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TJ spent some time helping Mr. Heep sort through a bunch of junk in the store room to make room for this years Science Fair projects and attended a meeting of the Science Club.  With all the super heroics going on in Chicago and the area much of the discussion focused on that.

It had been a pretty long day, and with what Colin had said to him he knew he was going to have to do some serious thinking to get it all straight in his head.  Having friends with super powers was pretty cool, but actually having them yourself could be awesome.

The light is on in the kitchen, but the living room is dark as TJ lets himself into the house.  He thinks it's a little odd, then he sees his mother lying on the floor of the dining room, bathed in the light of the kitchen.  She is soaking wet and there is a puddle of water around her.  TJ rushes to her side, and is releived to find she's alive, but unconscious.

"You must be junior."  A voice says, and TJ sees a man step into the light.  He's made of water, and TJ has seen Colin's picture from the lab attack.  It looks like that water man.  "Where is daddy?"

T.J looks at the man in disbelief. So this was the man who had attacked his dad before and now he was coming back again. He steps slowly backwards and says in a shakey voice. "He's not here and he won't be for a while. Why do you want to know?"

"I have some unfinished business with him.  Little matter of a life ruined.  I was gonna kill you and mommy as soon as I found you, but I realized that I couldn't watch his reactions.  So, we'll just wait here."  The water man raises a hand and a torrent of water shoots forth, striking TJ in the chest and hurling him against the far wall, holdnig him there.  "I suppose I'll have to kill you first, so I can see mommy and daddy die inside before I kill them."

TJ feels the force of the water crushing him, restricting his air flow.  His head starts to swim and his lungs begin to burn.  A wave of nausea strikes him, and then it's gone and his perception of the room is different.  Now it's like looking through a fish-eye lens, and the pressure of the water on his chest is gone.  As he looks at himself he doesn't see his body, but a cloud of fine particles, floating.

"What the hell?"  the water man screams.

T.J looks at his body and moves the particles to test if everything is working. He smiles to himself and moves towards the waterman. "Well, that was fluky. It seems we have similar powers. So now you can tell me. Why the hell did you just try to kill me, what did my father ever do to you?" He moves forwards and sways his arms in a slightly menacing way wondering if he will even be able to hurt the guy.

The water man looks at TJ, or the cloud formaerly known as TJ.  "Didn't daddy tell you, he's making paranormals.  Only he doesn't bother to tell the volunteers that you can't turn it off."  With that he launches a volley of attacks against TJ, which pass through him without doing any harm, the attacks do shatter furniture and punch holes in the walls.

"You can't turn them off? What, so did this happen to you because of some chemical?" He shakes his head and lunges forward with a punch of his own. "But my dad wouldn't of done this, and even fi he did he's probably trying to find a cure for you right now." He steps back and looks to see if his punch acctually had any affect.

OCC: For his attack (if it can hit) http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=653241

TJ realizes that in his cloud state he's probably not able to attack, so he reconstitutes himself and swings at the water man.  His arm thins and lengthens to form a lance that pierces the water man.  The figure screams in pain and grabs at his shoulder where the lance stuck him.  He falls backwards and crashes to the floor.

TJ watches his arm coalese back into an arm.  He feels slightly disjointed, but whole.  His body seems to be vibrating almost, and he feels a strange 'high'.

A moment later he hears the sound of heavy boots on the porch, and the door is kicked in.  Men with body armor and weapons come into the room, and they see the water man.  "There, there, on the right."  One yells and TJ hears a sound like a slushie machine dispencing a drink.  A column of what looks like ice cream arcs out and hits the water man, and a second later he's frozen solid.

The men fan out, and TJ feels the buzz fade, he's whole again before one of the men touches him, "Are you alright?"

Other men move to his mother, and check on her.

Over the next few minutes they bundle the frozen water man up and take him outside to a truck.  TJs dad arrives with a man in a suit that TJs seen before at company picnics and stuff, he thinks it's teh guy his dad works for.

Medics pronounce TJs mom is alright, and she's come around in the time it's taken to get the water man out of the house.  TJs faher hugs him and keeps saying he's so glad that everyone is alright.

TJ is able to learn from overhearing a few people talking that dad became worried when he called earlier and there was no answer.

DAD: "TJ, this is Bud Kilmer from the lab.  I was so worried about you two."  He hugs TJ and his mom again, "We came as soon as we realized that something was wrong."

KILMER: "We're very sorry for this.  The man that was here is suffering from a delusion state, we've been trying to help him but he's become more violent lately.  He blames Harold for his condition because he's been unable to find a treatment for the boy.  Tragic really."

MOM: "That's why he came here?"

KILMER: "Yes, I'm afriad so.  He attacked the lab a few weeks ago.  We thought he'd been killed, but that wasn't the case.  His determination to get at Harold was more intesne then I thought, this is my fault.  I'm sorry."

T.J looks at his hands in an awed expression as the troops suddenly enter and deal with the water man. He looks at the one nearest him and nods silently. He walks slowly over to were the soldiers are checking on his mother and nearly collapses with relief when he hears that she isn't badly hurt.

Once his dad enters he ponders over the things the water man told him. He vaguely hears what Kilmer says and adds. "He said that you had done this to him, but I knew that you hadn't. And I said even if you had you'd be trying to fix it." He smiles outwardly, but inside he finds himself wondering over the truth. Suddenly he asks. "How did this happen to him? Did he just have the R-factor or was he in some lab accident? And what's going to happen to him now?"

KILMER: "He was exposed to something toxic, and it caused him to change.  We're trying to reverse the effects, but it's taking a long time."

It's a few moire minutes before the last of the company people are finished and gone.  TJ's dad is obviously shaken from the event, but his mother seems quiet and thoughtful.  The rest of the night is an odd mix of silence and simple conversation, very different from most nights.

After TJs folks go to bed he thinks there is a point where he hears the arguing, but it doesn't last long.

T.J lies in his bed looking at the ceiling and listens to the silence. So, it seems there is more to this then meets the eye. I have powers, which aren't to different to the water guy's. But he got his through a chemical and I guess I got mine through some gene.He rolls over onto his side. I can't ask my Dad about this he won't tell me anything, I could ask my Mum but I doubt she'll say much. One thing's for sure I need to tell someone about this, might as well be our little group.