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City Streets
#4: Mind-Scape
cover: Allan, holding a glowing sword, backing away from a glowing fist.
Allan placed his hands over Joe's face. He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
GET OUT!!! GET OUT!!!
Allan reeled from the shock of his brother's mental counter- offensive. He almost lost contact, but his determination to release Joe's mind made him delve deeper into his older brother's psyche. This far in Allan knew that he would get only one chance, and it would have to be very soon.
The `feel' of Joe's mind had changed almost horrifically. Contact had always been comforting, yielding a sense of security, but all that met Allan's senses was shear terror. What he `saw' were rapidly spinning psychedelic patterns and twisted forms of what may have been Joe's memories.
What did she do to you? Allan thought to himself, surveying his surroundings.
Only what I wanted, little brother, came a "voice" from `behind' him. Allan spun, dreading what he might witness.
Come, come, Allan, Joe admonished him. You of all people should know whatever you think in here is heard by me.
Allan was shocked by the image of Joe in front of him. Joe had fashioned an image of himself as a huge, steel juggernaut. His eyes glowing a menacing red, he let out a peel of laughter that froze Allan's spine. It was a sound that one could describe only as being truly evil.
Oh, sh--, Allan muttered.
You said it, Joe cackled. He launched twin beams from his eyes towards Allan's image.
Allan reacted with the speed of thought, forming a mental blade that deflected his brother's eye beams.
You're not going to get rid of me that easily, Jailbird, Allan thought.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Laura Harnagorn sat at her desk, reviewing her files on the Smale brothers. At first, nothing seemed amiss. Then, as she went over Allan's mental profiles before and after the brainwashing, she noticed something unusual.
"This can't be," she muttered. "It's almost impossible for the profiles to be exactly the same before and after. Unless..."
She hit a button on her speakerphone. "Joycilyn, get me Senator Broderick. And don't take `no' for an answer."
Allan and Joe fought on the mental plane, Allan trying to get past his brother's defenses to get to the core of Joe's mind, and Joe trying to expel or kill his younger brother.
Face it, kid, Joe taunted, you're outmatched. You always were second best.
Forget it, Joe. I may have let you bully me in the past, but no longer. He dropped his sword, the sword vanishing as it left his hand, and walked through his brother's image, continuing deeper into Joe's brain.
"What the hell is happening in there?" Pete muttered, pacing the floor of the Patterson twins' room.
"Just have a seat and stop worrying, shorty," Lee chided him. "I'm sure Allan has everything under control."
"Still," Robin mused, "Joe's only been under Harnagorn's... influence for less than a week. I'm sure it'll only be a matter of minutes before Allan steps in here saying he's been successful.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Josh muttered, mostly to himself. "He's been in there too long."
"Let's give him a few more minutes before we break the contact," Heather stated. "After all, he did say to pull him off if anything goes wrong."
"That's just it," Josh spat at her. `Neither of us has any experience with telepathy, or Vulcan mind-melds, or the like. I have no idea if this is normal or not."
Josh and Heather sat on opposite ends of his bed as they waited for Allan to finish with Joe.
The images Joe's mind was producing had stabilized. Allan now saw a brick wall stretching as far as he could see blocking his path. Hesitantly, he touched the wall. It seemed completely solid. He concentrated, and slipped through the wall to the other side, the whole while expecting trouble.
Trouble didn't show up. A moving escalator, however, materialized in the ether in front of him.
What, no stairway, Jailbird? he thought. He received no reply.
As Allan reached the top of the escalator, he was attacked by a swarm of miniature fightercraft from various space movies.
Last ditch effort, Joey? Allan asked.
This was no ordinary door. It looked normal, except for the fact that it had two doorknobs on it. A sign on the door read, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
Looks like a challence I can't refuse, Allan thought, opening the door from the left doorknob.
Allan was immediately covered with a variety of brooms, mops, and cleaning supplies. Silently cursing at both himself and Joe, he closed the door.
The old brrom closet trick, he muttered. I can't believe I fell for the old broom closet trick. He opened the door again, this time from the right doorknob.
As Allan stepped through the door, he noticed two things. The first was that he'd arrived at the Core of Joe's being. The second was that the Core had it's own defenses, in the form of Joe's juggernaut figure from before.
We did this once before, Joe, Allan stated, forming his sword. Are you sure you want a repeat performance?
Joe didn't answer as he smashed his fist into Allan's face.
Back in the real world, Allan involuntarily jerked his head back. Josh and Heather were at his side in an instant.
"What the hell is going on in there?" Josh asked, bewildered. "I'm pulling him out."
"Wait," Heather told him. "Look at him. He's hard at work in there. We pull him out now, there'll be no going back in."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes." Heather shook her mane of red hair. "Allan and Joe have similar abilities. We have to let this thing play out, regardless of what happens."
"I hope you're right."
Allan fought against his brother. This time, there would be no walking through the image. Despite his apparent bulk, Joe's image was extremely agile,able to counter every move Allan made.
Face it, bro, Joe taunted. Whatever move you make, I know of it before you make it. That's the nature of the mental plane. Joe slammed Allan across the "room". A millisecond later, Joe was by Allan's side, and anout to smash his fist into Allan's face.
Joe, Allan pleaded, don't. I'm your brother. The only family you have left.
The orphanage is my family now, little brother, Joe stated. Too bad you can't see that.
As Joe's fist approached Allan's face, Allan suddenly and abruptly faded completely from the mental plane.
"Thanks, Josh," Allan choked, still groggy from his journey into Joe's mind. "Joe was about to kill me."
"But you're his brother," Heather asked. "Why would he want to kill you?"
"Unlike most of the orphans here," Allan explained, "Joe's embraced Harnagorn's brainwashing on a primal level. He will not be deprogrammed."
"So what do we do with him?" Josh wanted to know. "We can't keep him here."
"I managed to erase the knowledge of my being there from his memory," Allan said. "All we have to worry about is getting him back to his room undetected."
"Leave that to me," Josh stated, lifting Joe up off the bed and carrying him down the hall.
"Tell the others to meet me at breakfast tomorrow," Allan told Heather before she left the room. "We have to work on a plan to get out of here."