Episode 11: New Day, New Beginnings

Ash woke up and found he couldn’t roll over. He groggily blinked open his eyes and saw Harvey lying beside him. Their legs were entwined, Harvey had one arm slung over Ash’s middle, and Harvey’s face was pressed into the side of Ash’s neck. Ash smiled and tried to untangle himself from his boyfriend’s embrace.

Harvey groaned and pulled Ashton in closer. “Don’t go. It’s too early to get out of bed.”

Ash smirked. “If you pull me any closer, I might get naughty ideas about what you want.”

Harvey smiled. “I do want that. I want it all with you, every possible combination of all the positions. But today, too many people are in the house, and too much is happening. We must figure out our powers and find out what’s going on with Gavin. I couldn’t begin to imagine doing all this without you. You are my rock, Ashton Connors. You always have been, but now more than ever.”

Ash spun in Harvey’s embrace so that he was on his back and Harvey was lying on top of him. “You are as brilliant and compassionate as you are beautiful and sexy. I am over the moon that we will take our relationship further, but you are right. We need to get our butts out of bed. Our priorities right now need to be to find Gavin and we need to reunite Logan and Obadiah. Once we do that, we can focus on us. I need to get into the shower, and I expect to smell bacon cooking when I get downstairs.” Ash grinned.

Harvey rolled off of Ash. He was about to sit up when Ash pounced on him. Ash stared down into Harvey’s bright blue eyes. “I love you, Harvey Kastala. I have loved you my whole life.” Ash leaned down and pressed his lips against Harvey’s. Harvey’s lips parted as he returned the kiss. Ash broke away and groaned. “If I don’t get out of bed right now, it might be a couple hours before I let you leave.”

Harvey grinned. “I wouldn’t complain.”

“I could get used to waking up in your arms. We need to work on that along with everything else.”

“I don’t think either my dad or your mom will be on board with that while we’re still seventeen and in high school.” Harvey huffed out a laugh. “I do agree. We should start the conversation with them and tell them what we want. Maybe with us being superheroes, it might convince them to say yes.” Harvey rolled his eyes.

Ash sighed. “I don’t think my mom would even notice, but let’s take this one step at a time. First, we need to rescue Gavin and locate Obadiah. Oh, and don’t forget my bacon.” Ash leaped off the bed, stripped off his boxers, and walked into the bathroom naked.

Harvey’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as Ash walked across the room. When the bathroom door closed, Harvey got out of bed, grabbed some clothes, and walked down the hallway to the other bathroom to shower.

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Sylvester woke up, yawned, and turned toward Logan. He was surprised to find himself nose-to-nose with the other boy. “Oh! Good morning, Logan. I… didn’t expect to find you so close.”

Logan blushed. “Sorry. I kinda zoned out watching you sleep. After yesterday, it was a peaceful way to start the morning.”

Sy smiled and wriggled his nose against Logan’s. “You can watch me sleep anytime you want.”

“The whole thinking of me as a big brother thing isn’t going to happen, is it?” Logan chuckled.

Sylvester rolled his eyes. “Be honest with me, Logan. You don’t have brotherly feelings for me either, do you?”

Logan rolled onto his back and sighed. “If I’m being sincere, no. You have to know that nothing can happen between us, Sy. It’s more than just the age difference. Right now, my focus is on finding Obie.” He leaned on his elbow again and looked down at Sylvester. “I won’t lie to you, Sy. There’s a connection between us, and it’s more than just our powers meshing so well together. You are gorgeous inside and out. I hope you don’t think that I’m pushing you away. The opposite is true. I would love for us to be best friends if you’re ok with that, but Obadiah is all I can think about right now. I referred to him as my boyfriend, but I’ll be honest, that was never official. We shared a connection and a kiss, but he was stolen from me. I’m sure he’s a part of everything that’s going on. I have to find him. I would love to have you by my side to help me rescue Obadiah and figure out what is happening to all of us.”

Sylvester closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then let the breath out slowly. He opened his eyes and placed a hand firmly against Logan’s chest. Sy pushed the older teen down onto his back to reverse their positions. Sy propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at Logan. “I will make you three promises, Logs. Number one, I will never make the first move on you. If you want us to be friends, that’s what I’ll be. I will never look at you as a brother, but I’d be honored to be your friend. Promise number two, if you ever change your mind and make a move on me, I will not say no.” Sy shrugged. “Promise number three, I will stand by you and help you find Obadiah and figure out what is causing all the changes we are going through. You can count on me. A lot is happening right now, so starting something new is probably not the best idea, even without the obstacles between us.” Then Sy grinned. “By the way, once we figure out these powers and defeat those monsters, I expect you, as my new best friend, to throw me the biggest birthday bash I have ever had.”

“I understand your terms and conditions.” Logan huffed out a laugh. “I do want us to be friends, best friends even. Now, when is this birthday of yours? You’ll be sixteen, right?”

“Next Saturday, and, yes, sixteen. We’ll only be two years apart instead of three.” Sy winked.

Logan rolled his eyes. “I will keep that in mind. Now get out of bed. It’s time to get this day started. Grace said to text her at nine, and it’s already past eight.”

Sy got out of bed and padded down the hallway to get fresh clothes out of his backpack.

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Harvey and Ash finished breakfast and walked outside onto the back deck. Harvey stood staring out at his father’s vegetable garden. Ashton was more interested in the low-flying military cargo plane rumbling across the sky. “That was the third cargo plane, Harvs, and five helicopters. The army is ramping up its presence in town. We all have to be careful.”

Harvey looked thoughtful. “We should lay low and let the army deal with the Zodiac. Maybe after the monsters are gone, the army will leave. We can blend in and stay out of sight.”

“That would be a great plan if they didn’t already know about Bryson and Gav. Unfortunately, I doubt the army will leave anytime soon.”

“You’re right.” Harvey turned back toward the garden. “Hey, Ash? Does dad’s garden look weird to you?”

“What do you mean? It looks kinda small.” Ash shrugged.

“Yes. It looks smaller than it did two days ago.” Harvey stepped off the deck and walked towards the garden.

“Harvey, wait. I think I saw something moving.” Ash was by Harvey’s side in the blink of an eye. “What is that?” He said, pointing at large black clumps on one of the pepper plants.

“Are those beetles? I’ve never seen beetles that big before.”

Ash inched closer to the garden’s edge and took a pic of one of the beetles. One app download later, and Ash whistled softly. “According to this, those are Eastern Herculean Beetles. They are among the largest beetles in North America, but the biggest they get is two and a half inches long.”

“These are all bigger than that. I’d guess most of the beetles are four to five inches long, with some of them up to six inches long. What’s going on now, Ash?”

“It has to be all connected, right? Without looking at a map, I’d say your house is in a straight line between the docks and the school. I bet there are meteor rocks in your dad’s garden.” Ash was still moving slowly toward the garden, and Harvey was walking with him.

Harvey pointed. “Look at that! I think the biggest beetles are eating the smaller ones! I don’t think beetles normally do that. I can hear the chewing. Gross! Let’s go back inside.”

Sylvester stepped out onto the deck. “What’s going on, guys? What’s that weird sound?”

“That’s the sound of giant beetles eating Mr. Kastala’s garden and each other,” Ash said.

Sy arched an eyebrow. “Seriously? That can’t be normal!”

“In the last thirty-six hours, what has been normal?” Harvey asked.

“Valid point.” Sy huffed out a laugh.

Ash was right at the edge of the garden. “I see them! There are at least three blue stones. I’m gonna grab them.” Ash stepped into the garden to retrieve the stones. His legs barely brushed by some of the plants on his way to pick them up. A buzzing filled the air as dozens of beetles took flight. The beetles started flying in circles around the yard. Then, they started dive-bombing straight at Ash.

The smell of ozone filled the air, and bolts of electricity formed around Harvey’s hands. He pointed a finger at the flying insects, and an electric charge shot out. One of the beetles exploded in mid-air. Sy leaped off the deck, landing right next to Harvey. “Quick! Hit me with your electricity. There are too many of them for you to zap alone!”

Harvey looked confused. “You want me to electrocute you?”

“Yes, Harvey! It’ll be ok. I’ll absorb it like I did yesterday.”

Harvey formed a ball of electricity and threw it. He hit Sy right in the chest, but it didn’t do any damage. Sylvester absorbed the power and grinned. “Again! Hit me again!”

Harvey hit Sy with three more orbs. Meanwhile, Ash swatted at the beetles and approached the three meteor rocks in the garden’s center. Harvey glanced at Sy. “Ready?”

“Yeah, let’s do this!” Sy said. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Harvey as they started firing shot after shot of electrical energy at the beetles. The swarm was so thick that the electricity started arcing from beetle to beetle.

Ash looked up and realized with horror what was about to happen. Thankfully, he managed to zip out from under the cloud of bugs seconds before the entire swarm exploded in a shower of beetle guts. “That was disgusting!” Ash yelled.

“That was epic!” Sy cheered.

“It was pretty spectacular,” Harvey added. “My big question is, did you know that you could mimic my power when you had me electrocute you?”

Sy shrugged. “I suspected that I could, based on what happened yesterday.” He shrugged. “After you hit me the first time, I could feel the power absorb into my body, and I knew I could take more. After that, I knew exactly what to do with your power. It wasn’t like it was with Logan. With his, it felt… I don’t know… disorganized. I’m not sure how else to explain it. All I could do with Logan’s power was return it to him. The electricity was fun!” Sylvester grinned.

Harvey’s eyes scrunched together in concentration. “We all need to learn more about these abilities. I’m hoping that when we reunite Logan with Obadiah, Obie will know what has happened to us, and maybe he can help.”

Sylvester frowned. “Yes. Reuniting Logan with Obie is everyone’s priority.”

Harvey wrapped one arm around Sy’s shoulders and pulled him into a side hug. “Logan cares about you. I can tell. He won’t forget about you when he finds Obadiah. I care about you, too. So does Ash. You’re not alone anymore, Sylvester.”

Sy shrugged. “I appreciate you saying that, Harvey. But it might take me a little while to trust that it is true. I haven’t had anyone care about me in a long time.” Sy, Harvey, and Ash walked back onto the deck just as Logan left the house.

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Gavin opened his eyes and groaned. His face hurt, and his right eye was blurry. He thought that he must have a black eye. Gavin looked up and saw his father and General Woodson staring down at him. Gavin grinned, then immediately grimaced. He must have a split lip, too. “Dad! I’m so glad you could finally join the fun. Where’s my friend from last night? I was starting to like him.”

Isaac’s face remained neutral as he stared down at his oldest son. “Gavin, just tell the general what he wants to know. We’ve already taken blood samples, temperature readouts, and other tests. Tell us how you got these powers and everything you know about Bryson Indiana.”

“Hmm. I was beaten and shocked and then violated in my sleep. That almost sounds like a bad porn.” Gavin huffed out a laugh. “I already told you that I don’t know Bryson Indiana. Whatever this power is and wherever it came from, it’s mine. I am not the property of the United States government!”

General Woodson stepped forward. “You are so very wrong. The United States government has classified you as a national security risk. I can lock you up and throw away the key, or I can tie you down and cut you up into little tiny pieces, and no one will care. You belong to me.”

The door swung open, and three men strode inside. The one in the lead spoke. “That may have been true an hour ago, General, but it isn’t true now.” He walked past the general and Mr. Kastala and stepped before Gavin. “Good morning, Gavin. My name is Caleb Justyce. Welcome to the Liberty Initiative. I’ll take you out of here as soon as these men unstrap you.”

The general scowled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Caleb? You have no authority on my base.”

Caleb grinned. “You’re wrong, as usual. I’m doing what I always do, Roger. Untie this man, and you can direct any questions to the two members of Congress. This was decided above your pay grade and above your clearance level. I get what I want. I always do.”

“This isn’t over, Justyce. This is the most important discovery in history.” General Woodson said.

“That is exactly why the military should not control it.” Caleb retorted.

Gavin stood and rubbed his forearms, which were red and irritated from the leather straps. He looked over at Caleb. “I’m not sure what you want from me, but it has to be better than this. Thank you.”

Caleb nodded. “You have your brother Logan to thank for bringing your situation to my attention. I’ll take you to him, but we must stop at my lab first.”

Isaac’s eyes opened wide, and he confronted Caleb. “I accept that you’re taking Gavin with you, but what association do you have with Logan?”

“Logan is quite possibly the most important person on this planet. Before you ask, all three of your sons are included in the Liberty Initiative Protection Act. Logan and Harvey are safe from the treatment you allowed Gavin to endure. You’re welcome.” Caleb sneered at Isaac.

“You can’t take my sons from me. Harvey is still a minor.”

“I am not cutting you off from your sons. I am protecting them from the military. There is a difference. I would hope you would understand that.”

Isaac looked at Gavin. “I’m sorry, son. I didn’t know how far things would go. Could you do me a favor? Protect your brothers.” He shook his head. “Protect them from everyone.”

“I forgive you, Dad, but I don’t want you near the boys or me until all this is sorted out. I can’t trust that you won’t let the same thing happen to them.”

Isaac nodded. “I understand. Take care of yourself, son. Be safe.”

Gavin looked over at Caleb as they walked out of the building. “Are you taking that goat lady out of here, too?”

Caleb shook his head. “No. Your heroics in the restaurant helped me convince enough people to let me take you. Diana Winters had a long criminal history long before she became what she is and attacked those people. I would love to examine her and figure out why her appearance changed and yours did not. Still, she did not qualify to be included in the Liberty Initiative.”

Gavin slid into the passenger seat of Caleb’s cherry red Corvette. “What exactly is the Liberty Initiative? What am I getting myself involved in?”

Caleb gunned the engine and drove off the army base. “I needed to find a way to protect you and the others from the military. My reasons are… extensive. I convinced enough of the right people that I was better equipped to deal with this… Zodiac Club or whatever they want to call themselves. The army got lucky when they captured you and Capricorn. They have suffered heavy losses all over the city in fights against other members of the Zodiac. If you and the others are willing, I want to put you together as a team to protect the city… to protect the world… from this new danger. Unfortunately, the Initiative falls apart if you refuse, and the army can come after you again.”

Gavin cocked his head. “It doesn’t sound like you’re offering us much choice. I’ll have to talk to my brothers before I give any answers.”

“I’d like to say that there’s no rush, but the Zodiac and the army are turning Newville into a battlefield.”

“I’ll text Logan and Harvey. Should they come to your lab, or are we going to my house?”

“Have everyone meet at my lab. Tell them to bring any others who are involved. I’ll text Grace Santos and tell her the same thing. We need to get everyone on the same page and share information. Then we can decide what to do next.”

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Carl sat at the head of the tables, which they pushed together to resemble the table in the union hall. “Thank you all for giving me this time. I know we have important things to do today.” He looked right at Aries. “Most importantly, we must find out where they took Capricorn and get her back. We had some skirmishes yesterday with would-be heroes and the military. We need to show them all who runs this city. We have run the docks for years. Now we run the city!” They all cheered in support.

“What do you want us to do first, boss?” Taurus asked.

“Taurus, you take charge of the search for any more stones. Libra, go with Aries to the precinct on Water Street. Whether Capricorn is there or not, take them out. Burn down the building. The docks are ours, not theirs. Aquarius, you and Pisces go back to the restaurant. Track Capricorn from there. Find out if the military has any temporary headquarters or if everything is coming out of the army base.”

“Got it,” Aquarius said. “Jay… I mean, Pisces and I will get right on it. Virgo will come, too, unless you have any objections.”

“No, that’s fine. I know you three… work well together.”

Jayden got up from the table and started to walk away. He stopped and put a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “I’m going to grab a few things and meet you and Izzy outside, Luke. And, no, I’m not calling you Aquarius. Not in here.” He glared at Carl as he walked away.

“Get your boy under control, Aquarius. Get used to the codenames. We can’t have the military tracking down our true identities. It’s for the safety of all of us.”

“I’ll talk to him, Leo, but they have Capricorn. If they find out who she is, they’ll track down Aries, and it won’t be difficult to guess who we all are from there.”

“If they track us down, that’s one thing. We shouldn’t make it easier on them.”

“Understood. I’ll keep you updated on our progress if we find anything.” With that, Luke joined Izzy outside to wait for Jayden.

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Logan finished his breakfast and was about to go outside and look for everyone else when his phone started going crazy with text alerts. He opened the lock screen and found three texts. They were from Grace, Gavin, and his dad. His finger hovered over the message from his father, but he opened the one from his brother first.

Gavin: Logan! Please answer this right away! I was arrested by the army                                      last night. I’ve attached a photo. Dad didn’t participate, but he knew it would happen

 and did nothing to stop it. They also arrested one of the Zodiac. Do not trust Dad.

            Get out of the house ASAP. I’m with Caleb Justyce. Please meet us at his lab. Bring             

Harvey and anyone else who may be involved. Text me when you’re on your way. (hug

emoji) (heart emoji)

Logan: Got it! So much has happened since last night! I think Obie is also with Mr.                      Justyce. That sucks about dad. I have his text, but I haven’t opened it yet.                                 I’ll be careful with my answer to whatever he may say. Harvey, me, and a few others                    will meet you at Justyce Labs ASAP. Love you, bro! (hug emoji)

Grace: I’m already with Erik and Bryson. Text me when you want us to come over.                       I’m arranging a meet-up with Caleb Justyce. See you soon.

Logan: Come over now. The house may not be safe for much longer. Gavin is with            Caleb. As soon as y’all get here, we’ll go there. (thumbs up emoji)

Grace: We’re on our way.

Dad: Logan, I need you and Harvey to come to the base. I’ll have someone meet                           you at the gate and bring you to me. It’s crucial, Logan.

Logan: I’ve already been in contact with Gav. He even sent me a selfie! (angry                             emoji) How could you, dad? We won’t be coming to the base, and we won’t be at                                 home. Harvey and I will be safer with Gav. I’m too pretty for jail, so don’t send your                         goons after me (wink emoji). I love you, Dad, but I don’t trust you right now (heart                       emoji)

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Logan slid his phone back into his pocket as he stepped onto the deck. He looked around at the gooey globs everywhere and smelled a strong odor of ozone. He looked questioningly at the three grinning boys walking up onto the deck from the lawn. “What happened out here? Is everything ok?” Then something big and black was flying directly at his face. Whatever it was exploded in mid-air about three feet in front of him. Logan’s eyes darted toward the three boys again, and he saw Sy blowing on his finger like he was blowing smoke from a gun. “What the hell?”

Sy grinned an even bigger grin. “Where were you? You missed all the action!”

Logan looked even more confused. “What?! What happened?!”

“Beetle War One,” Sy said.

Logan looked at Harvey. “Please explain.”

Coming Soon – Episode 12: Chaos at Justyce Labs