Mother Alternate

Ellay Saga Chapter 9: Singing Somewhere Silently

The scene in front of the Vasconceros household was a sad one.

Julian was kneeling on the floor with his hands on his knees, staring blankly at the floor and shivering as though hit by a cold wind. His mouth was open and only a small cry could be heard emanating from him:

“Peel…they took Peel…”

A short distance behind him stood Loid and Vee, who were helping Joshua and Mrs. Vasconceros to their feet. They hadn’t been harmed physically, surprisingly. Instead, they felt dazed and dizzy, as if they had been ‘spun around very quickly’, as Joshua put it.

“What could they want with Peel? She certainly doesn’t have the prism…” Vee pondered while helping her mother down a glass of water. Julian, who was helping Joshua, didn’t respond. He was retreating back into himself, which was a very bad sign to those who knew him well.

Loid, in the meantime, was busy on the telephone, speaking to Teddy.

“Yeah, look, just see if you can find Peel, okay? She has a cast on her arm and another on her leg…yes; I know…I said I know! Just do it! Fine…I’ll talk to you later.” Loid practically slammed the receiver down and shook his head in disappointment. “Teddy says he’ll look,” Loid sat down in the living room and placed his chin on his hand. “But he says we’ll have better luck finding whoever took her. He says they’re probably trying to use her as bait.”

“Gee, I wonder why.” Vee put her mother’s glass down on the living room table and stood. She looked at Loid quizzically. “D’you think we should take it?”

Loid shook her head. “I wouldn’t risk it this early. We should wait until they come to us. If they eliminate Peel, then they eliminate their bargaining chip. They’re probably planning to do something else with her. I…” Loid wasn’t able to finish, as Julian stood abruptly and grabbed him by the collar, shaking him wildly. “Don’t talk like that.” Julian was firm. “We’re not losing Peel.”

“No one said we were.” Loid grabbed Julian’s hand and slowly pried it from his collar. “It’s just that we can’t bumble into this without a plan.”

Julian’s fist tightened and his face was overcome by the look of someone who had settled his resolve. “You want a plan? Fine.” He headed for the door. “Here’s one: I take the bait, and then you get them from behind. How’s that?”

“We don’t know who ‘they’ are, Julian.” Vee stepped in front of Julian and barred his way. “Don’t let your emotions get a hold of you.”

Julian’s tattoo began to glow. A greenish aura began to flow from his hand and his eyes were closed. He took a deep sigh. “You’re right…I shouldn’t get carried away.” He relaxed and Vee breathed a sigh of relief.

“But I’m still going to do it.”

Vee jumped and placed her hands on Julian’s shoulders. “You can’t be serious!” she complained. Julian took her hands and slid them off his shoulders, while turning to look at Loid. “You told me that I had to learn to trust my friends, to work as a team…well, that’s what I’m asking you to do.” He stepped towards the door again. “I’ll expose myself so they can find me. Then Vee and Joshua can attack from behind.”

Loid stood and placed his hand on Joshua’s head. “You think he’s up to it?” For the first time it seemed as though he was asking Julian’s opinion and not criticizing it. “He looks pretty beat.”

Joshua managed to shake his head and speak for the first time in several minutes. “I’ll be fine.” He reassured Loid. “Just let me rest for a few minutes.”

Loid shook his head. “I told you I wouldn’t take care of you, Julian.” He said without looking to the others. “And I won’t. So if you want to go and get killed, then go ahead.” Once his discourse was finished, he got up and headed through the door. “I’ll go get Ana and Teddy. If this doesn’t work out we’ll take over, got it?” those were his last words before he left, possibly for good.

Julian sighed and turned to his teammates, confidence taking over. “Okay, now listen up. We’ll need to find a place that’s deserted…”

***

According to Vee, the best place to execute Julian’s plan was an old warehouse on the outskirts of the town. Julian wanted to choose someplace that was completely out of Ellay, but the Entrapment only permitted him and his friends to go this far. It was extremely old—bits of metal fallen from the roof littered the ground, and an entire wall was missing, bathing the huge ruin with sunlight. There was even an old, abandoned car in there, cast off to the side.

Julian stood in the center of the warehouse while Joshua and Vee hid behind the abandoned car. Julian had his hands spread out and his eyes closed, his mind deep in concentration. He stood there silently while Joshua and Vee looked on.

“What is he doing?” Vee asked Joshua, who was peering around the edge of the car and observing Julian. He didn’t turn around, but he answered in a whisper. “He’s sending out waves of energy with his mind. It’s like he’s calling out to…them, I guess.”

Both children’s attention was called over to Julian as he put down his arms and looked up. They had come, finally. “The ceiling…” Julian mused to himself. “He’s going somewhere we can’t hide.”

Joshua and Vee came out of their hiding places and walked over to Julian. “So…what do we do?” asked Joshua. “Should we blast the ceiling from down here?”

“No…too risky. We might hit Peel, if she’s there.” Julian turned to his friends. “I think we’re going to have to go up there.”

Vee sighed and shook her head. “Well, that just throws our entire plan out of whack, doesn’t it?” she said. Joshua comforted her by placing his hand on her arm. “We’ve come this far. I don’t think we can run away now.”

“You’re quite the hero for a little kid.” Vee snapped back.

Julian put his hands on his hips. “He’s right. Whoever has Peel is up there.” He looked down to Joshua. “Think you can teleport us up there?” he asked expectantly. Joshua nodded. “I can go anywhere as long as I have a vague idea of the place.” He grabbed Julian’s and Vee’s hands, and then closed his eyes. “Hold on.” He warned before a yellowish glow enveloped them and they disappeared.

They materialized on the rooftop and immediately spotted the person they were cautiously referring to as ‘them’ only a few hours before. Their fear nearly disappeared once they caught sight of the old man standing on the concrete roof with his hands on his cane and his hat tipped down. When they saw him he bowed in a grandiose manner. “Greetings, Julian. At last we meet.” He took a step forward, flashing a cocky smile. “I am Earth Bluesman.”

Julian wasted no time and pointed his finger at Bluesman menacingly. “Where’s Peel? What have you done with her?”

Bluesman closed his eyes and chuckled. “Assertive. I like that. However, I am afraid I cannot show you your friend until you give me what I want.” His smile didn’t disappear even after Julian lowered his hand and it started glowing with energy. He opened his eyes and looked at Julian through beady eyes. “That’s right,” he said. “I want the [key]. And I want it now.” He stretched out his hand and beckoned for Julian to come forward.

Julian looked to Joshua and Vee. Loid was right…they didn’t know about the prism being hidden in Spookane. Julian looked back to Bluesman. “First Peel. Then the key.”

Bluesman half-closed his eyes and raised his cane, waving it around like a baton. “Very well. If that is how you desire it…” he called out to someone behind him. “Peel…your friends are waiting.”

Bluesman stepped to the side and revealed Peel, who was standing right behind him. She had a distant, vacant look on her face. She was still wearing the hydrangea blue dress Julian gave her, but her casts were gone and her limbs seemed to be in perfect health. Upon seeing her, Julian cast aside his air of steel-like stoutness and let out a gasp. “Peel! Are you all right?” he yelled. Peel didn’t respond. Bluesman turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Peel…I think you might want to…meet your friend now.”

Vee, who was watching from the sidelines, ran up to Julian and grabbed his arm. “Julian, this isn’t normal…something’s wrong.”

Vee’s statement was confirmed as Peel dashed forward at blinding speed. Before Julian could react, she lashed out with her hand and slapped Julian, causing him to shriek in panic. Both he and Vee managed to jump to the side, barely avoiding Peel’s relentless attack. “What have you done to her?” Julian asked between leaps, sidestepping Peel as she charged, then leaping back as she tried to kick him.

Bluesman chuckled. “I did what was necessary. Now give me the [key] before this gets out of hand.”

“Never!” Julian ducked a second slap and parried another kick with his forearm. Bluesman’s smile faded. “Fine.” He said, a tinge of anger in his voice. “I tried to settle this peacefully, but…you leave me no choice.” He struck the floor with the tip of his cane and Peel stopped her assault. She returned to her previous, standing position as if she was a robot was waiting for its program. Bluesman tapped his cane once more and Peel walked over to one of the holes in the roof. Once there she stood on the edge, her toes perched precariously over the hole. Bluesman pointed his stubby hand at Julian. “Give me the [key] or she jumps.” He threatened. “Do not think I am bluffing.”

Julian stood, fists clenched, looking from Bluesman to Peel and back. “You wouldn’t.” he said. In response Peel lifted one foot and dangled it over the edge. “I would.” retorted Bluesman.

Vee and Joshua stood on either side of Julian, murder in their eyes. They didn’t dare try anything for fear of having Peel jump. While they both wanted to act, they decided that they wouldn’t do anything to compromise anyone.

Julian relaxed and stood up straight, his stoutness creeping back in. He placed a hand on his hip and shot Bluesman an impassive look. “You’re never going to have the prism.” said Julian dryly.

Bluesman shook his head. “If that’s how you want it…” he tapped his cane and Peel dropped through the hole.

Very quickly Julian ran after her and dived through the hole, plummeting to the ground below. Vee ran over grabbed Joshua. “Joshua! Grab him!” she commanded. Joshua peered over the hole and stuck out his hands. “Got it!” he began concentrating.

Julian had barely grasped Peel and taken her in his arms when Joshua’s telekinetic wave caught him and stopped him in mid-air. He let out a sigh of relief as Joshua gently lowered him to the ground and to safety. From the roof Vee called out to him, exasperated. “You idiot!” she yelled. “Why’d you do something stupid like that?”

Julian looked up to Vee. “Because I knew you would catch me!” he replied.

Back on the roof, Earth Bluesman was looking at Vee and Joshua with a stunned look. His plan…his perfect plan…had failed. Anger began bubbling up through his cool exterior. “I don’t believe it!” he cried.

Vee and Joshua turned to Bluesman and took up fighting stances. “Give it up, gramps!” yelled Vee. “You’re outnumbered!” Bluesman adjusted his hat and raised his cane. “Am I? I controlled the girl, I can control you!” Joshua gasped. “It’s the cane! That’s what he’s using to control Peel!” Joshua’s eyes widened as Bluesman threw down his cane in an effort to hypnotize his enemies. Suddenly a yellow aura enveloped Joshua and transported him from his current position to Bluesman’s shoulder, where he managed to grab the cane just in time. With a solid kick he jumped off Bluesman and ran over to Vee, who took the cane and broke it in two over her thigh. “Looks like you’re out of luck.” smirked Vee as she threw the pieces of wood aside.

Bluesman lowered his head. “I do not think so.” He mused while lifting his hand to the side. Suddenly a deep rumbling could be heard from below. The sound shook the very foundations of the warehouse to its core, rattling Vee and Joshua but barely affecting Bluesman. Vee and Joshua wordlessly grabbed onto each other and teleported away, trying to rejoin Julian as fast as possible.

Julian was laying Peel down and placing her against the abandoned car when Joshua and Vee materialized and ran over to him. “Julian! What’s happening?!” Joshua nearly stumbled and fell as he ran. Julian spread his feet apart and looked to the ceiling. “Bluesman…” he muttered.

Suddenly a huge spire of rock jutted out from the ground and grew until it punched through the ceiling. Then, very slowly, the crag began retreating back into the ground, carrying Earth Bluesman on top as its passenger. He was clinging on to the side with one hand and holding his hat with the other. As soon as the rock disappeared into the ground, leaving a hole in the concrete from which it jutted out, Bluesman clenched his fists. “I have no choice now but to kill you.” said he. “I will end your miserable lives!”

Julian and his friends walked away from Peel and stood adamantly before Bluesman, not a trace of fear on their faces. “You’ll never beat us.” Said Julian as he whipped his hand to the side and summoned the Aswer. Earth Bluesman snarled. “I warned you.” He quickly raised his hand and the ground began rumbling again. Slowly a huge chunk of rock raised itself from the ground and hovered in front of Bluesman. Bluesman then brought his hand down and the rock shot forward. “Blues Rift!” he shouted.

Julian and Vee jumped out of the way of the hurtling chunk of rock while Joshua teleported to the side. The boulder made contact with the ground and a resounding boom could be heard throughout the area. Not wasting any time, Joshua spread out his hands and yelled, “PK Fire!” sending forth a large ribbon of crimson fire. Bluesman raised his hand again and another rocky spike jutted from the floor, serving as a shield. Bluesman pressed himself against the rock and waited for the flames to disperse, then magically lifted the rock and hurled it towards Joshua.

“Hang on!” Julian jumped in front of Joshua and placed his hands forward, swinging the Aswer and placing it before him. “PK Aswer!” the greenish symbol quickly gathered energy and fired a huge beam of light that completely enveloped the hurtling boulder and vaporized it, as well as leaving a rather large hole in the roof.

Vee sprinted forward and let out a loud scream as she jumped and prepared to kick Bluesman in the face. The latter managed to see it coming and motionlessly summoned a tower of rock right below him. The piece of earth carried him upwards like an elevator, and forced Vee to kick into solid rock. Before she could pursue Bluesman he had conjured up another spire on which to jump. Before she knew it Bluesman conjured up three more and was hopping from one to the other, lowering himself to the ground several meters away.

Once back at a safe distance Bluesman crouched and placed his hands on the ground. His hands tensed and his arms seemed to bulge. “Seism!” he cried. Mystical energy traveling from his hands into the ground created shockwaves that began shaking the very earth on which everyone stood.

Julian and his friends lost their balance and were knocked down by the tremor. While they struggled to stand Bluesman stood back up and thrust his hand forward, palm facing outwards. “Crescendo!” the earth in front of him, on his command, began exploding. The explosions began traveling a straight path towards Julian and his friends, who were still on the ground. They barely managed to get out of the way before the explosions reached them, scrambling to the side frantically.

“This is no use!” Vee cried. “We gotta get close to him or we won’t be able to hit him!” she put up her fists and took on a defensive stance. In the meantime Julian placed the Aswer before him. “You’re right.” He said, slightly out of breath. “He’s trying to keep us away. We won’t be able to defeat him unless we get close to him.”

“All right…I’ll give it a shot.” Joshua shot a look at Julian before he was blanketed by a familiar yellowish light and whisked away. He reappeared a short distance behind Bluesman and began charging up a PSI spell. Bluesman whirled and pointed his hand at Joshua, a demonic snarl on his face. Instantly, the ground Joshua was standing on began growing at a tremendous speed, carrying Joshua towards the roof. He was clearly trying to crush Joshua. With a yelp, Joshua managed to teleport out of there before the crag punched a hole through the roof. The three regrouped.

Suddenly Julian’s face lit up in realization. “That’s it…now I get it!” he turned to his friends. “He’s keeping us together for a reason! If we spread out, we can get him!” he began running to the side. “Joshua, Vee! Get on the opposite side of him!” he yelled. His teammates nodded and ran over as well, until they were surrounding Bluesman in a triangle formation.

Joshua and Julian began charging up their powers and prepared to fire them forth.

Joshua spread his fingers. “PK Fire!”

Julian grabbed his wrist with his hand. “PK Aswer!”

Together the two powers blazed forth in a frenzy of psychic energy, flooding the warehouse with light. Bluesman instinctively put his hands forward and conjured up a big rock-shield to block the attacks. Unbeknownst to him, Julian chose that moment to yell something to Joshua…

Vee took the opportunity to run towards Bluesman, fists clenched. She was a few meters away from him and ready to attack when Bluesman turned halfway towards her and pointed his other palm at her. “Do you think I’m stupid enough to fall for that trick?!” he screamed, and summoned another shield to block Vee’s way.

“No…but you’re stupid enough to fall for this one!”

Bluesman gasped and turned to face Joshua, who was standing on top of Bluesman’s rock-shield and pointing his hand down at him. His eyes widened in terror as Joshua’s hand began to glow. “PK Thunder!” Joshua cried, and a bolt of lightning appeared from nowhere, striking Bluesman dead-on. Bluesman screamed in pain as the bolt hit, and his two barriers of rock dropped to the ground. Joshua landed safely and leaped back to his previous position.

When the lightning dissipated Vee ran up to Bluesman and let out a shriek. She jumped and turned, delivering a spinning jump-kick to Bluesman with her right heel, who took it in the jaw and reeled. As soon as she landed, Vee followed up with a spin-kick in the opposite direction, and, upon landing, did a one-two kick to his stomach. She finished the combo by grabbing her fist with her other hand and using her elbow to ram into Bluesman’s stomach, after which she backhanded him to the face and knocked him back with a last flying kick. “Now!” she yelled to her friends, and then jumped back. Joshua nodded and summoned several little packets of psychic energy that flew to Bluesman and blanketed him like a hoard of angry bees. “PK Swarm!” he yelled, and the pellets exploded.

Bluesman let out a blood-curdling scream and dropped to his knees, then hit the ground face down, hard. Vee ran over to him and made sure he was out. At the same time Julian ran over to the still-unconscious Peel, who had slumped to the ground thanks to Bluesman’s earthquake. He propped her up and placed his hands on her forehead. “LifeUp.” He whispered softly, and felt healing energy course through his synapses, invigorating every cell of Peel’s body. Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she let out a dazed moan.

“Ugh…where am I?” Peel lifted her hand and managed to grab the side of her head. She tried to straiten up and stand up, but was still very weak from the hypnotic trance into which she had been placed by Earth Bluesman. “What’s happening…?”

“Ssh. It’s okay.” Julian took Peel’s arm and slung it over his shoulder, then placed one hand under her legs and one under her back. He lifted her gingerly and turned to face the others. “It’s all over now.” He said. At that point Peel let out a gasp and her grip on Julian tightened. “Oh, that’s right! Julian, be careful!” she began bouncing up and down in Julian’s arms excitedly, for lack of strength to do anything else. “There’s this old man…he’s working with them, you know? I—”

Julian interrupted her by jerking his head to one side and seemingly pointing at Bluesman with his gaze. Peel slowly turned to look in the direction Julian was looking and saw the prone, battered form of the old man, with Vee and Joshua looking him over. When they caught sight of Julian and Peel they waved to them. “He’s still alive, but he’s definitely out of commission.” cried Joshua, “I think we can without fear of being attacked again.”

Julian nodded. “Okay, then.” He said. “Let’s go…”

He hadn’t taken two steps when a loud, piercing laugh boomed through the confines of the old warehouse, startling everyone. Julian started whipping his head left and right in an effort to find the source of the voice, as did Peel, who clung to the back of Julian’s clothes. They stood like that for several seconds.

“Hallo, Julian…you look very well…”

Julian whirled around to find a girl with a silver, synthetic vest and a blue tube-top standing in the gap left by the warehouse’s missing wall. The sun hit her from behind and obscured some of her features, but it was easy to make out her silvery hair and cocky smile. She strode silently to where Earth Bluesman was, causing Joshua and Vee to jump back and take fighting stances. She laughed. “Oh, no…I do not wish to fight you…” she lowered her head and her eyes took on a menacing glint. “…yet. I merely came to relay a message to you…”

Julian frowned. There was something unusual about this girl that just wasn’t right…

The girl planted her heel on Bluesman’s back and flipper him over roughly. “You have beaten three of our most powerful warriors…” she mused as she contemplated Bluesman’s sad face. “Volt Punker…Rapper Flamestart…and now Earth Bluesman…it is sad, to see such great warriors fall so quickly, ja?” She smiled evilly at Julian. “But there is still the fourth warrior…the strongest being alive on this planet…me, Dual Proghauser!” she pointed herself out with her thumb and jerked it towards her for emphasis.

Julian snarled and lowered his head, his gaze meeting Peel’s. “Is there a point to all of this?” he asked. Proghauser nodded. “It is time for this silly war to end.” She said. “I have come to challenge you…I want you to meet me at the top of Mt. Itoi. And I want you to bring the [key]…no more hiding it like you have up to now.”

Julian gasped. “How do you know about that?!” he cried. He got a chilling laugh as his answer. “I am not as stupid as my associates.” She stated simply. “Now go! I will be waiting, Julian…”

Vee and Joshua leaped in front of Julian, apparently protecting him. “If you’re so full of yourself, we can settle things right here!” Vee yelled. Joshua growled and clenched his fists to demonstrate that he thought the same thing. Proghauser laughed again and shook her head. “Fools. Take advantage of this opportunity and leave…She does not know that you are here…”

Julian’s eyes widened and he shot a look at Joshua. “Joshua! Get us out of here, now!” he ordered. Joshua relaxed from his fighting pose and looked at Julian quizzically. “But…”

Julian shook his head vigorously. “No! Get us out! Hurry!”

Those words had barely finished leaving Julian’s mouth when the warehouse was inundated by an eerie, magenta light. A large purple orb had materialized in the center of the room, and large threads of electricity were crackling all around it. The huge spinning sphere emanated a loud sound that resembled a painful moan.

Joshua, upon seeing this, grabbed onto everyone and closed his eyes. “Hang on.” He said, and then activated his teleportation ability, covering everyone with a familiar yellow aura that barely managed to drown the purplish light emanating from the orb. In a second they were gone.

Dual Proghauser watched silently as her enemies teleported and chuckled softly to herself. Once they were gone she bent down and grabbed Bluesman by the collar, lifting him up and shaking him so as to wake him up. Once Bluesman was awake she grabbed his face. “You actually thought you could beat them…silly old man.”

Bluesman groaned through half closed eyes. “…Proghauser…ungh…what is happening?”

Proghauser placed her mouth over Bluesman’s ear and began whispering softly. “You have failed.” She said blankly. “Now you will receive your punishment…Diva is coming…”

Bluesman’s eyes snapped open and a look of panic washed over his face. “No…wait…” he grabbed Proghauser’s arm and held on for dear life. “Please give me another chance…” Proghauser shoved him to the side. “You are pitiful.” She said. “You do not deserve anything but death.”

Bluesman rolled over and his hat fell to the ground. He tried to reach out to Proghauser with his stubby hand. “No…please, don’t…” Just then the purple orb stopped crackling and began reshaping, molding itself into the figure of a person. The figure stepped forward, and seemed to reach for Bluesman with its hand…

“Nooooo!!!”