MIND CONTROL 5
A short story by Alvin Atwater
Continued directly after story four…
You have got to be kidding me... I looked at the green gem in my hand and then at Brandon and Chelsea. They were probably as dumbfounded as me. To think that I accidentally used it on Gemini –she now thought she was a super hero!
“Let’s just set aside our differences for now,” I said. “She could really hurt herself.”
“Fine, whatever, let’s get moving –she went that way,” Chelsea said slipping the yellow gem, Kindness, into her pocket. I made a mental note that this ordeal probably wasn’t over. The second we cure Gemini, she’d probably launch a “sneak” attack. I’d be ready for real this time. We took off, Chelsea leading. Gemini couldn’t be too far ahead –that’d be physically impossible yet she was gone. Seeing that running any further was pointless, I stopped. Brandon and Chelsea did too.
“How is this possible?” Brandon said, throwing his hands up in frustration.
“Should you really be surprised by now?” I said.
“Mind control gems never gave superpowers,” he replied.
“You got a point there,” I said with a sigh.
“So what should we do?” Chelsea said. “Stand here and look stupid?”
I gave her a blank glare. “It’s time for a guessing game. Where would she go?”
“Hold on a sec, I’ll call Rachael,” Chelsea said, pulling out her phone and dialing a number. Seconds later she picked up and they blabbed away. She talked for at least five full minutes, driving my patience until suddenly a shocked expression smothered her face. “Rachael just spotted Gemini mouthing off the Romero brothers. She’s going to stop her now.”
I face-palmed. The Romero brothers were two nerds who never bothered anyone –hell they hardly left the vicinity of the science club.
“Why is she…?” I started to ask.
“Loitering,” Chelsea answered in a monotone. For the love of…
“Come on,” I said.
The sun began to set as we entered the school gates. Chelsea’s phone rang.
“Hello?” she answered. “She what!? Where is she?” She nodded as she hung up.
“What’s happened now?” Brandon asked, beating me to the question.
“She’s trying to rescue a cat from a tree. Come on, hurry –let’s get to the back gates.”
We sprinted there as fast as we could, shortly stopping at the sight of Gemini handing over a cat to a happy child.
“Gemini, what are you doing?” I said as I hurried over to her. She had a goofy expression on her face as she waved off the child. I halted when she looked at me. Her normally blue eyes were green but that wasn’t the only thing wrong with this picture. Now that I was close, I noticed a weird green light outlining her like radiation. The others stopped too, probably taking notice of the change.
“That’s my name,” Gemini said. “Protector of the weak, defender of this beautiful city. You don’t have to worry about evil.”
I gave her a blank stare. “Yeah, no,” I said, aiming the gem and giving it a tap. It shimmered. Nothing happened –I knew because that radiation, whatever it was, didn’t leave Gemini.
“You’re forgetting something,” Brandon said while giving me a look that said, “moron.”
“And that is?”
“To undo the effect, you’d either have to wait until it wears off or use the gem’s opposite,” he explained.
I sighed, annoyed that I forgot my phone again. If calling wasn’t a thing, then it served a secondary purpose as a watch.
“What time is it?” I asked. “Felt like an hour passed.”
“It’s only six-fifty,” Chelsea said. “Really between Gemini’s take off and now, only thirty-five minutes have passed.”
“I’d love to sit here and chat with you good citizens but I can hear it, the cry for help.” I dove for Gemini before she could disappear again. “Hey! Let go or I’ll punish you,” she whined. “This is borderline behavior!” Chelsea bumped me out of the way, grabbing Gemini’s arms in the process.
“Gemini, wake up,” she said. “You may hurt –”
“Enough, good citizens,” she bellowed, shaking Chelsea away like some insect. “I can give you autographs later but right now, that cry for help is getting louder.” Before Chelsea could grab ahold again, Gemini ran off like the Flash… or maybe Sonic the Hedgehog.
I glared at Chelsea. She gave an apologetic look.
“Okay, this obviously will not get us anywhere,” Brandon said, frustrated. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. Before I could ask, he said, “Rachael, could you load up the Iyan page you found earlier. We’ll be there in a bit.”
I wondered if I should be impressed that he finally got Rachael’s number or that he took an initiative. Nightfall gazed upon us as we hurried to the mystery club. Rachael waved at us as we entered the room.
“Apparently there were four gems created illegally by a faction within the Iyans that planned to seize power.”
“Here,” I said, passing her the green gem. “This is Hero. The others are Seduction, Evil, and Colorless.”
Brandon shook his head. “Evil and Colorless could end up being our next problems. I don’t see the difference between the red gem and Seduction.”
“That was my guess too,” I told him then turned back to Rachael. “So how do –”
“We’ve got a slight problem,” she interrupted, passing me Hero.
“What?” Chelsea said.
“Deactivating the illegals are a bit different,” Rachael continued. “The magic could take up to a month to wear off on its own unless you follow their ‘disarming’ rituals.”
I sighed. Great. “So what does it say do, for Hero?”
Rachael silently read a few lines. Suddenly she blushed furiously. “No, no, no, this can’t be right. That’s stupid and –”
“Just tell us,” I said as I moved next to her. “It’s not like its night or something or that some rapist is out there…” I paused, reading over the lines. To disable the stone of Hero, one must kiss the hero and hold it for at least ten seconds. “Oh. That is stupid.” I grinned. “So which one of you girls will be the lucky goddess?”
“Don’t be a douche, Matt,” Brandon said, raising an eyebrow. “You’re the only one qualified to do this and you know it.”
“I’m not qualified to do anything,” I said.
“This whole thing was your fault to begin with,” Chelsea bellowed at me. “Take responsibility.”
“How is it my fault?” I snarled. “Brandon gave me the gem to defend myself. You two wanted to make me beat myself up and do pushups.”
Rachael stood up. “Why would you do such a thing –that’s so mean.”
“I didn’t want to hurt him,” Chelsea defended, “just humiliate him. Slapping and punching was a part of Gemini’s usual pranks and –”
“But you still didn’t stop her!” Rachael grabbed my arm and I immediately knew where this was going. “Matt, you poor baby.” I shot Brandon a death glare. Just when I thought he made progress. “You shouldn’t be forced to kiss someone who’d make you slap yourself.”
“Good point,” I agreed, deciding not to snatch my arm away just yet. “Maybe Brandon should do it since he was quick to volunteer me.” I smirked at his version of a death glare. Though I knew he wouldn’t be up to it, that reaction was priceless.
“Nope,” he said as he walked between Rachael and I, making damned sure her hand was as far away from my arm as possible. “Matt, you’ve been a good friend for years, never a douchebag. Whether you like Gemini or not is questionable but you’re the only one who won’t get punched in the face when she wakes up from her super hero dream.”
I turned to others. Rachael was weak -if Gemini woke with hostile intentions, Rachael probably wouldn’t survive long enough to explain herself. Chelsea on the other hand would probably blame everything on me and stain my name in the process. Brandon could explain things but this will drastically shrink his chances with Rachael –he’s definitely right about me not being a douche. I’d never want to get between him and his crush. Not to mention he saved me from becoming Demand chow. Still…kiss Gemini. Why did something so insignificant made me nervous. It didn’t bother me so much before, like the kiss back at the mall or the accidental kiss with Chelsea. Maybe it’s because during those times, I didn’t do the kissing. The time at the mall, Gemini kissed ME to woo the crowd and prevent me from easily escaping her –demand in her clutches. Still, I normally wouldn’t be bothered with something as mundane as a kiss but I knew I had to do it. Even if Gemini was annoying, that she kind of deserved the mind-control state, it’d pain me to see her get hurt.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” I said in a disinterested voice, though the pretending didn’t seem to work. They clapped. “Stop clapping. This isn’t Hollywood –now let’s hurry before she does something she’d regret.”
We followed the direction we last saw Gemini run, searching every corner, asking store clerks, and people wondering about. Some did recognize the description or knew her, keeping us on her trail. It took us nearly twenty minutes to finally catch up to her. She shook the hand of some elderly woman and then waved her off.
“You know, Gemini is doing a lot of good,” Rachael said.
“Yes, she is but she still needs rest and hello, free will,” Chelsea said. “That gem is making her go all over the place, risky for a girl. Risky for my friend.”
“True,” Rachael said then turned to Gemini. “Hey, Gemini.”
Gemini looked at us, smiling. “Well, if it isn’t my number one fans. How’s it going?” I heard cockiness in that voice but fought the urge to comment. Must…resist…. sarcasm…
“Gemini, let’s go,” Rachael said. “Super hero time is over.”
Gemini folded her arms. “A heroine, a warrior, doesn’t rest until her city is safe.”
“Gemini, it’s getting late, let’s go,” Chelsea said. “Snap out of it.”
Gemini sighed. We looked at her, hopeful. Too bad it was hopeless.
“Citizens, let me brief you in on something,” she said while sitting on the sidewalk. “Sit with me. I will tell you of my accomplishments.”
I sat the closest to her, curious to what this cocky piece of work accomplished in about two hours. She blabbed a surprisingly long list from rescuing cats from trees, kids from burning houses, ‘stopped’ litterers, helped the elderly and all kinds of stuff. I swear she went on for nearly ten minutes. “Thanks to all of my efforts, a nice masked girl gave me this.” She revealed a red gem. I knew that gem –that lemon-sized monstrosity, its red, maybe crimson color brought back a recent memory. Even though it was night and my night vision sucked, leaving the street light above as my only saving grace from blindness, I saw it perfectly. Love. Why did this gem still exist? I glanced at the faces of everyone else. They were worried.
“That thing’s red,” Chelsea said. “What’s it do?”
“That’s Love,” I said right as Gemini opened her mouth to speak. “Look it up later. You’ll be disgusted with the Iyan leadership.”
“I read over it the other day,” Rachael said. “Makes me feel sorry for the women who lived in the tribe back then.”
Gemini looked confused, her vast, epic knowledge of the gems clouded by Hero. “I have no idea what you mean but it is pretty, a beautiful gift from a good citizen.”
“That’s weird,” Brandon said. “Suspicious in fact. Why would someone have a gem like that and simply give it away.”
“Because –”
“And I’m pretty sure it’s not because she’s a good citizen,” he continued, interrupting Miss Captain Super girl over there. “You said she wore a mask, right? That in enough is suspicious enough.”
“Maybe it was Kate,” Rachael suggested.
“I doubt it,” I said. “She may be a sadistic twat but she’s still our club president. She’d call us out of concern for Gemini’s strange behavior not risking anything this late.”
Gemini looked as if she was losing what little patience she had left. I made eye contact with her and couldn’t help but laugh. Ironically, she had a knack for getting wrapped in Iyan mind control, like the time Rachael used the purple gem, Hate on her. Hell, one could count when I accidentally used Love to escape her when she chased me into the mall the other day. Let’s clarify that again: I ran from Demand, not her. I flinched. Speaking of Demand….
“Gemini, pass me your blue gem,” I said. Everyone’s eyes shot toward her.
“What blue gem?” Gemini stood up. “Never mind this, citizen, I have work to do.” She actually aimed Love at me, halting my steps. “See this –this is all I had, even when I left you the first time.” I started to move but it was too late. Gemini tapped the gem as if she demonstrated its durability…. wait, that makes no sense. Anyway, I was sure she had no intention of activating it but the gem shimmered, her eyes set on me. Yep, guess who’s said obvious target. My eyes couldn’t look anywhere else. All I wanted was her. She’s like my morning, noon, and evening star, her beauty glistening like the most perfect rose. I tried to shake away these sappy thoughts but it was useless. My heart beat a little fast. I felt the stares of everyone else but didn’t care. Why should I when the only person I cared about stood in front of me. She gasped as if something came over her.
“I’d love to stay and chat but a heroine’s work is never done.”
“Gemini, wait,” I said. “Don’t go.” The stares of everyone intensified, probably due to the way I said that. The voice deep down, the “me,” screamed at me to run away, to retain my dignity but I didn’t listen. I just wanted to be with her. She hesitated…. Wait, she hesitated?
“I can’t –”
“Go for it, Gemini,” Chelsea suddenly cooed, her voice full of girly anticipation. Ever watch a woman really get into a soap opera –that sort of thing.
“Come on Gemini, stay with him,” Brandon joined, his voice bland and not as eager as Chelsea. Rachael didn’t follow suit. Gemini started to back away.
“You’re acting weird, citizens,” she said. “I’m out of here.”
Just then, I remembered I had something in my pocket that would make her stay a little longer. I almost reached for it until I also remember that the magic rope thing delivered an electrical shock upon contact with its new victims. Well, that was an assumption. Still, I didn’t risk it, grabbing Gemini’s hand instead.
“Can I take you out on a date tom –”
“Kiss her, kiss her,” Chelsea chanted. Brandon joined in afterwards. Gemini’s blush looked cute on her. I pulled her close and before she could say anything, kissed her, holding it for at least ten seconds before pulling back. Her eyes flashed to blue, the light around her vanishing at the same time. For some reason, this change brought me back to my senses –I felt embarrassed. Very embarrassed. I now remembered that I got caught with Love’s power. And like Gemini described once, the memories don’t go away. My face felt so hot, I could probably cook with it. Gemini smirked.
“So about that date,” she said, pocketing Love. “That blush looks cute on you.”
I turned to the others who were grinning ear to ear.
“Come on guys, you know that wasn’t me,” I said. They somehow grinned harder.
“Yeah it was,” Chelsea laughed. I sighed.
“No one ever speak of this,” I ordered. Rachael looked like she had the crappiest day of her life, not that that was my problem. Just an observation.
“Since this soap train is over, I’m going home,” she said.
“I’ll walk –”
“No,” she interrupted Brandon, ice in her voice. She gave us a look of regret. “Sorry, I’m just tired and want to think to myself for a bit.” She ran off.
“You really need to put in more effort,” I said to Brandon when Rachael was far off. He gave me a super death glare.
“You’re one to talk,” he snarled. “Not everyone has it made like you!” He stormed off, throwing his hands in the air. I sighed. He was so hurt that he didn’t realize I meant that as a joke, my light “cheer up” tone supporting it.
“Well, this is awkward,” Chelsea said.
“Yeah,” Gemini said.
“I think Rachael still hasn’t moved on,” Chelsea said. “Brandon is a great guy, looks good, smart but she hasn’t gotten over you.” She gave me a half-glare.
“And how is that Matt’s fault,” Gemini said, stepping to my defense. “We’ve talked about this before…”
“Never mind,” Chelsea said. “Let’s just drop it. Do you still have the blue gem?”
Gemini shuffled in her pockets pulling out Love, the weather control dial (long story), and her wallet. “Oh boy…” she said. “I may have dropped it right after you made me go super hero.” She sighed.
“Kate is going to kill us,” I said softly, pulling out the green gem. “Well…what excuse should we –”
“No –we’re going to look for it tomorrow,” Chelsea interrupted. “You can’t be irresponsible with these things.” She probably meant to pull out Kindness just to emphasize her point but accidentally flung it. It hit Hero before falling to the ground. I almost ran, expecting rapid shimmering followed by an inevitable explosion but nothing happened. I picked up the yellow gem.
“Thanks for giving this back,” I said. Gemini laughed as I hurried away.
Matt four, Chelsea Zero… yes, I’m still keeping count.
Things still were not over quite yet. Where did Demand go? Who was the masked girl that simply gave the red gem to Gemini? As for Rachael and Brandon, I honestly could care less. Wah, wah, wah, like babies.
I think I’m going to have to do some extensive Iyan research. With the appearance of all the gems, I felt like something big was about to happen. Bigger than the kiss I shared with Gemini moments ago.
ns 15.158.61.21da2
