My Name Is Justin

Chapter 5

"For Every Door That Closes"

It was the end.

Outside he could hear the thunderous sounds of the battle, knowing it was going against him and his friends. There were the thunderous blows destroying the stone statues his wife had animated and sent against their opponents. There was roaring and howling of the hurricane winds Blowhard was blowing to try to knock them from the sky as Rockabilly's sonic pulse guitar played ear-splitting riffs to unleash sonic energy blasts. Over this could be heard the roar of the monstrous Tyrannosaur and the scream of the Harpy as they engaged their enemies in physical combat. The rumbling of the seismic shockwaves used by Mr. Richtor covered any sound that might be made as Black Ice used her cold generating power to assault their foes with hailstones and shard of ice.

His friends were fighting. They were losing.

Friends.

An unusual word to use considering who they were, but it was the correct one.

Now those friends were giving their all, trying to give him the time he needed to escape, because that was how they always did it. Even if they were all captured as long as he was free they knew he would return and set them free to begin again.

Only this time he did not want to escape.

No, this time was different. He was not leaving. He was staying.

He was going to end it all.

It would be so easy. All he had to do was press the red button on the control console, and the monstrous energy field that was surrounding Maxville would reverse polarity. Instead of being an impenetrable force field that was holding the entire city hostage, it would simply disintegrate everything within it. Where once there had been a city there would be a sheet of glass several miles in circumference.

It would be quite a feat, an act of mass destruction unparalleled by any other super villain in history. And all it would take would be the simple push of a button…

"You won't do it."

It wasn't a threat. It wasn't a guess. It was a simple statement of fact.

He did not need to look up to know who was speaking. He recognized the melodic voice as that of one of his enemies…if that word could truly be used for her.

"You sound so sure of that…but are you?"

"I have total confidence in you. You would never do such a horrible thing. It would be beneath you."

"Ah, but I AM a super villain…who knows what I am capable of?"

He felt a strong, slim hand rest on his shoulder. Though it was capable of crushing his bones to powder without effort, he knew he was in no danger. He finally looked up at the tall, athletic and beautiful woman standing next to him.

Her hair was a virtual halo of spun silver that flowed down to the small of her back, held out of her face by a small glittering tiara. Her flawless face would be the envy of any sculptor, with tip-tilted green eyes and full red lips that needed no coloring. She wore a one-piece silver body suit that showed every curve of her lithe body, along with white gloves and boots.

"You are a super villain," said the woman, "but you are also a man of honor and you are not a killer."

He relaxed finally, unable to fight this truth. For all the crimes he had committed, he would never kill anyone. An odd thing for one who devoted his life to the acquisition of wealth and power while fighting the super heroes of the world, but that was the truth of things.

"Come along Barnabas," said Angelica Peace as she helped her husband's arch-enemy to his feet, "I think we have all had enough for today. The others have already been captured, and we're all waiting for you outside."

"Yes," he said quietly, "I do feel slightly fatigued. I'm afraid I'm getting a little old for this…and children will do that as well."

"You don't believe that at all," she smiled as she walked with him, "and I think I'll let you in on a little secret. You won't be the only one with a son very soon."

The news startled him, bringing him out of his melancholy in an instant.

"You mean…?"

Angelica only smiled and nodded as they left the building, stepping out into the early evening that was alive with the sounds of sirens from law enforcement and rescue units come to back up the heroes who had already done the hard work.

Dr. Mandragore stood tall as he was led out by Angelica Peace, his outer veneer of sneering at the cameras taking pictures of him and the other captured villains hiding the joy that was now within him. Baron and Angelica were soon to be parents, and their son would doubtlessly go on to become the hero little Marduke would bedevil in the future. Somehow those made things seem more right in the world.

Now they stood facing each other once more for the first time in over eight years. Much had happened to both of them, but there was still no true animosity between them. Indeed, all that had happened had had the opposite effect.

"Hello, Barnabas," said Angelica as she entered the room, making her way unerringly to where Dr. Mandragore stood as he had been shaking hands with Warren. Her son broke contact with him and turned to his mother.

"Mom," said Warren, "what are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"I'll explain later," smiled Angelica as she placed a reassuring hand on her son's shoulder, "right now I have something very important to talk to an old friend about."

With that she continued on until she stood in front of Dr. Mandragore, who actually seemed to shrink from her presence as if he was afraid of her somehow. She only smiled, then reached out and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I once told you that, though you were a villain, you were still a man of honor. I knew that when you saved my dearest son all those years ago, and now as I discover that you went beyond even that. You gave me another son…you gave me Justin. And you did it for me."

"I did what I felt was right," said Dr. Mandragore, visibly calming from Angelica's touch, "I could not let such a terrible thing happen to someone like you. We had both already lost Baron…I could not stand losing you as well."

"Angelica," said the Commander, stepping forward, "do you mean you're actually okay with this? That he created a clone of your son?"

"Yes," said Angelica, "I understand completely why he did it. I cannot fault him for caring so much for us. And how could I be angry with him when my love has been doubled with the life of Justin?"

"But what about all the rest of it," continued the Commander, "why hide him out for years, especially with Richtor and Harpy acting as his parents? If what he did was so great, why did he try to hide it?"

He found her in the lab again, once more in the presence of the small figure that floated gently in the sphere's green contents. She was not looking at it, but still she was drawn to it.

"Is what I have done too horrible that you cannot look upon him?" he asked her.

"No," she answered, "not horrible. He is…too beautiful."

"You want him for yourself, don't you?"

"Yes Barnabas," said Lucretia Mandragore as she was finally able to bring her dark eyes up to look at the little boy in the tank, "I want so much to take him out of there…to hold him in my arms and love him as I love our other children."

"But he isn't one of our children, my beloved."

"Why not?" she shot back angrily, her eyes suddenly ablaze with the literal fire they once had when she was the super villainess known and feared as the Shadowitch. "Why can I not claim him as my own? No one knows of his existence except for us…he could be another son…the son…"

"The son you dreamed of having with Baron all those years ago?"

Lucretia could not look her husband in the eye at that statement. It was true that for years she had been in love with Baron Battle since the start of their respective careers. Most of the mad schemes she had tried were actually attempts to get Baron's attention and try to win his love, yet she had always been thwarted by Angelica Peace. Even when Lucretia had first met Barnabas in an alliance against their respective foes, she had been trying to win Baron just as Barnabas had been seeking his defeat.

"Do not be ashamed," Barnabas said as he took his wife's face in his hands so she met his gaze, "I may be a villain, but only a truly heartless fiend would hold such a thing against you. I know a part of you still loves my old friend, and I will not begrudge you that.

"But the fact remains we cannot "keep" him. How would we explain his presence to the children? Sooner or later word would leak out of his existence…and then who knows what would happen?"

"You don't mean to keep him locked up in there forever, do you?"

"Of course not," Dr. Mandragore replied, "such a thing would be unspeakable. No, he will be awakened, but in a place and way that no one would ever be able to know who he truly is. I have already made such arrangements, and they are to be carried out within the week."

"You turned an innocent child over to a pair of criminals…one of whom has tried to kill my wife on several occasions," said the Commander, his anger not lessening at all, "that's not the action of someone genuinely concerned with a child's welfare."

"But you are thinking about those two from BEFORE the hearing when you and Josephine tried to adopt Warren," said Dr. Mandragore. "Remember, they both willingly testified on your behalves. And you did not see them after what happened…happened.

"So you both fully understand what I am asking of you?"

Both the sharp-featured woman and burly man nodded their heads. They were dressed in normal clothing, their costumes packed and hidden away. They stood in the living room of the modest home that had been bought and furnished for them by their benefactor as they listened to his final instructions.

"The sedative will wear off within an hour. When Justin awakens you are to act as if he has been ill for several days, and has only just now come home from the hospital. You know how you are to answer any questions he may have, especially why he can't remember anything until today."

"The fever, " said Letha Talone, better known to the world as the Harpy, but now using the name Leslie Rexton, "he's suffered memory loss due to the high fever he had."

"Exactly," said Dr. Mandragore, knowing that young Warren had suffered the same thing for real after his powers had manifested in a fit of rage and grief against the Commander, "I thought it best not to program any false memories into his mind…there would be too many questions if he started learning things to the contrary."

"What do we do if…you know," asked Mr. Richtor, who was now using the alias of John Rexton.

"If his powers manifest unexpectedly, contact me immediately," said Dr. Mandragore, indicating the small communicator they were to keep hidden from Justin, "I have made sure they will not do so spontaneously at this age as what happened with Warren. They should only do so at the onset of puberty, which we will have a few years to prepare for. What form they make take…I am not sure of. I have realigned the genes so that it will be electrical in nature rather than thermal…but other than that I cannot say.

"And I have one more thing to say," he said, his face becoming the grimmest and most determined the two villains had ever seen, so much so that it unnerved even them. "The two of you are officially retired from your…careers. You are to lead normal, exemplary lives with no more attention to the goings on of the super human community than any other normal citizen. Do not speak of ANY of the supers around Justin. If he becomes interested in super heroes…as most children are, do not do anything to discourage his interest nor draw undo attention to it. Do not even reveal who you really are if and when his powers manifest. As far as he will know he will be a first born super."

"What about…Sky High?"

"That is why you are in California," said Dr. Mandragore, "so he will go to Sky High West. There is very little contact between this school's student body and Sky High, so the chances of anyone actually noticing any possible resemblance to Warren Peace will be put down as mere coincidence."

"But what if someone notices…and we're found out?"

"In that case," said Dr. Mandragore, "we shall all be in for a very interesting time indeed."

"That's why Mom…the Harpy was so scared," said Justin, who had remained silent during the entire explanation, "she was scared of being punished somehow."

"I'm afraid the ordeal rather unhinged poor Letha," said Dr. Mandragore, "who knew someone who was such a vicious creature could become such a frightened and overly protective mother? Luckily I found her and convinced her everything would be alright."

"Is she…is she here?"

"No, I'm afraid not," said Dr. Mandragore, "she is in a safe house right now, hiding out until she is sure everything will be alright. She is especially afraid of…well, me. I'm afraid she thinks I will blame her for what has happened, but actually it is mostly Richard's fault…at least letting his baser nature get the better of him and committing all those robberies. If he had just waited a little longer so you're powers manifested, she wouldn't have panicked that the authorities would trace him back to your home and think you were some new young villain being raised by them."

"Please," said Justin, "please let her I'm alright…and that I'm grateful for all she did. She wasn't my real mom…but she'll be "Mom" to me."

"I certainly shall," smiled Dr. Mandragore, "and I couldn't have put it better myself."

"I…I don't know what to say," said Justin with tears forming in the corners of his eyes, "how can I ever thank you?"

"Just go home, my boy," smiled Dr. Mandragore, taking one last long look at the boy he had created, "go home and start a wonderful life and a grand adventure with all these other wonderful young heroes to be. Become a force that will make all your future enemies curse my very name for having created you…and that will be all the thanks I will need.

As they prepared to leave, Angelica Peace looked over into one of the darkness enshrouded corners of the great hall. To anyone else it would have looked like any of the other parts of the room, and never noticed the tall figure standing there. She wore a black dress, and her own long black hair seemed to merge into the shadows around her. It was no wonder she had used to use the name Shadowitch. She had been the one who transported Angelica to the castle so that she could hear everything that transpired between her husband's old enemy turned friend and her son…sons.

"Thank you Lucretia," said Angelica in a gentle whisper she knew her one time archenemy could hear.

And in answer, the shadowy form smiled.

I stood there on the tower that was also the landing site of the jet that we had arrived in. I again looked out over the edge of the tower, across the lava that glowed below the castle and out beyond to the jungle. Though I was looking at sights that I never imagined I would see in real life a couple of days ago, I was too deep in thought about all that had been revealed.

I was a clone; a copy of a young man who was the son of a fallen hero. I did not really exist. But here I was. What meaning did my life have now? I wasn't even really fifteen going on sixteen; I was actually seven or eight years old. No wonder I had no memories of my childhood…I never had one. Now I have learned everything about myself…but I still don't know anything.

"So…what are you thinking about?"

I turned and saw him standing there. Warren Peace. My brother. It was still uncanny how he looked like me…or rather I looked like him, considering I came from him.

This was all so confusing. God, I wish I were back in Malibu, going to school and being a kid again without all this weird sci-fi stuff going on. I just wanted to go back to playing ball with my friends, going to school and having my parents back…even if they had only been villains ordered to raise me thousands of miles away from where I came from.

"What have I GOT to think about," I answered a little too briskly, "I don't have anything…period. I never had a real home…a family…I don't really exist."

"That's bull," said Warren as he came closer, " you have a family. You've got Mom and Dad…well, Mom anyway for now, and you've got me."

"I don't know," I said truthfully, "it's all happening so fast. I just found out I'm not a real person and…"

"Don't be stupid," said Warren, "of course you're real! Dude, you're my twin brother, and I can honestly tell you it freaked me out at first…but now I like it."

"Well good for you," I shot back, "but I…I feel so alone. What do you know about that?"

"Don't you freaking tell ME about loneliness," said Warren, his eyes suddenly actually turning red, "you may have spent some time in a jar then raised for a couple of years by undercover crooks, but you didn't have to live every day with the stigma of what Dad did. Everybody looking at you funny, either scared to death you'd go ballistic over something or ready to point at you and say, "I told you so" about being a nut like Dad. So save your soap opera sob story and be glad you've got people who want you and love you."

"They don't want or love ME," I shot back, "they want and love YOU! I'm just caught in the fallout because I look like you! I AM NOT YOU! I WANT TO BE ME! DON'T YOU GET IT?"

And that's when it happened. In one moment of anger and frustration I blasted out at Warren with a bolt of lightning, sending him flying to slam into a nearby wall with terrific impact. The stone was actually cracked where he had hit it as he slumped down to the ground. In horror I realized what I had done, and I started to run to him when I saw him do the impossible.

He stood back up like nothing had happened. He glared at me for a second, angry at what I had done, then his hands burst into flames, scaring me for a moment as I had never seen him use his power before.

"Little brother," he said, "looks like you need a lesson in manners."

He then began hurling balls of fire at me. I instantly panicked as the deadly projectiles slammed all around me, scorching the bare stone and exploding. Warren was also coming towards me, the fire creeping up his arms to race across his shoulders until his entire upper body was like a bonfire. I could feel the heat coming off of him, and I lashed out with another lightning bolt, but I missed him and struck the tower wall behind him. The wall was already weak from Warren being slammed into it, so the lightning finished it off. With a deep rumbling it started to fall towards us.

"WARREN!" I screamed as I started to run to my brother, desperate to get him out of the way. He only stood there, still on fire as I impacted with him just as the wall fell on us. I cursed myself that I had killed us both, and then everything went black.

I woke up to find I was covered with rubble, but I wasn't injured…I didn't even feel hurt. I pushed up and a large chunk of stone moved easily out of my way. I did it again with another, and I was hit in the face with fresh air. I was able to uncover myself and stood up, a little woozy but amazingly unharmed. I looked down and, though my clothes were trashed, there wasn't a scratch on me.

"Took you long enough," I heard Warren say, and I turned to see he had already dug himself out of the rubble as well and was dusting himself off. Now I understood the practicality of the leather and denim he wore as his clothes could take a beating and still be okay.

"How…" I stammered, again caught up in the wonder of having any type of super power, "how did I…we…survive that? That was a solid stone wall…who knows how much it weighed? I…you…"

"It's called "invulnerability"," said Warren, unable to keep from grinning at my being so awestruck, "we got it from Mom…and a touch of her strength too. We're both pretty tough…actually it takes a LOT to hurt us, but we're both vulnerable to suffocation though. Otherwise we could probably bounce each other off every wall in Mandragore Castle and all it would do is make them file a major homeowner's policy for the damage caused. You should have seen the mess Stronghold and I made of the cafeteria at school."

I couldn't think straight. I didn't know where to begin for a second, but I knew what I had to say.

"I…I'm sorry," I said to my brother, "I didn't mean to zap you like that…"

"It's cool," said Warren as he helped me get out of the pile of rubble, "we've BOTH got Dad's bad temper I guess. Just be careful where you aim those things though."

"Easy for you to say," I told him as I regained my feet, "I have no idea how I even do it, and how am I going to learn how to control it anyway?"

"I think I know just the place," Warren smiled.

"Alright, listen up," said Coach Boomer to the small group of students that had joined at the start of spring semester at Sky High, "I know some of you are different classes, but ALL of you will get up here and demonstrate your power to see where you get placed. Let's get started with…"

Boomer paused a moment as he looked down at his clipboard at the list of names, and one in particular caught his eye. This had to be a joke. There was no way…

He then looked at the new students, and he felt a chill go down his spine as he realized one tall new kid in particular looked EXTREMELY familiar. The snow white hair tied in a pony tail was the only thing that had kept him from putting two and two together at first, but there was no way of hiding the resemblance; he was even wearing a leather jacket and blue jeans, but his tee shirt was blue with the Chinese symbol for lighting on the chest.

"You can't possibly be…" started Coach Boomer as he looked directly at the boy.

"Yes sir," the kid smiled easily, "my name's Battle…Justin Battle."

The End