Chapter 4
"Who is that?" John asked, referring to a dead body near the Founder.
"The owner of this place. He's inconsequential," the Founder explained. "Don't worry about him."
"What did you do to Derek?"
"He has more potential than Natalie, so I shredded his mind. I wanted to move into a vacant body."
John threw a telekinetic blast at the Founder, knocking him to the ground.
"Now there's the power that'd be really nice to have," the Founder said.
John paused.
"What were you expecting? For me to go after Stephen?"
"Yeah," responded John.
"I can't beat him in Natalie's body. But, if I was in Derek's body, I'd be close enough to yours to get it when you've let down your guard, and I can destroy everyone in your body, starting with Stephen."
John scanned the area, looking for traps and other potential surprises.
"He's really trained you well," the Founder commented. "I think I can do better, and I might as well try, shouldn't I?"
John saw nothing, but could feel a conscious mind exit Natalie's body and head in his direction. He tried to telekinetically push the Founder's mind away from him, but felt the Founder still approaching. Starting to worry, he tried to read the Founder's mind for possible weaknesses and then found himself keeping the Founder at bay. He realized that it took a combination of telekinesis and telepathy to restrain the Founder's consciousness.
Realizing that John was able to resist him, the Founder returned to Natalie's body, which convulsed slightly.
"You thanked me," John suddenly remembered. "When you attacked Russell, why did you thank me?"
"Where do you think we go when we teleport, John? When we do that, we go through Limbo. It's an intermediary step. No one notices because teleportation is instantaneous and lacking control, but you slowed it down. You stayed longer in Limbo every time you delayed materialization, long enough for me to see you and find a way back. The first time I tried to follow you out of Limbo, I failed, but I made a connection with someone who could help."
"Natalie worked with you before," John remembered being told. While he listened to the Founder talk, he slowly moved a syringe into position.
"Yes. A couple times later, I was able to follow you out, and I sought out Natalie. I learned from you that I could enter someone else's body."
Suddenly, John hurled the syringe into Natalie's neck, making her body convulse.
"That won't stop me," the Founder weakly said. "I'll just move into someone else. You taught me how and I'll do it again until I'm strong enough to try you again."
Jed, Stephen, Cara, John thought. Open your minds to me. You should get to witness this.
"I can stop you, permanently," John finally said. "I briefly read your mind. You can't do what Roger could. You don't have any options."
The Founder frowned, unaware of what John was thinking.
John held out his arms and the Founder started to scream. Using a combination of telekinesis and telepathy, John forced the Founder's consciousness out of Natalie's body and he moved the Founder's mind into the nearby corpse. He kept his hold on the Founder, letting the Founder die in the dead body.
Natalie started to squirm and regained consciousness.
"You took away my powers?"
"Of course I did," John replied.
"I had no control over what the Founder did! I was violated!"
"I understand that, but you still don't deserve your powers, not after everything you did. You should be grateful that I'm letting you leave. If Jed was here, he'd kill you slowly and painfully."
"Then I'll tell everyone about us!" Natalie warned. "I have nothing to lose anymore. People won't care about me now that I've lost my powers, but they'll start hunting you!"
"That was the wrong thing to say," John coldly said.
A shiver went down Cara's spine as she heard John's threatening tone and Jed smiled.
John approached Natalie and telekinetically lifted her up. He put a hand on the side of Natalie's head and teleported it off her.
John broke the telepathic connection with Jed, Cara, and Stephen and cleaned up the area. After taking at shower at home, he returned to Jed at the hospital.
Jed hugged John tightly when he appeared.
"Are you okay?" Jed asked.
"I'm fine."
"I have to say, experiencing that was satisfying. I'm grateful you found a way to use our bond like this. Now, come meet Selaine Price."
John approached Morgan and her daughter in bed.
"She's beautiful, despite having Jed's eyes."
Jed playfully smacked the back of John's head and joined Morgan on the other side of the bed.
"I'm still having trouble accepting this," Morgan said. She looked at Jed. "You and I have a baby together. I gave birth to her in a public hospital. No fear, no hiding."
"I told you things are better now," Jed said. He smiled and kissed Morgan.
John watched the family moment long enough to lose track of time and then later teleported to Derek. He closed his eyes and telepathically scanned the largest range he could, looking for Derek. After nearly an hour, he gave up, realizing that Derek was truly gone. John teleported across the room, but delayed materialization. He telepathically scanned a large area, until he reached a familiar mind.
"Hi, John."
Back at the hospital, Jed held on to Selaine while Morgan slept. When the door opened, he saw John and Derek.
"Derek, you're okay," said Jed quietly. "John, you got him back?"
John shook his head. "No, the Founder destroyed Derek's mind. There was nothing I could do."
Jed looked at Derek and raised an eyebrow.
"The Founder said I taught him how to move into another body. Well, he taught me how to knowingly access Limbo. I pulled someone out and put him into Derek's body."
"Jed."
Jed's eyes widened. "Roger?"
"It's me, Jed."
Jed walked over to Roger with Selaine in his arms.
"Is this my niece?" Roger asked.
Jed smiled and nodded. He handed Selaine over to Roger, then hugged him.
Later, John and Roger teleported to Stephen's office.
"Hey, John. Derek, nice to see you okay."
"Derek's gone," John said. "I went into Limbo and pulled your dad out of there and put him in Derek's body."
"Hi, son."
"What?" Stephen asked.
"When I was dying, I froze time again and entered Limbo. What'd you expect?" Roger said.
"I told you I wanted to thank you," said John. "Well, here's your dad."
Stephen ran to Roger and hugged him.
While Stephen reunited with Roger, John visited someone else in the Refuge. He knocked on an open door. "Hi, Charlie."
Charlie turned and saw the smile on John's face. She ran to him and gave him a hug.
"Are you back?" Charlie asked.
"No, I'm not," replied John, knowing what Charlie meant. He sighed. "Have you ever read a book or watched a TV show or movie that was so good that you wished you could read or watch it again for the first time? You thought it was so good that you wanted that first-time experience again?"
"Yeah," replied Charlotte.
"I think if I got to know you again Charlie, I would like you very much. I think we could be really good friends again."
"Really?" asked Charlie.
"Yeah, maybe it'll be like reading a good book for the first time again. Would you like that?"
Charlie nodded and hugged John again. She laughed when his stomach growled.
"I have not eaten any food in a very long time. How about you?"
Charlie shook her head.
"Would you like to join me for a meal?"
"I want to finish my homework first. It'll just take a few more minutes."
"Yeah, that's important. Do that first. I'll wait."
Charlie ran back to her desk and continued her homework while John waited by her door.
"What you just said, that goes for us, too," Cara said nearby.
"How long have you been standing there?" asked John.
"Just about a minute," Cara replied as she approached John. "You were close with a lot of us. We could be close again. That includes Astrid. I think she could make you happy again."
"I am happy."
"You know what I mean."
"So, how's Russell doing?" John asked awkwardly. "I hope his team didn't get put off by the Founder."
"No, not at all. We had to put the superhero act on hold for a while, but they're planning on going on patrol tonight."
Morgan eventually returned home with her daughter and the first thing she did was shower. In the living room, Jed cradled Selaine in his arms and John joined him.
Jed put an arm around John. "I will never stop thanking you for bringing Roger back to me."
"I couldn't have done that without you."
"He's with Marla and Luca?"
"Yeah," answered John.
"What's wrong? I know something's been bugging you for a while."
"You told me never to kill. You remind me of that almost as often as you remind me of how proud you are of me."
"Yeah. What you went through after you thought you killed Roger is something I never wanted for you."
"So back at Ultra, when did you decide that's what would happen anyway?"
"When I realized that I couldn't protect even you from the sacrifices we all had to make."
"Jed, I don't feel badly about killing the Founder or Natalie."
"I know what you're thinking and you need to stop it. Your lack of remorse has nothing to do with you. It has all to do with the kind of terrible people the Founder and Natalie were. They deserved their fates and what you told Natalie was correct. If it was up to me, both of them would have suffered before they died. If I was there, they'd have begged you to kill them. This was justice for Roger, Derek, and everyone else these two people hurt or done worse to."
Roger teleported into the room.
"I'll let you two catch up some more," John said as he stood up.
Roger gave John a hug.
"Thank you so much, John. Jed told me that you and Derek were friends. This probably isn't easy for you."
"Actually, this helps," replied John. "I can't bring back Derek, but I can honor him. I think you being in his body is a good way of doing that and he would approve. Jed taught me well."
Roger sat down next to Jed while John left for his room.
"That is how I know you will be an amazing father," Roger told Jed. "On a semi-unrelated note, I think he's more powerful than I was."
"He is. I've been analyzing John's DNA to find out why. I don't think the Founder took away everything., not even with three shots. Even if John registered as a normal human being in every way, I think there was still something there. Add in your powers, and this is the result. I don't think this could have happened with anyone else."
Roger nodded. "Ultra is completely dismantled?"
"Yeah, it's entirely gone now."
"Was Los Angeles a hassle?"
"No, but it took a while."
"What ever happened to Ethan Vaughn?"
"He was still supposed to be running it, but he was gone by the time I got there. He must have found out somehow about the Founder's plan getting ruined."
"He's filthy rich. He has resources to keep tabs on most things and then go into hiding."
"I'm keeping an ear out for him."
"So, you missed dinner the last time I came back from the dead. You can't miss it again."
"When?"
"Tomorrow night. Bring your family with you."
"John?" Jedikiah inquired.
"Goes without saying."
Instead of being teleported, Jed opted to drive Morgan, his daughter, and John to the Jameson household.
Marla, Stephen, Luca, Cara, and Astrid were already there with Roger when they arrived.
Marla quickly approached her guests.
"I put Stephen and Cara in charge of the final touches so I could hold my niece again," she said.
As Luca helped Stephen and Cara with the final setup, Morgan and Marla bonded over Selaine and Roger and Jed caught up.
John approached Astrid. "Hi."
"Hi, John. How're you doing?"
"I'm fine," John said, smiling nervously.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," John said as he let out a slight chuckle. "I heard you were going to be here and I had a whole speech prepared, but it sounds silly now."
"What were you going to say?"
"Forget that," John replied as he quickly glanced at Morgan and Selaine. "Umm, I was talking to Charlie and I asked if she had a book or TV show that she liked so much she wanted to relive it again for the first time. I compared my friendship with her to that, but I guess that analogy seems lame to someone older."
"No, John. I think it's sweet," Astrid assured, jumping to conclusions in her head while trying to not get her hopes up too much.
"Cara said that I seemed happy when I was with you, and I hope that you were happy, too."
"I was. I really was."
"Well, I was hoping you'd be willing to give us another shot, maybe make some new memories that I can keep. Maybe we can make each other happy again."
Astrid smiled widely. "I'd like that."
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
"I want you to know, though, that I'm not getting my memories back. I don't want to mislead you on that. But hey, I'm a telepath and you know things about us that I don't know and things about me that I don't know you know. That's a good balance. What do you think?"
Astrid leaned in and kissed John's lips.
"See?" John said. "You knew I'd like that."
Astrid laughed loudly at that remark. "Stephen is still my best friend and nothing is going to change that. I spend a lot of time with him, and that means you will, too."
"I have no problem with that. I assume lots of double dates are in our future?"
"You're really okay with that?" Astrid asked.
"Stephen is important to you. I get that. I assume Cara is, too. I am fine with spending time with your friends and getting to know them again. I just don't want any pressure to be some guy I'm not anymore."
Astrid nodded. "They've accepted that. We all have."
The extended family finally sat around the table and dug into dinner.
"Do you have Derek's memories, dad?" Luca asked.
Jed and Roger both looked at John, concerned that dinner became awkward.
John gave them the quickest and most subtle nod he could.
"No," Roger answered. "There's nothing left of Derek's mind. If there was, I suppose I could access his memories."
"John, does that mean you could have gotten into Uncle Jed's head?" asked Luca.
"Yeah, but I stayed out. I wanted to respect his privacy."
"So, when you go to the bathroom," Luca began.
"I try not to think about it," Roger interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest of the question. "Eat your dinner."
Luca reached for the pepper shaker and the shaker suddenly moved into Luca's right hand by itself.
Activity around the table stopped as everyone looked at Luca.
"Was that you?" Stephen asked Luca.
"It was," Cara and John both said simultaneously.
"You've finally broken out," Jed remarked.
Stephen sighed. "I know you wanted to be normal. I'm sorry, Luca."
Luca looked around the table. On his left was his dad, who seemingly died twice and now after coming back to life a second time, resides in the body of a twenty-three-year-old man. Next to Roger was Luca's mom, who was so good at keeping her powers a secret that Jed didn't even know about them. There was Morgan, the former fortune teller who managed to convince an Ultra agent to love her. There was Jed, the Ultra agent who worked behind the scenes to undermine the Founder of the organization he seemed to lead. To the left of Jed was John, the guy who was caught in an explosion and put himself back together while inhabiting another person's body. Astrid was next to him. She lived in the lair while Ultra hunted her, then marched into war armed only with a scope. Next to Astrid was Cara, his brother's girlfriend who found her voice and her sense of hearing when she found her powers. Finally, on Luca's right, was Stephen the oddest person Luca knows, who floated between an enforcement agency and a rebel base and then got himself killed to find his father.
"I'm not," Luca said.
"Not what?" Stephen asked.
"I'm not sorry. Normal doesn't belong in this family. These powers just mean that I belong here more now. I'm more of a part of it."
Stephen leaned into Luca and kissed the side of his brother's head.
"You'll have a much easier time with this than any of us," Roger said. "I promise."
"We're all here for you, Luca," Cara added.
Thank you for reading. I should have the next chapter up within a week. The next volume will focus on Stephen, Cara, and Russell. I originally meant to have them feature more in this volume, but it turned out that I needed John to take care of things. To even things out, I had to force myself to remove John from the action. He'll still be there, of course, but not as much. Also, there will be no more body jumping. I definitely wouldn't want to go overboard there. I just needed something to set up John's recovery and a way to bring the Founder back (and figured that while I'm at it, I might as well bring Roger back because I like happy endings).