Last time, it was a battle royal as Jill, Virgil, Steve, and Laura charged the ranks of Stitchlings, which were made by the evil witches, Stormy, Icy and Darcy Trix. Harry, Ron and Herminoe were to keep Bloom covered, but Icy got behind them. Harry blasted Icy, who in returned froze everyone except Herminoe and Laura. Laura dispatched Icy and dueled Darcy, while Herminoe thawed out everyone who was frozen. Stormy zapped Laura, and the Trix sisters escaped. And now, on with the show!

Chapter 23: Concerning Meta-Humans

Later that evening, Herminoe was writing in her journal, while Jill Sparrow and Professor McGonagall were discussing how the Order and the Ramblers were going to work together. Bloom was telling Virgil everything she knew about the Trix sisters, so that when the show up again, "And they'll show up again, believe me," said Bloom, they would be ready for them. All the while, Harry was watching the sun go down. He was so deep in thought he didn't know that Max Kildare was sitting beside him.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Max. "I guess so," replied Harry. "Listen, you're frustrated, I can tell." Said Max. "It's just that," said Harry," Everything seemed to be getting better. Now, with those Dark Witches out there, things aren't looking so good."

"Look, you went up against an enemy without any prior information on said enemy and survived. That's incredible for someone your age." "Yeah, well what were you doing at my age?" asked Harry. "I was doing what I could on my own to keep the world safe." Replied Max.

"Just what are you people?" asked Harry. "It's complicated," replied Max. "Try me," said Harry. Max looked like he really wanted to tell Harry. "It's to long a story," said Max, "There are parts so incredible, I sometimes doubt it if they even happened." "Still, try me." "Not now. But I promise, I'll tell you what I can, when the time is right." "Thanks a lot." Said Harry unconvincingly.

"Any way, I've got the perfect way to burn off that pent up frustration." Said Max. "Really?" asked Harry, "How?" "Simple, I want you to hit me as hard as you can." "What?" asked Harry in not sure he herd Max correctly. "I want you to hit me as hard as you can." Replied Max.

Lets pause for a moment so I can tell you, the audience a bit about Max Kildare.

Name: Max "Distructicus Maximus" Kildare

Age: 24

Birthday: August 29

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Height: 5' 7"

Blood Type: B+

Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland USA

Weapon of choice: Twin 45 caliber revolvers with sandlewood grips.

High-level martial arts experience;

Superior strength; above average intelligence.

Founding member of the elite paranormal combat team, The Ramblers.

Enjoys listening to Pink Floyd; The Doors; Led Zeppelin; and ACDC.

Other interests include marksmanship, fine dinning and mountain climbing.

Further information to be released.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Fan Fiction

It took a few seconds before Harry realized that Max was serious. "No, I'm not hitting you." Said Harry. "What's the matter?" asked Max, "You don't think you can do it?" "No, it's not that," responded Harry. "Or is it that you think you can hurt me?" asked Max. "No, it's just stupid." "Well I don't think it's stupid. You're frustrated, I'm volunteering as something for you to hit. So hit me."

"This is so stupid." Said Harry. "It's not stupid," said Max as he took off his jacket. "There may come a time when you won't have your wand to defend yourself. Learning how to physically defend your self is anything but stupid. Now hit me!" Harry looked at Max as he readied himself for Harry's blow. "Where do you want me to hit you?" asked Harry. "Oh, surprise me." Said Max. Harry hesitated, then swung a hard left at the right side of Max's face. "OW! F#ck!" exclaimed Max as he stumbled, clutching at his right ear. "You hit me in the f#ck$ng ear!" "I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Harry. "No, no that was good." Replied Max. "Next time, try aiming a little more to the center."

Over the next hour, Max showed Harry the basics of Martial Arts. When they were finished, Harry could hardly breathe, while Max hadn't even broke a sweat. "Feeling better?" asked Max. "I think so," panted Harry as he sat down, "Answer me this, what, are, you?" "What do you mean?" asked Max. "I, mean, you hardly, look tired." "Oh, that." Max sat down, as if thinking extremely hard over something. "Okay, I'll tell you. But first, understand this. If I tell you, there's no going back. Once you're in, you're in."

"I'm not so easily deterred." Said Harry. Max sighed, and started talking. "I assume that you and your friends have guessed that myself and my teammates aren't what you'd call normal." "You can say that again." Said Harry. "Anyway," said Max, "if you were to examine my DNA, you'd find some things that only show up in a fraction of the human race. Excuse me, I meant a fraction of a fraction. The same goes for Jill, Steve and Fay Valentine. As well as D.P. and Skeater. We were born with genes that enhance us physically. Increased strength; heighten reflexes; fast healing, just to name a few abilities."

"What about the others?" asked Harry, "like Laura and Virgil?" "Virgil, well he's a genius. No, he's much more than a genius. At age 2, he memorized the dictionary. At age 7, he could speak, read and write in 17 languages. You saw his eyes?" Harry nodded. He doubted he would ever forget Virgil's cyber eyes. "His inventions," said Max, "Not only that, he designed our space station."

"And Laura?" "Laura is something else. I've worked with her for over three years, and I've still haven't seen her limits." "Yeah, what about those symbols on her skin?" "I wish I could tell you." "Well if you're not going to tell me..." said Harry. "No its just that I really don't know what they are. They show up when Laura gets really angry, or when she's using more of her power. What they mean, not even Virgil knows." "He doesn't?" asked Harry. "Virgil told me once that they don't match up with any language in the history of the human race."

"This is too much." Said Harry. "I know," said Max, "That's why the majority of the world doesn't know about us Meta-Humans." "Meta-Humans?" asked Harry. "Well, that's what Virgil says we should call ourselves. It's better than being called Mutants." "It sure does." Replied Harry. "We are the next step in human evolution, the future. Does that answer your questions?" asked Max. "Some, but there's still more." "Well, I've got time to answer one more before dinner."

Harry thought before asking, "Why do Steve and Virgil hate each other so much?" "It's a long story. In a nutshell, Virgil hates Steve because Steve was born with the strength enhancing genes. Steve hates Virgil because Virgil is much more smarter than Steve. Now, no more questions, let's eat!" Harry followed Max back into the house. Even though he had some answers, there were still far more questions.

The end of chapter 23. Next chapter, we finally find out who R.A.B. is. See you next time!