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From: J R D <jrdss@pobox.alaska.net>
Subject: {ASSM} My top ten (tg) #2 (13/14)
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 05:10:03 -0400
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Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
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-------------------------

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 pt 13

Bronwyn, Laurie, and the other Sisters walked into the base where 
Jeremy awaited.  In a large ballroom, Jeremy and ten other Brothers 
awaited.  Jeremy, with a boastful smile, said, "It's good to see 
you're on time."

Bronwyn looked around.  Only the twenty-two of them were here, which 
would mean no innocent casualties, no matter which way the battle 
went.  Aside from the people, the only thing in the room was a 
prominently placed computer.  On the monitor was a prominently placed 
death's head, and the computer itself reeked of the Dark Power. 
Bronwyn guessed that the computer was running the virus program in a 
ready to launch state.

Jeremy stepped forward.  "Come forward, Bronwyn Llewellyn, and accept 
your proper place as my servant."

Bronwyn stepped forward and went to one knee before him.  "Jeremy 
Lancaster," she started.

"Yes?"

"Bite me!" she yelled and then went to her feet and lashed out with 
an uppercut.  It was barely enough to bloody his lip, but it was 
enough to distract while the Sisterhood launched a collective attack. 
The Brothers collectively shielded (something that surprised the 
Sisters) and launched a counter-attack.

Jeremy, from behind a shield of his own said, "What do you hope to 
gain by this?  Our shields may not be as strong as yours, but neither 
are your attacks equal to ours.  Combat is our bailiwick.  Eventually 
we will get through your shields and destroy you."

"Not before I get finished," Bronwyn said as she ran towards the computer.

Jeremy smiled.  Just holding himself, he waited as Bronwyn got close 
to the computer.  When she was about there, he extended his arm, and 
disappeared.  Suddenly his arm shot out from the computer screen and 
grabbed Bronwyn by the throat.  The rest of his body followed.  He 
spun her around in his arm, and snatched the computer disk from her 
hand.  All combat on both sides stopped.  Jeremy whispered into her 
ear, "Very good, Bronwyn, but I was expecting something like that."

"Now what?  Are you going to destroy the disk, our only weapon?"

"Do you take me for a fool?  That would release your power back to 
you, not to mention burning me out in the process."  He tossed the 
disk to one of his subordinates.  "Magnetize it!"

The subordinate pulled out a small box and ran it over the disk. 
Bronwyn, realizing what was happening, yelled, "NO!" but it was too 
late.

Jeremy said, "There.  With no more programs on it, the disk is 
nothing more than a vessel for the Goddess's power."

Bronwyn tried to lash out with her power, but Jeremy closed his hand 
around her throat, and interrupted any use she might've tried. 
"Enough!" he said.  "You will all surrender now, or watch as I burn 
the flesh from her body."

Bronwyn croaked out, "Let him."

"Very brave, Bronwyn.  But your bravado cannot stop this."  He 
reached back and hit the return key.  "Now, the entire city has just 
lost power.  Lights, police, fire department, it's all impotent. 
Shall we see what your arrogance has cost?"

He pointed a remote at a wall and pressed it.  The wall raised, 
revealing a big screen T.V.  He pressed the remote again, and a scene 
appeared on the set.  It was a scene of an intersection, but there 
was nothing wrong with it.  The lights were functioning normally, and 
traffic was flowing as it should.

Jeremy yelled, "What?!" and hit some keys on the keyboard.  Then he 
said, "Doctor, check out this program!"

One of the Brothers ran over and started typing at the computer. 
"It's gone.  The virus is gone.  I can find no trace of it."

A female voice said, "Of course, doctor.  You didn't think that 
either the Virtual Adepts or your bosses in the Technocracy would 
allow such a virus to ever be used?"

Everybody turned and saw Jacqui leaning against the edge of the 
screen.  She was dressed in a black jumpsuit, and was wearing a pair 
of dark black, wrap around sunglasses.  A cable extended from the 
sunglasses and ran down to a box mounted on her forearm.  She tilted 
the glasses up and said, "Hi, mom."  Laurie wanted to cry out for joy 
and run to her daughter, but knew she couldn't do that right now.

One of the Brothers said, "So the whelp returns."

To which he was smacked on the side of the head.  "Watch it, bub. 
That's my fiance you're talking about."  Marcus then stepped out and 
placed himself between the Brothers and Jacqui.

"So you've-" Jeremy started before Jacqui interrupted.

"Excuse me."  Jacqui tilted her glasses back over her eyes.  Jeremy 
grew angry, and tried to say something, but she interrupted him with 
a halting gesture.  After a few seconds, she said, "Oh, this is rich. 
Mr. Lancaster, I think you need to take a look at this."  She pointed 
her arm with the box on it at the computer.  A light beam shot out, 
and the screen started displaying lines of computer code.

Jeremy looked around before taking a look at the screen.  After a few 
seconds, he asked, "What is this?"

Jacqui said, "Your computer virus.  Apparently it's been modified a little."

"But the only person who had access to it other than Eric and I 
was..."  Jeremy looked to the doctor.  "You!  I have no idea why you 
did this, but you will suffer for it."

Laurie asked, "What did he change?  What does it do?"

"The new virus not only would've done everything the old did, but 
also would've turned any Sister or Brother who touched an infected 
computer into the opposite sex, eliminating all of you as a potential 
threat."

A collective murmur went up through both factions.  Jacqui continued, 
saying, "Now look, Mr. Lancaster, why don't you do both of us a favor 
and let Bronwyn go and we can sit down and discuss this."

"Never!  This only delays the inevitable.  It changes nothing!"

"You're making a big mistake."

"Hah!  Can even you stop me from killing this wench if I wanted?  Are 
you that fast?"

"Truthfully, no."

Laurie was shocked.  Her daughter never should've admitted that, even 
if it was true.  She wanted to try something, but Jacqui seemed 
strangely unconcerned and Laurie knew that wouldn't be the case if 
Bronwyn were really in trouble.

Jeremy said, "Then watch as the bitch dies!"  He raised his arm and 
brought it down, glowing with Dark Power.

Bronwyn clenched her eyes shut, sure these were her last moments on 
Earth.  But when the blow never came, she slowly opened her eyes. 
Jeremy's hand was about a foot away from her, and it seemed like he 
was straining against something.  His hand was slowly pulled away 
from her, him fighting it every step of the way.  Suddenly there was 
a burst of fire traveling from Jeremy's hand, around the form of a 
man.  When the fire dissipated, Jack was standing there, dressed in 
his blue gi with sword on his back, holding Jeremy's hand in place. 
Jacqui said, "But he has more than enough speed to do it."

Jeremy strained uselessly against the Akashic Master, as Jack said, 
"Let the woman go."

"And if I don't?"

Jack then elbowed Jeremy in the face, struck some pressure points in 
his back causing the arm holding Bronwyn to go limp, spun him away 
from Bronwyn, and back-kicked him into the other Brothers.  Jack 
knelt beside Bronwyn, now on her knees gasping for breath.  As he 
touched her, he flowed healing energy to her and asked, "Are you 
okay?"

Mystified, Bronwyn looked into Jack's eyes and saw the look of 
concern and love that, previously, he had only given to Nita.  She 
nodded as he helped her to stand.  "Good," he said as he gave her a 
light kiss on the forehead and a short push shoving her towards the 
other Sisters.    He then turned and walked towards the Brothers.

Jeremy stepped forward and said, "Why are you throwing in with them? 
You should be with us!"

Jack just stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "You are so 
clueless; it'd be funny, if it weren't so tragic."

"If you're not with us, you're against us!  Destroy him!"

The Brothers collectively lashed out with their power.  Bronwyn was 
about to do something to try to defend him, before she saw that he 
was standing unaffected in the midst of the Dark Power.  Then she 
remembered his look and kiss and said, "He... knew I was Nita?"

Laurie said, "Uh huh.  After that first kiss you two had, he came 
home as mystified as you were.  He confessed he knew.  He said he 
didn't mind you watching him, it was just your trying to pry into his 
head that he minded."

"And you didn't tell me?!"

"He made me promise, just like you did.  And being stuck between you 
two was really annoying."

Bronwyn fumed a bit before saying, "Sorry."  Laurie's smile said all 
the apology that was needed.

Before they could continue, the Brothers ceased their assault.  Jack 
stood there unaffected, not even a hair out of place.  Jeremy 
whispered, "Impossible."

Jack smugly said, "Not really.  About a decade ago, I did a service 
for the Dark One.  My payment for that service was total immunity to 
his power, no matter who wielded it.  In other words, ain't thing one 
you all can do to me."

The doctor stepped forward and said, "I bet I can."

"Bet you can, too.  But we both know you aren't really human 
anymore."  Jack reached back and drew his sword.  Every empath in the 
room (every Sister and a couple Brothers) felt a wave of aggression 
and an anticipation bordering on hunger flow from the sword.  In a 
smooth motion, Jack crossed the room and hacked off the doctor's arm 
at the elbow.  But the stump didn't bleed.  Instead, when the doc 
grabbed it, it trembled, and out of the stump exploded an octopus's 
tentacle.  Then a wave of evil spread out from the doc, and every 
Brother and Sister in the room recoiled.  "And now they know it, too. 
You, demon worshiper, Nephandi, are the kind of evil they, both the 
Sisterhood and the Brotherhood, were created to fight."

The doctor glowered at Jack, and said, "Not that it will save them. 
Or you."  The doc charged Jack.

As the fight began, the Sisterhood and the Brotherhood were about to 
jump in, when Jacqui and Marcus stopped them.  Jacqui told her mother 
and the other Sisters, "This Nephandi is too powerful for you.  You 
will only distract the Akashic Master from his duty."  Both the 
Sisterhood, and, surprisingly, the Brotherhood behind Marcus stepped 
back.

As the doctor and Jack fought, the doc was unable to lay a finger (or 
anything else) on Jack, but every time Jack slashed the doc or 
removed a part of his body, an animal part grew in.  Lobster claws, 
bear paws, various animal heads.  It was only a short time before the 
doc was a 15 foot tall, insane conglomerate of various parts.

The two separated and the doc growled, "You cannot destroy me."

Jack smiled.  "Maybe not."  Jack extended his hand back.  The disk 
with the Goddess's power on it flew from the hand of the Brother 
holding it to Jack.  "But this can!"  He flung it with an outside 
toss and it went sailing like a frisbee at the doc.  When it was only 
a few inches from the doc's human face, Jack pointed the Soul Blade 
at the disk and fired a bolt of energy at it.  When it struck and 
destroyed the disk, the Goddess's power exploded into a ball of light 
centered on the doc, getting a shriek of pain unlike any heard 
before.  When it faded, the doctor was laying on the floor, human 
once more, in body if not in soul.

Jack stepped up to the doc, but the doc lurched forward, and, with 
the last of his power, disappeared.  Jack looked up, but with a 
distant look in his eyes.  After a few seconds, he smiled and said, 
"Gotcha."  He then swung his blade around and sheathed it.

A voice then said, "Well done, Akashic."

Everybody turned to the entrance and saw a Native American walk in. 
Jacqui gasped.  Laurie whispered, "Who is that?"

"That's the Dreamspeaker Master, the most powerful Spirit mage on the 
planet.  He's over two-hundred years old.  Reality objects to people 
that old.  He's putting his life at stake just being here."

Jack asked, "Are you ready?"

He said, "It'll take me a few moments to make the proper 
connections."  Jack just nodded.

Bronwyn stepped up.  "It seems we, and I in particular, owe you once more."

Laurie asked, "But I thought you said you were going to switch back 
to your regular form?  Why are you still in Jack's form?"

 From behind them, Julie said, "Because she doesn't want me to know 
her."  Laurie saw Jack visibly tense.  "But did you really think I 
could be this close to my child and not know it?"

Jack's face took on a hard edge.  "I suppose it was too much to hope 
for."  Jack shifted into another form.  He was now a little shorter 
than Jack was, but his body was wider, more buff.  Where Jack had the 
lean, trim body of an athlete, this new form had the compact, 
streamlined form of a fighter.  Without even looking back, he said, 
"Hello, mother."

A shocked Bronwyn said, "Joanie?"

The Akashic Master almost yelled, "NO!" and Bronwyn felt the anger 
spew from him, with such great rage that all the Sisters were forced 
to take a step back.  Most of it was directed at his mother, but some 
of it was directed right at Bronwyn.  And it was more than just anger 
that she had used the wrong name, there was something personal about 
it.

He continued, "I am JOE!  It has been Joe for the last sixteen years! 
And, more importantly, it always should've been Joe!"

Julie, tears in her eyes, said, "I only did what I thought was best."

"For who?!  'Cause it sure as hell wasn't best for me!"

Laurie put her arms around the now distraught Julie.  Laurie angrily 
said, "So she Transformed you.  You know why she did it.  If you had 
such a bad time as a woman, you could've talked it out.  There was no 
reason to threaten her.  No reason to abandon her!"

"Oh, is that why she told you I left and threatened her?"  He stepped 
up and stared right down at Julie.  "It seems you left a few things 
out, didn't you, mother?"

Julie whispered, "We don't need to go into this now."

"Oh, I think we do."  Joe started to pace around Laurie, Julie, and 
Bronwyn.  "This isn't like your Transformation of Jack, where you 
introduced an unwitting boy to his feminine side.  You see, as a kid, 
I was a little spy, always sticking my nose where it didn't belong. 
I knew about the Sisterhood by the age of ten.  I knew about the 
Transformation by twelve.  I spent three years wondering about it, 
deciding whether or not to try it.  When I was fifteen years old, I 
decided no, and told mom.  And on my sixteenth birthday, she 
Transformed me anyways."

Jacqui said, "So you were Transformed like me."

"There are some differences, Jacqui.  BIG differences.  First off, I 
knew that if I started playing with myself, started investigating my 
body, I might lose control and not be able to change back after the 
first hour.  So I kept control, and told her to change me back after 
that hour.  She wouldn't."

Bronwyn said, "Julie!  Anybody who doesn't accept the Transformation 
after the first hour is to be changed back!"

Julie said, "But she did accept it!"

Still pacing, Joe said, "Technically true, but only after she 
convinced me to.  'Try it for a week,' she said.  'You might like 
it,' she said.  She made it sound like a vegetable I hadn't tried 
yet.  But I couldn't really argue the point, so, after a promise to 
change me back if I didn't like it, I agreed.

"One week later, I told her to change me back.  She goes upstairs, 
and comes down about an hour later and tells me, 'I'm sorry, dear.  I 
made a mistake.  I can't change you back.  Only you can do that now.' 
I'd later find out that was exactly what she planned in the first 
place."  There were some shocked looks on the Sisters' faces, but 
they remained silent as Joe continued.  "I was upset, as you can well 
imagine, but I still believed mom and felt there was no use crying 
over a mistake.

"I threw myself into my lessons of how to be a woman, all along 
knowing I was doing it with the ultimate intent of changing back.  I 
learned fast, both as a woman, and as a Sister.  I specialized my 
magics in information gathering, amplifying my own natural 
tendencies.  But I figured out what I needed to change back after 
only a year, so I started getting serious in my dating.  After three 
months, I found a nice boy, and got pregnant by him.  Nine months 
later my son was born.

"I spent a couple months nursing him before realizing I could take it 
no longer.  I prepared to cast the Transformation spell, and that was 
when mom really betrayed me.  As I had spent the last two years 
mastering myself to cast the Transformation spell, mom had spent the 
last two years crafting a spell to destroy me.  As I attempted to 
change back, mom cast her spell, a very carefully crafted spell.  A 
spell that would make any use of the Transformation spell by me 
impossible.  Combined with her previous spell, it would stick me as a 
woman for the rest of my life!"

A collective gasp went up from the women.  Bronwyn said, "Julie, you didn't!"

One of the Brothers, all of whom had remained silent to watch what 
happened, said, "What do you expect from a manipulating bitch?"

Joe turned on them.  "Quiet!  Unless you want to be blown off the 
face of the planet!"

When he turned back, Julie said, "Please, Joanie, it was just your 
male ego keeping you from accepting your femininity.  If you just 
give it another try-"

"YOU DON'T GET IT!  I didn't change back because of ego.  If that 
were just it, the Transformation back never would've been successful. 
I refused the original Transformation because I knew who I was.  I 
decided to change back every time because I knew who I was.  I 
mastered myself and my magics because I knew who I was.  And I turned 
down those magics, and cast the spell to go back because I knew who I 
was.  And this," he said slapping his chest, "is who I am!

"When you refused to accept that, and I was forced to fight you, I 
fought back with everything I had and was.  It blew open every 
channel I had and gave me more than enough power to shatter all your 
spells upon me.  The result was a backlash that nearly killed you. 
But I also knew what all your spells had done, and I was so angry, 
felt so betrayed, I didn't care."

Laurie said, "So you threatened her and left?"

"Not quite.  At the time I didn't know how powerful I had become.  I 
thought I was a powerless male.  But before I left, I realized that 
eventually mom would probably come after us.  And there was no way I 
could trust her around my son.  So I did the only thing I thought I 
could.  I threatened her.  I'm not sure I ever would've killed her, 
but I hoped the threat would be more than enough to keep it from ever 
being an issue."

"But what about my grandchild?" Julie asked.

"What about him?"

"Don't I deserve to see him?"

"No, mother.  You lost any and all rights to get anywhere near him 
when you tried to destroy the life I wanted."

"I only did what I thought was right!"

"Crimeneys, mother.  You STILL won't admit what you did was wrong! 
I'm out of here!"

Joe turned, but the Dreamspeaker Master said, "No!  The battle 
between the Sisterhood and the Brotherhood must end.  This is your 
plan and it is a good one, but if you leave it will only mean more 
destruction.  Is your anger worth that?"

"Fine.  You know the plan.  You complete it!"

"We need the Soul Blade, and you are the only one who can wield it 
long enough to accomplish what needs to be done."

Joe and the Dreamspeaker Master locked eyes in a brief battle of 
wills before Joe unsheathed the Soul Blade.  There was that same 
initial anticipation, but this time it was followed by a sense of 
disappointment.  Joe said, "Let's get this over with."  Julie was 
about to step forward, but Laurie stopped her.

Joe held the blade above his head and parallel to the ground.  He 
placed his hand over the blade, right next to the hilt, fingers 
extended and drew it along the blade.  As he did, lightning flashed 
from nowhere to the blade between his hand and the hilt.  The further 
he moved his hand down the blade, the brighter that section grew. 
When he reached the end of the blade, it was like a miniature star in 
the room.

He then swung the blade out and down.  As it went down, it cut a line 
in the air.  The air in the room suddenly started swirling about like 
a cyclone had been loosed in the room, as if reality itself protested 
what the Akashic Master was doing.  As the blade continued its 
downward path, the line widened in the middle, and those looking at 
it couldn't help but think of tearing fabric.  When he touched the 
floor, all the light in the blade had been discharged into the tear, 
and he quickly stepped back and sheathed the blade.

The Dreamspeaker Master stepped forward and plunged his hands into 
the split.  As his hands entered it, they disappeared.  After a few 
seconds, he pulled his hands back through, dragging two hands with 
it.  The hands were followed by two bodies, and as soon as they 
entered everyone knew who they were.  They stood just a few feet 
below the high ceiling, one male, one female.  The woman was dressed 
in a flowing gown that shimmered like the night sky.  The man was 
dressed in nothing more than boots, a heavy loincloth, and a big 
helmet where the only thing that could be seen inside was two glowing 
orbs where his eyes should be.  Every Sister and Brother knew who 
they were, for their powers flowed from them.  They knew they were in 
the presence of the Goddess and the Dark One.

Jeremy yelled, "They have brought them here so we can finish our 
battle once and for all.  Quickly, destroy the Goddess!"

Jeremy fired a bolt of darkness as the others (both the Brotherhood 
and the Sisterhood) prepared to move.  But the bolt never reached its 
target.  It instead hit the Dark One's hand and was absorbed 
harmlessly.  Then the Dark One, moving with a speed no human could 
match, swung his hand down and swatted Jeremy Lancaster into the back 
wall.  In a deep Bass, the Dark One said, "The next one who tries 
that gets scraped off the wall with a spatula."

Every member of both the Brotherhood and Sisterhood were mystified. 
Finally one of the Sisters whispered, "The Dark One protected the 
Goddess?" but the room was so silent it carried with the force of a 
yell.

In a normal voice, Joe asked, "You're surprised?"  Then he said, "Oh, 
yes, that's right.  Despite your connection to these two, you are 
still unaware of their connection to each other.  Let me make 
introductions."  He stepped between the two.  "On my left, we have 
the essence of all that is woman, the living representation of 
feminine power.  Known to one and all (at least in this room) as the 
Goddess.  On my right we have the essence of all that is man, the 
living representation of masculine power, and her," he thumbed at the 
Goddess, "husband, the Dark One."

A murmur of shock and surprise went through the crowd.  Many wanted 
to deny it, but once it was out there, everyone knew it was true. 
Joe said, "And now that that's done, I'm outta here."  He then 
clapped his hands together over his head.  His hands exploded in a 
sparkling burst like fireworks.  The burst dropped from his hands, 
and as it fell he faded from view.  Julie released a cry of despair 
and tried to catch him before he disappeared, but Laurie held her 
back.  She stopped fighting when the fireworks touched the ground and 
Joe was gone.

Everyone stood around, not knowing what to say until the Dark One 
spoke to his Brothers.  "You disappoint me.  You were created to 
protect humanity in general and the Sisterhood in particular by 
fighting the forces of darkness represented by what you saw in the 
fight waged here tonight.  You were never meant to dominate or 
destroy humanity.  You are the martial defense as described in Sun 
Tzu's Art of War, to be set loose against the darkness at the 
Sisterhood's command."

One of the Sisters said, "Hah!  You were supposed to work for us!"

But Bronwyn said, "Not quite.  I've read the Art of War.  Yes, the 
military only acts at the command of the civilian government, but 
once set lose, the civilian government is supposed to step back and 
let the military government do its job."

The Goddess said, "And that was the mistake of the first Sisterhood, 
the one you replaced.  They felt that since it was their job to tell 
the Brotherhood when to attack, they should also have the right to 
say how to attack.  And when the Brotherhood wouldn't implement their 
commands, some of which were totally unusable, they resorted to 
manipulation.  I'm afraid that part of Jeremy Lancaster's story was 
true.  They did try to manipulate the Brotherhood into slaves."

The Dark One continued, "With the Sisterhood failing to support the 
Brotherhood, it was then that the first demon worshiper infiltrated 
their ranks, convinced them to lash out at the Sisterhood, and that 
their "rightful place" was as rulers of the planet."

"It was shortly thereafter that your ancestors came to me and 
beseeched my aid.  I tried to convince them to beseech the Dark One 
directly, for they were men and I could not grant them power 
directly, but they were too afraid of the Dark One to even 
contemplate accepting his power."

"It was then," the Dark One said, "that I suggested the sex change. 
That's right.  It was MY idea.  It was my hope that the men of the 
Brotherhood would be more willing to accept the once men as their 
partners, and, yes, mates in the fight against evil."

"But my husband underestimated the fear present in both the 
Brotherhood and the new Sisterhood.  In a world where femininity was 
seen as weakness, the Brothers were afraid of facing that part of 
their own soul.  And in a world where the only way seen to fight evil 
was to be darker than the darkness (thus humanity's name for my 
husband), the Sisters were afraid of the brutality of manhood."

"And thus, lacking the empathy of their female side, the Brotherhood 
became prey for evil far too often."

"And now gaining the aggressiveness of their male side, the new 
Sisterhood arrogantly felt it unnecessary to reunite the two."

The Dark One and the Goddess both raised their hands, and Bronwyn and 
Jeremy (who had been more pained then damaged by the Dark One's blow) 
felt their hands raised.  The Dark One and the Goddess brought their 
hands together, and suddenly the distance between Bronwyn and Jeremy 
closed despite neither one moving a muscle.  And when the Goddess and 
the Dark One clasped hands, Bronwyn and Jeremy found their own hands 
clasping.

The Goddess said, "Despite what sex you choose as a lifemate, man and 
woman were meant to be partners in the domination of the universe. 
Neither one truly dominating the other."

Bronwyn and Jeremy stared at each other for a few seconds before 
slowly releasing their grip and stepping back.  The Goddess and the 
Dark One said in unison, "Let it be known that all Sisters and 
Brothers in this reality are hearing our words here today.  It is 
time for this battle to end.  It is time for the Sisterhood and the 
Brotherhood to be reunited as a team to protect humanity from true 
evil.  All who disagree may step down and step away."  Everyone in 
the room was silent.  No one could know, but each was wondering how 
many (if any) of each group was deciding not to accept the new way of 
things.

After that, the Goddess and Dark One said, "So be it."

Each of the Incarna shrunk down to human size and escorted the 
respective heads of their orders back to the group.  When the Goddess 
stood before the collected Sisters, she waved to Jacqui, who had been 
watching in the background.  "Come along, child.  The power you wield 
may be a power all your own, but you are still one of us.  If you 
choose to be."

Jacqui smiled and came over to the group.  "I was a little worried 
about being accepted now."

"Nonsense, love.  As long as you are woman in soul, you will always 
be welcome."  Jacqui took her mother's hand as the Goddess then 
turned to the Sisters and said, "Now about those Birth Rites."

Bronwyn said, "We have faithfully cast them upon all our children 
since you handed them down to the first of our ancestors."

"Which brings us to the problem."

"Problem, Great Lady?"

The Goddess turned to Laurie and said, "Would you explain?"

Everyone but Jacqui turned to Laurie.  "The Birth Rites... were not 
handed down by the Goddess.  Her original intent was that, in an 
effort to give them balance, our male children would spend time as 
women, and our female children as men.  Then our children could 
decide to be either male or female depending on their own 
preferences.  The men would join the Brotherhood, and the women would 
join the Sisterhood.  But our ancestors had been so afraid of the 
Dark One and his power, that they crafted a series of spells that 
would make it impossible for the men to receive the Dark Power if 
they went back to being men, and since they couldn't stop the girls 
from receiving the Dark Power at least once, they made it impossible 
for us to even have girls."

Bronwyn turned to the Goddess and asked, "If this was not your will, 
why did you allow it?"

"My children, you are not puppets.  I can give power, and guidance 
when asked.  But if you are bound and determined to make the wrong 
choices then I cannot stop you.  To do otherwise would be to destroy 
a vital part of what makes you human, your free will.  But that is 
not the only thing.  Laurie."

Laurie paused before saying, "In order to make sure that the 
Sisterhood would remain strong against a possible resurgence of an 
evil Brotherhood, the Birth Rites contain compulsions that make us 
transform all our children whether we or they wanted it.  It also 
includes suggestions that make us want to accept our new feminine 
status."

A combined murmur went up through the Sisters.  "We're like this," 
Bronwyn whispered, "because... we're compelled to be?!"

The Goddess said, "The suggestions only made it more likely that you 
would accept your womanhood as what you want.  It didn't make it 
compulsory.  No one here would've gone back, it was that truth of 
yourself that gave you such skill with my power.  But it shames me to 
say that about fifteen percent of the Sisterhood are women against 
their natures.  Normally I would be able to do nothing about this. 
What human will has done human will must undo.  But under agreement 
to the Akashic Master, I do hereby perform my agreed upon favor and 
remove the Birth Rites without risk of Transforming back.  But should 
any wish to return, I am charging the High Priestess, whether she be 
you, Bronwyn, or your successor, to make it possible."  The Goddess 
turned to leave.

Before she went anywhere, Bronwyn ran to her, and said, "Great Lady, 
speaking of the Akashic Master, when he was here earlier, he was so 
angry, and... and it was at me.  To be honest, I can understand his 
anger at Julie, but I thought we were getting along so well.  Laurie 
says he loves me, and I trust her feelings.  Do you know why he is so 
angry at me?  I didn't do anything to him."

The Goddess looked into Bronwyn's eyes and images of the brief time 
that the Akashic Master had spent as Joanie flashed through her mind, 
images that contained the times where Bronwyn had met the young girl 
shortly after her Transformation.  Then Bronwyn got it.  "I didn't do 
anything for him either.  Great Lady, can you send me to him?"

The Goddess smiled.  "No need to use any power.  He's only on the roof."

Julie, who had been listening carefully, said, "I have to go to her," 
and started moving towards the stairs to the roof.

Laurie placed herself between Julie and the stairs.  "Julie, no."

"Laurie, I have to go to my daughter."

"Julie, listen to yourself.  You have to go to your DAUGHTER?  Julie, 
I hate to break the news to you, but you don't have a daughter!"

"But-"

"No, Julie, no buts.  I have yet to hear you even use a masculine 
pronoun to describe your SON.  HE has made HIS choice, and HIS choice 
is to be a MAN."

Julie was on the verge of a breakdown when she felt the Goddess's 
touch upon her.  "Julie, Laurie is right.  You were always more 
closely aligned with me, and you were much happier once you were a 
woman.  But you were so much happier as a woman, you assumed the same 
would be true of your son.  And, as a result, you never even got to 
know your son.

"But even at his most feminine, he was always more closely aligned 
with my husband than with I.  It was not ego, but rather his true 
nature that necessitated his return to manhood.

"And your son, Julie, is an exceptional man.  I knew that Jacqui 
would ask him to protect Laurie against those who might strike at her 
to get to Jacqui, and I hoped he might feel enough upon watching her 
to attempt reconciliation with you.  But I never expected what he 
did.  Everything after he met Jacqui, his imitation of Jack, getting 
Laurie to confront her guilt, rooting out the secret of the Birth 
Rites in a way that Laurie could accept, the freeing of the 
Brotherhood from their dark manipulator, and even bringing us here to 
reunite the Brotherhood and Sisterhood, was all him.  Be proud of 
HIM, Julie."

Julie looked down shamefully.  "He must hate me."

"No, Julie.  He loves you very much.  He's just finding it hard to 
forgive you.  But in order for him to forgive you, you must first 
accept him as he is."

"Should I go to him now?"

"No.  Let Bronwyn go to him.  Trust her to do the right thing."

Julie nodded.  As Bronwyn headed towards the stairs, the Goddess and 
the Dark One returned hand in hand to the split in reality.  As soon 
as they touched it, they, the split, and the Dreamspeaker Master all 
disappeared.  One of the Sisters then said, "That was mind blowing."

Bronwyn climbed onto the curved dome which was the roof of the 
ballroom.  In the dark, it took her a few seconds to spot him sitting 
on the edge of the roof, his knees pulled up, his arms wrapped around 
them.  She slowly and carefully made her way down to him, and sat 
beside him.  She put her hand on his arm and said, "Can we talk?"

He took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry I blew up at you.  It's 
just when mom was there, saying what she did, and then you used my 
femme name, I just lost control."

"I'd like to be able to leave it at that, but I can't.  You were 
right.  When I met you right after your Transformation, I sensed the 
pain you were going through, but when you wouldn't open up to me, I 
checked with your mom.  She told me exactly what I wanted to hear, 
and you made such a beautiful, powerful woman... I didn't want to 
hear about anything that meant you would be returning to your male 
life.  I am sorry."

"I wanted you to be able to fix everything when I met you.  Come in, 
wave some magical wand and make everything right.  It was unfair, I 
know."

"From the sounds of it, there was nothing I really could've done. 
Not to reverse it, at least."

Joe sat there for a few seconds before saying, "It's kind of ironic. 
I never wanted power, but time and again it was thrust upon me.  I 
never wanted to be a Sister, but mom gave that to me anyways.  And 
the very act of forcing my way back to the life I wanted opened 
channels of power I'd never even dreamed of.  When I discovered that, 
I would've been more than content to just be another warrior in the 
fight, but it turned out that I had certain abilities that made me 
the foremost warrior in the fight for the safety of reality.  And if 
that wasn't enough after nearly killing myself a number of times, I 
and the Soul Blade find each other, turning me into a nearly 
penultimate weapon against the forces that would endanger reality."

Bronwyn looked at the blade hanging from Joe's back.  "Not to change 
subjects too radically, but what is that thing?  Is it my imagination 
or does that actually have emotions?"

"All souls do."

"It's alive?"

"Kind of.  Six centuries ago, there was a powerful mage who wanted to 
help humanity.  Unfortunately, he was also prone to psychotic rages 
where he'd scour entire sections of land free of human life.  He 
thought he could find a way to cure himself, until he started 
discovering others like himself.  Those whose madness made them 
immune to what was then known as the Scourge.  Realizing that he and 
others like him were mankind's worst enemy, he forged the blade.  But 
he realized that there was no magical way to keep the blade from 
falling into the hands of his enemies.  Anything he did could 
theoretically be undone.

"That was when he was confronted by a young squire.  A twelve year 
old boy who had Awakened to his power during the mage's last rage.  A 
boy whose master had been slaughtered in that very rage.  The boy 
attempted to destroy the mage, but really had no chance.  But rather 
than destroy the boy, the mage ripped the boy's soul and Avatar, his 
magical self, from his body and bound them to the blade.  That way, 
the blade could resist any mad mage who attempted to use it."

Bronwyn was shocked.  "There's a fourteen year old boy in that thing?"

"Six hundred and something actually."

"Haven't you ever tried to release him?"

"He doesn't want release.  His life has become a fight against the 
forces of darkness.  He serves a useful purpose and he knows it."

Bronwyn sighed and rested her head against his arm.  "You are a man 
of many wonders, Joe."  Joe moved his arm from under her hand and 
wrapped it around her shoulders.  She asked, "Do you forgive me?"

He rubbed his cheek against the top of her head.  "Of course."

After a few seconds, she said, "Now that we've got the boyfriend 
girlfriend thing out of the way, do you mind if I speak to you as 
High Priestess of the Sisterhood?"

Joe sighed.  "You want me to try to reconcile with my mother."

"Yes.  I can't make you.  I don't think anyone could.  But I think 
it's time for a healing.  For both of you."

Joe just sat there for what seemed like a long time before he said, 
"You don't know how much I want to believe in her.  How much I want 
to just say okay and come back to her."

"But?"

"But the fact that she did what she did once means she could do it 
again.  I won't put my son at risk like that."

"But you could undo anything she did."

"I could undo the magic.  What I can't undo, at least without serious 
tampering in my son's mind, is the knowledge that someone he loves 
and trusts betrayed him."

"Are you talking about him?  Or you?"

Joe looked down at her.  "I suppose a little of both.  But ultimately 
I can't risk my son going through what I went through."

"But the Goddess talked to her.  She realizes what she did was wrong."

"And what she did was wrong before, even by your rules.  That didn't stop her."

"Joe-"

"Bronwyn, I'm not saying it won't happen.  But I don't give a damn 
what the Goddess says, or the Dark One says or does.  When it comes 
to my son's safety, I will not take chances."

"But-"

"Bronwyn!  My son knows of his heritage.  He also knows what mom did 
to me.  I haven't told him anything that would put him at risk if he 
decides to go the route of the Sisterhood, but until either he 
decides he wants to try, or I decide I can trust her, my son is off 
limits."

Bronwyn was trying to think of another argument to use when he said, 
"But I can introduce her to her granddaughters.  There's no reason to 
believe they might be at risk."

"You have daughters?"

"Three of them.  Twin twelve year olds, and a seven year old."

"That kind of explains why I didn't get pregnant when we had sex that 
first time."

"Uh huh.  I only produce X chromosone semen."

"And with the Birth Rites in place, my egg rejects all X chromosone 
sperm.  Well, with the Rites gone, we could have babies, either male 
or female."

"Not quite.  Part of my payment from the Goddess for retrieving 
Jacqui was total immunity to her power.  That includes her removal of 
the Birth Rites."

"What about your girls' mother?  Where is she?"

Joe was silent for a while before whispering, "Till death do us part."

"Oh, Joe, I'm so sorry.  How did she die?"

Joe was silent again while he contemplated what to say.  Finally he 
said, "I killed her."

Bronwyn was shocked.  "Was it an accident?"

"No.  I killed her intentionally although unwillingly."

"What happened?"

"My wife was a shape-shifter.  The same group of scientist-mages that 
kidnapped Dana got to her.  They wanted to find the "scientific 
reasons" behind her shape-shifting.  So they used their Life magicks 
to keep her alive while they tortured her, forcing her body through 
one change after.  When I finally found her, her mind was gone, her 
soul shattered.  I did everything I could to heal her, but she was 
too far gone.  Even reminding her of her children's need for her did 
nothing to bring her back to me.  So I did the only thing I could.  I 
granted her wish to die."

Bronwyn could hear the pain in his voice.  But all she could do was 
snuggle in and share her love with him.  He finally said, "Bronwyn, 
I'm not telling you this just to share myself.  If we get together, I 
will do everything to protect you, but I have some very nasty 
enemies.  You could be at risk."

"I'll take my chances."

"Thank you."  Joe leaned over and kissed Bronwyn.  "There is one other thing."

"What's that?"

"I want to teach you how to fight, defend yourself.  After seeing the 
way you hit Jeremy, you need it."

"What?  I hit like a girl?"

"No.  Some of the worst hits I've had have been from women.  That was 
just weak."

Bronwyn looked into Joe's eyes and saw a twinkle that she took to 
mean he was only funning her.  "Oh, really?  Let's see how much of me 
you can take."  She reached into his gi and started tickling him. 
They playfully wrestled around a bit before they wound up laying 
together laughing and kissing.

After a few minutes, Bronwyn asked, "When do you think you could get 
together with your mom?"

"Her return flight is day after tomorrow, so how about the day after?"

"How do you know about her schedule?"

"I have... an acquaintance who has a lot of influence in the airline. 
It was no accident last Thanksgiving when she couldn't get another 
return flight at a later time or day, and had to leave without 
meeting me."

"I should've guessed."

The two kissed, then sat back and watched the stars.  Finally, 
Bronwyn asked, "What about that doctor?  Did he escape?"

"Not exactly."

"What happened to him?"

Joe got what could only be described as an evil grin on his face. 
"Want to see?"

Bronwyn looked at him suspiciously, but finally said, "Okay."

Joe snapped his fingers and a glowing circle appeared in the air.  In 
the circle a scene played out.  The doctor was in the middle of a 
forest.  He stood up and dusted himself off.  He looked around with a 
smug grin on his face, like he had managed to get away.  A wolf 
howled in the distance, but the doctor blew it off.  Until a wolf 
appeared in front of him, seeming to melt from the woods.

The doctor started screaming at the wolf, figuring that he would be 
able to scare it off.  But then the wolf's form shifted and flowed 
into a half-wolf, half-man form standing almost eight feet tall.  In 
a very growling voice, it asked, "What's the matter, doc?  Don't 
recognize me?"

The doctor realized the werewolf was the same he sent to the 
Progenitor labs some time ago, and barely managed to avoid her as she 
leapt at him.  He took off running, and was surprised when she didn't 
follow immediately, but his surprise quickly faded as wolf after wolf 
flowed from the darkness, nipping at his heels and driving him on.

He finally broke out of the woods.  Seeing the city in the distance 
he took off at a run, hoping to reach shelter before the pack got 
him.  He saw a man leaning on a bike by the road, smoking a 
cigarette.  He ran up and said, "Excuse me, but I'm being chased by a 
pack of vicious wolves.  If you don't want them to get you, too, we 
need to get out of here!"

The man blew smoke into the doc's face.  "You know, you'd think that 
after I died, I'd be able to give these things up.  Oh, well," he 
said as he grabbed the doc by the throat.  His eyes then glowed red 
and his incisors grew to twice their normal size.  "It's not like 
I've got to worry about cancer anymore."  The vampire then punched 
the doc back towards the werewolves.

The doc quickly stood, seeing more vampires appear around him.  As 
the wolf pack and vampire clan encircled him, he said, "Impossible! 
Werewolves and vampires are blood enemies!"

"Normally true, but a debt is owed.  The only thing we have to do to 
repay it is destroy you without destroying each other.  The ironic 
thing?  With the exception of not destroying each other, we'd've done 
that for free."

The doc then got a look of absolute terror on his face as the two 
groups leapt at him.

Joe snapped his fingers and the circle disappeared.  "The rest just 
gets bloody."

Bronwyn asked, "Why didn't he use his magic?"

"After that blast of Goddess power?  He barely had enough power to 
get away from me."

Bronwyn said, "I'm glad I'm not your enemy."  The two kissed.
-- 
"This is reality, not T.V.  Can't you tell the difference?"
"Sure, I just like T.V. better."

jrdss@alaska.net
ICQ#37222294
J R D

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