Saturday, December 19, 1987
The home of Dominic Argento
1002 NW 14th St
Miami, FL
Dominic Argento is sixteen years old and a second generation Cuban American. Attending American Heritage School on full scholarship has been both an honor and a struggle for him. The pressure to maintain his grades to keep his scholarship had weighed heavy on him for the past four months. It is a tragedy to his family when they found him dead of an overdose of heroin in his bedroom only days before Christmas.
Christine Roberts is walking home from a Matinee Movie when she and a friend come across the scene of the police cars. “Wow, this is that Dominic kid’s house,” Justine Hurd comments to Christine who seems lost in thought looking around the scene. The two girls stand on the sidewalk watching as paramedics wheel out a covered stretcher. “I heard he was doing drugs.”
Christine snaps back to reality at Justine’s statement about drugs. “He overdosed,” she comments, casually pulling her brown hair that falls midway down her back into a ponytail.
“How would you know that?” Justine quires.
“Just a guess,” Christine replies. “I’ve been hearing a lot about kids using heroin at school of late.” “They think it helps them study.”
“That’s pretty stupid if you ask me,” Justine says as she begins to walk again. “Come on, let’s get going.” “Someone really needs to wise those kids up.”
“Dominic was under a lot of pressure to do good by his parents,” Christine remarks.
“I didn’t know you knew him,” Justine says.
“We did a chemistry project together, he was a great guy,” Christine replies. “He spoke three languages, did you know that?” Justine just shakes her head. “I wish I had known he was having such a hard time.” “Maybe there was something I could have done to help him.”
“Like what?” Justine quips. “His homework?” “He was in my Trig class, never had his homework finished.” “Always made the excuse he had to work in his family’s bakery.” “You know what a hard-ass Mr. Stewart is, he never gave the kid a break.”
“Still,” Christine wonders. “How did the drug even get into our school?” “We’re all supposed to be smarter than that!”
“Come on, you know the type, they think they are invulnerable, like Jake Mitchell,” Justine says.
“You mean to say Jake Mitchell, Captain of the Science Club is a druggy?” Christine says in shock as they start to walk again.
“Please, I think he sells the stuff to the rest of them,” Justine reveals.
“Hello girls,” Detective Roberto Hernandez says approaching the girls on the sidewalk. “Did you know the young man who lives here?” he asks. The smell of “Love’s So Soft” reaches his nose but he can not tell which of the girls shares his little sister’s fragrance.
“Went to school with him at American Heritage School,” Justine replies carelessly.
“Went?” the detective questions.
“That was him on the stretcher, wasn’t it?” Justine asks.
Christine pushes in front of her friend to address the detective, “What she meant was he goes to our school and we were just walking home from a movie.” “We know nothing else about any of this!”
“You sound pretty experienced in this type of thing, Miss..,” Detective Hernandez says fishing for a name.
“My brother was a cop,” Christine replies, grabbing Justine’s arm. “Come on let’s go.”
Later at lunch in the cafeteria Christine spots Carly Jackson. Carly is a rather tall thin light skinned African American girl with a blue streak in her frizzy hair. Christine had heard that Carly would not be returning to school after the holidays, her father had been transferred at his job to the west coast. Christine doesn’t really know Carly that well but figured it would be good to say her goodbyes to her fellow student.
As Christine approaches the girl who stands several inches taller than her, she studies the girl’s every mannerism. Then as they chat about the things that teenage girls that don’t really know each other will talk about, teachers and class work. Christine looks closely at every feature of Carly’s face and hair as if she is trying to create a permanent record of the girl she barely knew in her mind. Christine wishes the departing student luck with her new school and returns to the table where she sat with Justine.
“What was that about?” Justine asks.
“Just trying to be friendly is all,” Christine replies, shrugging her shoulders. “I know how it is the move from one school to another in the middle of the school year.”
Wednesday, December 23, 1987
American Heritage School
607 NW 32nd St.
Miami, FL
The last night before Christmas vacation the American Heritage School has something of an Academic Olympics where the students come out to compete for prizes and awards. Jake Mitchell sits hunched over a Chess board thinking and rethinking his every move against his toughest competitor, Karl Burdon, the Chess Club Captain. Other students stand around them as Jake makes the winning move to at last prevail over the other skilled young man. A sigh of relief comes from the group eager to see Jake win at last. While an equally audible sound comes from the others supporting the Chess Club Captain.
Jake gets up from the table to get handshakes and pats on the back from his friends as another student pushes through the crowd around him. She is tall African American with blue streak in hair. She has always stood out in a crowd unlike any of the other gifted students at the school. Carly Jackson is dressed in a rather tight fitting, low cut mini-dress that none of the hormonal young boys in the crowd can take their eyes off.
She gives off an intimidation vibe that causes most of the students to back away allowing her clear access to Jake. “That was very impressive Jake,” she says approaching him. Her sly smile makes the bookwormish boy blush slightly.
“Well, well thank you,” Jake sputters not sure why this incredible girl is finally talking to him after two years of attending the school together. “Sorry to hear you will be leaving school,” he says as if all of the rest of the students in the room have vanished leaving them completely alone.
“I thought I might go all out my last night here,” Carly replies. “Would you like to take a walk in the arboretum?”
Jake looks to his friends that smile at him, one even raises an eyebrow. They all know that the Arboretum is where kids go to make out. He must have really impressed this chick for her to want him to take her there. “Sure, it would be my pleasure,” Jake says, still feeling cocky about his big win. Carly takes his arm and they leave the cafeteria to a few whistles from some of his friends. “Where are you transferring to?” Jake asks his tall beauty. Jake is the tallest boy in his class, making this girl that is the same height stand out in his mind.
“That can wait Jakey,” Carly replies with an almost over played giggle. She almost pulls him to the Arboretum making it clear to him she has been here before. It is a cool evening after the sunset as they stroll into the Arboretum that is more like a courtyard at the center of the school building. There is a spot hidden behind some Yew bushes that couples will use to be hidden from sight and this girl knows right where it is.
“So have you been here before with anyone else?” Jake asks nervously.
“Don’t worry about that now lover,” Carly says as she strokes his curly dirty blonde hair back from his face. “Just relax and let me see what you know.” Jake is confused by her words at first, but when her fingers find a place on his temples it is almost like he is drifting off to sleep.
They exchange no more words, the girl now speaks directly to his mind. She searches through so many memories that she wishes she didn’t have to see until she finds what she is looking for hidden deep inside his brain. “Martin Strauss, who is he?” she asks aloud to trigger his memories of the man who appears to be in his mid-forties. “That is it, show me everything.”
Hours later Jake Mitchell wakes up in the Arboretum with no idea how he got there or what time it is. He crawls from behind the Yew bushes to look up at the night sky. “It must be close to midnight!” “My Dad is going to kill me!”
December 24, 1987
Dona & Steven Roberts’ house
3005 NW 14th St
Miami, Florida
Christine Roberts wakes up early after a long night of research on her current project at school. She has gathered all the information she needs to finish this project but isn’t quite sure where to start. Hopefully a few days of family Christmas vacation will be what she needs to make her next move.
As she heads down the stairs carrying several text books. The smell of her mother’s breakfast is always a good start. Heading across the kitchen to give her mother a good morning kiss she asks, “Any word from that blockhead yet?”
“Careful, you almost sound concerned,” her mother replies to her question about her missing brother. “He got in late last night.” “Told me it’s a long story.”
Christine goes to the refrigerator to retrieve a glass of milk when her older brother comes into the room. “Good Morning sunshine,” Dona Roberts smiles from the stove to her son.
“Oh look who finally showed up for Christmas!” Christine says not having been up when he arrived late last night. “Unlike Halloween,” She digs as she takes a seat next to her brother at the table laying her textbooks down.
Dona Roberts glares at her daughter, “Your brother was just about to tell me about his adventure that held up his trip here.”
Steve begins his tale of how he tracked Overmind to a home in New Jersey where he was using weather control powers to hold an old couple hostage. For the first time in her life Christine suddenly takes an interest in her brother’s tale. He tells how the villain fled when he arrived out of fear, only to attack him again on the plane. The piece of the last week come together in Christine’s mind as he talks of the section of the plane that crashed in the dimension of Ghaza that was overrun with Zombies. He sadly explains how one of the college boys died at the hand of a Zombie after saving his friend’s life. Christine can see the sadness in his eyes as he speaks about the tragedy.
Then she sees something else when he says, “As it turns out I wasn’t the only hero from Earth in Ghaza, Miracle Maiden was there too,” The mention of Miracle Maiden brings a smile to their mother’s face.
“Was she now?” Dona queries. “So how did that go?” Christine is extremely curious about her mother’s reaction to the woman Miracle Maiden.
Steve keeps his response professional. “It would appear that she was born of an alien father from another dimension and a human mother that gives her a unique relationship with dimensional barriers that she did not know she had before going to Ghaza.” “With some help from the Ghazain technology one of the race used her to steal power from the dimension of Primus.” “We then learned that the Hindar intended to use that power to open a portal back to Earth to invade using the Zombies.” “It was that portal we used for all of us to come home.” “As the invasion was fought back, Miracle Maiden was able to return the power to Primus.”
“So you worked as a team then,” Dona smiles. “Became friends?”
“I would say she doesn’t hate me as much as she used to,” Steve confesses. “After all she did heal me from that Zombie scratch.” “I thought she saved my life, but she told me she only sped up my own healing.” Dona smiles at her son as if pleased with his story.
Christine only stares at her brother in awl of him for the first time. He actually saved the world from Zombies with the silly Superhero thing he has been doing. Then she thinks about the beginning of the story and how Mom actually let this Overmind thing loose. What if they never when to that stupid faire?
Steve glances over at his sister who has put down the book she was reading. She appears to be hanging on his every word, not at all like herself. “What is with you?” he asks. “Suddenly interested in my career as Master Warrior?”
“Maybe a little,” Christine replies. “Did you ever consider that if you and Mom hadn’t let that thing in the sphere loose none of this would have happened?” “That if Master Warrior never existed neither would Overmind.” “That the people on that plane wouldn’t have died?”
“What are you talking about?” Steve questions.
“Figures Mom didn’t tell you,” Christine responds. “That plane you were on crashed in North Carolina, everyone on board died.”
“I learned it at the airport while I was booking a flight here,” Steve explains.
“I knew you were fine,” Dona responds. “Don’t believe for a minute that you were responsible for that plane crash.”
Steve is silent for a moment before he responds to his sister. “Clearly there was a good reason that Overmind was imprisoned in that sphere.” “If I had not become Master Warrior, Mom and I would have still been at that Faire.” “We would have still acted as we did.” “Overmind attacked me out of fear, a fear that I had nothing to do with.” “The death of those people was completely on Overmind, not me or Mom.”
“So saving those few was better than nothing?” Christine suggests.
“I hadn’t really thought about it, but yes,” Steve replies. “Moreover it led to me meeting the guy in St. Louis I read about in the paper a few weeks ago, Olympian.” “He was able to capture Overmind and he helped stop the invaders.” “Overmind will be held accountable for what he did to the plane.”
December 28, 1987
Miami Police Department
2200 W Flagler St
Miami, FL
Detective Roberto Hernandez sits at his desk when he hears a voice. *Martin Strauss is bringing in a shipment Friday after next.* He looks around his office to see it is empty. Then he looks out the glass window in the door for anyone out of place. *You need to call the Coast Guard the freighter will be arriving across the Gulf of Mexico into Everglades City just after midnight.* the voice comes again in his head. The Detective jerks open the door to step out into the squad room. “Consider this your best chance to catch a Drug Cartel Lord with his hands full and dirty.*
Detective Hernandez eyes every face in the room identifying everyone of them. He catches only a glimpse of a teenage girl with dark features and a blue streak in her hair ducking around the corner of the hallway. He gives pursuit across the crowded squad room. Turning the corner of the hall he spots the door of the fire stairwell closing. Running down the hall he pushes open the door sounding the fire alarm. He stops for a moment confused why the alarm didn’t sound when the girl opened the door first. The smell of “Love’s So Soft” fills the stairwell. Going down the stairs two at a time he exits out onto the lower floor.
Again he searches for someone who looks out of place. Then he spots her, not the girl he saw upstairs but a girl out of place just the same. “Justine Hurd!” he calls to the teenage girl headed for the front lobby of the police station. “Justine Hurd stop right there!”
The teen stops in the center of the room drawing the attention of other policemen in the lobby that turn to her. She turns back to face Detective Hernandez. “How do you know my name?” she asks.
“I’m a Detective,” Hernandez replies walking up to the girl. “After meeting you at Dominic Argento’s house I looked you and your friend up in his yearbook.” “Where you just up stairs?” “That is a restricted area, you should not have been up there.”
No, no I was not!” Justine Hurd insists, appearing scared.
Detective Hernandez gives her an intimidating look, “Then could you tell me what you are doing here?”
“I was, I was just wondering what you found out about my friend’s death?” Justine replies.
“I’m sorry Miss Hurd, I can not discuss an open case,” Detective Hernandez explains. “Why are you leaving without talking to me?”
“I figured you wouldn’t tell me anything so I decided to just go,” Justine replies. “Open case?” “Do you think it was more than an overdose?”
“I didn’t realize the two of you were so close.” Justine just shrugs her shoulders. “Did you come here alone?” the detective asks.
“Yes,” Justine answers.
“Why don’t you take my card, if you have any information to share give me a call,” Detective Hernandez instructs handing her a business card. He watches as the girl walks out the front doors of the station and down the street.
“Hey, Hernandez what is with setting off the fire alarm?” the Captain shouts walking down the hallway.
“There was an intruder!” Hernandez shouts. “I want all the security footage from that hallway and this lobby in the past hour!”
January 2, 1988
An unmarked freighter
the Gulf of Mexico
On the port deck a single man stands looking out over the water, his name Martin Strauss. Strauss has been a successful drug runner for nearly twenty-five years. Usually he remains behind in El Salvador, but of late there have been a problem with his shipments going missing. Strauss is the kind of man who suspects everyone. During World War 2 he was a ranking member of the Nazi party. He has always been a take no prisoners type of man. With many executions under his belt he has never punished the wrong culprit. Now he must find the culprit he seeks in the United States, a place he has long despised.
The moment the freighter crosses into United States territory it is clear to Strauss that he was right to make this trip. There are five boats sitting dark in the water just inside the border. Once the freighter is completely inside the boundary the other boats come to life with lights and air horns. The darkness is lost to flood lights and strobe light. It is clear that the boats are American Coast Guard as the boats close in on the freighter. It will be a tiresome night to Martin Strauss as he turns to prepare his crew to be boarded.
January 4, 1988
American Heritage School
607 NW 32nd St.
Miami, FL
Jake Mitchell is alone in the Science Lab after school when he gets an unexpected visitor. The tall girl with blue streak in her hair seems to appear out of nowhere. He has all but forgotten his interaction with Carly, but her appearance in the Lab brings it all flooding back. He thought she left school at the end of the year to move to California. The look of anger in her glowing blue eyes frightens Jake causing him to back away from her as she approaches him. He is speechless as she reaches out to touch his face.
“Something went wrong!” Carly tells him pinning him to the wall with one hand. “You must know more!” “The Coast Guard should have been more than enough to capture Strauss and his shipment!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jake mutters the fear showing clearly now in his eyes.
“Just calm down and let me in,” the strange girl tells him and his body goes limp as her mind takes over his. She uses her power to probe the gifted High School student’s mind. For a drug dealer he has used very little of the stuff himself. But there is still a small part of his memory fogged by the potent drugs or is it something else? She must access that dark corner now. Put the puzzle pieces back together. Find the details she missed the first time she probed his memory.
Deep in his memory she finds a wall that blocks her path. Her power surges to break down the wall that can not stand against her superior strength. What she sees in the hidden memories is a complete surprise to her. Jake Mitchell has met Martin Strauss! Not in the flesh but in what appears to be a dream. Strauss has taken some kind of subconscious control over this High School student. Jake does not act of his own accord in dealing the drugs to his classmates and he has no idea why.
Then Carly can feel the tethers that reach out from Jake Mitchell’s mind. It is through that subconscious connection that Jake is being controlled by Strauss. Alas it is at tether that her power can not break without a face to face meeting with Martin Strauss. A meeting she hoped she would never have to make. Her plan to defeat the Cartel Drug Lord from behind the scenes must be re-evaluated.
An hour has passed when Jake Mitchell is shaken awake on the floor of the Lab by another student. “Jake!” Christine Roberts shouts. “Are you okay!” Jake!”
“What happened?” he asks, sitting up from the floor the pretty young girl kneeling next to him.
“That is what I was going to ask you,” Christine replies. “What are you doing sleeping on the floor in the Lab after five in the evening?”
“Five?” he questions, looking at the clock on the wall. “No that is not right it is only three, fifty-five.” “I was cleaning up my Lab work to go home.”
Helping him up from the floor Christine asks, “What is the last thing you remember?”
“I was washing out those beakers,” Jake explains pointing to the glassware at the sink. “Then the door opened.”
“What happened next?” Christine asks eagerly.
“I heard you shouting my name,” Jake says looking around the Lab for any clue to solve his confusion.
“Maybe you should go to the nurse’s office,” Christine suggests.
“No, no, I’m fine,” Jake insists, packing up his notebooks into his bag. “I just need to be somewhere else.”
“I know, you better get going!” Christine tells him. Jake hurries to the door stopping to look back at his classmate. “What are you stopping for, get going!” she tells him before he can ask another question.
Tuesday, January 5, 1988
The Seawall Inn
Antarctica Way
Miami, FL
This part of the Miami docks is populated by many unsavory places and people. The Seawall Inn is such a place around eleven o’clock at night, it becomes the hangout of crooks and thugs from both land and sea. The owner and bartender, Yoloph Samson is such a man. He works hard keeping his ears open to hear and learn everything he can about local illegal activities. Tonight he is going to learn a different kind of lesson.
The moment she enters the bar all heads turn to look on her short cropped blue hair. The tall young woman with blue hair is dressed in a form fitting blue jumpsuit with yellow diamonds that run in a line down her chest, splitting off down each of her legs to the top of her yellow boots. In the center of her forehead is another yellow diamond that glows and shimmers in the dim lit bar.
“New in town, sweetheart?” one of the drunken patrons calls out to her. She ignores the man as she steps toward the man behind the bar. She recognizes him from a memory in Jake Mitchell’s mind, just as she does this place.
As she passes by a man seated at a table he reaches out to grab her backside. It is firm in his hand as he asks, “How much for a piece of that ass?”
“You couldn’t afford it,” she replies glaring at him. The old drunk instantly falls backward on his chair to the floor as the diamond on her forehead glows brighter. “The name is Powersurge, not Sweetheart!” Turning her attention back to the bartender she sees that he has pulled a two barreled shotgun from under the bar.
“Your kind aren’t welcome here!” Yoloph says angrily. “Turn around and go back the way you came or I will take you down and let the boys have their fun with what is left!”
Powersurge stops in her tracks to give the bar owner a clever smile. “I thought a place like this welcomed everyone,” She comments looking around the dregs in the room. She can feel the men behind her leave their seats even before she can hear them. Each of them with a perverse idea of what they would like to do to her. She raises her hand toward Yoloph and the twin barrels of his shotgun splits apart bending back in either direction to point behind him. “Good luck hitting me with that gun,” she tells him as she turns to face the angry mob. She addresses the ten leering men in the room, “So this is what it is like to be a superhero?”
Powersurge is done talking as the men close in on her, the diamond on her forehead lets loose a burst of visible yellow mental energy that strikes all of the men at once. The men of all shapes and sizes are lifted up from the floor and then break chairs and tables as they crash back down. The ones that are still conscious quickly scramble to their feet and out the door of the bar.
“Now, Mr. Samson, I believe you have some information I need,” she says turning back to the bar just in time to see a kitchen knife sailing toward her. Holding up her hand the knife is stopped in midair. “You must be joking, didn’t you just see what I did?” With a thought she sends the knife sailing back at the shocked bartender. Then she focuses her mind on the man himself. Yoloph Samson is lifted from behind and over the bar. He floats up toward where she stands in the center of the room littered with broken tables and chairs. He hangs in the air only a foot away from her struggling to resist the invisible force of her mind that holds him captive. “It’s funny, I thought people would be more impressed when I let loose all out like this.” “Nevertheless, let’s see what it is you know about Martin Strauss.”
Powersurge reaches out to touch her hand to Samson’s head to begin her probe of his mind. Once again she finds the mental block wall like the one that Strauss had put in Jake’s subconscious. There is something different in this man’s mind than Jake. This man is a Zeni-human too. He has a very weak mental power, a kind of mimicking power. Strauss has used this power and this man as a conduit to control others he has never met, like Jake. It is even possible that this guy doesn’t even know what he is doing.
Then there is another memory that Powersurge is drawn to in Yoloph’s mind. Strauss is here in Miami!” He came on that ship that she reported to Detective Hernandez and the Coast Guard, that is why there was no report of any arrests. This idiot might not know where Strauss is staying but the imprint of Strauss left in his mind will make it easy for her to find the Cartel Kingpin.
Powersurge releases the man and he drops to the floor in confusion about the events that just took place. “Interesting fact I learned recently, after I probe someone’s mind they have no memory of it happening,” Powersurge reveals. “Even though you won’t remember it, I must admit you are the most vile human being I have ever met!” Yoloph Samson then passes out, falling into a deep sleep just as Jake had done both times she probed his mind. The stress her probe puts on their minds is not harmful but it does tire them out.
As Powersurge turns to leave she discovers a man holding an automatic gun blocking her path to the door. “Mr. Strauss would not like it if I let you leave,” He says as he begins to fire the gun at the tall blue haired girl. Twenty-five bullets are fired in less than three seconds. The speed at which the bullets move toward Powersurge gives her more than enough time to raise her hand. The man stops firing to witness all of the bullets as they come to a dead stop in mid-air. Powersurge lowers her hand and the bullets drop to the wood floor scorching it.
The gunman stands in shock as Powersurge speaks, “Freddy Perkins, nice to meet you.” “Yes, I know your name.” “You are in Samson’s memories quite a bit.” “Sounds to me like you work for Strauss first and Samson second.” “I guess that would make you the man to deliver my message to Strauss.” “Tell him, POWERSURGE is going to end his Cartel!” The trembling man hears her voice shout the message inside his head. The diamond on her forehead glows again and a bolt of energy lashed out sending Freddy Perkins against the wall. “If you’re smart you’ll look for a new line of work now,” Powersurge says to the man on the floor as she walks out of the bar.
Friday, January 8, 1988
American Heritage School
607 NW 32nd St.
Miami, FL
Justine Hurd and Christine Roberts sit at a lunch table in the cafeteria with a few other friends. “I can’t believe you are grounded and going to miss the concert tonight!” Justine says to Christine.
“I can’t believe my Mom caught me seeking in after curfew on Tuesday!” Christine replies. “I’m usually so much better at getting away with things like that.”
“Tell me about it, remember the time we went to that college party?” Justine chimes up.
“I wish I didn’t,” Christine responds. “I lost my favorite jacket there!”
“Could be worse, your parents could send you to rehab like Jake,” Justine replies. “I still can’t believe they found out!”
Christine doesn’t have the heart to tell Justine that it was her who told Jake’s parents. After finding Jake passed out in the Science Lab she felt it was only best if he got help. The last thing she wanted was for him to end up like Dominic.
“Shit like this is why we need a superhero in Miami,” Justine says out of the blue.
“What are you talking about?” Christine asks.
“A superhero could put an end to all this drug stuff at our school,” Justine says.
“That is ridiculous,” Christine replies. “What do you want a Master Warrior Jr. coming to our school, patrolling the hallways?”
“Oh I forgot about him, I was thinking more like a Power Girl,” Justine giggles. “Girl Power!”
“What the one with the huge boobs?” Christine questions referring to a comic she saw once.
“Yeah, but your idea is good too.” “Master Warrior is hot in those tight blue pants!”
“Gross,” Christine says getting up from the table. “I’ve got something to check on in the library, I’ll see you in Algebra class.”
Christine Roberts heads out of the cafeteria toward the Library. She has been waiting for a book on Child Psychology that she needs for a report to be returned by another student. Walking along the ramp that connects the main building to the Library pod, she spots Jake Mitchell out the window in the courtyard. Stopping to watch the former Science Club Captain speak to one of the custodians she thinks out loud. “What is he doing here, I thought he was in rehab?”
“What are you talking to yourself about?” Justine asks walking up behind her on the ramp. Justine looks out the window to see the same thing as Christine. “Who is that guy Jake is talking to?”
“He’s dressed as a custodian, he must be new,” Christine replies.
“He looks like he just got off the boat from Cuba to me,” Justine replies inappropriately. “He’s kind of hot for an old guy.”
“Once again, Gross!” Christine responds continuing her walk to the library.
The Bayfront Park Amphitheatre
301 Biscayne Blvd
Miami, FL
The Winter Concert is a yearly event consisting of mostly cover bands playing the music of current top forty artists. Its proceeds go to support the Art and Music programs at local schools. This year Martin Strauss has plans to make it support his own business. He has been cultivating his drug business from afar in many of the local schools in Miami, whose students now attend this concert. Now that he is on site he intends to increase his fertilization of these young minds.
Strauss has positioned high school dealers in the crowd each of them with a device that will unleash an invisible and odorless drug laced mist that will begin an addictive desire in every patron of the Concert. But not just any drug, a drug of his own unique design. Each of the pawns in Strauss’ game has been told to release the mist when the Pink Floyd cover band, Rose Gypsy begins to play “the Wall.”
Jake Mitchell is one of those drug dealing pawns and that is the boy Powersurge searches for the moment she arrives. This is one place where her blue hair and tight fitting suit do not draw too much attention. She marches to the top level of the arena to scan the crowd. At first she only searches for Jake Mitchell but when she finds him she discovers that his mind is off balance. She can only assume that means that he has met Martin Strauss in person and not just being controlled through his acolyte Yoloph.
She can’t do a deep mind probe from this distance but she knows what he is thinking on the surface of his mind. *Release the gas at “The Wall.”* Over and over again he thinks the same phrase. And he is not alone as she looks out over the crowd. There must be fifty others with the same disturbing thought in their minds. For Powersurge to find each one of these kids and stop them it could take hours. Her only option is to stop the mind control at the source, she has to find Martin Strauss he must be here. His ego is too big to miss his greatest success.
First Powersurge must make contact with one of his drones. From where she stands the closest person repeating the phrase in her head is a girl to her left. Scanning the crowd she focuses her eyes in on a girl in a bright orange top and blue jeans. It takes Powersurge several minutes to make her way through the crowd. She has never used her powers in this large of a crowd before and it is difficult for her to block out some of the stronger thoughts of people other than her target. Finally finding the girl she comes up behind her to gentle touch the back of her head through her mop of bleached blonde hair. Contact. It takes some work to get past the one single directive in the girl’s mind but soon Powersurge learns the girl’s name and her whole history with the Cartel. “Oh no,” Powersurge gasps. “Strauss’ power was not enough to do this!” she discovers in the girl’s mind. He is using the bartender to mimic his power and another he found in Mexico like satellite relay to control all of these kids! Finding Strauss and taking him down will not be enough. She must find the others too. Looking to the stage Rose Gypsy begins their set, she is running out of time!
Powersurge can use this more recent connection to Strauss, she knows his “wavelength” now. She can use it to find the two Zeni-humans and then their master, but she needs to move faster without being discovered. Yoloph will be the easiest because she has been in his head before, she knows how he thinks it is like a familiar voice she can pick it out of a crowd. Running up the stairs she takes them ten at a time and it surprises even her as she jumps them. *Yoloph, Yoloph where are you* Powersurge calls out telepathically in search of her target. “There you are,” she whispers. Moving faster than she thought she could, she is across the arena in seconds to find the smarmy bartender who is truly out of his element at this concert full of much younger people.
At first Yoloph doesn’t even notice Powersurge approaching him as he is too consumed with concentrating on his task. Yoloph is the easiest of her targets because he doesn’t really know how his power works. He only knows what Strauss has taught him, which isn’t much. A well placed psionic blast is all it takes for Powersurge to put Yoloph into dreamland. Under the cover of the standing crowd that sings along with the band and dances she can go to work. Unconscious Yoloph is no threat to Powersurge. His connection to this kind of hive mind that Strauss has created is severed and it will not take long for the others to realize it. She must find the second conduit of Strauss’ power and Yoloph should have that information. Quickly she probes his memories to discover that the other man she searches for is familiar to her. Powersurge recognizes the second Zeni-human as the man dressed as a custodian at the school. That explains why he was talking to Jake, to prepare him for this Concert.
Powersurge knows that Yoloph will have no memory of the probe she has done or that she was even here. So leaving him in a seat will not be a problem as she goes after the bigger targets. What she learned from Yoloph gives her the impression that this Mexican guy is more powerful than him and much more dangerous.
As Powersurge draws closer to her next target she can feel the wave of telepathic energy wash over her. It is like the feeling of static electricity on your skin, but on the inside. She has never felt anything like it. Almost like a reflex she didn’t know she had she shields her mind from the psychic intruder. This second man is standing away from the crowd of cheering music lovers near a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus. Hidden from his mental detection Powersurge moves within sight of the tall, well, built Latin man. She is prepared to strike him down with a psionic blast when suddenly she thinks, up close he is very attractive for a guy twice her age.
She stands silently admiring him as he turns to smile in her direction. He does not speak a word, but his eyes say it all. Powersurge steps closer to him now feeling a desire she has never had in her life. It is like something deep inside of her has been awakened. She is only a few feet away from him, she can smell his cologne. It is like waking from a dream when she says to him, “You don’t have to do this, Strauss is only using you.” Powersurge knows that she came to the Concert to stop Strauss but there is something about this man that almost makes her not want to care. All she wants to do is run her fingers through his dark hair with just a touch of grey on his right temple. His full lips are as sexy as his deep brown eyes as he moves closer to her.
The sexy Latin man leans in to give the blue haired Powersurge a passionate kiss on the lips. That is all it took, the physical contact has allowed her into his mind breaking the spell he had on her body. His powers are strong on the outside but now that she is probing his mind. He is helpless to defend against her incursion into his mind. Beginning to probe his memory it is different than she has experienced. Previously when she probed someone’s mind it was like watching a movie of the events. Now she stands fully fleshed out on a street in what appears to be somewhere south of the border. Not far away a boy around ten years old plays on the sidewalk kicking a soccer ball against the wall.
*This was the first time I met Martin Strauss,* a voice says as she looks to her side to see the man who kissed her by the Columbus statue at the Concert. She now knows his name to be Pedro Sombora. *I was alone, both of my parents working.* *He took control of my life from that day forth, I never saw my parents again.*
Powersurge looks to the man, the sexual attraction to him is gone now. *How is it that we are here and you are speaking to me directly?* she asks more than a little confused.
“I am a telepath too, I assume that is why I have the strength to communicate with you,* he replies. *Think of me as your tour guide.* *I won’t resist, I don’t want to fight you.*
*Then why are you working for that evil man, Martin Strauss?* Powersurge asks as the world around them fades.
*Because I have no choice,* Sombora responds. *His power is too strong to resist.* The psychic representation of Pedro Sombora’s gains an expression of confusion now. *Why do you look like that?* *I can tell you are hiding your true appearance from me.*
*Let me see, could it be because you are part of a plot to turn an entire Concert full of people into drug addicts?* Powersurge responds. *Why would I trust you when your power is the key to making Strauss’ plan come true.*
*Don’t you understand he is forcing me to do this!* Sombora pleads. *He has forced me to do so many horrible things over the past twenty years, too many to even count!* Their surroundings change, filling with events that Sombora hates to remember but can not forget. The young woman inside his mind tries not to see the images but there is no way to avoid the scenes as they replay inside her mind’s eye.
*Then it is time to break that control!* Powersurge insists on vanquishing the horrific memories. *Time to be free of him!*
*He is too powerful!* Sombora sobs as the scene around them changes again to show the many times Sombora was punished for disobedience.
*I don’t believe that!* Powersurge insists on sending the memories of punishment away. *You fuel his power with your own, without your help he will be much weaker.* *Take the power you give to him and give it to me.* *Together we will bring him to justice for everything he has done!*
Her words ring true to Sombora, truer than anything Strauss has ever told him. *How do I do that, I can’t remember how I gave him this power you speak of.*
*Yes, you do, show me went he first gained full control of you,* Powersurge insists as this world of memories changes all around them again. A scene of an extravagant mansion within a large compound comes into view as they walk along a cobblestone path. Powersurge can not be impressed by the decadence of the world created around her, but she can feel that Sombora was from the first day he was brought here.
*It was my fourteenth birthday,* Sombora conveys as they pass like ghosts through the outside wall of the house into a large great room adorned with birthday decorations. *Martin never seemed to want anything from me before this day.* *He only seemed to want to make me happy and safe from the poverty to which I was born.* *But after the party, when all of the guess had left, it was like he was a different man than the one I had known for the past four years.* *He began to beat me that night.* Powersurge can only feel sorrow as she watched the man’s fist hit the defenseless teen over and over again. *And the next morning it continued.* *He broke me down physically before attacking my mind.* *I had never felt so weak and helpless as I did that night when he forced himself inside my brain to take what he wanted.*
*Then that is the key to taking it back,* Powersurge tells Sombora. *What he took by force you must now give to me willingly.* *Tell me how it would make you feel to take back what is yours?* *To be free of the man who spoiled you to only beat you down?*
At first the avatar of Sombora looks confused at the thought of being free of Strauss. He has know nothing else since he was a child then to be taken care of by the man with a German accent. *It would feel…..FANTASTIC!* the latin man exclaims as his appearance takes on that of the child he was the night his power was taken by Strauss.
Their lips part and Powersurge looks the tall older Latin man in the eyes. She backs away as if embarrassed that her first real kiss was with a stranger. “Did it work?” she questions, almost ashamed to look at him. *I SAID DID IT WORK!* she repeats telepathically the diamond on her forehead glowing bright as the thought is forced into his mind.
Sombora stumbles back slightly as he reaches for his head. Like shaking off a punch to the face he looks back at the blue haired girl that has taken a defensive stance in front of him. “I am fine, free of him for the first time in twenty years,” Sombora says in a heavy Spanish accent. “He no longer receives the additional power I gave him.” “I will not be long until he realizes it.”
“Then I need to work fast to stop him,” Powersurge says. “Have you given that power to me?” “I don’t feel any different.”
“I’m sorry, I can not, I must retain it to not fall under his sway again,” Sombora answers. “Strauss is in the Core State building across the street, the penthouse, now hurry!”
“Thank you, Thank you and good luck!” Powersurge calls out as she begins to run up the steps toward the gateway of the park.
“Good Luck to you, you will need it!” Sombora calls back to her knowing that he was only a little younger than she is when Strauss took his mind as a prisoner.
The Core State Building
630 Biscayne Blvd
Miami, FL
Powersurge arrives at the front door of the building that unexpectedly has armed guards. For a moment she considers the fact that these are innocent men only doing their jobs, but she can not waste any time talking to them. A light mental blast leaves them dazed and confused as Powersurge pushes by them through the doors. From the moment she enters the building she begins blocking her mind from any kind of mental scan Strauss may try to use, effectively making her invisible to him. She reaches out with telekinesis to depress the elevator button as she crosses the lobby. As she storms the building she creates a bubble of mental energy around herself making it impossible for anyone to stop her from reaching the elevator.
In the elevator her telepath reaches upward seeking out Strauss. Sombora was telling the truth, Strauss is in the penthouse and he has discovered the loss of his additional power. Martin Strauss is not a happy camper as he begins to rage at the betrayal of his most trusted mental slave. Powersurge can feel Strauss’ rage in her mind and must resist it seeping into her subconscious to corrupt her as it has others.
The Penthouse
The Core State Building
630 Biscayne Blvd
Miami, FL
Martin Strauss rages at the center of a group of his men feeding his anger directly into their subconscious, blackening their hearts. “Sir, Sir,” one of his men from the next room calls out as he enters. The moment the man steps into range he is stopped dead in his tracks by the wall of anger that Strauss exudes in all directions around him. The henchman’s enthusiasm is replaced by anger that is only held in check by his conscious mind.
“What!” Strauss shouts at the bewildered man. “What is more important than this all going wrong?”
The henchman shakes off the sudden emotional flood to respond, “There is a woman storming the lobby, she looks to be coming up here.” “She appears to be very powerful!”
“A powerful woman?!” Strauss shouts moving to mentally scan the building finding no evidence of the woman that his man speaks of. “There is no powerful woman!” he shouts at the man seizing control of him. They say not to shoot the messenger, something Strauss has never agreed with as he forces the man to take his gun from its holster and hold it to his head. “Your service is no longer required!” The statement made the poor man pull the trigger of his gun, its barrel to his temple and he collapsed dead on the floor. “Anyone else have a message for me?” Strauss shouts looking at the other men in the room still reeling from his mental tantrum.
There is a ring of the elevator bell that draws all of their attention. Suddenly, the doors of the elevator blast outward onto the floor. The moment Strauss sees the blue and yellow garbed woman he lashes out attacking her mind to seize control. Powersurge grins as she steps from the metal box. “It is going to take more than that!” she announces as she sends a psionic blast at Strauss.
He cries out in pain as he is staggered back by the force of her mental attack. He braces himself on the corner of a table, “As you said, it is going to take more than that!” Filled with overconfidence he orders, “Kill Her!” There are six men dressed in expensive suits in the penthouse when Strauss makes the order. Each of the men draws a gun and begins to fire on the apparently defenseless woman.
With a blink of an eye Powersurge puts up a mental field that their bullets can’t penetrate. The bullets lose all momentum dropping to the floor, bouncing like dice spilled from a cup. The men continue to fire until their guns are empty. “Are you finished gentlemen?” She asks as she waves her hand at them. The next instant Strauss’ men find themselves pinned against the walls. Powersurge casually walks toward Strauss to stand face to face with him announcing, “Your drug Cartel days are finished!”
“Is that what you think little girl?” Strauss grins as he reaches out to grab a handful of her blue hair. To his shock his hand passes through the top of the woman’s head. “What the hell?”
“Of all people, you should know things are not always as they appear,” Powersurge smiles. She grabs him by the throat squeezing as she lifts him from the floor. “Your power doesn’t work on me, I bet you wish you could say the same.” Powersurge begins to probe the man’s memories looking for his Achilles’ heel finding only the horrors that he has done. His memories go back much longer than she would have expected. This man was in the Nazi party during World War 2 before escaping capture to South America. That information alone should be enough to lock him up forever!
“He will never be held prisoner,” Sombora says entering the room. “Unless he is neutered.”
“What do you mean by that?” Powersurge says turning to see Sombora and Yoloph standing at the broken elevator doors. The sight of the two men is odd. Yoloph has his arm around Sombora’s waist and a glaze look in his eyes as he stares up at the man’s face with admiration.
“We can help you fix this,” Sombora says, looking at the man laying his bald head to his chest. “I want you to mimic Martin’s powers again, handsome.”
“What is going on, what are you doing with him,” Powersurge asks at the strangely affectionate men. Her mind probe of Strauss at an end the man has lost consciousness as she drops him to the floor.
“The same thing I did to you when I was under his power,” Sombora answers, gesturing to Strauss. “Yoloph here finds me irresistible, he will do whatever I ask.” “Using Martin’s power he can wipe that bastard’s memory clean!”
“No, he needs to remember, to be punished for his crimes,” Powersurge insists. “But his power, can you make him forget his power?”
“I can try,” Yoloph says, stepping up to the unconscious man who has controlled him for years. The bartender looks lovingly at Sombora as he turns away to stoop down over Strauss. Using Strauss’s own powers Yoloph finds and wipes away the memory of how Martin Strauss discovered his Zeni-human powers. It causes a domino effect through the corrupt man’s mind wiping out every time he uses his power after that.
His job done, Yoloph cries out in pain before collapsing on top of Strauss. “What happened to him?” Powersurge shouts jumping forward to attend the fallen bartender. She touches the man with the mimicking powers. She quickly searches his mind to discover. “He has been changed too,” she says. “What you made him do backfired on him.” Powersurge turns to look at Sombora to discover that he is gone. She stands up mentally scanning for the Mexican man who was Strauss’ greatest asset for two decades to find no sign of him.