Disclaimer: Do you really think I own anything other than the people you haven't heard of before? ... That's what I thought.

On a completely unrelated note - I kind of have a thing for cliff hangers, if you haven't noticed.

Chapter Five: Black as Night

The other three groups heard the screams, and when they went down to the basement, they were more than a little confused. Rem and Caleb were tangled together in the center of the room, energy pulsating around them, all objects in the room shaking. Both were sprawled out on the floor. After a few more minutes of the pandemonium, every thing suddenly stopped. The six could see Rem and Caleb in the same position as before, both breathing hard. Rem's face looked tear stained, and even Caleb's eyes appeared to be watering.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Pogue, the first to break out of the trance, as he rushed over.

Caleb tried several times to speak, but failed each attempt. He did, however, note Rem shaking and gingerly put his arms around her. The two sat in a dazed silence until Rem finally spoke, "Well, we, uh, found out how to combine our powers," she said with a wince.

"So you two completely crossed the line of just working together and went ahead and combined your powers just to see what would happen?!" Reid exclaimed.

"Uh, well, we hadn't known what it would do. We were just testing to see if our powers would actually combine," replied Caleb, scratching his head.

"Never do anything like that if you don't know what'll happen!" Tyler and Kira, the logical ones, yelled in unison.

"Sorry, Mom and Dad," muttered Rem, rolling her eyes. She pulled away from Caleb, trying to see if she could stand, and to her surprise, she could. Caleb followed suit. The two glanced at each other then at the other six.

"How do you feel?" Brianne asked.

"Good," Caleb and Rem replied in unison. They glanced at each other confusedly, but shrugged it off as a side affect. They both then walked upstairs to grab something to drink. Their footsteps left a trail of what appeared to be sparkling blue dust. Kira and Monica thought it looked like star dust.

"Oh, that is so not normal!" said Tyler.

Within the next few days, each set of two had combined powers. Everyone was now sitting in the closed in back yard, at the home of the Sons of Ipswich. They were getting used to the extra power in their bodies, but no one was really sure if they could go through the combining again. "Do we really need to?" asked Brianne. "We're already stronger as it is."

"But are we strong enough to defeat Nathaba?" Tyler pondered.

"Of course not," said a hissing voice from behind them. Gaius jumped down from Pogue's balcony, landing in the center of their circle. "Nathaba has her temporary body and she is more powerful then you will ever be. She has sent me here to give you the date of your battle."

"Why don't you give her something from us instead? Like... your dead body?" Reid suggested, standing up.

Gaius snorted. "As if you morons could kill me."

Brianne stood also, ready to fight. She and Reid were so alike sometimes that it was scary. "What do you think, guys, perfect chance to test things out?" Pogue glanced at Caleb, who nodded, Brianne did have a point. The circle closed in on Gaius, who still stood laughing. He stopped once everyone's eyes went black as night and he was trapped.

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