Defied Reality - 6. Chapter 6: Call Me Michelle

Tess leaned around the corner and looked down the hall at Mia. "There she is...I could open my locker again, Taylor could stick his head in and give her a whopper!" She quietly laughed.

Trent laughed. "We really need to stop, he's going to hate us forever if we keep on."

"He's not even here." Tess rolled her eyes.

"You make habits...they die hard." Trent nodded.

"She's a habit." Tess laughed.

"You guys are still doing it." Taylor walked up and looked around them and saw Mia down the hall at her locker.

"Not now!" Tess turned around and snatched up the paper she was holding. "I did research, see?" She held up the paper.

Spencer brought up a hand and rubbed his mouth, not sure if it was an attempt to hide a grin or not.

"What does it say?" Taylor asked.

"Okay well...in the bottom of the ocean...where the remains of Atlantis are...there is a pyramid...and it has a crystal top and the place where it is...well the depth of the water is supposed to make the water dark...and it is, but around the pyramid, the water glows and lights up." Tess nodded.

"Okay, so how do you suggest we go down there and...pluck the crystal top off of it?" Taylor asked.

"Well, we don't think that's it. But, if they built big structures like that and put little crystal points on top, if they had one that wasn't..put on something, then it would just be laying around." Trent looked around. "Somewhere."

"Well that helps a lot." Taylor said, sarcastically.

"Well then there's the story about the twelve crystal skulls..." Tess looked at Trent. "What does it say happens?"

"Actually it's thirteen and uh...something about when you put them together, they hold all the knowledge of the world...and you reawaken and it helps your spirit...and they know the past and the future of everything..." Trent looked at Tess. "Problem is...people have them and we don't know who they are."

"It said the Mayan Elders had them..." Tess said.

"I can really run that through the DMV and find a face and a name...oh! Even an address too! So helpful." Trent brought his hands to his chest.

Taylor almost wanted to laugh. "They sound more valuable than that so called Arc Of the Covenant."

"That things nothing more than a charge box." Trent shook his head.

"We could always pawn it." Tess said.

"Shock the pawnshop owner." Trent laughed.

"Maybe we can get away with it...I can go ghetto and chip some off and make a gold tooth." Tess laughed.

"Then the government really won't be able to touch you." Taylor grabbed the paper from Tess. "We need to find out more..about this pyramid." He then grabbed Spencer's hand and walked off the other way to avoid Mia.

"Why didn't you take your chance?" Spencer asked, walking out into the court yard.

"Huh?" Taylor looked at Spencer.

"With Mia?"

Taylor shook his head. "First...I wouldn't do that in front of you...and second, actually seeing her after that, it made me want to walk the other way. I'm thinking that's confirmation enough." He sat on the wooden canopy swing and looked at the paper.

Spencer smiled and sat beside him. "Well I'm glad, I want you to have total free will. The idea of you not having that...well, if it had proven to be true...it would of made me sad."

Taylor smiled. "Well, I really hope that it's not the case." He took a deep breath. "Though I feel like we have done nothing but nearly get killed...more than once."

"Maybe you should use your pocket watch. Think about the present...and then the pyramid..and see what it shows you. That's what it's for." Spencer suggested.

Taylor looked down and pulled the pocket watch from the pocket of his jeans and flipped it open. He closed his eyes, thinking about the pyramid and then dipped his finger into the clock part, the years, dates, hours, minutes and seconds swirling within a fast flowing form of gray clouds. His eyes opened and he pulled his finger out, waiting.

A room was revealed, it was a warm room and there was a rich red wooden alter table with the pyramid sitting on the flat red velvet top inside of a glass case, around it there were boxes and papers, other items kept in similar casings, it partly looked like a nice museum room but at the same time, a storage room, it just lacked the dingy appearance.

"Not a museum....but not a storage facility. Not like that." Spencer looked at Taylor. "Not a military base."

"Don't tell me you agree, white house?" Taylor asked.

"I just don't know what kind of place would have a nice room with nice things and then toss things in there not as nice but keep it all together because it's all secret." Spencer shrugged.

Taylor flipped the pocket watch shut after the image faded and put it back into his pocket. "Maybe. I would still like to know how we would find it in there."

Spencer leaned against Taylor's arm and took the paper away. "You think way to much, why? What were you like before all of this?"

"Well, this took me over." Taylor shrugged. "I guess because I was...pretty much a no one."

"I hardly believe that." Spencer said.

"Well, believe it." Taylor grinned. "I was the library kid, studied, did like I was supposed to, didn't have much to say." He looked at the paper. "It's why I obsess...I don't know what else to say..."

Spencer began to fold the paper up into squares until it was small enough to fit into his pocket. "Just tell me what comes to mind, unrelated..."

Taylor thought about it. "Well...I stayed sad a lot...and I was lonely. And...it was just me...and a wall."

Spencer frowned. "That's not true now, none of it is...but you can't obsess over what changed it, you have to take the change and work with it..and by that, I don't mean kill yourself trying to solve the mystery. What will happen when you do? What will you have then? You already know what you were put here to do, you chose not to do it."

"For Trent and Tess...life just seems to flow so naturally for them, it's all fun and games. That's not me. For Trent to be my twin, we couldn't possibly be anymore different." Taylor shook his head. "Sometimes I've thought...if it worked out that way, it would be more ideal for you to be with him. Not just because he's the strongest of us...ability wise but...he just has that personality."

"For all that power...you were the brother that saved my life." Spencer smiled and nudged Taylor. "So quit. You know how easy it could be for me to feel inferior? Yet I think it's you that feels the most inferior."

Taylor looked up and then slowly nodded.

"Alright, bro. I'm going to show you how to really live." Trent grinned, standing outside of the convenient store with Tess and Spencer.

Taylor nodded. "Being open." He waved his arms. "Show away."

Trent nodded for them to follow as he headed towards the convenient store and walked inside. "Yo!" He looked at the cashier and then slammed his hand on top of the cash register, sending a jolt into it, causing the drawer to slide open. "I'm here to get paid."

The cashier stood back when the register popped open. "What the hell?" He looked up at them.

Tess grinned and walked around. "Why don't we go into your office, baby?" She kept moving around the counter.

"You need to go back around the counter." The cashier tried to say in a firm manner.

"I don't think I want to." Tess then reached up and grasped the man's shirt, yanking it open, sending button's flying.

Taylor lifted a hand and froze the buttons mid air.

The man's eyes widened as his buttons just seemed to hover in front of him.

"Sure you don't want to go?" Tess asked, tugging him away from the register and then she opened the door to the office to reveal the hallway of their school. "Oh! There's the ring! Don't want to be late!" She shoved the man through the door and shut it, laughing.

The buttons unfroze and clattered as customers came in, looking around.

Trent nodded at Taylor.

Taylor closed his eyes, shifting time zones and instantaneously went from where he was to swinging over the counter and landing behind it, a female customer screaming as Taylor started grabbing cash.

"Yeah, call the cops." Trent made a gun out of his fingers and aimed at the camera's and with each shift of his thumb, a camera would flicker and blow up.

Taylor threw a bunch of cash into Tess's purse which was soon grabbed by Tess as she grinned at the female customer. "Run."

The female customer turned around and she ran towards the doors, seeing the parking lot outside but when she opened the doors and ran through them, she would find herself running into the police station.

"That's it!" Trent lit a cigarette and then walked outside and grinned as he heard the sirens. His free hand lifted and all the handles on the gas pumps would fall out and the handles would press down as gasoline began to spill. He waited until the cops started pulling in and then he leaned forward and laid his cigarette down and it caught to a stream of gasoline. "Taylor?"

Taylor shook his head and pushed his hand forward, accelerating the speed of the fire, sending it flying and then the cop cars caught fire and then began to explode and he would freeze the cars in the air, mid explosion.

"Kick ass..." Trent laughed, particles flying from the cars as the officers were sent flying off into the grass as they solidified, safe from harms way.

Taylor unfroze the cars and let the explosions resume.

"Lets go." Tess turned around and ran for the door, opening it up to the exterior entrance to the guys apartment. She held it open and waited for them to run through before she followed after.

Taylor walked down the stairs with Spencer while Trent went into the house with Tess.

"Well...how was it?" Spencer asked.

"Not me." Taylor shook his head. "I'm not a thrill seeker." Taylor walked off into the apartment.

"I guess it was a bad idea." Spencer frowned, though he could agree with Taylor's feelings.

"Trent?" Spencer walked into the kitchen of the main house.

"Hmm?" Trent leaned back and shut the fridge, sipping from a mini chocolate milk box with the small straw jabbed into the top.

"I got an issue." Spencer walked over and placed his hand on the counter and looked down thoughtfully.

Trent finished sipping. "What is it?"

"I think...I should go back...to my time..." Spencer said.

"We would need Taylor to do that." Trent stared at him. "And...I take it, you don't want him to know?" He looked up, thoughtfully. "Well..." He sighed. "I guess Tess and I could pull...something..."

"Unless..." Spencer looked up at Trent. "Unless someone wants me here, I don't have a purpose...and by wants...."

Trent stared at Spencer. "By wants..." He trailed off and walked over to the table and sat on top of it and sat his chocolate milk beside him. "That's rather...back stabbing."

"It's not supposed to be." Spencer looked at Trent. "But he needs to be a person himself before he can be a person for someone else."

"So either I....or...you want to go back?"

Spencer nodded. "Yeah and that's only if you and Tess can pull it off."

Trent half grinned, more in a rather taken back way. "Wow...I've barely been a brother and this would be...so back stabbing." He looked at Spencer. "I...guess...I could be...bi curious for you...I think either way...it's going to be messed up."

"But maybe one way will be a motivator." Spencer walked closer.

Trent slowly nodded. "Okay, if this is what you want to try."

"How...do we take the...robotic-ness...out of it?" Spencer asked.

"The techie? That's usually always when you're experimenting." He grinned a little and then leaned forward and grabbed Spencer by the shoulders, pulling him closer, his legs shifted out so that he could pull Spencer right up to the table. "Okay...here goes." He then leaned forward and kissed him and for someone who had never kissed a guy before, he wasn't shy about it, nor was he any less heated or passionate. He deepened the kiss and pulled Spencer closer, his hand rested on the back of his head.

Spencer pulled away several moments later and looked at Trent. "You cause a shiver..."

Trent's eyes opened and he grinned. "Is that good...or bad?" He asked, as for his own feelings, he really didn't feel one way or the other surprisingly, it was as easy as anything else for him.

"Not bad." Spencer said in mid gasp and held his breath for several moments before sighing and relaxing.

"I think we just need to give Taylor some space...maybe he needs far more time than the rest of us to...adjust to everything." Trent nodded.

"What if I end up with both of you?" Spencer asked, curiously.

"Wouldn't that be fun for you?" Trent grinned and grabbed his cigarettes and lit one up. "If you buddy up to Tess, she can dream it up for you...like our dream, make it feel real." He laughed. "You would have to really do some bidding though to get her to guide you through that."

Spencer grinned. "I was just joking."

"Yeah and I'm not really sitting right here." Trent laughed. "You know you were serious."

Spencer shook his head and grabbed Trent's chocolate milk and took a sip.

"Hey, be stingy, that's mine." Trent said in a pouty tone.

Spencer grinned and sipped more.

"Stop!" He laughed and fell back to lay across the table. "Want to make a fake eviction notice? Stick it on the front door?"

Spencer pulled the straw away. "Wouldn't make the house ours. They would find out the truth...and if they were that dumb, they would move, take Tess with them and we would be kicked out too."

"You're probably right." He sat up and yawned, putting his cigarette out in the ash tray. "I'm actually sleepy. Lets go turn the television on, we can crash on the couch together and just pretend to have fell asleep like that, at least until we figure out a nice way to break the news."

Spencer finished the chocolate milk and threw the empty box away. "Good idea."

Trent slid off the table and moved off to head downstairs, Spencer following after him.

"Oh my god..." Tess sat on her bed with her phone pressed to her ear. "I can't believe you are going to do that. Do you even have any idea about how he might react?"

"I'm not even sure." Trent stood in the small alley kitchen in the downstairs apartment, watching Spencer still asleep on the couch. "Then again, he tends to be so low responsive..I'm not even sure if he will even be that responsive."

Tess laughed. "You got a point." She then frowned. "Though, if you want my opinion, taking Spencer for yourself...and going bi curious for him rather than trying to help Taylor seems rather...counter productive."

"We tried to help Taylor, it didn't work." Trent said.

"We tried to help him your way, given I kind of follow your way to an extent." Tess sighed. "Look, he's not like you...and honestly, Spencer isn't either. Honestly, Spencer is a follower, he'll go along with whatever you do. Taylor...for one, I think he's in shock, for two, I think he needs to build a personality. Counting again, first of all, I think he was a loner back when...and now he's in a unit and given what has been thrown in our laps..."

"Well Spencer told me that he obsesses over our...thing because he doesn't know what else to do." Trent explained.

"He needs a life away from us...and our thing. So...sure, maybe you should take Spencer off of his hands. It's cruel...I think it's cruel and for all the wrong reasons. And this is going to make me sound like a nasty evil bitch, but if we cast him out, he'll be forced to look for a life outside of...us and everything else." Tess sighed.

"Or he might go back to his old loner ways. The only person outside of our circle that showed any interest is Mia and...I don't think he wants anything to do with her, understandably so." Trent said.

"You said he feels inferior..." Tess looked around. "This might be stupidly risky...but maybe we should put ourselves in a position to where he gets to save the day, confidence boost. And if push comes to shove, I think we can save ourselves if need be."

"Are you kidding? They come at us with guns and tranq darts...it takes all of us just to get away. You and Spencer were knocked out the last time, Taylor had a gun shoved in his face, it took Spencer waking up to get him out of that jam...which is really sad for him, a human, a powerless human had to save him." Trent frowned. "Not downing a human but...when you have powers and you're rendered powerless and saved like that..."

"What I don't get...is why in three months...we theorize that we're reality warpers when clearly we seem limited to a realm of abilities." Tess said.

"Maybe something happens and we break free of those realms." Trent suggested.

"Maybe we have to try to tap into each others powers. I mean we advance, clearly, but we do it in the realms of our original ability. How do I know if I didn't try to use your ability that I couldn't? I never tried." Tess said. "I mean, we don't advance in time, we advance by will. We started using those new powers as soon as we learned about them. And then when that shoot out happened, I didn't even need you to amplify my power anymore to access people's minds. I was able to do it by will. And even more, I was able to consciously use my body while inside the Secretary's mind, that was how we pulled the file out of her mind."

"Well, you would have to get Taylor to try it first...and then if you wanted to get him to save the day, still...that's risky for a confidence boost." Trent shook his head.

Tess shook her head. "I don't care, whatever helps him. In fact, if we could get him to do something stronger than anything that we have done before."

"Well, if you want to put us in danger, we could go after that crystal pyramid. Spencer thinks just like us, that it's in the white house."

Tess laughed. "Well I'm all gung-ho about going, I have to agree that the place is huge." She sat up. "However I have run a few scenario's in my head, Obama as a hostage would work perfectly, whether he knows the information or not, he would be our key to getting to the people that do, and in fact, Taylor would be our key to getting in. If he puts us in a future time zone, we could get in without even being seen."

"Yeah, but it would depend on how much time you wanted to buy. Minutes faster, we could still see people, hours, we wouldn't be able to. In fact if you went far enough ahead, it would appear day light for us while it's night in present time zone." Trent explained. "I...would guess."

"We would go in the day time and move ahead to night. In the day time, he's more likely to be in his oval office. So even if we couldn't see anyone, we would likely know where he is. Get to the dome, shift back and there he would be. I would give him a migraine, threaten to blow his brain up, I'm sure I could do it, take him hostage and have them take us to the room that way." Tess said.

"I'm all thrill seeker, but after that, we would be wanted, highly wanted, as if we aren't already, but we'd really prove the threat that we could be."

"The stone tablet has that picture on it for a reason, the dream showed us the box, I know we're supposed to get it." Tess said.

"Okay...and suppose he has guards? I could surround them with energy balls, Taylor could freeze them and then ultimately he would be in control of it, giving him more of a sense of power."

"Exactly, you can throw them but you can't hold them in place like he can. Suppose they can throw their guns up and shoot faster than you can throw them? Taylor could freeze bullets, he's done it before...but that's defensive, that would give him a sense of offensive."

"Yeah, but what if he still feels like it's still because of me?" Trent asked.

"We're trying our best." Tess said.

"Okay, so when do we go?" Trent asked.

"Tonight, I'll be staying at a girlfriend's house, then we'll have all day school tomorrow, plenty of cover time." Tess stood up. "Let me write a note, don't bother packing anything, we'll just go, crash at a hotel for a couple of hours, do it, and then come back." Tess hung up.

"For real? That is a long trip. Miami to Washington DC? In one day, round trip? With a couple of hours of sleep in a hote..." Trent blinked. "Tess?" He pulled the phone away and saw the call disconnected. "Is she a fucking insomniac? She can fucking drive it."

"We're here..." Tess pulled up and parked across the street from the US Veteran's Health Administration. "Now there are several ways to get in, the closest here is to head south, down this street and at the end, take a right and that will bring you to the north side of the building, or you can keep south down Madison, go along the east side and head in west or go around to the front." She said, thoughtfully. "Really, it doesn't matter, with Taylor's power, we can get in regardless. I guess the only thing that matters is the security of what entrance we take."

"Insomniac." Trent said, waking up and grabbed the papers from google maps. "Okay..." He yawned. "The north side." He frowned. "From what it would let me see, it looks like a park, as close as Google Maps would let me get. We probably should of used Google Earth."

"Whatever, what about the west side?" Tess asked.

"It didn't let me put the yellow man on Madison at all." Trent said.

"Okay, the front?" Tess asked.

"I was able to get a picture from Zero Milestone on President's Park which is a direct line to the front of the white house, it's a tourist site but it's distanced."

Tess grabbed the printed picture and looked at it. "Okay, did you print how to get here?"

"Well you get on Madison and head south and then take a right on east street north west, straight into Zero Milestone, then you just go and hike it to the White House South Lawn." Trent explained, handing her a street view picture.

"Okay, then there is Kennedy Garden, right there near the front." Tess nodded. "Okay guys, this is hiking."

"Can't you just open a door?" Trent asked, lazily.

"I don't know how it works if the door is locked." Tess looked up. "And I'm sure that front door is locked."

"Well, maybe the door has glass? Or how about this, use a window? You've done that before." Trent said.

"I had to know what the other side looked like. Did you bring a picture of the room on the other side?" Tess looked at Trent.

Trent handed Tess another page. "When you get to the south door, you know the two sets of steps, the balcony? Well there's windows, it goes to the yellow oval room. So that's what it looks like...well, according to the picture."

Tess took the picture and laughed. "I wonder what happens if it doesn't look like this anymore and this is where I open the window to? I'm supposed to go to real places."

"Well, maybe your powers will sense your intentions." Trent grinned.

"Okay, I need a window to break." Tess looked around. "It's going to be bad to go over there and break the veterans window..."

"Just do it, I mean, it's just a window." Trent climbed out. "Come on." He sighed, Spencer climbed out of the car as did Tess. Taylor was the last to get out and the group walked across the street towards the building and Tess headed towards a window. "Okay, Taylor, do your thing."

Taylor sighed, shaking his head and then he closed his eyes, his power surrounding them as they were pulled into a new plane of existence, a created time zone, six hours ahead, causing the clouds, and the sky to move as if in a time lapse. Once it was done, his eyes opened. "Okay, it's done."

"Good, now I won't get bitched at." Tess grinned and looked down at the picture of the yellow room and then lifted a leg up and kicked the window in, the curtains flew out of the way to reveal the yellow room. She then moved forward and climbed in. "Come on!"

Trent climbed in after Tess and then turned around and grasped Spencer's hand, pulling him through the window, helping him, making sure he didn't get cut by any glass and then Taylor climbed through the window last.

"Now how do we get to the dome?" Taylor asked with a frown.

"Taylor, what the hell is wrong?" Tess finally turned around. "I just have to ask, what the fuck is wrong?"

Taylor shrugged. "I just don't feel like I should be here. I feel totally wrong for this destiny thing, I feel totally bad at it...hell, I don't even know why we're pursuing it. He told us why we were put here, we decided not to do it, why not just decide our futures and go on with it?"

"Because, obviously...there is more to it than that, otherwise those tablets wouldn't of been in there. And I'm sorry if you feel awkward or lame or wrong for this...but this is what you are, you can either keep being a bitch about it or man up and join the program. I'm sorry if you feel inferior, I'm sorry if you feel like your part in all of this is pointless, but truth be told, you have more active powers than me. Most of the time, mine are only complimented by Trent's, if he weren't here, I would be pretty fucking inferior." Tess sighed.

"I'm sorry, I can't help how I feel." Taylor shook his head.

"Maybe it's not inferiority by it's self at all." Tess walked over to him. "Maybe...it's just wanting a normal life...and because you don't have that, you let it consume your mind...to the point...it makes you inferior, not because you're weak, but because you lose yourself." Tess turned away and walked further into the room. "The dome, Trent?"

"I don't think his office is in the dome." Taylor said.

Tess turned around. "Then where the hell is it?"

Taylor held his phone out to her. "There's a picture. Just open a door to it."

Tess sighed and grabbed Taylor's phone and looked at the picture and then walked across the yellow oval room and grabbed the door and pulled it open, revealing the president's office, creating the door looped short cut. She walks inside and grinned, the others following. "Close the door."

Spencer shut the door behind them and moved between Taylor and Trent for protection.

"Isn't it rumored that there's a secret room? Like you pull out a book and the book case opens to a secret room?" Trent asked.

"Yep." Tess nodded. "I think...Clinton used it...but I think he just kept his personal stuff in it." She looked down at Taylor's phone and started flipping over the screen. "I can look it up."

"Finding out the answers on the spot." Spencer's eyebrows lifted. "You know, I could take all of this knowledge back to my time, become super rich...advance our technology decades in advance...and think of where you guys might be now..."

"We'll be in flying cars and living in Seattle Space Needle homes like in The Jetson's..." Tess grinned. "Oh! And we can travel through Wal-Marts on conveyor belts and not even have to walk."

Trent grinned. "Hologram televisions, with internet access, oh and home phones built in with webcam, talk about Skype by cable."

"Three dimensional Skype, you know all of that crap would be in 3D...and I mean real 3D, not that stupid crap they try to sell off as 3D now." Tess said. "It could be in the middle of the room and you could walk around it and see the back of the person's head or something."

"And GPS that make cars drive by themselves, gets rid of the texting and driving issue." Trent went on.

"Texting wouldn't exist anymore. They would have some kind of thing that goes in your ear that picks up your brain waves and texts your thoughts. Hell they already talk about that crap now." Tess kept flipping her finger over the screen. "And everything would be vocal command. Hell they already got lights that come on and go off with a clap, they would have electricity that could sense when you're home or not, could sense when your house is at the perfect temperature, it would all run off based on your income so that all of your utility bills became affordable to you. Which could be good or bad, if you reached your financial limit, it would all just turn off till you pay the bill."

"Yeah, but then people wouldn't over indulge and we would all become sensible people." Trent laughed.

"The job market would heal because bosses would be robots...so there wouldn't be any abuse in power, no more...you pissed me off, I'm firing you, everyone would balance out. The robots would be unbiased." Tess then began to hum.

"I think I created monsters..." Spencer mumbled.

"Okay, I can't find anything." Tess handed Taylor his phone back.

Taylor took his phone back and cleared the browser and shoved his phone back into his pocket and sighed.

"Alright, shift us back...to...uh...ten minutes ahead. I want to get an eye on our surroundings before we appear." She looked around. "Will they see us? Ten minutes ahead?"

"No, we would constantly be ten minutes ahead, they couldn't catch up to us." Taylor shook his head and then closed his eyes, decelerating time, bringing them back and stopping right around ten minutes ahead. His eyes opened and he looked around, seeing Obama at his desk, two men sitting in the room before him and then his secretary in her office off to the side. He turned around and spotted two body guards off to either side of the main entrance to his office.

Tess looked around and she cringed. "Oh...this is a lot of people." She walked around the desk to where Obama was sitting at and grinned. "I never thought I would meet him in person."

"I want to punch him." Trent shook his head. "So how are we going about this?"

"I'm letting it go...and we go off of instinct." Taylor said

Trent formed two energy balls in his hand but each of them quickly split into six smaller ones, about the size of tennis balls.

Taylor stepped back and to the side and then brought the time zones together, essentially pulling them into the present, as they would suddenly appear to the people. Taylor immediately froze the people sitting in front of Obama's desk.

Trent threw the electric balls and they flew forward and towards the guards who were suddenly alarmed and had started to reach for their guns. The energy balls didn't hit them however, instead, they spun around and formed a circle around the men, to which Taylor then froze the energy balls.

"What the hell?!" Obama started to stand up, clearly frightened.

"Oh, sit! You're not going anywhere." Tess placed her hand on top of his head and forced him back down as the man would suddenly scream in pain as the worst migraine he could possibly imagine suddenly took over his physical senses. Tess lightened up on the pain. "We need to find a secret artifact. Are you going to help us?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Barack screamed as he fell back into his chair and tightly gripped at his papers to try and deal with the pain that Tess was causing him.

Tess grinned. "But you know who does? Who has all the secrets? Why don't you call someone? Oh...and don't get stupid. I could probably make a tumor grow on your brain so big that it busts your head open, literally." That last part, she was unsure of, but if not, she liked the sound of it anyway.

Mr. Obama cried out and then sighed when Tess alleviated some of the pain and he pressed the speaker phone and dialed a number, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, President?" A male answered.

"We have had a security breach, do not take any action. They..."

"Shut up." Tess interrupted Obama. "Yes, there has been a security breach, and you see Obama, well he kind of sounds in pain, does he not? That's because he is. I am causing him a migraine, now if you do have access to some of the worlds secrets, that shouldn't surprise you with all the UFO's that you cover up. Unfortunately, we didn't come with one. It'd be nice if you decided to donate."

"Tess." Trent gave her a look.

Tess narrowed her eyes at Trent. "Regardless, we are looking for an artifact, it's a crystal pyramid, any idea where you might keep something like that? We believe it was retrieved from Atlantis remains."

"We have a museum here in the white house..." The man began.

"And this museum, do you just toss boxes around in it?" Tess asked.

"Yes, if we don't have it open for viewing, we build it for a museum, if it's not used, then it gets used for storage." The man answered.

"Good. Well get to the office, you know...the office? Report to me...consider me Michelle for now." Tess grinned and then hung up and kept her hand on Barack's head and then intensified the pain some. "Take out the guards."

Taylor closed his eyes and then sighed and looked at the guards and unfroze the energy balls and all six that surrounded each man collided into them, uniting into two huge balls that spread across their bottles and caused them to jerk and shake as they fried and fell to their deaths.

"Barack, ya gotta gun? I want you to kill your associates here." Tess grinned.

Obama laid his head on the table, sweating and then screamed as the pain suddenly surged. "Okay!" Then it immediately alleviated to a dull throb as he pulled a gun from his desk and took aim on each associate and closed his eyes, shooting and killing them without looking.

"Throw the gun in the corner, over there." Tess pointed to the back corner.

Barack then tossed the gun in the back corner of the room and lightly cried, hoping Michelle and his daughters were still gone.

"Guys...keep your eyes on the door." Tess suggested.

Taylor and Trent looked at the door and took several steps back, nearing the desk as the door opened and a lone man with a suit came in, two SWAT guys behind him with guns.

"Really?" Tess grinned. "Send them away...before I blow Barack's head up."

"I'm not coming unprepared...and I think you've all three underestimated the security here. We do value our president...but to protect our country, one man is hardly a loss." The man stated.

Tess looked around, noting a chopper outside with another man in uniform, aiming a rifle towards the windows. "We are hardly a threat...we just want our artifact." Tess frowned. "Trent, watch the window."

Trent took a step to the side of the desk and shifted sideways, glancing at both the man and the chopper.

The man grinned. "And what do you need this...pyramid for anyway?"

"Oh my god..." Tess looked at him. "As if it's any of your business. I don't know what we need it for. It's on a stone tablet in a box that belongs to us, so we just need it. That's it, we just want the pyramid and then we want to leave."

"That simple? And why would we let you leave? You're a discovery of a life time. Roswell 1947? That was one thing...but beings that look just like us...that is on an entirely different level."

Tess's eyes widened and she slammed Barack's head against the desk and intensified his pain, sending the man screaming. "Do you want me to blow up his blood vessels?!"

"I'll tell you what." The man grinned. "A trade...you get that pyramid, we get one of you." It would be a small progress. The man rubbed his hands together. "How about it?"

Tess thought about it. "Then take me."

"No fucking way!" Trent screamed at Tess.

"I have the weakest abilities here! It would take you and Taylor to get out of this place!" Tess screamed back.

"Yeah?! And who holds Obama hostage? Taylor can freeze the energy balls...he can't make them move along!" Trent shook his head. "No way."

"Yeah, but you can take him into a wall outlet at a moments notice! You did it once!" Tess continued to argue.

"And while you two argue, you're giving them a bunch of information on us!" Taylor finally spoke up.

"There's no way...we need each other." Tess shook her head.

"I'll go." Taylor said. "Your powers have complimented each others in so many ways, it's not even funny, besides a passive power and an offensive power is the best bet, let the middle ground defensive power go."

"With bullets?! And guns?! Taylor that's incredibly dumb!" Trent shook his head.

"You've got two more minutes to decide." The man looked at his watch.

"You've got thirty seconds to just do what I say before I blow his blood vessels up, you ruin his wife's life and let those two poor little girls grow up without a father!" Tess narrowed her eyes. "Just to protect a damn pyramid that no one knows a damn thing about!"

"Small price to pay for what I'll get for capturing one of you." The man said, adjusting his sleeves, seeming to not have even been hit by a shred of guilt or remorse. "And your time is running out. When it does, I'll pick for myself." He grinned. "So, what are your powers anyway? At least then, I can decide who is more desirable."

The man paused and pointed at Taylor. "Defensive." He then pointed at Trent. "Offensive." He then pointed at Tess. "Passive, you already gave that way. At least I can see what you're doing to the President."

Tess laughed. "Yeah, and oh boy, if he lives...you are so fired."

"Not if I capture one of you." He looked at the twins. "So...give it up, powers?"

Trent narrowed his eyes and an energy ball formed in his hand behind his back and then he brought it around and threw it at one of the SWAT by the door. The man began to scream as he jerked and trembled and then fell over dead. "One way I can use it. You should know, there are varied ways."

The man looked behind him and saw one of his men killed and only clapped, a grin appeared. "Bravo." He looked at Taylor. "And you?"

Trent grinned and formed another energy ball and then threw it towards the man.

Taylor jerked his hand up and froze it merely inches before the man's face. "Did your life just flash before your eyes?"

Tess gasped. "Trent! That was reckless!"

The man's grin faded and his eyes widened and he stared at the energy ball and stepped out and around it.

Taylor unfroze it and it flew forward and it killed the other man by the door.

"Now I see why you need each other. Without him..I would of died....and you would of had a pissed off girl over here." The man looked at Tess.

Barack by this point had passed out due to the pain, vomit had even spewed out of his mouth and onto his desk filled with paper work.

"And...I'm guessing...these varied ways that your powers work..." The man pointed at Taylor. "Can you time travel? I already heard about that kid...not sure of his name, he was recognized by a fellow old classmate." He lightly laughed. "Then again, he's not exactly old is he? I mean he should be, what? Seventy something? Yet...he's in twenty twelve...and he's, what? Still seventeen?"

"Time travel, sure..." Taylor stared at the man. "Then...I can also accelerate time, in objects...people. I could age you to death, decompose you....turn you to dust." Taylor grinned. "Actually, we kind of just appeared in here but in reality, we walked. Well, due to Tess, she can loop doors together. But instead, we merely appeared to everyone. Why? Because like the spiritual plane, we existed on a different time zone, one within the same space...six hours ahead at first, then only ten minutes ahead before we decided to drop it and let people catch up." He paused. "I wonder what kind of chaos multiple time zones would cause, if I split us all up...and then collided them together, some move slower, others faster, maybe we could physically see and interact, maybe not."

Trent stared at Taylor. "What a theory."

The man stared at Taylor and grinned. "Oh, that makes you so desirable. In fact, killing people through acceleration makes you rather offensive in and of it's self." He looked at Taylor. "Imagine the things we could do. Prevent nine eleven, find Osama nearly a decade sooner, put the lot of them to death way before any of it. Imagine where we might be today. Prevent price increase...stop the economic collapse."

"Stop the Dixie Chicks from getting hated on?" Tess started laughing.

"You do know that I wouldn't change history like that, right?" Taylor shook his head. "You change things, you don't know what you will end up with, might end up worse. And besides...then I'd never be able to return. Because I would have to explain who and what I am, whatever that is, in order to get the people to listen. Then they would become just like you, then I'd get sent further into the past, to fix things they wanted changed...and the cycle would go on, so on and so forth. You would never see me again."

"That's why you say you've been ordered not to take any orders from past persons, the future decides what needs to be changed and what needs to stay the same. Of course they can write ideas on ballots for review." The man then crossed his arms behind his back with his cell phone and started texting, he had acquired that talent, telling his shooter outside in the chopper which of the three that he wanted.