr. Barnabas Mandragore, a super villain who had once been the archenemy of Baron Battle. Though not possessing any super powers, Dr. Mandragore was a scientific genius without peer who had performed seeming miracles with his vast intelligence, though sadly all had been for criminal purposes. That had changed when Baron had become what he did and been locked away. Dr. Mandragore was a villain without a hero to fight, and had gone into retirement only to emerge and save the life of his one-time enemies' son when Warren had nearly died when his powers had manifested in a fit of anger and pain.

Once Warren was safe, Mandragore had not been seen since, but Justin had recognized his picture as a man from a strange recurring dream he had been having for years. That dream was the clue they needed to now seek out this man, and hopefully solve this mystery once and for all.

Everyone had been so quiet once the plane took off. There had really not been anything to say, I guess. Though the Commander and Jetstream at first were totally against it, Will, Warren and I had insisted on going. This was totally about Warren and I, but Will was determined to help as well. In a strange way it seemed that he and Warren had come to look upon each other as brothers as well, and they both wanted to help me find out the truth about myself…and where I fit into the world.

Suddenly a surge of energy ran through my body, and I felt for the first time since I had "powered up" the presence of a storm nearby. I could feel it like a wall coming up in front of us before we even saw it. Then there it was.

"Good lord," Jetstream whispered as she saw what we were heading into.

It was a monstrous storm…an F5 level hurricane that was sitting in one spot, and had been for years from what I understood. It was the first line of defense that had been erected around a remote island that was the home of the man we were coming to see…the man from my green dream.

"This is NOT going to be easy," said Jetstream, "I want you boys to strap yourselves in tight and hang on. I don't think even I can get us through that thing safely, but I'll try."

"Let me help," I said without hesitating, "I can see the energy patterns in the storm, we can at least avoid the lightning that way."

She seemed to think about it for a moment, and then nodded her head in agreement. I then tried to help navigate through the storm even as the howling wind and sheets of rain slammed into us. It was taking all she had to keep the plane in the air, and at one point the Commander had to grab the controls and use his strength to hold the flaps in place so the plane wouldn't go into a nosedive.

Then it stopped. Like flicking a switch the bolts of lightning, winds and rain stopped. Though the sky remained threatening and black, all the other effects of the storm vanished. We were able to fly the rest of the way through the sullen sky and then we spotted it.

In the hurricane's eye was a good-sized island that looked like it was created by a rising volcano that dominated the island from the center. Atop the volcano was a castle that looked like something out of Lord of the Rings, especially since it was lit from below by the red light given off by the volcano's lava flow.

The castle itself was entirely dark, but suddenly a string of lights appeared and led to one of the larger towers, which lit up entirely. Jetstream understood that they were landing lights, and she easily landed the plane in the exact center of the landing pad on the tower's flat top. We all sat and caught our breaths, and then we got out.

To say it was creepy would be putting it mildly. I couldn't resist going and looking over the side of the tower down thousands of feet to the slow moving lava below. I then looked out over the volcano and down into the dark jungle below. I could swear I saw some the trees moving as if something BIG was passing through them, and at that moment I was very glad I couldn't see what it might be.

"Will," the Commander barked, "get back here!"

Will had had the same idea and lifted a few feet into the air to get a better look at what was moving through the jungle. With a sheepish grin he landed back on the tower next to me. I saw that Warren couldn't care less about what might have been out there; he was more interested in getting inside the castle and had already made his way to the large metallic door that had opened by itself to reveal a set of stairs leading down into the tower.

"I want everyone to be extremely careful," said the Commander before we started down the stairs, "Dr. Mandragore is obviously expecting us, but that doesn't mean we'll get a friendly welcome. Stay alert and let me take the lead. And once we find him, let Jetstream and I do the talking. I'm hoping to God that this goes down peacefully, but remember he's an expert at getting into peoples' heads. Don't listen to him even if it sounds like he's telling the truth."

"How will we know when he is?" asked Will.

"That's the problem," said the Commander, "we just won't know, but I'm hoping that we can appeal to the part of him that saved Warren all those years ago…and learn why he did what he did with Justin."

We headed down the flight of stairs lit by fluorescent lights several levels before the stairs went dark and the door to that level opened silently. If he was going for a "haunted house" affect it was really working…at least on Will and me.

That was when the music began. It was a strange, almost haunting sound that echoed down the corridor and wrapped around us like a heavy blanket. None of us knew what the name of it was…but I recognized it. Somehow I knew this music.

"That way," I said, sensing the direction the music was coming from. As one we all headed down the corridor, which was adorned with paintings of people who must have been Dr. Mandragore's family. There was a beautiful older woman dressed in black and purple who had to be his wife, two boys about the same age as my brother and I with one being tall and athletic looking while the younger one was shorter and freakishly over-muscled. The girl was also heavily muscled, but she looked almost magical in a dark purple dress and her shiny black hair cascading loosely almost to her waist. Finally there was a painting of a mischievous looking little boy dressed like his father in a Victorian era style suit.

At the end of the corridor was a large oak door with steel bands that was slightly ajar. The Commander reached out and pushed it all the way open as the music washed over us unabated but not loud. We then entered a gargantuan stone walled chamber that had to be a dining hall of some kind.

High up on a landing connected to the floor by a flight of steps was the source of the music; a strange looking device with two long wires coming out of the top and one side that was being manipulated by the tall, black haired oldest boy in the painting. He was dressed and acting as if he were giving a private concert for us though he did not look at us as he continued to play the strange music by passing his hands through the air around the device. I could see the patterns of electrical energy being manipulated that were causing the sounds that made the music. Seeing him in person gave me one of those strange feelings that I should somehow recognize him, but I wasn't sure why.

And that was where I finally saw him in real life for the first time.

He was sitting at the head of a huge table that was laid out with a banquet of food. An entire roast pig was the centerpiece, along with heaping platters of every type of food imaginable. Large chilled pitchers were all around as well, and he looked like some kind of old world nobleman prepared for dinner guests rather than the fearsome super villain the Commander had kept going on about. He even had the same gentle smile I remembered from my dream.

"Welcome, one and all," he said, standing and bowing low to us, "enter freely, go in safety, and leave some of the happiness you bring."

He was reciting a line from Dracula. This was not a good sign.

"You know why we're here, Barnabas," said the Commander.

"Indeed I do, old friend," smiled Dr. Mandragore, still looking like the kindly man from my dream, "but there is no reason to abstain from partaking of this little repast I had prepared for you. Surely you would not deny the young men a chance to enjoy a hot meal…after all, they are growing boys."

The Commander thought for a moment, then he and his wife looked at each other and they nodded in agreement. With that Will, Warren and I sat down and started eating the incredible food before us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dr. Mandragore smile in approval, taking this show of trust as a compliment.

"I am glad to see that you do not think I would stoop to something as lowly as trying to poison you," he said.

"We know you wouldn't hurt the boys, Barnabas," said Jetstream, trying to be the cooler head of her and her husband, "you've done too much for them already."

"Ah, dear Josephine," smiled Dr. Mandragore, "I am a sheet of glass when trying to hide anything from you."

"Quit with all the flattery and babbling," said the Commander, getting more and more tense by the second, "we want answers about EVERYTHING."

"And by that you mean…"

"What did you do to Justin? How did you…do what you did? How could you?"

"You mean…" he said, "why did I create him?"

The words froze all of us. Did I just hear him right? CREATE…me?

"Actually, that was a poor choice of words. I simply used the resources at hand to…bring about something to balance out an injustice I felt had been committed."

"You tried to create a clone…a copy of Warren to replace him if he died."

"No, I would not do that. Though I have the means at my disposal, it would have been something abhorrent to me…like trying to recreate one of my own children."

"What made you do this?

"I had not slept or hardly eaten in days…weeks. It was in the final dark hours as I sat trying to figure out what to do. I was desperate…and I do not know what angel or demon whispered into my ear what to do, but I knew it was the right thing to do."

"The right thing? Creating another life to replace a lost one?" The Commander was having a hard time trying to understand what Dr. Mandragore was saying.

"You should know better than anyone how desperation can drive someone a little mad…or inspire them, Steven."

"I would never have done this," replied the Commander.

"Even if it had been Theodore?"

Will got a strange look on his face, as if he thought his name had been mentioned.

"Yes William," Dr. Mandragore said to Will while still looking at the Commander, "haven't you ever wondered where your MIDDLE name came from…who you were named after?"

"Don't say another word," threatened the Commander, and he started to take a step towards Dr. Mandragore before Jetstream put her hand on his shoulder.

"Tell him Steve," she said quietly to her husband.

The Commander hesitated as if he was struggling with himself, then he finally slumped a little and began to talk in a quiet voice.

"Theodore…Ted Stronghold…was my younger brother. Two years younger than me."

"Go on," said Dr. Mandragore, though he obviously knew what was about to be said he seemed as anxious as the rest of us.

"It was the spring before I was to go to Sky High. I hadn't powered up yet, but everyone was sure it was a matter of time. I was fourteen and Ted was twelve. We were messing around one afternoon in the woods, on a section of train tracks that weren't used anymore…or so we thought.

"But we were wrong. A train came barreling out of nowhere, and before we knew it, it was almost on top of us. Ted…pushed me out of the way…but he didn't make it."

"But that's not the end…is it my friend?" said Dr. Mandragore with sympathy in his eyes.

"Two hours after it happened…I powered up. My strength kicked in and I…I nearly tore that whole forest apart. I went crazy from grief…why hadn't I gotten stronger sooner…I could have stopped the train…thrown Ted out of the way and I would have easily survived getting hit."

A single tear made its way from the Commander's eye as he lowered his head, obviously still feeling crushed by what had happened.

"Now you understand," said Dr. Mandragore, "I did what I did out of love, Steven. I could not stand the thought of Angelica losing everything like that. She was too good a person, deserving of so much better than what she has had to endure. If I had failed and Warren had died…she would have as well. I could not let that happen."

"But you did succeed," said Jetstream, "you saved Warren and restored him to health. You provided the means for him to control his power. Why would you then…create Justin?"

"But I had not succeeded," said Dr. Mandragore, "not yet. My final chance for a cure was just that…the final chance. If I had failed, Warren would have died in a few days. No my dear, you have it backwards. I created Justin BEFORE I cured Warren."

None of us had been moving, or even eating for the past few minutes. This was getting more intense yet strangely understandable by the moment. I looked at my brother sitting next to me, and I put a hand on his shoulder. I needed the anchoring contact as much as he did right now.

"I took samples of Warren's blood and hair, and was able to analyze them to find the defect that was killing him. Though I neutralized it, I knew I needed to totally reverse the process, and I could not do that without a sample of Baron's blood. But the means of procuring it were not yet in place, so I…improvised.

"I recreated Warren, but did subtle changes to the dna so that he would not suffer from the fiery effects of the energy that was a part of his very being. I altered the spectrum of electromagnetism from heat to electricity. I then placed…the embryo…in this…"

A television screen flicked on, showing a lab in the center of which was a large sphere filled with a slowly bubbling green liquid. The liquid was the same color as from my dream.

"An artificial womb so that Justin could gestate and grow. I had to make him the same age as Warren, so I sped up the aging process and within a week there was a perfectly healthy eight year old boy waiting to be born."

"That's why I remember you," I finally spoke, "I was having flashbacks to when…"

"To when you were in there," said Dr. Mandragore again with the gentle smile I remembered. "More than once I would be working there and I would find you looking at me with those big dark eyes. The same eyes as your father…and Warren."

"And I remember you too," I said, pointing at the black haired young man who had been playing the music when we entered, "you were the one playing the music for me."

"Marduke?" said Dr. Mandragore, "what does he mean?"

At first the boy was silent, then he stood up and began descending the stairs to come to the floor and join us. He seemed both embarrassed and proud at the same time.

"Yes Dad," he said, "I found out about Justin after you had cured Warren. I was wandering through the castle one day when I saw you entering that lab which you had forbidden all of us but Mother to enter. You used an electronic keypad, but you didn't know I was nearby and I have an ear for music…I heard and instantly memorized the sounds of the key code.

"I waited for hours until you left, then I entered the code and went in. I saw Justin…but I thought he was Warren…I couldn't understand because I had just…"

"Just what?"

"Just left Warren in his hospital room. I visited him whenever he was asleep and no one was around."

Warren looked surprised, which was a feat considering how stone faced he seemed from the moment I had first been…reunited, I guess…with him.

"I used to go see Warren all the time. He was…he was my best friend, like you and his dad were, Dad," said Marduke, "even though he never knew I existed. Then, when Warren left the hospital, I knew I couldn't go see him anymore. You and Mother had forbidden us…all us kids…from having any contact with Warren or his mother, and we never knew why."

"Because," said Dr. Mandragore, "we Mandragores had brought enough pain and sorrow into their lives to last for an eternity. They deserved peace and happiness."

"But WE wouldn't have been bad," said Marduke, "at least I know I and Victoria wouldn't. I would NEVER have hurt Warren, I…he was my friend."

It sounded like Marduke was about to say something else, but had caught himself at the last second.

"I found Justin in the lab. I didn't know why he was there; I was just fascinated by him. I would visit him every day instead of Warren…I don't know, maybe I had become dependant on having contact with someone I…imagined to be a friend. I would sit with him for hours, playing my music for him. Once in a while he would open his eyes and look at me like Warren had never done. And he would smile at me."

Marduke's voice was becoming heavier with emotion by the second. This kid had as much emotional baggage as we did, but there was something he just couldn't bring himself to say out loud. He had nearly done it several times.

"Then one day," said Marduke, a tear rolling from one of his strange colored eyes, "he was gone. The sphere was empty and I…I couldn't ask you and Mother what had happened because I wasn't supposed to know he was there. My friend was gone and…I thought he had died."

Even his father was dumbstruck by what Marduke had said. He rose from his chair and went to stand beside his son, placing his hands on his shoulders.

"My poor son," he said, his own voice becoming raspy with emotion, "all these years and you never let on.

"But see," he said, pointing at me, "he is alive. There he is, strong and healthy as his brother beside him. The two sons of Baron Battle and Angelica Peace."

His words struck me. Even he called Warren and I "brothers", the man who admitted that he had created me out of a part of my brother like Eve was created from a piece of Adam. If not for him, neither of us would be alive.

"Thank you."

Everyone stopped. Then they all looked at the one who had spoken.

It was Warren. He had stood up and was looking directly at Dr. Mandragore, his dark eyes shining for the first time since I had met him.

"Thank you for saving my life," he said, coming around the table and approaching the man who had once been our father's arch enemy, "I…I didn't even know until recently what had happened when I was little."

"The fever induced coma," said Dr. Mandragore, "it caused a touch of brain damage…wiped out your memory of what happened. We," he indicated the Commander and Jetstream, "all agreed it would be best not to tell you of it until you were older…if ever."

Warren now stood face to face with Dr. Mandragore, looking him straight in the eye.

"Thank you for trying to help my…our dad," he said, "and thank you for helping Mom." He then held out his hand, "and thank you for giving me a brother."

Dr. Mandragore smiled and took Warren's hand, shaking it.

"You are a good, strong young man," he said to my brother, "your parents must be very proud of you."

"Yes we are," came a voice from the huge doorway, one we all recognized.

There, standing in the entrance, was Angelica Peace. Her cascade of snow white hair had been pulled back in a braid that ran down the length of her back, and she was wearing a form-fitting white bodysuit with silver gloves and boots…it was her costume from when she used to be a super heroine.

"And I have a few words for you as well, old devil," she said as she looked directly at Dr. Mandragore with her sightless green eyes.

To be continued

Note: the device Marduke is playing is called a theremin; it's the forerunner of the synthesizer that creates sounds and music by generating an electromagnetic field that's manipulated by the player's hands as they pass through and around the field.