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From: J R D <jrdss@pobox.alaska.net>
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Subject: {ASSM} Change of Power [1/14]
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 23:10:06 -0500
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Had to get a new email, so I'm reposting my old works under the new 
addy to get it out.

************

This story is a sequel to the story combination Change of Pace/Change 
of Direction recently reposted by Tigger.  For those of you who 
missed it the two stories can be found on Fictionmania 
(http://www.fictionmania.com) or here:

Change of Pace
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/transgender/by_authors/Caitlin_B./change-of-pace

Change of Direction (very long)
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/transgender/by_authors/Tigger/change-of-direction

This story is my first work based on someone else's story.

It's based on my own version of the World of Darknesss as portrayed 
in the White Wolf role-playing games, most particularly Mage: The 
Ascension.  For those of you who know nothing of the game, don't 
worry, much of this story is background info.  For those of you 
familiar with the game, some house rules have been included in the 
story.

For those of you familiar with my work, this story is far more 
fiction and far less erotic than most of my work.

Now, onto the boring stuff

-------------------------

DISCLAIMERS

-------------------------

This story contains scenes of an erotic and/or controversial nature, 
and is not intended for the perusal of minors.  Further if perusal of 
such material is considered illegal in your area or immoral by your 
religion or personal beliefs, you should likewise bypass this story.

This story remains the property of the author.  Permission is granted 
to download, photocopy, copy and repost so long as any such action 
contains these disclaimers, and no attempt is made to profit from 
this story.

All characters in this story are the creation of the author, and any 
resemblance to real persons, alive or dead, are purely coincidental.

This story may contain aspects of fantastic science or magic.  The 
parameters of what this science/magic can accomplish are completely 
at the discretion of me, the author, and, as such, I make no 
apologies for any rules of "real" physics, chemistry, biology, or 
magic that may be broken within the story.

-------------------------

Now onto the fun stuff

-------------------------

CHANGE OF POWER

IN A PLACE NOT QUITE IN THIS REALITY...

She glided through the realm, no one who watched being quite sure 
whether she was walking with her feet or just moving through effort 
of will.  Either was possible.  She was one of the major Incarna, a 
pure force of nature, the living essence of pure feminine power.  She 
was second only to the major trinity whose interplay kept the 
universe moving, who were in turn second only to the one who created 
all.

All who were in her way sensed her presence and intent long before 
she got to where they were and moved out of her way.  She stepped up 
to the receptionist and stated, "I am looking for the Akashic 
Master."  She could have easily taken the knowledge she needed from 
the man's mind without any harm to him, but this way was more polite. 
A necessity for what she needed to accomplish.

The man accessed the computer on his desk and quickly said, "He's in 
the gym.  Private workout."

The woman smiled and went through the door into the rest of the 
Realm.  She went through the long hallways which were the building 
that served as the headquarters for the coalition of mages which had 
created this mini-universe.  She went straight to the gym.  Standing 
in front of the gym was a young lady in her mid-teens.

The youth blanched when she saw who approached.  It was her job to 
stand in front of the gym, and politely refuse entrance to all who 
wished entry.  As the Akashic Master's personal attache, she had the 
power to refuse entry to even the other Grand Masters in a 
non-emergency situation.  But this?  A major Incarna?  How could she 
refuse?

The Incarna stepped up to her and said, "I wish to speak to the 
Akashic Master.  Announce me."

The woman paused, torn between her duty to the Master and her natural 
urge to wish not to antagonize Her.  Finally she decided it would be 
best to err on the side of caution.  The Master may be stern, but he 
was fair.  She had no idea how the Incarna would react to refusal. 
She exercised the small amount of Forces it would take to open the 
door and preceded Her inside.

Inside, the Master was working out with his students.  The Master, a 
Caucasian (rare for the Akashic Brotherhood, most were of oriental 
descent), and three students were on the mat, surrounded by a ring of 
lesser students.  The three students were all attempting to strike 
the Master, using only Do, THE martial art.  No Magick was allowed, 
although all the students were Awakened.

The students were striving valiantly, but no matter where they threw 
their punches the Master was not there.  The young woman smiled. 
These students had yet to figure it out.  One on one, none of them 
could touch the Master.  Even when it was three one on one battles at 
once.  Only by working together, two forcing the Master to move in 
such a way that the third could strike him, would they ever succeed.

The youth looked up to Her face and saw Her waiting impatiently, 
clearly not used to being kept waiting.  The youth cleared her throat 
loudly.  "Master?"

The Master held up his hand signaling stop.  Two of the students 
froze in place, but the third kept his last swing going.  The Master 
caught his fist in mid-flight, and gave him a withering stare.  The 
youth simply said, she felt unnecessarily, "You have a visitor."

The Master stared at Her for a few seconds before saying, "Class, it 
appears we will be adjourning early today."  The youth could feel the 
relief run through the class.  Relief quickly dashed when the Master 
said, "To make up for it, our next class will run fifteen minutes 
long."

The class voiced their disappointment with a collective "Awww."

The Master cut them off with a quick, "Class dismissed!" and a 
clapping of his hands.  The class got up and quickly bowed and left. 
When it was only the three of them, the Master, contempt evident in 
his voice, asked, "What do you want?"

The youth blanched.  How could anyone, even the Master, treat Her 
with such disrespect?!  The Lady ignored the contempt and said, "I 
have a favor to ask of you."

The Master continued his arrogance by turning his back on Her and 
walking over to the makiwara, the padded striking board.  As he 
started a series of blows to the board he said, "Ask."

The youth felt Her grow angry, but She contained it and said, "One of 
my worshipers has recently Awakened.  I'd like you to retrieve her."

"Fine."  To the youth, he said, "Janice, arrange for a couple females 
of the Brotherhood to make a trip to the consensual reality."

The Woman quickly said, "NO!" then in a more placatory tone said, 
"I'd like you to handle this personally."

The Master stopped.  He turned his head and looked over his shoulder 
at Her.  "Why?"

Janice blanched again.  The Master would dare to challenge Her?  She 
knew he was powerful, but was he really that powerful?

The Lady said, "It seems that she is being followed by a Weaver 
construct.  She has yet to demonstrate any control over her new 
abilities in public, so they're just watching her, but she could be 
in real danger."

The Master stared at her for a while.  Finally he returned to beating 
on the board, and said, "Fine.  A while back, I did a favor for your 
husband.  The cost of me doing this for you is the same as for what I 
did for him."

She looked at him, and said, "That seems a rather steep price to pay. 
Somewhat inappropriate."

The Master stopped.  Turning to face her, he said, "I am the premiere 
Akashic mage on the planet Earth.  I am one of the most, if not the 
most, powerful mages in any realm.  I am the head of the Akashic 
Brotherhood in this Realm.  And you want me to interrupt my vital 
schedule to chase down an Orphan?  You're right, it is inappropriate. 
I think what I've asked for plus an undisclosed favor to be granted 
later willingly and without hesitation should be an appropriate 
payment.  Further, I want a promise from you not to attempt to 
manipulate me in any way to call for that favor before I want to."

Janice stared at Her.  The Woman was clearly angry, and Janice feared 
for her very existence right then.  The Lady said, "I could make you 
do this for me."

The Master replied, "No, you can't."

The Lady seemed to contemplate this and said, "I could make it very 
hard on this Realm.  Collect the Major Incarna together and attack 
you."

The Master extended his hand and a towel flew across the room into 
his grasp.  As he wiped his forehead, he said, "And I could resign my 
position and return to the consensual reality.  Without the 
"offending mortal" being present in the Realm, you couldn't get the 
Major Incarna to agree on what color the sky is out there."

"You would do that?  Abandon your allies?"

"Great Lady, I am a Spur.  That alone scares most of the mages here. 
The nature of my Spur makes me immune to Paradox.  That terrifies 
them.  Were it not for my mastery of the Soul Blade, most would 
assume me to be a Marauder working on the "good guys'" side.  I took 
this job out of respect for the wishes of its previous holder.  The 
other Akashics accept for the same reason, and the other factions 
accept because they have no choice, but most have made it clear that 
they would rather me not be here.  Hell, you might be doing me a 
favor by driving me out."

"It still seems a steep price."

The Master slung the towel around his neck.  "You don't want to pay 
the toll, don't try to get through the gate."  The Lady glared at the 
Master, but before she could say anything, he said, "Of course, there 
is another payment I would accept."

"What?"

"The truth.  The complete, unvarnished truth.  You can't convince me 
that a newly Awakened Orphan, no matter how powerful, rates anything 
other than a moderately powered H.I.T. mark.  Why do you want me? 
What do you expect to accomplish with this?"

The Lady and the Master stared at one another for awhile before She 
finally said, "Alright.  I will pay your toll."

"Which one?"

"The favor."

"I thought so."

"When you get back-"

"In advance."

"That is not what you agreed to with my husband."

"It is not when I agreed to accept payment.  When and what are two 
different things."

"But-"

"NO!  Lady, you have no credit in my bank, and you know why!"  Janice 
trembled in fear, sure that She would strike both of them down any 
second now.  "Now I have offered my terms.  Accept them or get out."

The Lady said, "Alright."  She stepped up to the Master, and placed 
Her hands on his temples.  After a few seconds, she said, "It is 
done.  Now I hold you to your end of the agreement."

The Master smiled.  "Hun, I may officially be the enemy of the 
Syndicate, but, like them, I would die before I break a deal."

"Your mercenary attitude is unbecoming of an Akashic Master."

The Master considered that for a while, before saying, "Perhaps.  But 
as the youths of my universe would say, 'Bite me.'"

The Lady glowered at the Master, before fading from view.  When she 
was gone, Janice blurted out, "Are you mad?!" before remembering her 
place, and saying, "Forgive me, sir, but are you crazy?"

The Master smiled broadly.  "Quite possibly."

"Sir, why would you treat Her in such a manner?"

"The Goddess and I have... a history.  Enough of that.  Has your 
mastery of the Spheres of Prime, Matter and Forces progressed to the 
point where you no longer need your Foci?"

"I have freed myself of the constraints on Matter and Prime, but I 
still need to focus my Forces through the Do."

"Show me.  Shower me."  The Master snapped his fingers and his 
clothes disappeared.  The snapping was nothing more than a dramatic 
affectation of his.  By sheer force of Will, the Master could command 
any sphere but Spirit.

Janice closed her eyes and concentrated.  A bubble of water appeared 
over the Master's head.  She then struck a pose and went through a 
carefully chosen kata.  As her hands moved, the water broke apart 
into a spray of water and proceeded to rain down upon the Master. 
When her hands changed movement, the water flowed with them, quickly 
cleaning the Master.  When she completed her motions, the water 
dropped to the ground.

The Master then snapped his fingers again and the water was gone, and 
he was clothed in loose fitting slacks and a shirt.  He said, "Master 
Nakayama will take my place, both in training apprentices and, if 
necessary, on the council until my return."

"The students won't be happy about that."  Master Nakayama was 
perhaps one of the best trainers in the Realm, in his own way, better 
even than The Master.  But he was also a stern task master that 
everyone hated to train under.

"Neither will you."

"Master?"

"You lost focus on the third and fifth movements of that kata.  Have 
master Nakayama work with you on that."

"Yes, sir."

"And make sure to inform master Nakayama of the extra time the 
students must go through in their next class.  And inform him of 
Jason's lapse."  Jason was the boy who had not stopped instantly when 
the Master called halt.

"Yes, sir."

The Master snapped his fingers and returned to his room.  There he 
picked up the Soul Blade, before teleporting to the exit portal.  The 
portal master asked, "Where to?"

"San Bernardino."

"Yes, sir."

The portal master used the crystals to re-align the portal to its 
exit point in San Bernardino, and the Akashic Master stepped through 
into a glade under the star filled sky.

************

Jacqui walked to her car, her brow furrowed.  In the 4 months since 
she had ended the threat of Eric Lancaster, saved her mother's life 
and decided to remain as Jacqui, her magic had been... erratic to say 
the least.  For some reason, most of her magic was totally 
untrustworthy.  The Transformation spell, shape shifting, even the 
simplest of illusions refused to work properly.  She had discussed it 
with her mother and Bronwyn, and although each assured her that it 
was probably just an after effect of the battle with the Brotherhood, 
that intuitive sense which was so powerful in her told her that they 
were as mystified by this as she was.

The only thing that still worked was her healing powers.  And, 
perhaps a bit ironically, they had never been stronger.  With only 
the most minimal links, she could dispel even the most intense pain, 
and even some minor injuries.  There were even some times when her 
healer's senses told her that the injuries she saw were bad enough 
that she wanted to make them better, but when she formed the healer's 
link, they already were better.  Her mother told her that she was 
probably just imagining things, and that the injuries weren't as bad 
as she thought.  Of course, that would've meant her senses were all 
screwed up as well.

But today, the evidence was undeniable.  She had gone to watch the 
practice of her friends on the team.  The school's women's team was 
one of the best in the state, and she would've loved to play, but she 
had decided that, due to her pregnancy, she wouldn't try out for the 
team.  But that didn't keep her from watching.

Lisa, the team's star forward, had jumped to catch a pass gone wild, 
and when she had come down, she slipped and sprawled headlong into 
the bleachers.  The bleachers collapsed under her.  Jacqui, with her 
healer's senses, felt the wood smash apart and shatter the back of 
Lisa's head.  She felt Lisa's life force start to depart from her 
body, and part of Jacqui, afraid she was already too late, determined 
that it shouldn't be, mustn't be as bad as it was.

Then something happened and it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. 
Lisa pulled herself out of the rubble of the bleachers and staggered 
about a bit, before she was helped to a chair, as someone went to get 
the nurse.

After the nurse checked her out, she thought she was only badly 
bruised, but just to be sure, they took her to the hospital to get 
checked out.  Jacqui waited for the ambulance to leave and for 
everyone to clear out before heading to her car.  She had to talk to 
mom and Bronwyn about this.

As she pulled the keys out of her purse, she heard a strange, almost 
metallic voice say, "Reality deviant."

Since there was no one else around, she turned and saw a man, about 
6' tall, bald, and with a pale pallor to his skin that gave her the 
impression of a corpse.  He was dressed in a black overcoat that 
covered all of his body except for his head.  And for some reason, 
every sense Jacqui had screamed, "RUN!"  It was such a powerful 
compulsion, that Jacqui took two steps backwards away from... it (for 
that was how she was thinking of it), bumping into the car.

The thing told her, "You will come with me."

Since the very concept of going somewhere with this thing filled her 
with a sense of nameless dread, Jacqui replied, "I don't think so."

The thing strode towards her.  "You have no choice."

Jacqui was terrified.  She fell back on the only weapon she had, the 
Transformation spell.  She summoned forth the energy and cast the 
spell.  Somehow she managed the spell for the first time in four 
months.  She envisioned the man turning into a kitten, and released 
the spell.  The energy lanced out towards the thing and struck him. 
Jacqui expected him to start changing into a small ball of feline 
fluff, but was surprised as the spell unraveled like cheap cloth, 
leaving it untouched.

The thing moved up to her with a speed no human should have and 
backhanded her, knocking her to the ground.  Jacqui looked up and saw 
the thing's right arm, now out of the coat, was some kind of metal 
construct.  Some kind of metal construct with a barrel!

Jacqui did the only thing she could think of.  She mentally screamed, "MOM!"

************

Bronwyn and Laurie sat at Laurie's table, discussing Jacqui's problem 
with her magic.  "I don't know, Bron.  It's like everything she 
learned is gone.  She knows what to do, but when she tries to do it, 
it just doesn't work."

"I don't know what to say, love.  Maybe...  Maybe her training is gone."

"What do you mean?"

"When Jacqui cast the spell that we thought would give her back her 
life as Jack, but instead gave you your life back, she had more power 
than anyone in the history of the Sisterhood.  Maybe it destroyed 
what she already had."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"You're a healer.  To use a mundane analogy, if a person suffers a 
serious blow to the head, after they've healed, they may have to 
relearn to walk, talk, read, et cetera.  They know what they're 
supposed to be able to do, but can't do it anymore.  When Jacqui had 
all that power within her, it may have scrambled the controls she 
already had."

"So she may have to start over from scratch?"  With strong sarcasm in 
her voice, Laurie said, "She's going to love that."

Bronwyn smiled.  She took a sip of her coffee and then looked up, 
intending to continue her discussion, but, when she noticed that 
Laurie had grasped the table, shaking visibly she asked, "Laurie, 
what's wrong?"

Then she felt it.  Jacqui's scream of terror and desperation. 
Bronwyn grabbed Laurie's arm and cast the spell that would take them 
to the youngster's side.  This was farther than she had ever 
teleported before, but she had no choice.  She HAD to make it.

She cast the spell, and... nothing.  Laurie looked at her, fear and 
desperation in her eyes.  "What's wrong?  Why didn't we go anywhere?"

"The spell... was blocked."

The two women looked at one another, and Laurie grabbed her purse as 
they ran to her car.

************

Jacqui lay on the ground, trembling in fear as this half-machine man 
advanced on her.  Suddenly, she heard another voice say, "Excuse me!" 
A man leapt, seemingly from nowhere (of course, Jacqui was a bit 
preoccupied, so he could've come from her own car and she wouldn't 
have noticed), and landed three reverse kicks to the thing's torso, 
knocking it back on its ass.  The man landed smoothly and spun so he 
was facing the thing.  "Didn't your momma ever tell you not to hit a 
woman?"

As the thing got up, the man whispered back to Jacqui, "Don't try to 
run.  That thing might get around me, and I might not be able to 
protect you."  It was a needless warning.  Jacqui was so terrified 
that running had never even entered her mind.

The thing said, "Depart now.  This is no concern of yours."

"I beg to differ.  A man always seeks to protect an endangered woman."

"I will give you one last chance.  Depart or die."

The man smiled.  The thing charged him.  The two then fought with 
dizzying speed, moving so fast, Jacqui was barely able to follow 
their movements.  But despite the thing's claims, it was clear that 
the man was the superior fighter.  He knocked the thing on its back 
three times.  Once with a clothesline, once with an uppercut, and 
finally with a spinning back kick, knocking it back a good twenty 
feet.

As the thing got to its feet the last time, the man said, "Damn. 
You're not even a good workout."

It stood and pointed its metal arm at him.  A rocket shot out of the 
end of the barrel.  Jacqui expected the man to move out of its way, 
but instead he reached out and caught it.  He tossed it over his 
shoulder and over Jacqui's car, where it exploded.  The man then 
brought his hand up and pointed his index finger and thumb out, like 
the way young boys did when they wanted to pretend their hands were 
guns.  "My turn," he said.  He pointed his "gun" at the thing at 
depressed his thumb, saying, "Bang!"

A beam of energy shot from the man's finger, striking the thing in 
the chest.  It flew back into the wall, the continuous stream of 
energy (looking like the energy stream from the proton guns from the 
movie "Ghostbusters") playing upon its chest.  Finally, the energy 
stopped, and the thing dropped to the ground, a big gaping hole where 
its chest used to be.

The man then turned and walked back to Jacqui, extending his hand to 
help her up.  Jacqui just looked at it, and with real fear in her 
eyes, said, "You're a Brother, a worshiper of the Dark One."

The man smiled an honest, open smile.  "Not even close, hun.  You 
didn't think your Sisterhood and the Brotherhood were the only two 
organizations capable of working real magic, did you?"  Then, looking 
at her expression, he said, "I guess you did."

Jacqui looked from his hand to his face and back again.  Finally 
deciding to trust her feelings, she placed her hand in his.  He 
gently helped her to her feet.  He then swept her into his arms.  She 
was about to protest, when he nodded his head back to the thing's 
corpse, saying, "His backup will be here any second, and we don't 
want to be here when they get here."

Jumping and bouncing off the hood of her car, Jacqui found them 
flying through the air to the rooftop.  Jacqui then held on for dear 
life as he ran across rooftop after rooftop, bridging the gap between 
them with a single leap, no matter how great the distance between 
them.
-- 
"This is reality, not T.V.  Can't you tell the difference?"
"Sure.  I just like T.V. better."

J R D
jrdss@pobox.alaska.net

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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