The Campbell Chronicles

Chapter 22

Yolanda Montez sat against the door to Martin Stein's office; her knees pulled up to her chest, her Auburn hair hiding her Brown eyes from view as an aura of red energy clung to her skin.

She rocked back and forth, creating a rhythmic thumping against the door. She was supposed to be guarding the doctor, the man who changed her life by bringing her family out of poverty and to America, the man who threatened to send them back if she didn't do as she was told, but she couldn't.

That strange energy that swept over the world changed it, changed her. She could feel it. She could see creatures of legend rising within her mind.

Certain horses changed into the unicorn and ran with their herd in Arizona. Basilisk now slithered in the Amazon jungle hunting for prey, worms that lived in lava merged, becoming great serpentine Dragons that would one day slither through the sky, and specific Eagles bathed in the sun's light transformed into phoenixes.

She could see it all, and her powers screamed at her that these creatures weren't meant to exist and would upset the balance of nature. She needed to kill them, but at the same time, they were now part of nature, so she sat here, torn in two directions by her powers.

–XX –

With a flick of his hand, Nicholas opened the doors to the Department of Meta-human Affairs and strode inside; Wanda followed close behind him, and David brought up the rear, cradling an unconscious Bailey in his arms.

Closing the doorway, Nicholas scanned the beige-colored walls and white linoleum floor decorated with grey specs. Every other fluorescent light was on, casting shadows on the hallway before them.

Nicholas strode forward, his gaze locked ahead. "You have another companion here. What is her name?"

"Yolanda Montez," David answered, shifting Bailey in his arms, "Why?"

"Because, like you and Miss Brandon, Miss Montez was also changed by the energy that bathed the earth today, but unlike you, she can sense the changes happening elsewhere, at least when it involves animals, and her powers are pulling her apart."

"How do you know this?" Drake asked as they moved past closed doors.

Wanda eyed the doors they passed, her eyes glowing red as she sealed them in their frames.

"I can feel her mind calling out for help. Part of her powers wants her to kill the new creatures coming into existence, while another part says they are part of nature."

"What exactly are we dealing with?"

"According to her mind, certain snakes have become basilisk, Eagles have become phoenixes, horses have become unicorns, and lava worms have transformed into dragons."

Wanda glanced at him, her eyes wide, "You're kidding?"

Nicholas shook his head, "No, we're just lucky the animals chosen to be transformed are young, and the dragons are still incubating in volcanoes."

The group turned a corner, and there, leaning against Martin Stein's office door, was Yolanda Montez. Her eyes were puffy from the tears streaming down her face, and her teeth ground together in an almost animalistic fashion. She glanced at them, her glistening eyes wide and desperate. "Please help me!"

David moved forward, kneeling in front of her. He shifted Bailey to place a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Yolanda. We'll help you."

"How?" She choked.

David turned to stare at Wanda and Nicholas, and Wanda turned to look at Nicholas.

"What?"

Wanda raised an eyebrow, "You said you had a plan to bring mutants together."

"I do, but it will require more time and bringing some people into the fold."

"We don't have time to wait anymore. Magical creatures will start roaming the planet, so we must do something now!"

Nicholas glanced at Martin Stein's office door before looking back at Wanda, "Let's finish up here, and then we will see if we can bring everyone together."

–XX –

Martin Stein stared at his office door, an empty glass clutched in his hand. A bottle of scotch had been turned over on his desk, and what little remained in the bottle was spread out in a thin layer along the glass.

His reckoning had finally come; he knew he would one day be found out, but he thought it would be a prison. He could have dealt with that. A deal would be made, and he could've continued his work. He never imagined two meta-humans appearing and a mysterious energy washing across the planet would derail his work.

He glanced at the screen on the corner of his desk; the sensors in the hallway told him that Yolanda's powers were going through a metamorphosis along with Bailey's and Drake's.

Picking up the bottle, he emptied its contents into his glass and knocked it back.

He glanced at the door as it slowly began to swing open.

The green-haired man, Wanda Nelson, Drake, and Bailey entered the room.

Yolanda stayed outside, her head slumped against her chest.

"Don't worry," the green-haired man said, bringing Martin's attention back to him, "I just put Miss Montez to sleep. With what's going on with her mind, I thought it best she rests."

David laid Bailey on a Brown leather couch in the corner of the room as the green-haired man moved forward and sat before Martin's desk.

He crossed one leg over the other and interlaced his fingers, "I have to tell you, Mr. Stein, you do inspire loyalty. The three you found followed your direction despite their suspicions, which is impressive."

With a sigh, Martin set his glass on the table, "It's all about knowing what buttons to push."

"So, it's true then," David asked as he moved to stand beside Nicholas's chair. "You manipulated events to give us our powers?"

Martin glanced at him, his eyes hidden thanks to the lamp light reflecting off his glasses. "Only yours. Bailey and Yolanda's powers emerge naturally, but you were part of an experiment to see if I could control what powers emerge," his lips curled at the corners, "and it worked."

Lightning crackled over David's body, and a wind swept through the room, picking up loose papers and sending them fluttering through the air, "You ruined my life!"

Martin waved his hand, "Let's not kid ourselves; you were headed for divorce before my manipulations. That's what happens when you spend more time on a boat studying the sea than with your family."

David lunged forward, but red surrounded his body, freezing him in place.

Martin turned to look at Wanda, "Ms. Nelson, I have to say I'm surprised to see you here. I thought magic was more your thing."

"My thing is whatever it needs to be."

"I can see that," he turned his attention back to the green-haired man, "I don't believe we've been introduced."

The man stared into Martin's eyes, and Martin felt pressure build in his brow before it faded. "My name is Nicholas Campbell."

"Were you really going to start experimenting on my brother?"

Everyone in the room turned to see Bailey sitting up on the couch, staring at Martin, her blue eyes shining a luminescent white.

Martin shrugged, "You were such a success. I need to see if he could be duplicated or if siblings shared similar powers."

"Sometimes," Nicholas answered, "but not always."

Everyone turned to look at him, "With the way DNA has changed over the millennia, the environment now has a greater factor than it used to."

Martin leaned forward, eagerness shining in his eyes, "And how do you know that?"

"My people were there when the planet's destiny was changed. We tried to restore it but were only partially successful."

Nicholas's eyes flashed, and Martin Stein slumped while Bailey grabbed her head. At the same time, Nicholas's chair spun to face David and the blonde. "I'll leave it up to you what happens to Mr. Stein, the aggrieved party, but right now, we have bigger issues, your friend's condition." Nicholas gestured at Yolanda…

Bailey cut him off, "And the magical animals appearing across the planet," her eyes narrowed at Nicholas, "do not just go shoving things in my head."

Nicholas flicked his palms up, "it was the easiest way to get you up to speed."

Wanda smacked him in the back of the head.

"Ow."

"Don't be rude."

David moved beside Bailey and looked at Wanda. "You said he had some kind of plan," he gestured at Nicholas, "to solve the animal issue. What is it?"

"There are people out there similar to you; they have a connection to certain parts of nature," Nicholas gestured to Yolanda, "like your friend here has a connection to animals," he gestured to David, "or you have an air connection that branches off into other elements."

"I plan to bring those people together and use an artifact left on Mars to terraform the planet. I hope that once the terraforming is done, enough infrastructure is left up there for me to teleport the animals onto the newly formed world."

"Wait," Bailey raised her hand, "you're an alien."

"Technically, no, I was born on this earth, but my ancestors came from two different earths in the multiverse. We traveled here after Celestial Locus destroyed our universes. Technically, all modern-day meta-humans are descended from my people or are a byproduct of my people."

Bailey sat down on the couch, a vacant look on her face.

David turned to Yolanda, "Are you sure this will work?"

"As long as the technology still works, and the people I have in mind are powerful enough, yes, it should."

David stared off into the distance, listening to the wind. It gave him a strong urge to go along with Nicholas's plan. Besides, this could be a new start for him, something to be proud of and show his family that he wasn't the monster Martin painted him as. "That's a lot of unknowns, but we can't exactly let the world's governments get a hold of dragons or basilisk, so I want to try."

He looked to Bailey. The blonde nodded slowly before her gaze flicked to Martin Stein. He sat back in his chair, watching, "What do we do with him?"

Nicholas gestured to Yolanda, Bailey, and David, "That's up to you three; I told you before I was after Waller for attacking a friend. It was you who was manipulated."

David stepped forward. "We can't leave him unpunished, but he has too many government connections to go to prison."

Bailey stood to her feet, "and killing him would just turn him into a martyr." She turned to Nicholas, "You're a telepath, right?"

"Yes."

"Can you wipe his mind?"

Martin's eyes widened, and he shot forward, his elbows banging into his desk, "No, please!"

David looked at Bailey, "How much are you thinking?"

"Just the knowledge on genetic manipulation and how energies react with mutations."

David looked at Nicholas, "Do it."

Martin started to rise while fumbling with his desk but froze when Nicholas's eyes flashed a pale green tinged with luminescent blue. Slowly, his eyes closed as he fell backward into his chair, his head lolling against his chest.

"Done, but there's no guarantee it will stay gone. There are other telepaths in the world."

"There's also magic to consider," Wanda said, "if he is willing to pay the price, his memories can be returned."

Moving into the hallway, Bailey hoisted Yolanda into her arms, "If that happens, then we will take more permanent measures."

Without a word, David followed Bailey out of the room as she began moving down the hallway with Yolanda.

Wanda turned to Nicholas, "So which one of these people are we going to see first."

"Pamela Isley would be the easiest; I've met her before." he glanced up thoughtfully, "and I'm curious to see how far she's come with the gift I left her."

"Wait! You know poison Ivy; how do you know poison ivy?"

A smile spread across Nicholas's face as he moved ahead of Wanda.

"I've met Clay face too."

"But before our trip to the other multi-verse, you were on Earth for less than a year. How did you meet these notorious villains!"