Chapter 2

The Duke Ross Estates, 80 Miles outside Hiddenville

August 8, 2014

Struggling to parry her red-haired weapon master's agile thrusts and spinning attacks, Phoebe discovers she still has years of training ahead of her as she absorbs another blow to her ribs, which would have been fatal had it not been a wooden blade. Knowing a rib was severely bruised, if not cracked, she ignores the pain long enough to instinctively entangle the woman's weapon hand against her sore ribs and punches her opponent's throat inches below her larynx just above her clavicle. Dazed, her master stumbles backwards gasping for breath. As she begins to cruelly criticize her on a poorly aimed blow, she sees the look in her student's eyes and realizes the blow was intentionally lower; any higher and Phoebe would have crushed her windpipe, killing her in less than a minute. After Master Kara Divine bows graciously to her student, Phoebe returns the polite bow, and heads to her bottle of water laying on the dance floor. Though she'll likely be bruised for the next week or two, the satisfaction she got from besting her weapons master was worth beyond measure. After taking a large gulp, she collapses on the floor to watch Kara go to her gym bag and pull out a metal insulated bottle. Popping the cap off, she sips painfully before finally speaking to her resourceful student.

"That hardly counts as a win. You let your guard down and I delivered a nearly fatal wound to your lung. That's sloppy and subpar to what I taught you."

Taking another large gulp, Phoebe sneers. "Oh, I completely disagree. I was up against an opponent I could never defeat using the rules, so I improvised a solution which didn't involve me using my superpowers and allowed me to either kill or hurt my opponent enough for me to escape and fight another day. I call that a great success in my book."

Shaking her head, Kara rubs her throat and takes another sip of water. "Maybe we should take a break from knife-fighting and switch to another weapon. Which would you want to go to now: swords, staves, fighting sticks?"

Taken back by being offered a choice for once in the past months of training, Phoebe stares at the lithe redhead, who could easily pass as a thirty-year-old dancer or gymnast. Unsure if it was a trick or new game her keenly deceptive teacher was executing, Phoebe leans towards her with a piercing gaze.

"Serious? You're actually letting me choose now? Why the sudden change in your 'prescribed' regiment?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, Kara sighs loudly before replying. "Well, you may not believe this, but you're not the first student I've trained; and I recognize you're just more than a little stressed out. You've mastered my hand-to-hand training faster than any student I've ever known, including me. You have absorbed in a month what takes most years, in archery and weapons handling. So, it seems you finally reached your limit of absorption. Take a week off to decide how we should proceed and have Madeline ring me sometime next week."

Staring at her master with a slack expression, she watches her come to her sitting form, kiss the top of her head and leave with her gym bag over her shoulder. Dazed and confused, Phoebe sits on the floor for half an hour trying to make sense of what had just occurred, with the low roar from the central air echoing in the room. With her mind drifting to her graphic violation and rebirth, she barely registers Madeline joining her on the floor beside her. Sucked out of her inner hell, she blinks twice, trying to clear the tears which managed to slip out from her layers of control and denial. Inhaling sharply, she manages to speak without revealing the horrific world she lived in, night and day.

"So, tell me about the future world you left. Seeing that it is no more, it shouldn't matter that I know a bit about it."

Worried that Phoebe would ask her one day, she shrugs realizing that her old future was good as gone.

"We were able to thwart some of the greatest villains of all time thanks to you and your family. Chloe went on to be a real badass and…"

Phoebe stops her abruptly. "Who?"

Madeline smiles and repeats herself. "Chloe…Chloe Thunderman. The youngest of your family…Oh yah, you missed that. Your mom had one last child, I guess she will be born early next year, 2015. Anyways, we had nearly the exact same powers. She found me just as my powers were fully developing and took me under her wing. I was heading towards a life of exotic theft and villainy when she bested me at my own game. Because my crimes up to that point were still only misdemeanors, she was able to convert me over, so to speak. We both could teleport, and I was very strong, but she put the 'super' in super strength, very much like your father. He said he just acted like she bested him in their arm-wrestling, but I saw him cringing and holding his arm in agony when no one was looking. When she and the Minister of Slaughter would train together, they would often have to call a draw after an hour."

Taken back, Phoebe grins thinking that her future baby sister becoming as strong as her father.

"What about Nora and Billy?"

Nodding in acknowledgement, Madeline continues.

"They went on to join Z-Force, while your mom and dad created the League of Superheroes. It was designed to supplement the Z-Force but wound up managing the entire region instead. The Z-Force was freed up to handle more global issues, and eventually the LOS became the reigning authority across the country. There were twelve separate offices after ten years; and when I left, we had one in every major metropolis."

Unsure if she should ask, Phoebe finally breaks her silence. "And where did I fit into all this?"

Realizing the pointlessness of avoiding the subject, Madeline sighs and finds the right words. "You were its keystone as The Oracle. Your powers were altered one day and began to fade and you became a powerful psychic prophetess. We don't know the specifics, you never said, but Chloe said she knew, and was with you when it all began. She used the word 'metamorphosis' when describing what happened but would never elaborate. She did tell me that it was during a risky mission she was on, and that you tracked her down when she didn't check in. Beyond that, no one knows the particulars. She said, you both came back changed; and while her changes were entirely in her head, yours were entirely physical. Everyone thought you had your powers stripped from you, but when you were able to detect crimes hours to weeks before they happened, opinions quickly changed. It's then when we finally gained a foothold against organized crime. Every major attack or crime was thwarted before they never had a chance to fully execute it. Our secret was having our people in place at critical moments in their plans and stopping them. As the years went by, you mastered your foresight, and simply had heroes deployed at these critical times and places to apprehend the bad guys."

Phoebe swallows dryly. "What about Max?"

Madeline can't hide her apprehension in continuing. "He…he was apprehended trying to help the Villain League. We were able to completely dismantle their organization thanks to you. Max was sentenced to life in prison for his part in conspiring to murder a hero family. Chloe said it was the hardest thing you ever did, but he was a key plotter, and was to be the one who disabled all the supers, so the gang could kill them all in their beds."

Standing abruptly with tears dripping off her cheeks, Phoebe screams at Madeline. "If I'm this powerful psychic, then how in the hell did I not see this coming?"

Fearfully, Madeline manages to squeak out her response. "Tachyons, I think. Chloe hypothesized that if they wrapped themselves in a Tachyon vortex, it could shield the chronotons which are generated during an artificial temporal event, like in a time tunnel, which sent me here. We didn't have enough time to figure out how, before my future was destroyed or unmade by your ordeal. Some reason, you instinctively knew to send me back rather than a host of fully trained and skilled heroes. There are times when I wonder if you made the right decision in sending me, but I can't complain either. Everyone who I left behind were destroyed…I'll never get those images from my mind. Chloe…you…all my friends were grotesquely atomized."

Seeing the stream of tears falling from Madeline's eyes, Phoebe has all her anger dispelled instantly seeing Madeline convulsing in pain reliving the pain of watching her friends violently ripped out of existence. Collapsing to her knees, Phoebe holds the young woman and they lose track of time consoling each other for the lives which would no longer be.

Sitting around the estate's indoor pool, Phoebe can't believe she couldn't enjoy the rays and heat of a beautiful summer afternoon by the outdoor pool. With the fears of a stray super flying over and recognizing Phoebe, she didn't have to like the rule, even if it made perfect sense. As Madeline leaves the pool finishing her hour of laps, Phoebe sets down her English book, frustrated that she still had to finish getting her GED. As the muscular girl around six years her senior, plops down on a reclining chair beside her and gets control of her labored breaths after the strenuous workout. With her washboard abs, and tight, lean figure, she couldn't help but feel a bit impressed and jealous all at once. With thoughts and questions still buzzing through Phoebe's head, she can't stifle them.

"So, how come you're teaching me in the insides and outs of time perception, if I don't have any of those powers yet? And how will I be able to make sure Chloe will go and find that place in the future so I can become the Oracle in the first place?" And…"

Madeline growls politely hearing the repeating of questions which she'd been bombarded with for the last month.

"It's foundational! You need to understand as much as you can about time manipulation, so that you don't violate the rules of time travel!"

Wearing a sarcastic grin, Phoebe can't resist. "What rules? Don't bet on sport events or kill your ancestor while in the past?"

Madeleine shakes her head in frustration. "Don't alter the paths of anyone you don't have to! Saving a person who might get hit by a bus, could throw the universe into an imbalance and have unexpected results in the here and now! You save that person who wasn't supposed to live, could result in them becoming a new Hitler, or god forbid, a Mormon. Rumor has it that a time traveler accidentally saved Joseph Smith, and that's why we have Mormons. Of course, no one has any proof any longer, but it's a valid point. Anything you do in the past can and will have repercussions. Sending me into the past was a last second attempt to right a wrong. The organization I belonged to won't exist…possibly ever now. Your death…Thundergirl's death, will have irreparable effects on the timeline. You were never killed or harmed in the way Max did in the original timeline. Before I could stop him, it was done! Now, we have a new timeline which you seemed to have died but didn't. The best we hoped for was a do over, but thanks to my failure, it didn't happen. So now, we are thinking this is a repair job: try to execute the future we knew with what we have left. The good news is that we know there is a direct connection to Max and the new criminal organization who was responsible for your undoing. The Rosses have been longtime supporters of supers, possibly back to the very beginning of the "Super" phenomenon. They were the only ones I could run to, and they have direct ties to Z-Force. They were able to confirm my extra-temporal origins, but they have no idea about you or the details I've given the Rosses. The fewer people who know, the better."

Phoebe stares at her savior as she formulates the question floating in her head. "So, what's my cover story? Eventually I'll have to leave this place, and I'll need to be able to say something."

Nodding, Madeline sighs. "We're working on that. We think we can say that you are a super from an orphanage, who lost her family long ago. Your origins are a secret only the three of us know, and your trainers are being kept in the dark for as much as possible. We did float a lie to Kara that you had your face altered to resemble Phoebe Thunderman to protect your true identity, seeing that the real Thundergirl was killed, no one should mind you taking over her visage posthumously. In the meantime, we told her that you are going by Phoebe, because they want the bad guys to think that she's still alive. That's only if it gets out that you're training here, and we made sure Kara understands that you're really not Phoebe, and that the real one did die. See, we made the truth, into a great lie, that is too unbelievable to be true, thus must be a lie. Ms. Ross is afraid Kara could have a mind scan, and reveal your real identity, so we manufactured this great story should she be compromised. We are throwing around a few new hero names for you, but I told them you must have a say in that process. Seemed only right."

Mulling over the information, Phoebe reluctantly nods. "Thank you. I never really had a chance to pick my name, it was just assumed that was a good name, and it stuck. As for Max, it seems he should now become our focus of attention. He had to talk to someone beforehand. Can your friends do a time scan or something to see where else a time slip occurred?"

Nodding, Madeline stretches out on her recliner before continuing. "Yes, actually, a year ago. Like me, it was in an obscure location, and nothing was in the area for us use to see who entered. We are watching Max very closely, but I think the bad guys think they pulled off the crime of the century by killing you off. Whoever is responsible for this will be lying low now and begin to rewrite history. I'm trying to review hours of data everyday for anything which might be a new event or new villain on the scene. I remember a lot, but we're talking about miniscule details that I just don't remember. Right now, I haven't been born yet, but the organization is keeping an eye on my parents, just to keep anyone from killing me off before I'm born. No one should know my real identity, but it's best they don't take any chances. My powers won't begin to manifest until I'm at least six years old, so I'm on no one's radar."

Taken back, Phoebe sneers. "So, Chloe is a few years older than you?"

Seeing a hint of embarrassment on Madeline's face, Phoebe perceives a more complicated story than she was first told and continues by changing the subject. "Last week, Kara said I should figure out what I wanted to do next. What do you think? I was never this trained in weapons and combat, like I am now."

With an understanding nod, Madeline replies. "It's a byproduct of your mind-transfer. You're like a sponge for about a year or so, until your physical brain becomes acclimated with your old memories. Taking a week break is nothing, but that's why we are pushing you getting your GED and getting all your pre-college classes done now. By this time next year, you won't be able to absorb classes like you are now. You are super smart, Phoebe, but this is something all together different. You've mastered your junior year and now senior year of high school like it was just a tense study week. You'll knock out your tests, take your SATs, and then we'll get you enrolled in college. I hope by this time next year, you're starting your second or third year of college. As for your training here, I suggest fighting sticks or swords. You are attuned to dancing, so I recommend acrobatics along with sword and shield work; it may sound archaic, but you'd be surprised how helpful it is in the real world. I've seen Chloe do some amazing stuff in the heat of battle, and those skills were highly utilized."

Shaking her head, Phoebe fires back. "But aren't I supposed to LOSE all my powers to become this super psychic? What's the point in all this?"

Shaking her head sighing, Madeline grits her teeth. "That's the problem! We don't know what you will lose now, but having the knowledge of how to fight is something that you shouldn't lose. You never had these in-depth classes, so it can only help you in the future. Worse, we don't know if they will be able to track you here, and you need to be able to protect yourself against an unknown enemy, with unknown powers."

Taken back, Phoebe apologizes and then continues. "Okay, I get it. Acrobatics and fighting sticks sound cool, then we'll move on to swords and shields. Staff and knife-fighting last. How does that sound?"

Madeline nods and extracts her phone from the bag next to her chair. After a quick autodial, she speaks on the phone to her contact and repeats Phoebe's selections before quickly hanging up.

"Well, enjoy the rest of your day off; because starting tomorrow, we're not going to have any breaks like this for a few months."

Leaning backwards into her chair, Phoebe abruptly turns to Madeline. "We?"

Nodding as she towels herself off, Madeline replies. "Yup, the two of us. It wouldn't hurt me to get some more training while I'm at it. The guy who was trying to kill me before the Minister of Slaughter bashed his brains out that night, was adept at knives; and if I was just half as good with fighting sticks, he would have been putty in my hands. Ms. Ross has approved my training alongside you because you need a better sparring partner. So, from now on, we'll be sharing in the bruises of training."

The Ross Estate

October 19, 2014

Facing off against Madeline and her teacher, Phoebe screams as she engages Madeline, striking and parrying blow for blow. Keeping her senses open for Kara to strike her, she instinctively rolls right as a blow meant to disarm her, meets air and she counters with a blow of her own. Though her blow also met air as she struck at Kara, it allowed Madeline to recover and reengage Phoebe. Spinning and turning her attacks towards the industrious pair, Phoebe keeps her focus and ensures they stay in front of her rather than slip to her extreme flanks again. As she fully engages Kara, she intentionally lowers her guard to draw Madeline into a trap. Despite the blows and counterblows, Phoebe doesn't relent against her teacher; and as she is about to give up on Madeline taking the bait, she catches a quick glance of her taking a side strike against her exposed back.

Leaping up into the air, she feigns a roundhouse kick to Kara, only to strike Madeline against her sternum, sending her rolling backwards in pain. Landing on both feet, she leaps back towards Kara and presses her advantage while Madeline recovers out of range of the intense battle. Despite Madeline having super strength, Phoebe had managed to fine tune the use of her telekinetic blasts to compensate for Madeline's immunity to regular strikes. Though they had talked about it prior, it still surprised Madeline when it happened. After she shakes off the effects, she grabs a staff from the table along the wall and catapults herself back into the fray, nearly connecting with Phoebe making the teen more observant and cautious than before. Though it was Kara's plan to throw Phoebe off her game, it wasn't intended to happen until later in the fight, but Madeline trusted her instincts that the fight had already transitioned to the stage which Kara would have swapped out her sticks to another weapon.

Thanks to Phoebe's persistence, their master was being denied the opportunity to change out weapons. What Madeline didn't expect was Phoebe using her master as a shield from Madeline's greater strike range with the six-foot-long staff. As an apparent hole in Phoebe's defenses would open, she would force Kara into the way, fouling her opportunity. As the battle continues as the strain of continuous fighting begins to take its toll on everyone, Madeline finally sees her best shot at ending the fight. Feinting to Kara's right, she pops up in front of Phoebe with her staff coming down as Kara tumbles to Phoebe's exposed rear. Madeline aggressively yells as she plows the staff down at Phoebe, yet it does nothing to Phoebe's calm exterior.

Cracking the sticks together as Phoebe stops Madeline's swing down to her forehead, she rolls backwards as Kara swings against Phoebe's exposed back. While Madeline steps back and leaves her strike zone, Phoebe instinctively drops down, does the splits, flips her head backwards, and brings her sticks together above her head and smashes Kara's hand between them making her drop her weapon into Phoebe's loose shirt. With her shirt tucked into her gym pants, the fighting stick stays snuggly in her control and she spins her legs around, ensuring no one was directly next to her as she pops up to address her weapons master and Madeline. Seeing Kara holding her hand in pain, Madeline wisely ends the bout and going to look at Kara's hand. After exchanging respectful bows, Phoebe turns to get a drink of water as Madeline confirms the hand wasn't broken. With a bit of prideful anger, Kara spits out at Phoebe.

"I never taught you that move! Where did you learn it?"

Too tired to get into an argument, Phoebe shrugs. "No one! I just made it up at the last moment."

Unwilling to accept the answer, Kara angrily closes towards Phoebe, she feels a rush of cool air blow against her, chilling her to the bone. As she starts to fire back at her student, Kara stops as Phoebe continues while fishing out the fighting stick from down inside the front of her shirt.

"I've had nothing but acrobatics, dancing, swords, shields, staves and fighting sticks for the past months. That was a simple split, combined with knowing where your hand would be at the appropriate moment. I'm sorry if it hurt, but I knew I didn't crack your hand hard enough to break it, just enough to get you to release the weapon. Madeline and I have been practically wearing bruises everyday since we began, and I guess I was finally pushed enough to get creative to best you. If I chose to, I could have easily ensured not a single blow connected with me, but I've been playing by your rules since day one, by not using my superpowers against you."

As Phoebe prepares to continue, a woman's rough voice resounds through the room grasping everyone's attention.

"Miss Devine, that will be all for today. Would you please meet me in my study while I talk to these two?"

Kara humbly bows to the aged Elizabeth Ross and recovers her bag before departing the room. As the door closes behind her, the aged matriarch reaches Phoebe and Madeline.

"I think its about time you begin to train using your superpowers. Kara has gotten you as far as she can take you, Phoebe, so let's get you fitted for your new outfit and a name to go with it. I have some supers that I employ now and then to help get my private recruits ready for their day to join superhero teams."

Nodding in approval, Phoebe grins as she replies. "I already have a name ready. Been thinking about this for some time. I think I like 'Stormy Night,' it rolls off the tongue nicely."

As Madeline ponders the name, Elizabeth counters shaking her head. "No. 'Night Storm.' It's very appropriate to who you were as a Thunderman, and where you've come from. You've traveled through a dark and violent event to get here; and as Night Storm you will strike at your foes like a tornado in the night. They feared the thunder, but now they will know why they feared it, as the full intensity of the storm comes down on them out of nowhere. In the future, you will become the oracle they feared, but until then, they are going to have to contend with the storm's wrath."