Aberrant: In the Beginning - Jaunt

[Jaunt]

The sound of the staff outside the room was barely registered by the loving mother who sat next to the hospital bed. She hadn't slept in day it showed but there she sat gripping a young mans hand tightly.

The repetitive 'beep' of the cardio monitor was drown out by her voice as she read an article from the magazine that she had folded in half laying in the bed.

The boy, about sixteen, rested with his eyes closed. She finished her paragraph and moisture welled in her eyes. "Devin, sweetie, I know you can hear me. I need you to wake up, baby. Until you do, momma's not going anywhere, okay?"

"Excuse me, Mrs. Jauntsen?" Devin's doctor quietly spoke up form his looming stance in the doorway. "May I... have a moment please?" He gestured for her to join him in the hallway.

[Titan]

The young man stood at the crest of the hill, looking down on the valley below. He held a shotgun over his left shoulder, and he led a horse by a tether behind him. He wondered for a moment who he was. Did it even matter?

Devin

Ah, yes. Devin, the dangerous. He tugged the mule's tether. Horse? He looked again. No, a mule. It followed reluctantly. He called the mule something, he was sure.

sweetie

Right. "C'mon, Sweetie." They made their way down into the valley. As they reached the bottom, a woman carrying washing water looked at Devin.

I know you

Don't I? Devin thought that the woman looked familiar. She passed him without speaking, so he pulled Sweetie along towards the town. He passed a miner playing with dynamite. The dynamite blew up.

Devin woke on a beach. A medic was waving a hand in front of his face. "Just blink then. Blink if you-"

can hear me

Devin struggled to his feet. He looked around. He was on a battlefield. He spotted his father, waving him forward. "Private! Come here-"

I need you

Private stumbled towards the soldier. The older man pointed at the far cliff. "How many artilliary are mounted up there, son? My eyes aren't what they used to be."

to

That wasn't right, was it? There were four, he thought. He turned to the boy, playing in the sand. He should be confused, but he didn't know why. The boy smiled up at him. "After my nap, we can play cowboys, ok? Don't play without me, though, ok? Wait for me to-"

wake up

He crawled through the fence on his belly. The dogs barked, but he was free. He heard a shrill cry. He though it was coming from the barrel beside him. He opened the top, afraid of what he would see. It was a-

baby

He held it tight, and ran from the wolves. Dodging and darting through the trees, he evaded them, but they were right on his heels. He darted into a cave to hide. The wolves growled their frustration. He growled back. "Go away! We're not coming out-"

Until you do

He reached inside the baby's blanket, something was poking his chest. It was a locket. He looked at it, fascinated. He knew this locket. It was-

momma's

He looked around at the desert. The baby still clung to him weakly. Something was wrong. He thought that this was making sense, but suddenly it seemed like it was

not

He had to leave. He had to get out of this. What ever this was. He pushed. He felt it, he could almost feel it, he was

going

But where? Where could he go?

anywhere

would be better than this. He struggled with the waves, one arm over a plank. The rain pelted his face.

okay?

No. Nothing was okay. He. He knew. But, he wondered who he was. Where he was. Did it even matter?

[Jaunt]

The young boys mother cupped her hand over her face as the doctor spoke. It was in part fear as well as disgust, here was her son lying in a coma and there was nothing she could do. Where were the mystical mother powers that would allow her to make everything okay?

"Physically Mrs. Jauntsen, Devin is fine." Doctor Kofe explained. "His injuries are superficial and have all been healing remarkable well."

Tears slowly trickled down her cheeks. She was only half in attention as she looked at he baby boy lying there asleep and she felt so powerless, so weak. "However?" She asked, there was always a 'however', she'd watched enough E.R. to know that.

Dr. Kofe sighed. "However, there is no guarantee that Devin will ever wake up. His head trauma was extensive and CAT scans reveal that the hemorrhaging isn't subsiding."

"My boy is going to wake up, Doctor." It came out with more venom than she had intended.

"Of course he is, Mrs. Jauntsen." Nothing new here. Everyone was strong enough to defy modern science and Dr.Kofe wasn't about to argue with her. "Be that as it may, after nearly six weeks, I'd consider tempering yourself for the worst case scenario. I'm sorry."

He said nothing else and walked away. His bedside manner was a bit coarse but deep down Devin's mother appreciated his honesty, even is she didn't really want to hear it.

[Titan]

The young man sat at the base of the mountain. Devin. His name was Devin. He kept reminding himself, over and over. He looked up at the light. It wasn't the sun, he saw. He didn't really remember much about... before, but the sun was round, he knew. Here, the light came from two slits in the otherwise black sky. David... no, Devin! Devin thought that maybe, if he could get to the light, things might change.

He began climbing the mountain. It was no true mountain, not part of a range or anything. Just a giant node of rock jutting out from the earth. Very rough, and hard to climb. But he- Devin- climbed anyway. He was about a third up the face of the mountain when he remembered his mother.

I hear her sometimes, don't I? I hear her.

He didn't know what it meant, but he almost wept to discover that he could remember something from before. His hands, cut and bleeding, hardly wanted to hold on to the rock. Still, he swallowed tears, and began to climb once more.

[Jaunt]

Several hours later...

Misti Jauntsen, Devin's mother still sat quietly near the bed. Ever vigilant, as only a mother could be, for any signs that her baby boy was going to be okay. Carl, his father and Jenna his twin sister both stepped through the threshold of their nightmare as they entered the room where one of their family lie dying in a coma.

Devin wasn't really their son. Carl and Misti Jauntsen adopted him when he was only two years old. It was simple coincidence that Devin's birthday fell on the same day of his new sister (the two were nearly seven hours apart). While their parents knew the truth hey never bothered to inform their children that they weren't really twin bother and sister (even though their resemblance was uncanny).

Perhaps it was for this reason that Jenna was taking everything so hard. The car that had hit Devin that day was meant for her, and if her brother hadn't pushed her out of the way at the last moment she knew it would have been her in that bed, or in the morgue. Siblings rarely get the opportunity to remind one another how much the other loves them, and now Jenna faced a harsh reality that she may never get the chance to let her bother now just how much he meant to her.

Misti looked up at her family as they walked in. "They said we should start preparing to accept the worst." She said without warning and completely devoid of tact. She was angry, and they could tell. It was common to get that way when you were powerless to affect the things around you, like waking your son up from his coma.

Jenna approached her mother and leaned in, comforting her with hug. "What's that mean?" She asked as she pulled away.

"The doctors feel he may not wake up Jenna. Devin's just isn't responding to treatment." Devin's father placed a gentle hand on his daughters shoulder.

"No... he has to wake up." Jenna murmured silently, but still loud enough to be heard.

Misti and Carl dismissed themselves for a moment, standing just outside the door to discuss things that they felt Jenna may not be emotionally stable enough to handle. Hell, they weren't even sure they ere emotionally stable enough, but it needed to happen.

"Devin," Jenna started, sitting where her mother sat just a moment ago, gripping her brothers hand. "Look, mom's really worried so, you know, whatever is you're doing where ever you are it's time to come home. It's not funny anymore. Okay?"

She gripped tighter, suppressing the tears that welled up. "Th-thank you Dev, you know, for what you did. It would be me in this bed had you not done what you did. That's why you have to come back to us, because if you don't I'll never be able to tell my brother how much I love him and how important you are to me."

Silence was all there was in the room for a moment until Jenna cocked her eye brow with a sudden realization. "And you still owe me twenty bucks."

[Titan]

Devin pulled himself up to the next ledge. He wiped dust and sweat from his face with his forearm. His hands were all but useless as anything but meat climbing tools. He slowly realized he was at the top of the 'mountain'. The node of rock was plateau-topped, and Devin spent a moment looking around at the vast lands. He had remembered more and more about his life 'before' as he had climbed, and now was missing just a few key pieces, including how he got here.

As he surveyed the lands, he saw a disturbance way off in the distance. Even as he watched, he saw a jungle tremble and fall silently off into the darkness. He felt a queasy clenching in his gut. This was very bad.

He looked up at the slits in the sky, much longer and wider than they had seemed from the ground, but no more accessible. He was at a loss. The imperative to get there still burned in him, but he had run out of mountain.

They say we should start preparing to accept the worst

Devin winced at the sound. It seemed to rumble in on him from every direction. He threw an arm up over his head, covering his ears. His eyes rolled wildly around, looking for the source. He spotted a village in the distance slipping quietly into the dark. he shuddered.

What does that mean

Despite the loudness, Devin gasped. Then he screamed frantically at the sky.

"Jenna! JENNA!" That was his sister, he knew it.

The doctors feel he may not wake up, Jenna. Devin just isn't responding to treatment

No. No, no, no. That wasn't true, that couldn't be true. He was here... But where was here, anyway? He looked around again, in time to see an entire hillside plunge away into the black oblivion. Was this his... mind? Was he trapped, was that it? How did he get out?

No... he has to wake up faint, but still it rumbled across the sky. Devin looked up at the two slits of light in the sky. Wake up. He had to get there. Had to. He heard another rumbling, and looked around.

From every direction, medium to large sized boulders were rolling across the land. The mountain shook suddenly, as the first began to impact at the base. Devin stumbled, and almost fell.

Devin, look, Mom's really worried so, you know, whatever it is you're doing wherever you are it's time to come home

In spite of everything, Devin laughs aloud. Jenna had a way of understatement that always made him feel better. The mountain trembled under his feet again, but this time the landscape around Devin receded. The mountain had grown. The slits in the sky looked all that much closer. Devin cheered, but suddenly his head hurt.

It's not funny anymore okay

It sure wasn't. From his higher vantage, Devin could see the land, still vast but crumbling at every edge. Beyond, the darkness. The darkness scared him. Still, rocks and boulders streamed across the land, feeding the mountain node under him. It still grew higher and wider, rocking Devin this way then that. His head throbbed, like an iron spike was being driven into his forehead. Still, he focused on the slits in the sky, ever wider and longer and closer. He had to get there. He had to get to her.

Th- Thank you Dev, for what you did It would be me in this bed had you not done what you did

Unconscious of the tears streaming down his face, Devin watched as the last of the rock rolled across the ground. The mountain was huge, but settling. Devin looked up at the sky. He almost felt as though he could touch the fissures of light, but it was illusory. He was still very far away from them. He spat in frustration. He HAD to get there. He gripped the sides of his splitting head, jammed his fist against his temple. Suddenly, he felt the ground disappear under his feet. He opened his eyes. He was falling, maybe half a mile above the mountain of stone. He looked up. The chasms of light were very close.

That's why you have to come back to us, because if you don't I'll never be able to tell my brother how much I love him and how important you are to me

He screamed. The sound was too loud, his head felt like a bursting melon. His fear and frustration overwhelmed him. He *jumped*. The light filled the sky, his mountain barely visible far below. Now he could hear a beep, and the sounds of distant footsteps. He could feel the pressure of someone holding his hand. God he was almost there.

And you still owe me twenty bucks

His throat burned from his shrieks. He felt as though his brain was leaking out his eyes and ears. His eardrums perforated from the booming voice. He *jumped* again.

The light hurt his eyes. He fluttered them once, twice. Noise thudded in his ears, as though they had never heard sound before. He heard the steady beep....beep of the cardiac monitor. A vague shape was between him and the light. It resolved itself into a blurry Jenna. He smiled feebly.

"What twenty bucks?" he croaked, "You're full of it..."

[Jaunt]

Surprise quickly captured his sisters senses and refused to release its hold. Her eyes, as lovely and blue as they were, swelled to the size of half dollars. Her lips quivered like she wanted to cry out but was too overjoyed to find words. She clenched his hand even tighter and somehow found the will to move.

She stood up so quickly that her auburn ponytail flew into her face when she turned her head to the door. "Mom! DaaaD... he's up! He's awake! Mom! Devin's awake!"

Chaos was the scene as Devin's parents rushed to the bed. No one grabbed him and hugged him or touched him too much out of fear the moving wasn't a wise thing. The hospital room became a torrent of Doctors and staff and all manner of people. through it all Devin still had no idea what the hell was going on.

48 minutes, two cheeseburgers, one large fry, and a strawberry shake later...

"Devin, can you remember anything about the accident? The last thing that went through your mind?" Doctor Kofe asked. It was wasn't a psyche evaluation, just standard questions to gauge how much of Devin's memory was intact. Normally such questions would wait until a few tests were run but the young man seemed rather awake and alert. Unusually so.

"The bumper." He replied, stuffing more fries into his mouth. Jenna stifled a laugh that found itself halted in the back of her throat. A 'don't encourage him' glare from her mother prompted her to take another bite from her Burger King.

"Devin, this is serious." His mother said calmly. She couldn't be angry. She had her son back after six weeks of living a nightmare. Devin had no idea how high of a pedestal he was on right now.

"I'm being serious." A fry dangled from the corner of his mouth. He was famished but had never felt so good in his life. The young all-state gymnast felt like he could do a floor show for ten hours straight. "All I remember is the car hitting me, the sound of brakes, and the bumper of the car coming the opposite way hitting me in the face."

The occupants of the room, Dr. Kofe, Carl, and Misti all looked to Jenna. Devin continued to eat. "It all happened really fast." Jenna started. "He pushed me out of the way, so I stumbled and tripped on the curb. It wasn't until after he was hit that I turned around."

"What's the big deal?" Devin looked around, he knew something wasn't right. "I mean, I'm okay right?"

"Devin, the driver of the car says you literally came out of nowhere."

"Yeah, people tend to 'come out of no where'," he used air quotes to make help accent his disgust over the driver's claim. "when you're going sixty four miles per hour in a fifteen mile per hour school zone. It's more like he came out of nowhere."

Doctor Kofe set his clip board to the side, placing it on the heart monitor. He approached Devin and looked at him very seriously. "Devin, how did you know how fast the other car was going?"

The small room suddenly felt like the walls were closing in. A tension grew as all eyes fell on him for explanation.

"I must have heard it. You know, like I heard Jenna and my Mom." he shrugged. "Why? Was I right?"

Doctor Kofe accepted the answer, but he'd read the police report and knew something with Devin's side of the story didn't add up. Like how the drivers car showed no signs of impact except at the windshield. It was almost as if Devin was horizontal and in the air at the time of impact. Although no one saw the accident clearly, every witnesses story claimed the Devin always had gymnastics practice after school and would have been on the opposite end of the school grounds.

If that day was no different than any other, why was Devin with his sister and not at practice, and if he did go to practice... how did he get across campus so quickly?

"Yes, the speed of the car was estimated to be about in it's sixties." He jotted something down on his clip board and gave a pleasant smile. "Good guess."

Several moments passed as everyone sat quietly while the Doctor wrote his notes and Devin ate his food. His perception blurred and he felt like he was being hurled through a tunnel.

A nurse walked down a hallway moving quickly as she hurried with linens to a patients room. The pillow grazed the end of a dinner cart waiting for pickup in the hall way. It was just enough to turn the juice cup slightly over the edge, far enough that it fell over the edge and bounced a few times spilling it's contents.

As another hurried nurse walked by she stepped in the small puddle, slipped and fell onto the dining cart send her and the small carts contents all over the floor with a clamor that could have woke the dead.

"Devin, sweetie, you okay?" His mother asked, seeing her son suddenly look a little dizzy and distant.

"Huh?" Devin looked her way, and shook it off. "Uh, yeah, I'm cool. Just still a little out of it, you know? I'm just sure as heck not tired, that's for sure."

A loud rumble of dishes followed by loud thundering sound echoed down from down the hall way. Doctor Kofe looked up and hastily left the room to see what the commotion was.

Devin looked out the empty door as the sounds of aides and doctors came to help. The drama that unfolded gave him pause and he thought long and hard for a moment as he stared through that empty door way.

He hadn't ever had a vision while was awake before... until now.

[Titan]

Dr. Kofe returned shortly, and began to usher the family from the room.

"Devin has been through an ordeal, no one doubts that. But it is important that he rest. And, yes, I know that in one sense he has been resting for six weeks, but he needs some real sleep. Tomorrow we can begin."

Carl Jautsen raised an eyebrow at that.

"Begin what, Doctor?"

"Rehabilitation. His muscles haven't atrophied like a long term coma patient, but he is still weak, and some exercise will help him recover his strength." Dr. Kofe seemed firm. "Say your goodbyes, and know that Devin is in good hands. You will of course be able to visit him tomorrow. Go. Take a shower, see a play, have dinner at home for once. He'll be here tomorrow."

After the family had reluctantly gone. Dr. Kofe smiled broadly at Devin. He placed a cup and a pitcher of water on the table. He put a mini-cupcake wrapper with four pills down on the table next to the cup.

"Take them. Two will stimulate you, to prevent any possibility of slipping back into a coma state. The other two, paradoxically, will relax you, so that you can get some real sleep. Good night, Devin. Tomorrow, the real work begins."

He leaves Devin alone with his thoughts, the pills, and the ubiquitous TV remote.

[Jaunt]

My muscles are fine. Devin thought to himself as he stared at the pills on the table. I've slept enough, and I sure as heck don't wanna be 'stimulated'.

He flipped the channels, settling on Cartoon Network. "Sweet. Superman marathon."

He chuckled a few times before pushing the covers aside and setting his feet down on the cold tiled floor. He'd been in bed for way too long and while he was certainly thankful that they removed a few of the instruments that helped him sleep comfortably for that long. All said and done he thought it might be nice to walk to the bathroom and give it a shot without a catheter.

It was only about three steps, his legs held up fine despite his long sleep. Vertigo reared it's ugly head as the world spun and the room seemed distorted as it wavered an rippled in his field of vision. He fell to one knee, his left hand held firmly to the end of the bed while he right gripped his head like it mattered against the pain.

Mom... he thought as the pain gripped him. It was scary and young Devin had not clue how to handle it. Fear gripped the boy, he dared not scream since he wasn't supposed to be out of bed to begin with, and honestly, didn't really like Dr. Kofe. He squinted harder as the pain throbbed in his mind, like some demon clawing it's way out of his skull.

...I just want to go home.

And just like that the pain was gone. In a single instant the pain had left him completely and the young man opened his eyes. Still dizzy and a fit fatigued from the experience Devin looked around to find his left hand resting on the foot of his bed. The scents were familiar, apple cinnamon carpet powder and Glade plug-ins. Thoroughly freaked Devin stepped back a bit, tripping on his gym bag and falling floor.

"No. No, no, no no way..., no way man," He looked around. This was his room and the clock read the same time it read at the Hospital moments ago. "No flippin' way." Like a roach scurrying as the lights come on Devin scampered on all fours over to the bed where his hand shot between the mattresses producing the August 1997 'Biker Babes' issue of Playboy magazine.

He stared at it and all he could muster to himself for an answer as a wide grin spread across his face was: "Way."

[Titan]

He looked around the room, unbelieving. No, this was his room. His N64 was plugged into his TV, GoldenEye still in it, waiting to play. His gym bag was next to his dresser. Hell, it was his room. He could have just smelled it, and known. He smelled... himself. Hard to mistake it. Like new mothers with their babies.

The door to his room yanked open, and Jenna came in wielding a field hockey stick. She had it raised over one shoulder, ready to do some serious damage, when she saw him.

"Devin! What..?" She dropped the stick and nearly knocked him down with her embrace.

"How did you get here? What the hell are you doing out of the hospital? Some guys were here, asking about you. They said they were from the World Health Organization, that Doctor Kofe had called them. Are you in trouble?"

She finally took a breath, which gave Devin a chance to talk.

[Jaunt]

"World Health Organization?" he mumbled to himself before realizing that she was waiting for his reply.

He grabbed his sister's arms to keep her attention. "Jenna, I'm going to tell you something and I swear you cannot tell Mom and Dad." He looked into her eyes, and despite catching an unsettling breeze from the backside of his hospital gown, prepared his sister for the most awesome news that had ever awesomed.

"Jenna. I have super powers."

[Titan]

Jenna's eyes were wide, and her mouth agape as she waited breathlessly for the big secret. Then she rolled them as she realized she'd been had.

"Devin, you jerk. You haven't even been awake for 6 hours and you're screwing around. Take something seriously, will you? Who told you? About the W.H.O. and the Novus? Somebody must have, you didn't come up with that on your own."

Jenna waits for Devin to 'fess up and come clean.

[Jaunt]

"Screwing around?" Devin looked at his sister and folded his arms. "Wake up lame-O. I've been awake for six hours, but you've been sitting with me for five of them. So tell me, oh wonderful sister of mine, how did I make it out of the hospital, across twenty six miles of desert thorns and rocky mountains with no shoes, in a hospital gown..."

He grinned. "And my feet aren't even dirty or cut, and you didn't hear me come in, and nothing is unlocked or forced open, aaaaaand I don't have my key. Hmm?"

He put up a finger as she attempted to protest. "Aaaand, don't even say I hitched a ride. You know darn well I'd be raped and dead or taken right back to the lock up. I'll tell you how I did it. I teleported."

Jenna rolled her eyes.

"And what's a novus?" Devin asked, his thunder being pushed aside momentarily for the sake of his curiosity.

[Titan]

Jenna looked at Devin with concern, and incredulity. She seemed unwilling or unable to grasp Devin's conclusion.

"You teleported? C'mon Devin, seriously, who put you up to this? You don't have any super powers, trust me. Unless it's the power to piss people off. But, I'll play your silly little game. Since you've been laid up for six weeks, you weren't around for the Galatea. It was some kind of experimental nuclear satellite, and it exploded on March 23rd. They say that almost everyone around the world saw it. We didn't though, we were asleep. Later that day, strange things started happening, and people started showing up all over with powers. Real powers, not just the 'pissing people off' power set that you got."

Jenna started to look puzzled herself, as though she were thinking about what Devin had said, and correlating it whith what she was saying.

"They showed a fireman in New York who saved a busload of little kids by absorbing fire into his body. He survived, unharmed. Then some guy called Titan Omega starts flying around the world saving kittens from trees, stopping runaway trains, and generally being Superman. Lots and lots of these things, and these people, start showing up, so the World Health Organization gets a bunch of them together in London, to study them. There was a special on Discovery about it two nights ago... got higher ratings than the Super Bowl. Claims these Super People are like, evolutionary superior to humans, that they are the New People. Calls 'em Homo Sapiens Novus."

Jenna looks at Devin's feet, and his hospital gown. She actually seems like she's talked herself into believing it.

"And you're saying... that you're one of them?"

[Jaunt]

"Satellite explodes and people began mutating?" Devin looked at Jenna with a look the would have redefined serious. "But, you said that was two weeks ago. Jenna, I saved you over six weeks ago. I was walking across the tennis courts on the opposite side of campus when I had splitting headache, had a vision of a car hitting you... and all I thought about was saving you, to be there for you."

The room grew silent and neither said anything like they were waiting on the cue from the other. "So, I was there. Just like that. You know?"

All that shown on Jenna's beautiful face was the glimmer of a tear as the moonlight cast its glare through the window of Devin's room. "Yeah, I know."

"I need to change." Devin said, trying to break the emotional moment. He hated seeing her cry. With a flicker and brief jaunt Devin slipped past his sister appearing behind her in front his dresser. He didn't notice the teleportation, but Jenna sure did.

This makes perfect sense Jenna." He started, pulling out a change of clothes. We could be dealing with Factor-X gene mutation here."

"Factor... who?" Jenna asked, still startled as her brain tried to catch up with her brother's disappearing-reappearing act. She never turned around, she just stared out the window as low level shock set it.

He pulled up a pair of jeans under the hospital gown, having no desire for his sister to see him half dressed he was rather hasty about it. Yeah, you see it's the Glu51Lys mutation. The Glu51Lys mutation represents a type II mutation with low Factor-X coagulant activity in the extrinsic pathway and normal Factor-X antigen levels." He pulled on a shirt. "Which would explain hemorrhaging and my headaches. My desire to save must have forced a latent genetic change. It all makes sense."

Lost in his own comic book theory of human evolution Devin contemplated the possibilities while waiting on his sister's opinions.

[Titan]

"What? You've been aware of super-powered beings for what, 10 seconds, and you've got this half-baked, hare-brained scheme for what causes it? Lemme tell you something, little bro. You're wrong. The best scientists in the world have decided that it's a result of your node. Oh, yeah, you don't know about that, do ya?" Her sarcasm was scathing, but she still didn't look at him.

"Maybe it is some Glucose mutation or whatever, I don't know. But you couldn't have developed a node six weeks ago, even if you did do... something to save me. Because, the radiation... from the Galatea... Hell."

Belatedly, Devin realized that she was crying. Really crying, about to heave sobs and stuff. If he was a superman, this was his kryptonite. Nothing reduced him to a helpless mass of worthless flesh more quickly than Jenna's tears.

"It's just... you say it all makes sense, and NOTHING about this makes sense. Just when they tell us on TV what the hell is going on, you wake up, and as usual... you prove it all wrong. What IS it with you Devin? Even among the freaks, you always have to be different!"

The last bit is said with a weepy laugh, and so much of the sting is taken out of her words. Still, Devin didn't much like thinking of himself as a freak.

[Jaunt]

"Well, it was just a hunch." He shrugged and grinned nonchalantly. "Read it in X-Factor," His eye darted from side ti side in a vain attempt at recollection. "I think."

When the tears started to flow Devin folded like a ball of wax cast into the sun. He walked over to her, his bare feet made no sound upon the soft carpet. He held her tight and let the tears fall.

"I didn't plan this, okay?" He started. He kept his voice low and comforting. "It's just kinda happened. I can't even control it yet. I'm scarred, just like you, but whatever this is that I have now it's been given to me for a reason."

Gently he stroked her back as she let it all out. "We can't let anyone know until we're sure, okay? Not even Mom and Dad. You're the only person I trust Jenna, we'll figure this out together."

[Titan]

"Sure?" Jenna's voice cracked on the syllable, "I'm pretty sure already. You're one of them. The Novus. Devin, don't you realize that you just did it again?"

She looked at him seriously, her tears drying on her cheeks.

"You just teleported again, right now. To get your jeans. I saw it."

He can tell by her face that she is warming to the idea.

"Holy shit, you really are a super-person. Wait. Are you like gonna turn blue, like that guy in your comics? The wormy guy? CreepyCrawler, or something? Man, I hope not. You're weird enough. But, if you are a Novus... you should get in touch with the W.H.O. people! They were here earlier, so they already know something. You could-"

The ringing of the phone makes them both about jump out of their skin. Jenna doesn't comment, but Devin is now across the room, by the door.

[Jaunt]

She was right.

He hadn't noticed it, but she was right. He simple wanted to be elsewhere and his mind made it a reality, instantly transporting him to his dresser.

"Blue? That'd be cool." He grinned and shrugged as he accepted the concept of being smurfy. "But' it'd have to the dark blue, not a pansy pastel or something, that'd be kinda freakish. And it's Nightcrawler, Jenna. Nightcrawler." He corrected her with a disapproving geek-scoff.

With a flicker Jaunt was at the door. He pressed his ear against the wood and listened. Jenna sighed slightly as her neck was already starting to hard this teleporting thing... keeping up with him now was nearly twice the hassle.

[Titan]

Muffled, he heard his mother answer the phone. Her voice, slurry with sleep at first, got clear in a hurry. She asks a queston. Doesn't like the answer, asks another one. Says something to Dad, who snaps on the light. He cannot make out the actual words, more is the pity.

"I'm goin' in."

Jenna pushes past him, towards Mom and Dad's bedroom. Devin pads softly behind her, until he is right outside their room. She opens the door and goes in, just as Mom hangs up the phone.

"What's going on?" Devin nods in approval, she sounds convincing.

"That was Dr. Kofe, " Devin's mom sounds on the verge of hysterics, "Devin's not in his room"

"Misti, don't get all-"

"Don't 'Misti' me, Carl, he's gone! I knew we should have stayed!" Devin can hear the bedspread being thrown back, then drawers opening as his mom paws through them for some clothes.

Jenna backs up slightly, until she is just outside the doorway. She looks accusingly at Devin.

[Jaunt]

"Great, mom's wigging." Jenna whispered. "Dev, you gotta tell them you're okay. Mom'll have a hear-"

In an eye blink Devin teleportred from his position to his sister's location, his hand already covering her mouth. He looked back at the door as he lowered his hand. "Shh, Slapnut," he picked the nick name she hated most. "They'll hear us. We can't tell them, please Jenna, promise me..."

She scowled at him, then slugged him in the arm, hard. "Don't call me that Asshat." She folded her arms, to help her assess the situation, folded arms always made people look like they were deep in thought. "In about twenty minutes, I won't have to. They'll be at the hospital, and you'll be screwed, unless you can get back there before us, because you know she going to drag me along. Thanks by the way."

"I'm not going back there, Jenna. Screw that with a sick Johnson, no way."

"Fine. Stay here, prove Dr. Kofe right, and then you can explain to mom and dad how you got home, on foot, in your hospital gown in.... fifty eight minutes. Hell, Dev, we weren't even asleep yet."

This is why brothers hate sisters. Because they're usually right. Devin paced for a few moments and then finally pulled his shirt off and started undoing his pants. "Gimme the gown."

"Whoa, I so don't need to see this." Was her reply as she covered here eyes and turned around. "That's all you, Loser."

Sighing with irritation Devin snatched the gown up and put it back on.

Jenna! Misti shouted. Jenna sweetie, wake up, we're going back Dr. Kofe says Devin isn't in his room. They're calling the police, c'mon you have five minutes young lady!

"I'll stall her." Jenna said, a half smile creeping up. "Go on, but you owe me, big time."

With a loving hug and a kiss on the cheek Devin concentrated as best he could. They may have seemed like they hated each other, but as far as siblings go, they were always there for the other. "I do. I owe. Love ya sis."

"Love you too, now get out of here before I call security." She quirked her brow and grinned.

A rush of vacuum popped in the air as Devin jaunted away to the place he pictured in his mind.

*****

Police and Doctors frantically moved about the hospital floor collecting statements and interviewing potential witnesses as to the disappearance of one Devin Jauntsen, age 16.

Dr. Kofe stood near the nurses station speaking with an investigator when the expression that crossed his face was a combination of fear, relief, and confusion. Devin walked through the door leading from the stairs (the one place that lacked security cameras) eating something.

Slowly he waled forward, oblivious that all were on him until he got to his room and then stopped to look around. Confused, he chewed slowly, his face covered in chocolate like he was three again and had forgotten how to eat.

"Devin, where have you been and why are you out of your bed?" Dr. Kofe asked, his voice laced with a combination of irritation and frustration. He really didn't like Devin, and neither of them knew why... just a 'vibe' thing.

"ChocoTaco?" Devin asked, offering Dr. Kofe a bite of his ice creamy treat. This is too much fun, I doubt I'll be able to play victim with a straight face for too long, but man... he is pissed.

[Titan]

The next two hours were among the most fun that Devin had ever had. The confusion was priceless. First the police gave Kofe a lecture, short and polite, but unmistakeably a lecture about actually looking for a patient before calling in a missing person. Kofe almost swallowed his tongue, but he stood there and took it. Just about the time the cops left, the family showed up, and the fireworks really started.

Misti laid into Dr. Kofe for almost two full minutes before he was even able to tell her that Devin was safe, and in bed. Devin heard it all from his bed. Then, she was in the room, alternately showering him with kisses, and scolding him for worrying her. Then she turned on Dr. Kofe again. Her chastisement of him was lyrical prose, much like a ballad. Her choices of words were exquisite in their cutting intensity. She never descended into the gutter, but a section on parentage skirted the line. Jenna's jaw came unhinged during the recitation of Kofe's flaws, and Carl's eyes lasered into the doctors forehead, daring him to contradict a single word.

Devin didn't dare laugh, then. But he saved it up for later, and remembered every word. When it was done, the doctor turned without a word and left the room. Noting the time, Misti and Carl gave Devin a quick kiss each, and admonished him to stay put until morning. Jenna gave him a good-bye peck on the cheek, with a whispered, "You are the luckiest bastard in the world."

Much later, after the family was long gone, and Devin was starting to drowse into real sleep, the door to his room opened. At first, Devin thought he was dreaming. Then he felt a presence beside his bed. He tensed, ready for anything.

"I know what you are," Dr. Kofe whispered. He seemed about to say more, but then turned and left the room.

[Jaunt]

"I know what you are." echoed in Devin's mind as he tried to get some sleep. Just this day alone was the single most messed up time of his life.

So, I have all these nifty powers. He thought as he lie on his bed looking up at the ceiling. Big whoop. What good is something like this? I mean, seriously, besides convenience, what's the point?

"I know what you are." Echoed once more...

Yeah, great Doc, thanks. Pass the info along to me, because I have no idea what I am.

In the silence of his hospital room Devin's mind wrestled with several questions, the most weighty of them all seemed to be:

So, what now?

[Titan]

Devin slept, and as he slept, he dreamt.

He hid in a cave. He had been there his entire life. He knew that if his father, the Titan, were to find out he lived, he would swallow him up, like he had all his other siblings. His mother had offered him a chance to sidestep his fate, to merely live. What he did with that chance was up to him. But he had a plan.

He was going to force the Titan to vomit up his brothers and sisters. Failing that, he would rip the Titan open, and free them by force. The world was in the grip of a false 'golden age', where everything was stagnant, and nothing ever changed. The world needed change.

And he was going to give it to them.

***************

Devin started awake. He looked around at the dark, unfamiliar room. He had teleported in his sleep, it seemed. He started to get out of the bed that he was in, and his hand fell on a warm body. He heard the sharp intake of breath. Then a feminine voice.

"Wha-? Light!"

The lights in the room came on. Devin was in bed with a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties. She was a dark ebony, and she was nude. Her eyes rounded in surprise and fear. She opened her mouth to scream.

[Jaunt]

Panic stricken, Devin leapt from the bed and scuttled back a step or two holding his hands out waving them. Fear and confusion were obvious in his widened eyes. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Wait! Please... please don't scream!"

"I-I know this looks bad... but I swear it's not what it looks like! Let me explain... please..." He didn't wait to hear a scream, driven by sheer terror at the thought of being locked up forever Devin tried to explain. "My, my name is D-" he hesitated only for a millisecond. "Jaunt, and I have no idea how I got here. I mean I kinda know but I don't really know, ya know? If you scream, I'm going to jail, and my mom is going to kill me."

He paced as he spoke, every sentence streaming a mile a minute. I-I just need to know where I am, please, I'm n-not going to hurt you, or... or anything like that, okay? Just... please don't wig out, I'm wigging enough for the both of us here."

Had Devin not been stressing to a level that would have put a normal man in his grave from a heart attack already he'd had taken a moment to pause and notice that the woman was beautiful, naked, and he was pacing bare-assed in hospital gown through her bedroom that he gained illegal entry to.

Yup... having super power was totally looking up... wasn't it?

[Titan]

The woman pulled her blankets around her. She had broken off her yell when Devin started babbling. She was looking at him concernedly, taking in his youth and the fact that he was in a hospital gown.

Devin belatedly started noticing things about her room that were very unusual. First of all, the top half of the room was open to the sky. Except, it had been stars and a sliver of a moon when he first arrived, and when she had called for light, it was abruptly a sunny day. Next, he didn't see any doors, but they were obviously in a room, open sky or not. Finally, everything seemed a little 'off', from the bed that seemed to hover a few inches off of the floor, to the hologram of an older black man floating above the desk. And what exactly was the thing on the desk?

She was talking. Devin tuned in.

"...Jaunt, you say? And no idea how you got here? And whitif are you wearing? You say you don't know anything, but I need a reason not to call Corridor. You're not giving me much."

[Jaunt]

He was amazed. Every geek nerve ending was exploding on overload at how awesome this lady's room was. "Okay, I'd like to open with this is the coolest room ever."

"Not giving you much... okay... well, you see, I was hit by a car about six weeks ago, right?" He began pacing again, accenting his works with hand gestures. "I woke up today and found out I can teleport. I went to sleep, I was having dream, and I woke up here."

"Look, I know that sounds like a big heap of steaming orc turd, but I swear to you it's the truth." His attention was suddenly diverted.

"Is you bed floating? Oh, that kicks ass!" Now on all fours Devin was peering beneath her bed to see what was causing it to hover. "Is this gravity induction? Oh man... I have to get my mom to pick one up for me."

[Titan]

The woman slowly raises her eyebrows.

"Orc turd? Mmmmkay. Well, I'm up."

She swings her legs off the edge of the bed, and as she rises, the bed slides into the wall, making Jaunt pull his head back sharply. He is faced with her perfect nakedness. She walks sedately to the desk and speaks.

"Jeans. Magimot. Tee Shirt. Green. Logo reads, Orc Turd? Whitif?"

Before she has finished speaking, the large squarish box on the desk has spit out the items into a tray. She pulls on the jeans and tee, and turns to face Jaunt.

"You want some tea or something? I'm having tea." She turns back to the desk and speaks again.

"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot."

She raises a sliding door and removes the cup of tea. She takes a cautious sip.

"Ok. FIrst things first. My name is Namoria Nelson, and you are, so far as I know, the first Novus I've ever had in my bed."

[Jaunt]

You ain't the only one. Jaunt thought as his sixteen year old mind began working overtime the moment he viewed her in all her perfect nakedness.

Swiftly he spun around to avoid looking, but it was too late. Already nature began taking it's course and within only a few moments Jaunt was now stuck keeping his back to her unless he wanted to introduce her to the third member joining the party.

"Tea?" He asked, now completely embarrassed. For the sake hiding one problem he was faced with another. The hospital gown was opened in the back exposing his pretty bare backside. "Tea's good, I like tea."

Just kill me. God, if you exist, just kill me...

She turns to face him but he doesn't notice. "Uh, well, hi Namoria, and I guess if I'm the first I gotta ask... was I any good?"

Maybe I'll offend her and she'll go crazy and stab me piece of broken tea mug and then I'll never have to go my whole life with this embarrassment. It's a crazy idea... but it just might work. With his hands cupped in front, Jaunt waited for the killing blow.

[Titan]

Namoria hands Jaunt his tea with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't get cocky, little man... and, speaking of cocky..."

She glances down for a moment, then looks him in the eye again.

"You want to put that thing away before you put my eye out?"

At Devin's red face, she laughs cheerfully. She turns back to the desk.

"Jeans. Male. Size, um, 30. Tee shirt. Male. Large. White. Logo... Packing." Again, almost before she is finished, the items described are sliding into a tray. She turns, tossing him the clothes. She adresses the ceiling next.

"Ambience. Standard. Number Five."

The room shifts, and now seems to be a normal living room. Ultra modern and kinda futuristic, but basically normal. High ceilings, and deep purple walls with gold trim, a purple leather sofa with a gold reclining chair. Namoria takes the reclining chair, and motions for Devin to sit.

"I'm not going to call Corridor, but I need to hear a good bedtime story, and it seems to me that you've got one. So, please. Start from the beginning, and don't leave anything out."

[Jaunt]

Bashfully Jaunt got dressed, feeling a bit weird going commando, but he was a big time sexy super guy now, and they did it all the time. His ego was slightly bolstered by the 'Packing' logo on the shirt.

His mind still struggled with how exactly she kept making the room change. Two options sprang to mind, she was either some sort of super person herself, or he was still locked in his own dream.

Dream or no, this all felt too real. Nervously he sat on the couch, tucking a bare foot under his knee. "Well, there was nothingness, darkness. And then this guy came along-"

She raised her hand to stop him. "A bit too far back. I've heard that one." His nervousness was cute, the poor kid honestly didn't know what to say and she could the billion thoughts trying to process themselves.

"Uh, my parents had sex, which is kind of a revolting thought..." He picked up again.

"Fast forward, you're getting warmer." Namoria sipped her tea, trying to restrain a smile.

"Well, there really isn't much to tell honestly. I'm your average sixteen year old loser." He resigned himself to the truth. "I'd show you my wallet to back it up, February 9th, 1982, but obviously I didn't bring it with me; wherever her is."

He sipped his tea testing it for heat. "Six weeks ago I was hit by a car. See, I was having these daydreams for about a week or so. Or at least I thought they were day dreams until I realized that they were visions. I was seeing events as they were happening elsewhere. Then it slipped into events that hadn't happened yet." He looked at Namoria. She sure was beautiful. "Well, long of the short of it, I was heading to gymnastics practice when I had flash. I saw my sister about to get hit by a car. I freaked out, ya know? I could let her be hurt, I'm her brother, it's my duty to watch out after her."

The teenage nova looked off. The recollection of that day triggered memories that were both good and bad. He had saved his sister, but by doing so seemed to have unlocked nothing but more problems for himself and his family. "So I did I guess. I'm not sure the specifics, but I think I teleported to her and pushed her out of the way and ended up getting hit instead. Leave it to me to screw up a rescue."

"Anyway, I just woke up earlier today after being asleep for six weeks. I was in the hospital sleeping. Dreaming of titans and Greek mythology. Cronus to be more specific, the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans. He overthrew his father until he himself was overthrown by his own sons, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, and was imprisoned in Tartarus. I'm not sure which son I was, but I seemed to be dreaming from their perspective. Maybe Zeus, I'm not sure."

"Opened my eyes from that dream Namoria, and I was in bed with you." He blushed again. She could see in his eyes that the prospect of laying back down beside certainly would be a welcomed invitation. "And that pretty much brings you up to date in the life of Jaunt."

"How do you do all this, with the room I mean?" It was his turn to ask a question. "Namoria, and that's a lovely name by the way, this the coolest room I've ever been in."

[Titan]

Namoria's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. She brushed off his glowing praise of her room, and said:

"Hold on a second. Nineteen Eighty-Two? I don't- That's not possible."

She stood, and paced back and forth. Occasionally she glanced at Jaunt.

"Ok, maybe the sleep could do it... although you don't look like Rip Van Whatever... but then how did you wake up in my cubic? But, you're a teleporter, you admitted as much, so maybe when you woke up you teleported here. But you look so young... yet, many Novus keep their youth for decades..."

Jaunt was increasingly confused himself.

"What are you babbling about? Sleep did what? Why shouldn't I look young, I told you I'm only sixteen. What..."

He trailed off as he started putting it all together. Her strange slang... the box that made clothes and tea... her hovering bed...the walls that changed at a word...her strange color choices for the room...

"So... it's..."

"Twenty Twenty-Nine."

"Twenty Twenty-Nine."

"Yes. Two Thousand Twenty-Nine."

"What month?"

"March, why?"

"Because I want to know if I'm forty-six or forty-seven, ok?"

Namoria looked at Jaunt with some measure of pity.

"You're forty-seven. Want a drink? I think I need one."

[Jaunt]

"This can't be right." He said softly. Worry and fear took hold of his youthful mirth sapping the joy and excitement from his face. "I was... just sleeping. How did I do this? I don't want to be here, I can't be here. I have a home and family back in my own time."

He stood as Namoria was busying herself getting a drink. I want to go home. I want to go home. I want to go home.

A vacuous echo resounded within Namoria's home for a brief moment, startling her. She looked and discovered that Jaunt had gone home...

Click to reveal..

Jaunt TPed to his home. Since he lacks the ability to travel time, it would take him to his home in this time, not his original time.

[Jaunt]

A slight echo heralded Jaunt's arrival and his bare feet upon the dew soaked grass told the nova he'd arrived at his destination. Very few things were as he remembered as the boy looked around at his old neighborhood.

He stood outside his home in Avondale, Arizona but dared not approach too quickly. The last house, situated in he center of the cul-de-sac, on South Frost lane was a a simple one nothing posh or fancy but relatively comfortable for a successful family like Devin's.

"Grass?" He said aloud, his voice hushed as he spoke his thoughts. "Since when does grass, green grass, grow in Avondale?"

The front yard was surrounded by a low privacy fence, and two trees stood in the yard. They were massive now but Devin could remember how small and ordinary they seemed back in his own time. Each had been planted when he and his sister were brought home from the hospital.

He ducked behind Jenna's tree as a light came on in the kitchen window. Scratching his neck and yawning an elderly man mumbled something and then reached to produce a glass of milk. He surmised that the man was using one of the contraptions like what Namoria had used in her place to make him the tea, and the clothes.

Frome where he crouched Devin's nova perceptive capabilities easily made out the features and he realized that this man wasn't his father. Closing his eyes he let himself slip away into the familiar memory of the living room where he and his sister had so many late nights arguing over lame horror movies in cable T.V., and then there he was, at least his perceptions were.

Extra Sensory Perception is what the nova doctors would come to call it eventually, "saweet!" was the current technical term Devin had given it. He 'looked' around the room, his 'eyes' taking a moment to attune to the darkness. Pictures of family and friends lined the walls but none of them he recognized. There were no pictures of him, or Jenna, or his mother or father anywhere.

Gone. Moved away, or just moved on. Pulling his perceptions back to himself in a rush the young man knelt there for several minutes. With a single thought Jaunt opened an aperture and he was halfway down the block and already walking when he reappeared.

I want to see my family! He thought as he felt the tears well up in his eyes. He jaunted out of sight, only to reappear a moment later still in walking on the same side walk. His powers would not take him to a place he did not know.

Take me to Mom and Dad... He didappeared and reappeared, still on the same road.

Jenna? Take me to Jenna? For the third time he was walking along South Frost Lane after jaunting only a few steps.

Alone, confused, and full of questions Devin's knees hit the sidewalk, stifling back the urge to break down into tears of lonliness and sorrow. He could hear thunder rolling up in the sky above him but he didn't care...

[Jaunt]

Everything had changed, the young man quickly discovered as he blinked around to the familiar places he used to know. His High School, no modernized and updated for the new age was barely recognizable from his perch atop the goal post of it's football field. The 24-hour Circle K where most of the students would go directly after classes, just a block away, was still there and he considered stopping in to get out of the frigid rain that poured down over him but he remembered that he possessed no way of purchasing the hot chocolate that sounded oh so good at that moment.

From the goal post, to the stands, all the way to "The Stone" several miles away Devin never took a step. He appeared atop the massive boulder, littered with 'Class of 'XX" all over it, positioned about a quarter of a mile away from where all the students would gather on the weekends, a swimming hole not to far outside the city.

He sat silent, a depressed, uncaring expression pasted on his face as he watched the rain hit the surface of the water from a distance.