Chapter 5: The Blunder

Disclaimer: If you really want to read it, then go to my other four chapter. They'll tell you that Bioware does in fact own Mass Effect and all related content

MEMEMEME

"He's coming. Get ready boys."

Shepard was in high spirits. Not even the stern warning his father had given him about returning so late could phase him. Shepard was so caught up in the present moment that nothing could have prepared him for what was to come.

And best of all, it was finally spring break, so no school for two weeks. He planned to spend as much time with Sam as possible.

He headed to their usually meeting spot, a little grove on the plain surrounded by large ten-foot rocks off the winding country road. He and Sam usually met up with here to plan their next activity, or eat lunch, or any one of the numerous things new couples did together. He smiled lazily as he tried, and failed, to remember how many times thay had come here to escape the pressures at school during lunch and after class. As he approached the rock formations, he noticed a parked hover car, but figured it was just another couple that had found this spot. He and Sam might need to find a new place.

His smile disappeared as soon as he heard her scream "No! Let me go! Let me go!" Sam.

"Hold her down."

Like an idiot, Shepard ran into the ring of rocks, threatening the gang to let her go. Only then did he take in the severity of the situation. Sam was on the ground curled up in a ball, and five men, all at least his age, were armed with knives and surrounded her. One of them had taken off his belt, but hadn't gone any further

"Or what?" The leader stepped forward "what are you going to do little Kyler?" The gang laughed at the poor love-struck sixteen year old threatening them without so much as a weapon.

The leader stepped forward and stabbed at him, but Shepard's training took hold. Shifting into an asari defensive stance, he blocked the older man, and brought an elbow to his attackers jaw, knocking him to the ground. He looked down at the bastard laying in the dust. "Don't get up."

Gasping for air he managed to growl "Kill the little bastard. Slowly." His gang moved to do just that.

Shepard resumed the stance, and fought them off as best he could, disarming one, and punching another in the nose. After a few seconds however, it was over. Before Shepard could bring his hands back up to block, one of the men wrapped his leg around Shepard's. He felt the air whoosh out his lungs as he hit the ground, hard. The gang retaliated, kicking him mercilessly while he tried to protect his face, exposing his stomach. Looking at Sam, still on the ground he remembered the words of his tutor.

He was in the clearing where they always trained. Sarona was shaking her head in disappointment. He could tell she was debating on what form his punishment would take.

''Again, do it again.''

He was trying to lift a rock and keep it suspended for as long as he could.

The rock quivered and fell once more.

''You are never going to get this if you refuse to to accept that you are a biotic. You're not comfortable with who you really are, but you will never feel whole if you continue to deny that you area biotic. Relax and let it take over. Embrace the truth, and you will be whole. Feel your rebirth, and embrace eternity.''

A clicking sound brought him back the the present. He was looking at the end of a Kessler I pistol. He saw it and felt his muscle seize up. If his muscles were doing that why did a sense of calm pass over him? Relax and let it take over. He saw the man's finger pull the trigger, and felt a searing pain consume his left shoulder.

The man smiled at Shepard's prone body, writhing in pain at his feet. He aimed his gun again, this time to kill. That asari had told him not to kill the boy, but he wouldn't stop at anything to get at the girl, still in shock behind him. At Shepard was in his way. He continued to smile as he pulled the trigger one last time. He felt the gun fire, but the bullet never hit. Shepard began to glow a dark blue, and the bullet simply stopped in a flash of biotics.

Shepard felt... good. Sure his arm hurt and he couldn't move it, and his body was bruising over, but still he felt good. This must be what Sarona had said about feeling whole. He raised his hand and saw the man with the gun fly back with a satisfying crunch of bone as he hit one of the large rocks surrounding the area.

Shepard rose, but the rest of the gang was too terrified to do anything as all four of them were lifted in the air, and simultaneously sent flying as well.

He heard Sam whimper, he kept an eye on the gang, who had yet to move, and staggered over to comfort her. It was the last thing he should have done.

As soon as he got close, Sam screamed and struggled to her feet and ran "s-stay away from me you freak!"

Shepard wanted to run after her, but he was too shocked. She hats me. she thinks I'm a freak. He felt the sense of being complete and at peace pass. He just felt empty. In capable of feeling.

The man with the gun finally sat up dizzily, grinning through bloody teeth "ouch. You really got screwed over on that one."

The man continued to laugh. Shepard thought he couldn't feel. He had been wrong. Very wrong. He felt anger. Anger at this gang that forced him to reveal his secret, anger at Sam for hating him, and anger at humanity for their narrow view of things. But for once, he didn't feel anger at himself. He had tasted what being a biotic meant, and he wasn't willing to change. He was a biotic, and anyone who had a problem with it could go hang themselves for all he cared.

He was still thinking when a hoarse laugh pierced his thoughts, and returned him to the present. He felt his rage boil over as he looked at the human bleeding on the ground. He didn't deserve to live. Shepard raised his hand and looked in the man's eyes. He saw fear dart through them. He didn't feel complete as the warp field tore through mans body, but he did feel justified.

The gang members watched in horror as their leaders body shuddered, and began to disintegrate. Most found their heels and ran, but one man took to his knee, begging for his life.

Shepard didn't want excuses. He wanted blood, and he would be sated. Shepard lifted the man into the air, and brought him crashing to the ground on top of one of the rock spires. He looked back to the hover car. Two people were trying to get in as fast as they could. Shepard growled and sent a shockwave towards them. The car fliped over, and continued to roll across the plains, crushing the occupants. To make sure, Shepard roared, and sent a warp field at the exposed underbelly of the vehicle. The strength of the warp pieced through the armor on the car, until it hit the engine. Shepard gave a feral grin as flames leapt from the destruction.

He turned to see the remaining two people running in opposite directions. He summoned his biotics and charged, bracing his body in a cocoon of energy to keep his bones from snapping, he charged at a fraction of the speed of light.

The man looked back as he was knocked back. Shepard stood over him, he could see that the mans ribs had been cracked along with his spine, but he was in too much shock to understan he was already dead. He was yelling and screaming at Shepard, offering excuses and apologies, while simultaneously cursing him. Shepard would have pitied the man, if he had been capable of feeling such emotions at the moment. Shepard remembered one of the more exotic techniques Sarona had shown him. One that was incredibly brutal, and known to only a few asari. Something few outside of her 'genetic defect' were capable of. Reave.

Shepard didn't physicaly do anything, but he and the gangster on the ground glowed the same light purple. Dark tendrils of energy leapt from Shepard, and latched themselves onto the man. The gangster screamed profanity and trained to crawl away, but the tendrils anchored him down. Finally, the mans body began to deteriorate at an alarming rate. by fifteen seconds, it looked like little more than a skeleton with skin.

Shepard staggered back and fell to his knees. As his consciousness began to fade, he saw the last man lifted into the air. A purple asari emerged from behind a rock and walked up to the man. She smiled as her eyes turned solid black. Although Sarona didn't visibly do anything the man began to shriek. His entire nervous system began to shut down, and finally his body ceased its struggle, an occasional twitch was the only sign that he had ever been alive.

Finally the asari began to run towards Shepard. He had no wounds, his shoulder having healed from the reave, but he was drained. He had killed four men, one with reave, wich recquired the user to focus in a way that only the Ardat Yakshi knew how. And he had done it, without so much as an amp.

MEMEMEME

Shepard awoke and only had time to see Sarona and his dad hovering over him in his room before a wave of dizziness overcame him.

"Quite, go back to sleep. You'll be okay in a little while. Here drink this." Sarona handed him of a cup of sweat smelling liquid.

Shepard managed to take a few sips of the tea before the herbs and fatigue took hold as he fell back on the pillows.

"How is he?" Sarona looked up at Kyler's father, who was obviously worried, and had his arms crossed over his chest.

"He'll be okay soon John, but he exceeded the amount of biotics he should technically be able to use. Many asrai children his age, even those with amps, would die if they tried to do what he just did, and even if they did survive, they would suffer severe mental degradation. The fact that he is able to survive speaks volumes about his abilities. They are manifesting much faster than we ever anticipated. I'll need to step up his training." She didn't bother telling him that he had also used a technique she had never heard of before.

John nodded his head, still worried. "When will he wake up?"

Sarona shifted her eyes back to Shepard "When he has had time to recover." After a short pause she sighed "A few days maybe? Difficult to tell with this sort of thing. It varies from person to person."

He nodded again and left the room, saying somthing about making a batch of tea. Sarona continued to sit in her chair and meditate on the recent development. She was surprised that he had been able to do what he had done at all, let alone survive it; what worried her though was what happened after he lost consciousness, and what was happening right now.

She hadn't realized it at first, but he was actually absorbing energy from everything around him. Unlike reave, such a technique wouldn't kill a person, but if left in close proximity, they would begin to feel tired, and even lose consciousness. Eventually the victim might die, but it would take a lone time. She looked at his nightstand. That nikata tree was very near dead. Shepard was actually draining energy from all living things around him, and using it to revive himself. She had no doubt that it was the only reason he was able to survive.

Still, Shepard's vitals were dropping, and he could possibly die if she didn't do something. Sarona wanted to meld with Shepard in order to heal him, and make sure he survived, but even mind melds, a weaker form of the Union, were dangerous for Ardat Yakshi. She sighed and hoped he would be able to survive despite this on his own. She didn't want to risk a meld when it could very likely kill him. As her employers had said, Shepard really was an interesting specimen, but he wasn't invincible. She could accidentallykill him, but she didn't have a whole lot of time. If she did nothing he could die, but there was also the danger that her helping him could also kill him. She finally lost her calm and began pacing with her hand accross her chin. His heartbeat was slowly dropping. Thank the goddess John left to make some tea. I can't imagine trying to calm that man if he saw where his son's vitals are.

Well what is the worst case if I do meld with him? He dies. And if I don't? He can still die. Well that's just wonderful. There has to be a safe way to heal him. Think Sarona, what do you know about Kyler? He's resistant to biotics, and has powerful mental barriers and?... he can absorb energy!...

MEMEMEME

Shepard opened his eyes. He looked out the open window, and saw the dark sky, with countless pinpricks of light. Usually he was comforted by looking up at the rest of the universe at night, but now it just made him feel insignificant and small. He had known that Sam would be frightened of him if she discovered he was a biotic, but it didn't make him feel any better. Her last words still stung as he replayed them over and over in his head. He supposed that if she had seen what happened after she left, she would have real reason to be afraid of him. It didn't make him feel any better knowing she did have a reason to feel her, but he still felt pity for himself.

This isn't healthy. His self-pity was making him even more depressed. Shepard managed to think of the fight he had had with the gang. Despite being trained in some of the best hand-to-hand tactics, his mundane abilities had failed. He began to feel accomplishment at what he had done. How easily he had killed. It had come naturally. What the hell am I? Murder shouldn't be so easy.

But it wasn't murder, it was self-defense.

Was it? I could have let them run away. Instead, I chased down each one, and murdered them. He remembered the last man he had killed, and how he had wanted to suffer. To see him in as much physical pain as he had been in emotional pain. He shuddered as he thoughts kept returning to how he had sucked the life out of a human being, a sentient being. A man with as much right to live as he did. No, he had even more of a right to live, Shepard doubted the man he had killed had ever murdered someone. He had killed four, and went so far as to torture one of them to death.

With a sigh, Shepard leaned into his pillows and looked at his nightstand. He always kept an nikata tree sapling there because he loved the sweet smell it made, but when he looked at it, he gasped. The bark was black and withered, and the leaves had all fallen off and dried up in the red soil.

He looked away quickley and forced his thoughts to return to Sam. Hopefully she wont tell anyone I'm a biotic. It was wishful thinking, but he wanted something good to think about. He needed to see her and ask her not to tell anyone. Might as well get it over with. His attempt to sit up was rewarded with a spasms throughout his body. Falling back on the pillows with a groan, he held his stomach as what felt like an electric current passed through his body. Talking to Sam would have to wait. She was probably already asleep anyway.

Surprisingly, Shepard didn't dream about what had happened with Sam. He woke up many times during the night, and could only remember that he was terrified of whatever the dream was about, but he could never quite remember what it was about. The only thing he could remember was that it had something to do with his mother's death. He saw scientists with needles, and a three headed dog from mythology, but couldn't remember what they had been doing, and as for the dreams themselves... they seemed almost... familiar. He had trouble remembering his mother, so it made sense that he would make things up about her right? So why did he wake up so frightened?

MEMEMEME

It was probably the stupidest thing she had done in a long time, but Sarona had done it. His vitals had been dropping, and he may have died if she hadn't, but it worked out just fine. She had opened herself to a mind meld, but hadn't connected herself to Shepard, but in that state, he had been able to feed off her energy. She just hopped he wouldn't have any side effects. In a usual mind meld, partners would share information, and it had been something like a one-way mind meld, so she didn't know if he had seen anything. He might have found out who she really was, or found out one of her employers secrets. The Man would have her head if Shepard found out how he was being used.

Her comlink rang and she looked at the screen. It had to be Him, nobody else encrypted their caller ID that much. "Sarona Callius." She answered

"Sarona" she heard him take a long drag from his cigarette "am I reading this report right? Your plan nearly got Subject 42 killed. And I am told that Shepard's vitals only recently began to return to normal."

He was unusually calm for nearly having one of his test subject die. And how the hells did he know about how Shepards vitals were doing now anyway? She'd sent that report out an hour ago. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that."

"Oh?"

"The good news is that it looks like he will survive. And his survival is related to something else I wanted to talk to you about. The gang members were untrustworthy. They shot Shep... Err, Subject 42, and nearly killed him. He killed three of them with biotics, and he actually reaved the health from another."

He gracefully ignored her slip up. "I was under the impression that only your kind could do that."

"I thought so too. Even more disturbing is that after losing consciousness, he began to surround himself in a weak biotic field that stripped the energy of everything around him, even killing some of the grass around him."

"Hmm. This is an interesting development. I've never heard of such a biotic ability. And if your plan worked out, he has nowhere left to turn, but to us."

"Yes. Unfortunately, I believe that his new ability will also cause him to fear his biotics. I will try to comfort him, but he did just kill four men, and found he has the ability to suck the life out of everything around him."

"See to it that you do. He has become invaluable. Contact me again when you are ready to initiate part 2 of your plan. I would recommend doing this after he is comfortable with his biotics. Good luck Sarona, don't fail me."

MEMEMEME

Ok I know I said I wouldn't heavily revise any of the chapters, but that was a BIG lie. If you haven't already, reread all the chapters before this to get the new story. I mostly added sub-plot, but the rest may not make sense to you if you don't reread them. Any way, just so you know you three people who ccommented on this chapter, as soon as I got your reviews, I spent the whole night revising my book. Hope you enjoy this version. Sorry if I took out anything you like, but I mostly just added stuff. As always, I feel a sense of accomplishment when you leave a review, so please be sure to press the little link down below. Thanks for reading this at the least, I think it's turning out to be a good story so far.