Melinda Metz - The Rebel

"Do you need me?" Adam cried from down the hall.

"No," Michael shouted back. "Stay where you are." Anyone in this room had a very good chance of getting hurt.

He hoped Trevor would just stay down, but a moment later he was on his feet, clearly having turned his healing powers on himself.

"Give it up, Trevor, you're no match for me. Not when I still have this." Max reached into his pocket and pulled out the Stone. It was glowing more brightly than it ever had, throwing its blue-green light onto Max's face, making him look like a stranger.

"Trevor, he's right," Michael said quickly. "The Stone has more power than you can imagine. This is over."

"It's not over until I'm dead," Trevor announced.

"Your choice," Max answered.

Michael had to defuse this situation. Now. He turned to Max.

"You don't need to kill him. You have all the control here," he said, going for the logical approach. "Just use the Stone to immobilize him, then we'll figure out what to do."

"Thanks for the support, brother," Trevor said.

"You lied to me," Michael shot back, without taking his eyes off Max. "You lost the right to my support."

But that didn't mean he was going to let his brother die.

The glow on Max's face intensified as the Stone shone brighter and brighter. "What's it going to be, Trevor?" he demanded.

"Max, get a grip," Michael cried. But Max's face was blank. He was so deeply connected to the consciousness, it was like he wasn't even in the room anymore. Michael could reason with Max, but he knew he had no influence over this Max thing.

Michael's heart felt like it was about to hurl itself out of his chest. "Trevor, you've got to walk away," he said, turning all his attention to his brother. "You go after him, it's suicide."

"I have no problem with that," he answered.

The glow of the Stone had become so bright, it was making Michael's eyes water. He shot a quick glance over at Max. Max had the hand holding the Stone stretched out in front of him now. Aimed at Trevor.

Michael didn't think. He just reacted to the threat. He lowered his shoulder and went at Max low and fast.

Max never saw it coming. He went down as easily as a bowling pin. Michael knocked the Stone out of his hand, and it rolled across the floor.

"You've got to snap out of it," Michael yelled. He grabbed Max and shook him hard. He thought he saw a little awareness come back into his friend's eyes. Michael shook him again.

"Get out of the way, Michael," Trevor said, his voice like ice.

Michael twisted around and stared at his brother. Trevor had the Stone now. It's blue-green light was too brilliant to look at directly. And it was aimed at Max.

"No," Michael said. He positioned himself between Max and Trevor. "No."

"What is going-" Max began, sounding groggy.

"Just stay down," Michael barked.

"Max is a vessel of the consciousness, and he must die," Trevor answered. "Move out of the way."

"No," Michael repeated again. He could hardly see Trevor through the glare from the Stone.

"Michael, the consciousness is evil. If I could pull Max away from it, I would. But it's not possible," Trevor answered. "Now move." His voice was ragged with emotion now, not icy as it had been.

"No." Michael didn't move. He wasn't going to move.

"Guys, Kyle's coming your way," Alex shouted from the front of the house. "He tried to pull a Tyson on me and got loose."

Michael didn't even spare a glance at the door, even when he heard it fly open. Kyle was the least of their problems now.

"Don't make me kill you," Trevor begged.

"I'm not making you kill me," Michael told him. "Just put down-"

Suddenly a piercing metallic screech filled the room, the sound so high, Michael thought it was going to burst his eardrums.

Then the world went white. The floor bucked, and Michael was in the air. Flying through the white. The blazing white light.

It felt like it took him an eternity to hit the ground. When he could breathe again, he struggled to his knees and groped the floor in front of him. He had to find Max, but all he could see was a swirl of white dots in front of his eyes.

Trevor had used the power of the Stone.

"Max!" Michael shouted. "Are you okay?"

Michael blinked rapidly, trying to force his eyes to adjust. He saw a hump of darker white a few feet away. He crawled toward it.

His vision slowly cleared, and he saw that it was Max lying in front of him. Michael reached out and felt for Max's pulse. He could feel it, faint and erratic, but there.

"What did you do?" Trevor yelled.

Michael leaped to his feet and spun to face his brother. Trevor was staring down at the Stone. It lay dull and lifeless in his hand.

"What did you do to the Stone?" Trevor shouted, advancing on Max.

"I didn't do anything," Max answered as he struggled to sit up.

"I sure as hell didn't," Michael said.

"Oh, I guess it must have been me," Kyle announced from the doorway. Michael saw Adam, Alex, Isabel, Liz, and Maria trying to push their way past him.

"This little baby is fine." Kyle lovingly ran his fingers over the curved surface of the small silver disk in his hand.

Then he raised his eyes to Michael. "Now, you will tell me what I want to know."

[ front blurb]

"Ready or not, here I come," Michael whispered. He launched himself at Kyle, running full out. He lowered his shoulder and rammed Kyle to the ground before rat boy even had a chance to turn around.

Michael grabbed both of Kyle's wrists and pinned them behind his back.

"You just keep eating pavement until we're finished with our little chat. You got that, Kyle?" Michael demanded. He jabbed his knee into the loser's back, just to make his point clear.

"I'm not Kyle," the guy said, his words muffled against the asphalt of the parking lot.

"What?" Michael grabbed the guy by the shoulders and flipped him over.

He wasn't lying. He definitely wasn't Kyle. This guy looked more like Michael than he did like Kyle.

For a long moment the stranger just looked at him in silence, causing Michael's adrenaline to start pumping all over again. What did this guy want?

"I'm your brother," he finally said.

[ Version History]

1.0 – scanned, formatted, and spell-checked from mass-market paperback. ISBN: 0-671-03562-2

2.0 – July 12, 2004 – The_Ghiti – proofed in detail against deadtree format.