Chapter 12

Jude didn't think that spying on a group of people would be so difficult. Sure, she knew that they were the world's "strongest group of kids", but it wasn't even the people she was trying to spy on that made the mission so hard. It was everybody else in the school.

The other day, she was in the cafeteria, taking down notes of the group, and a random student asked if she was new. Jude politely told him yes, not seeing any other possibility of an excuse for her being here without rising suspicion. Then the kid had told his group of friends, and Jude was raided with an hour long interview with half of the sophomore class.

Or the one night she was able to sneak past security for their dorm room, and was about to get into their dorm room. But right before she was about to pick the lock, there had been a hand on her shoulder, and when she turned around, she had seen a group of kids with toilet paper, telling Jude that the room that she was in front of was the wrong room. She spent that night helping people TP a room and then got caught by security and put in detention. For a school she didn't even go to! But she couldn't raise suspicion and have her kicked out of the school and be put on security's list of people to watch out for.

And while all of this went on, Jude continuously questioned why she was here in the first place. Sure, that trio popped in and told her to do it or else, just like she did with Evey, but with the way things were going, she was just going to get wrapped into Heroics like Aimi and Evey had. She was just going to end up being beaten and end up going to school for real.

But it couldn't happen like that . Not this time around. They might have expected it from Evey, and Rowen definitely had anticipated it with Aimi, but Jude couldn't do it. The last time that the trio had come in, they weren't all that friendly. They were curt, short tempered, and didn't waste words or time. It was pretty much a get in, "do this or we'll kill you", get out kind of ordeal. But it wasn't what they said that was different. They pretty much said the same words as before. But it was the way they had said it. Slash wasn't in a joking mood, and Jinx and Lynch had simply been quiet as they waited for Slash to give his directions.

Rowen tried to stand up for his girls in defense, but that almost caused Slash to attack the girls. Had Rowen not been there to get in the way, things could have gotten really messy. The girls had just heard Rowen say it wasn't their fault for what was happening, and all of the sudden Slash and Rowen were in the middle of the campfire, as opposed to opposite ends like they were a blink of an eye earlier. They were face to face, both not backing down for a few seconds. But then a grin spread across Slash's face.

"Make sure the job gets done this time." he said in a chilled voice covered with that smile as he gently patted Rowen's cheeks as if he were a child. Then he turned to his friends and the three vanished. After they had disappeared, Rowen turned to the three remaining girls.

"Well, Jude, they're going to be keeping an eye on you. Making sure you're doing your best to take out that group. So, make sure to give it your all, alright?" he instructed, but there was something in his voice that said his mind was elsewhere.

"Is there something wrong, Master Rowen?" Jude questioned.

"No. Not yet at least…" he whispered the last part to himself, but it was loud enough for everyone in the campsite to hear.

"I don't like the sound of that," Vaeta spat. "What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing yet…" Rowen stated again. After a few seconds of thinking, he looked at the girls. "Vaeta, I need you to take Cloe and get somewhere safe. I don't want to know where you guys are for the next two weeks. Don't try to find me or contact me. Jude you keep doing your job."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop. Rewind…" Vaeta stated. "Where the hell are you going to be?"

"I'm going to try and figure out what those three want. I'm going to talk to them alone."

"Why don't you want us there?" Jude asked.

"If things were to get ugly, I wouldn't want to get you involved. They have that power to turn me into a raging beast. I don't want you girls to be my first victims."

"If you know they can control you, why are you going out there?"

"The key is to either to get them to calm down with their demands, or to strike before they have a chance to mess with my mind."

"If you're fast enough." Vaeta taunted. Rowen only walked over and messed up her hair with his hand.

"Don't you worry about me. If anything happens to me, I'm pretty sure they'll hunt you girls down and make you into their little slaves." he teased.

"The only difference from now would be having three masters instead of one." Jude joked as well.

"Oh, ouch…" He feigned pain. "You don't really think I'm that bad do you?" he smiled.

"I dunno… You do feed us gruel every night." Cloe chimed in.

"Being attacked from all sides here, that's not fair." and the four of them shared a laugh. But a moment went by as the laughter died, and Rowen got serious again. "But seriously, if you girls are to run into any one of those three, or for some reason the area you girls are in doesn't feel right or safe, run. Don't look back and just run as fast as you can. Use your powers to get out as soon as you can. Don't worry about exposing your powers to common folk when it comes to getting away."

"Yes sir." the three of them nodded.

"Alright. I'll find you girls in a few weeks." And with that he walked off into the dark.

And here Jude was now. Sitting in a tree, watching the group spar and train with one another. Unfortunately, this was one of the few times that she was able to watch them spar, and the first time to do so without interruptions. The group had been in an open area, doing one on one fights with one another. But that was one of the problems. It was just sparing. She wasn't going to learn much about her enemies if they weren't trying their hardest on each other. This is almost a waste of time. I should just attack while I have the element of surprise on my hand.

It seemed like a perfect opportunity. The area that they trained in was a ways away from the school. She could take care of them before they could call for help. She got onto her feet, hunched over in a pose ready to strike. This was it. She was going to take care of the group once and for-

All of the sudden, she felt a shift in the gravity around her, and she was forced to hug onto the branch she was on. When she got a good look outside of the tree, she saw that the earth was beneath her. Was she… in the air? She felt the tree stop moving, as if it were back on the ground. But not a second later had it shot towards the ground, smashing the earth, and leaving Jude dazed as she continued to hold onto the branch. She noticed that the tree that once stood proud was now on it's side, several yards away from where originally was. Probably being used as a weapon from that Cal kid.

Dammit, this was the exact thing that had always stopped her from before. The constant distractions. Whether it be from another student or teacher, or even the group itself, she had always lost a perfect opportunity. But not this time. She was only a few feet away from them, and she was going to do what she had originally planned on doing a few days ago. She was finally going to do what no girl in her group had been able to do until this point.

She jumped out of the tree, and tried to sense the energy of her first victim. But when she was close enough, she realized she couldn't find even one energy source. She landed on the ground and looked around. Nobody was around her. She looked around in a full circle, still not seeing anybody at first. Had they sensed her and hid to attack her? At that been the case, they were better at hiding their energy than she had assumed, and she was doomed. They knew the territory better than her, she had no idea where they were, and she was in the wide open. She was done for.

Just as Jude had started to grow panicky, she heard the sound of laughter. She looked over to where the source had been, and she had seen that the group had all of their things, walking down towards the school. They were completely done with sparing within the seconds it took for Jude to get out of her daze, and try to attack. They were finished just like that. And once again, Jude's opportunity to strike had gone.

Jude almost punched the earth in frustration. Nothing in her life had ever been this hard before. Well, nothing as easy as getting into a fight. She usually accepted that hard things were meant to be difficult, but this was ridiculous. She remembered back before any of this happened. Back before Rowen had met her. Back when things were nothing but simple…

X X X

Jude had been born and raised in a small Sioux Indian reservation around the border of California and Arizona. Other than the small Native American traditions, she grew up like any other normal kid. She watched Blues Clues, she enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, both of her parents were alive, happy, and very much in love with each other. She had one older brother and one sister. Her parents named her after the Beatles song, "Hey Jude". Life was good, and it was never complicated. The things that she had to do in life where small chores, such as getting groceries from the local market and cleaning the house. She was your average girl. Aside from the fact that she could control animals.

The community was great, especially towards Jude. Having Native Americans surrounding you with their old times beliefs about animals and earth and humans all being connected, she was treated like a princess the moment that people had found out that she could control them to do her biding. The Chief of the village had seen her powers as a gift of the gods, and it meant she was destined to do something great with her life. And she believed it. She didn't know what that something was, but she knew that she would accept it the moment that it represented itself.

Such an event happened when she was fourteen years old. There had been a flyer in the Blockbuster she went to get movies from. It had been an intern for taking care of animals at the Tuscan zoo for a couple of weeks. Loving animals like no other person on the planet, Jude begged her parents for her to go when she brought the flyer home. Her parents didn't hesitate when they said yes.

"You're a big girl, and the gods have obviously foreseen this," her father winked that night during dinner. He hadn't been too big on the beliefs of different gods and such, but he didn't say so out loud. Everyone in the village had known, but he was a laidback man who didn't mind joining everyone for the hell of it.

"You really shouldn't joke about those kind of things. You might get struck down," her mother warned in the same teasing tone. Her mother, unlike her father, had been a "full practicing Native American" as her father had called her, but she joked around with her husbands atheism. It had been a constant banner between the two, yet it had been done so in a loving way.

"Besides," her mother continued. "We all know that Jude is the adventurous type. She'll be fine for a couple of weeks."

"So you guys really don't mind?" Jude asked, double checking.

"Who are we to stop your passion?" he father asked as he shoved a fork full of food into his mouth.

"Or what the gods have spoken?" her mother added.

She left a few days afterwards, and the moment she arrived, she loved it. The large amounts of animals, the atmosphere of people who, too, loved animals. It seemed like Jude had died and gone to heaven. She spent several weeks getting to know all of the people and animals and she enjoyed every moment of it.

Until the zoo was shut down by a large corporation who had bought out the land, and ran all the animals either back to a habitat that wasn't necessarily made for them, or they were forced to be put to sleep. It had been at that moment that Jude had become an activist for animal rights and a vegetarian. She had done what she could to help animals and get other people involved, and with the voice she had and the spirit of enthusiasm that she pour out, it didn't take long for her community to help her out with her cause. They, too, were tired of the white man just taking over whatever they want with the wave of heavy money. They weren't going to stand for it a moment longer.

And that was when Rowen had taken interest in her.

He had approached her, asking questions about the activity she was in. To Jude, she wondered if he was an honest, curious man, or somebody in disguise who was trying to shut her down or find any weaknesses she might have. But the moment that he had offered her more power, she didn't know what to think. So far she had been the person with the most information about this kind of thing, the head of the organization. And a stranger comes up saying that he could help her grow stronger for her cause, which meant he had power. Jude wasn't sure what exactly it was that made her say yes to him. He was a mean looking man, and he had reeked of blood. However, there was a side of him that she could sense and see in his eyes. A side that had just been a confused young man trying to do something with his life, and he needed her help. And by the grace of the gods, she was going to help him, for her sake and his.

Not without him meeting her parents of course.

When Jude had taken Rowen home, there had been a lot of misunderstandings before Rowen even stepped foot inside. The way Jude's mother had seen it, Jude was bringing home a boy whom Jude was romantically interested in. To her dad, she was being deceived by a money hungry con man. Either way, neither were true, and the questions in the conversation where nothing that Jude or Rowen were ready for, but with them being Jude's parents, all Jude could do was laugh nervously as she gave her parents eyes with underlying messages.

"So how much money do you make, Rowen?" her father would ask. Dad, he's not after our money.

"How old did you say you were again, Rowen?" her mom questioned. Mom, I told you, he's way too old for me! And not my type.

After a while, her mom and dad had switched opinion on what Rowen was after.

"How long have you guys known each other?" her father lowered his eyes in suspicion. He's not going to rape me. I trust him.

"How are you paying for our daughter's trip?" her mom had the same look as her dad.

"Look, Mr. and Mrs. Mayberry. I know how this may look, a total stranger talking to your daughter, talking to her about her passion with animals and promising more power. But I'm not interested in your daughter in a romantic, lustful or financial way at all."

"Then why her?" her mother asked. "Why my baby girl out of everyone here?"

"Jude is a woman with a strong sense of leadership and what she wants. And I think she has the ability to go with the students that I've hand picked to train with me. I know about her powers with animals, and that could be honed in as a special skill. I can help her flourish that power for the better good. But apparently, Jude won't leave without your permission."

"And what exactly do you get out of this if it's not money or my daughter?" her father's eyes were softening, but he was still on his guard, listening for anything suspicious. Before Rowen answered, he gave the first smile Jude had ever seen from him, and the last she had seen for several months, until Dane's spirit had joined Rowen.

"I'm going to be her teacher aren't I? She'll have to thank somebody when she's giving all those acceptance speeches."

The smile had won over the entire family, and it was the reason that Jude couldn't wait to meet with Rowen's other students and grow stronger. But she didn't realize that there had only been two other girls in the entire "group" Rowen had. A very sarcastic and dark humored girl, and a small half oriental girl who had kept to herself, but a strong confidence at the same time. And Rowen hadn't been the delightful little picnic that she had imagined. He was constantly drilling them, scowling, barking orders in a calm tone, and he drove her to exhaustion. If she didn't feel herself growing stronger and keener within her power, she would have left and quit several occasions.

After acquiring Cloe and Aimi into the group, the five girls had started to train each other just as much, if not more, than Rowen had been, and they became a small family. And when Rowen started to lighten up, the girls had realized that everything that they were doing was both fun and challenging. They were getting the best of both worlds. Lots of laughter, memories, and love and respect for one another. Sure, they might have had their disputes (especially Aimi and Vaeta), but that came with the package. Evey and Jude had become close friends, telling each other everything, training with each other often, and filling the other in if they missed a link of gossip. Evey had been the source of what Jude had known about physical, while Jude attempted to teach Evey about spiritual and energy powers, but to very little avail. Everything was wonderful.

Until those three arrived. The trio who had ruined everything and threatened them and Rowen to do stupid deeds. But that's what Jude was here at Heroics for. To take care of the problem once and for all. The moment she did, the moment that she would be able to return to her happy second family and fight for her cause once again…

X X X

"I'm telling you, Jinx," Lynch looked around, making sure that Slash was nowhere around. "Slash is hiding something from us."

"And I'll ask once more, what in the world is he hiding?" Jinx asked.

The two had been in their five-star hotel room, which overlooked the ocean. The entire room had shone with bright colors, making the room feel more lively and expressive. The king sized bed was more than enough room, and the Jacuzzi bathtub was beyond amazing. And each of the three had their own room. Lynch had just knocked on the door of Jinx's room and started to talk.

Throughout the weeks, the places they were staying at while traveling had become nicer with every hotel visit. The same had gone with the food they were eating. They were no longer eating at Taco Bell for every meal, and Jinx was more than happy to eat real food and stay in a real bed. It had been a while since they'd done either of the two.

"I dunno," Lynch stated. "But don't you think it's weird that he all of the sudden has enough money to pay for all of our hotel rooms, the fancy dinners we've been having, and the late night 'visitors' he's been accompanied with? And there's never just one girl!"

"I know it's weird for my brother to have some money, but he's sharing it with us, isn't he? Were getting our share, so why are you complaining."

"Because it's bigger than the money, Jinx." the way he said her name had worry written all over it, and it caused Jinx to glance at his expression. And if his tone had been bad, his face was even worse. "Are you telling me that your gut isn't telling you anything? There's nothing in you that says something might be wrong?"

"Well…" she thought about it, and it didn't take too long until she had to admit that Lynch was right. "What the hell could he be hiding that's actually worth hiding?"

"Who knows how he's getting money?"

"If you're implying that Slash might be killing people in order to obtain money, you know that we agreed that sacrifices had to be made for our plans to work." Jinx reminded.

"But it's changing him, Jinx. He seems to forget that this operation is run on the three of us. Lately, he's been acting as if this was a one man show."

"I don't see why you're complaining. You were saying a few months ago that you were tired of the work you had to do. Sounds like this is a weight off of your shoulders."

"But the less that we're needed, the more disposable we are. Remember how he treats his pawns when we're in battle? He doesn't care about the weak or their lives."

"Slash would never kill us. We've been through too much together. We mean too much to him."

"Maybe the old Slash. The one we knew and love. But this Slash… he wouldn't hesitate at anything to make his plans complete." Jinx was about to argue, but once again, slowly and painfully, she realized that Lynch was right. Slash had become a danger, not just to their enemies, but even those he cared about. Or as Lynch was saying now, used to care about.

"What are you suggesting we do?" Jinx asked quietly.

"Well, first we should talk to him. You know, try to talk him down from his high and mighty attitude that he's been having lately." Lynch's voice had been a bit lighter in the last sentence, but his entire expression had gone dark. "If he doesn't listen to us, then…"

"No!" Jinx shouted. "We're not going to kill my brother!"

"Jinx, it's either us or him. Us, who are in our right mind and are sticking to the plan, or him who's obviously losing control of his old self, and he wouldn't even care if you died or not. You have to think rationally. Not only would we survive, but it would be for the better good."

"I… I don't like this." Jinx stammered. Lynch decided to let up for now. It was obviously old news to Jinx. She had seen the changes, she had seen what Slash was becoming. She knew the choices they needed to make before Lynch even mentioned them. But she didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to believe that her brother was becoming a monster. She didn't want to believe that her own flesh and blood was becoming poison to everyone around him, including them. But Lynch wasn't sure if it was because Jinx was more worried about killing her own brother, or the old statement "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." No person wanted to become a monster, but if it had been a generational demon passed down from a forefather, who was she to say that there wasn't a chance that it would happen to her?

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"I don't like it either, Jinx," Lynch said, putting a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up at him, she saw the same look in his eyes as she felt in her heart. There was the pain of losing a good friend. "But if it's for the better good…"

"Let me at least think about it. There's no reason to act now, is there?"

Lynch looked at Jinx. He saw the plead in her eye. It was understandable that she needed time. Who would simply think to act right away on killing a sibling you've shared almost everything with?

"We can wait…" he sighed, and he felt her hand rub along his arm in gratitude. "But the moment that I get a funny feeling about how things are going, we're going to talk to him, no ands, ifs, or buts."

"Sounds fair," Jinx nodded.

The two heard the jiggling of the door handle, and then the door open, Slash emerging.

"Hey, guys. What up?" he asked cheerfully.

"Me and jinx have just been talking about what we're going to be doing next." Jinx had known what Lynch was doing. He was setting up a way to figure out what to do about Slash based on Slash's answer. If he answered in a way that Lynch didn't find appropriate, Jinx figured she would see Lynch very soon talking about how to take Slash out.

"Whatcha mean?" Slash asked, confused, but still cheery as usual. And it was the threatening kind of creepy that he put on his enemies, which was a good sign that Slash knew nothing of Jinx and Lynch's previous conversation.

"Well, we gave away the Savory project, and Rowen was a bust. We've just been wondering what we're going to do next now that we're out of subjects."

"Who the hell said we were out of projects?" a prideful grin came across Slash's face.

"You found something?" Jinx asked, surprised that her brother had been doing anything particularly meaningful to the team.

"We found something," he corrected.

"I don't understand," Lynch didn't hide his confusion. Jinx knew that he had given up on the trying to figure out what to do with Slash, and was focusing on what Slash had to say.

"Well, you know all the research and data that we've done on