Absolute Power 9

Tug O' War

By Joan Banks

In previous episodes:

Through a genie wish, Larry gained the ability to cure any infirmity he named. Included in this ability is the power to change a person’s physical form (including his own). For some reason Larry becomes trapped in the form of Sarah, a young woman.

Casper Collins is an elderly multi-billionaire who would do anything to gain the benefits of the Whisperer (a nickname Larry has acquired). He will stop at nothing.

As a result of a kidnapping of Larry’s friend, Debby, Casper is thought dead and his son Robert is trapped in the body of a young girl. Through careful manipulation Robert is able to run Caspers organization until he falls into the hands of the Child Protection Services.

Larry and Debby seek the Genie who gave him the powers of the Whisperer in hopes of regaining his original form. Larry (in the form of Sarah) meets and develops feelings for Ted and his son Corey.

Casper returns in the form of a 30 something year old woman whom everyone thought as dead.

Ted, Debby, and Ted’s sister Freddy are all kidnapped by Casper.

Casper’s people have found a Genie first.

Tug O' War

"Where the hell did you leave my van?" Charlie screamed at Pete. The contents of the mysterious ‘package’ were strewn all over the operations table.

"The cops got it." Pete said, standing to his full height. A half a head taller than Charlie, Pete was still his subordinate. The difference in height didn’t slow Charlie down in the least. Pete had about a 100 questions right now but knew if he dared ask even one, his career would be over. And when your career was over with this organization it was over forever.

Charlie swept the junk on the table onto the floor. If the chair hadn’t been fastened to the floor it would’ve gone flying too.

Pete stood quietly. If he played this right, he might just live through it. The tirade continued.

After a while Charlie wore himself out. He breathed heavily and rest both his fists on the table.

"Here’s what we’re gonna do." He said with forced calmness. "Your special guests should be settled in by now. Get your team back together, we’re going for a ride." Charlie stepped back and turned his back to Pete. "We may find a way out of this yet."

Bull still hadn’t said two words to Sarah. Even little Corey could tell there was tension between the two. The child stayed strangely silent.

Sarah had no idea what to say to the boy. The truth? I saw your Daddy shot on an airplane; I don’t know if he’s dead? The police stopped me from saving your Daddy?

She replayed those events over and over for this entire drive. What if the police hadn’t shot her just as that scum shot Ted? Did I heal him in time? Should I have left those officers blind and mute? The conflicts were swimming in her head.

On some level she was sorry for the officers, and what she did to them. They were supposed to be on the same side, after all. But they had cost the life of the man she...the man she lo....the life of Ted. They deserved to suffer for that.

"Where are we going?" She asked Bull.

"Z’s place." Bull said. "He’s our best hope."

Casper awoke in a sweat, the silk nightgown clinging to his breasts. His thought kept flashing back to that fateful day.

"Rh." The woman said smugly, hiding behind the glass. Casper imagined the sneer on her face as she did it. He shot a glance to Mongtomery, laying on the gurney next to him. Montgomery was A-Negative as was Casper. Now one of them was A-Positive. Whose blood did she change? Did it matter?

The fate of the woman and her friends were inconsequential at the moment.

The old man stood in shock. He shouldn’t have done it, the loss of monitoring leads led to the ultimate destruction of the building. Casper was never so close to death as he was at that moment.

His heart raced and then, in defiance, seized. Capser collapsed to the ground clutching his chest. Was that a child’s laughter?

He was glad that traitorous Stan was dead.

Casper’s world faded to black.

"Clear!" The world jumped and Casper knew pain. Someone was trying to electrocute him.

"We have a rhythm." A woman’s voice said. Casper felt someone’s breath on his face.

"Mr. Collins, do understand me?" The voice asked. The smell of old coffee and cigarettes breath was overpowering.

"I’m not deaf, Doctor." Casper tried to say commandingly. What came out was:

"...deaf...D...tor."

"Do you want us to continue with the transfer?" The Doctor asked louder.

"Yes, dammit!" He opened his eyes and was instantly blinded by overpowering light. Casper tried to shade his eyes with his arm but, instead, found it securely strapped to the table. He turned his head to the side and was pleased to see Stan’s wife, Molly lying unconscious on the table next to him.

Techs swarmed over both of them, attaching leads and administering chemicals through I.V.’s.

Casper had no second thoughts as the procedure continued. The excitement was invigorating but the drugs were overpowering. He was content that everything that could be done was being done. Smiling, Casper closed his eyes.

And opened them again. Two weeks later, he awoke in the body of Molly Lawrence.

Apparently his son had been busy. Robert was shutting down his projects left and right. The doctor had enough foresight to move him to this secret facility. It was hidden even from his own son.

Too weak for the confrontation with his son yet, he spent the time in therapy. His new body grew stronger with each passing day.

Every day he was closer to reclaiming his empire. All he had to do was wait.

Casper pressed the intercom next to the bed. He’d have someone check on Robert, the boy’s mind was still not right somehow. But that wasn’t the most pressing matter.

"Charles!" He snapped.

"Yes, Ma’am....er...sir." The man stammered with obvious fear in his voice.

"Where is my package?"

"We are going to retrieve it now....sir."

"Snap to it. I want it here today or I’ll be very unhappy. You do remember what happens when I’m unhappy, Charles?"

"Yes sir, right away sir." Casper severed the connection.

"Excellent." He chuckled to himself. "Excellent."

Bull was anxious as he walked back into Z’s apartment. They should be doing more, dammit, not just sitting around this apartment!

Kirsten was entertaining Corey at the table with a game of ‘Chutes and Ladders’; Z and Sarah were in the dining room, doing something. He tousled the kids’ hair as he walked by.

Sarah was standing, in costume, in the middle of the room. Z was busy fastening something to the front of the costume, just above each of her breasts.

"Thanks for the straps, Z." Sarah said, "It felt like the whole thing was going to fall off every time I started running."

Z turned an embarrassed pink and silently continued to work. He has connected solid straps to the costume, giving it more of a swimsuit look. At the base of each of the straps, he was busy attaching a cape.

"You’ve got to be kidding." Bull said. He set the bag he was carrying on the table. "A cape?"

"Unless you want to keep catching me?" Sarah said. Bull said nothing. Both his arms came out of their sockets the last time he caught her.

"It’s more of a parachute." Z told him. "If she lowers her weight and grasps the tail end of the cape, it should slow her fall considerably." Z stood and looked in the bag, grabbing a package of Oreos, he motioned for Bull to follow him.

At the computer Z brought up a map of the city on one screen and a control panel on the other.

"I’ve been monitoring cell phone conversations." Z said, "I may have found them." The older man fiddled with the control panel and two locations became highlighted on the screen. "It’s one of these two locations, maybe both."

"That doesn’t do me any..." Bull scowled, "Hey, that’s where Judy works." Judy was a friend of Bulls’, an older woman who owed her life to the Whisperer.

Z smiled.

"I know, so you see our plan?" Z asked. Scowling at the woman in costume, Bull nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "I guess I do."

"Comfortable, Miss Waters?" The old mans’ voice came through the speaker with a tinny quality to it.

The room was at a minimal level of light - just enough to be annoying. Occasionally bright bursts of light flared through the room, destroying her acclimated vision.

Loud noises blasted through the room whenever she started to nod off to sleep.

Debby was not comfortable.

"Aren’t you dead?" Debby quipped, tugging against the chain that attached her leg to the floor. She was rewarded with a low chuckle. The next sentence filled her with horror.

"In a manner of speaking...yes. I am dead."

"So we’re back to this again, Casper? Hostages lure in Sarah. You try to capture Sarah." She paused for a moment "You FAIL? Aren’t you getting a little old for this?"

A flash of light came from a nearby wall. Debby held an arm up to shield her eyes. After a moment of adjustment, she saw that the light was still on. On the other side of a plane of glass, Debby saw a woman, ominously lit from below.

It was the woman’s voice that answered.

"Why I’m not old at all...anymore, my dear Debra. But, as you can see, I am not quite myself anymore." The woman cackled as a small girl entered the room. The girl looked like a miniature version of Sarah, her friend.

The cackling continued as Debby was once again plunged into darkness.

Pete was looking around nervously. What if someone here recognized him? The auction impound lot was crowded with bargain hunters. They were starting engines, checking under the hoods and planning strategy.

No one even looked up as Pete and Charlie opened the back door of a black van. Charlie pulled back the carpet and felt for the hidden compartment. He quickly found it and opened it.

Empty.

"Just what I thought." Charlie said. "You say that no evidence was kept?"

Pete shook his head. After hours of pointed questioning and ‘motivational techniques’, those who searched the van had not found the contents of the compartment.

"It’s the dump then." Charlie said, checking his pocket for the gloves he hoped he remembered.

"Who’s brilliant idea been this?" Tony asked. Normally she kept a masculine air about her but the trash was just too disgusting. She fingered each piece of it gingerly and tossed it aside. "Ewww."

"If you two hadn’t decided on an improvisational kidnapping, we would be taking a well earned rest right now."

"Tommy, if you don’t shut up, right now, you are gonna be eating....this." Bud tossed a soggy mass of rotted meat towards Tom and almost puked in the process.

Mountains of trash dominated the landscape. This was not going to be easy.

Charlie and Pete arrived hours later and started to dig with them.

The five of them donned miners’ lamps as the search continued into the night. The group was exhausted and smelly. Tony walked away from the current search pile.

"Where’re you going?" Pete snapped at him.

"Gotta take a leak." Tony said. "Wanna watch?" Pete turned and started sifting his current pile.

Tony fumbled with her gloves and lowered her pants. She despised having to squat to take a leak. Here at the dump there was no way even to wipe. Her headlamp shone on a pile of trash just a few feet away.

She nearly fell on her butt.

Fast food has a geographic signature. Some places, like McDonalds and Taco Bell, are everywhere. Others are only regional. White Castles are primarily in the North East. Ivars’ Fish and Chips are in the Northwest. The list went on and on.

Their journey had taken them through the Southern half of the country. Their van was full of the garbage of the southern half of the nation and was very distinct compared to the items of this God-forsaken part of the country.

In front of her, in the bobbing light of her lamp were the discarded wrappers of two of the south’s most famous fast foods, Krystals and Krispy Kreme donuts.

"We have an intruder!" the guard told his partner. Standard Operating Procedure told him NOT to activate the alarm.

"Who is it?" His supervisor leaned over the console.

"Judith Remmy, she works in the blood lab. Optical scan says its her but she doesn’t have the transponder."

"Fine. Keep an eye on her and I’ll tell the boss."

"Let her look." Casper told the man. "And find out where that transponder is. Two birds with one stone and all that."

Casper’s phone rang again.

"Yes?" His womanly face expanded into a huge smile. "They’ve found it? No delays, send them straight to me." He looked down at his son, playing with his doll on the floor at his feet.

"Robert?" He said in a higher voice that seemed to soothe the child. He stopped playing with his doll and stood. He straightened the hem of his dress and held his hands together in front.

"Yes Daddy?" the child shook her head, "I mean yes, Casper?"

Casper smiled.

"My package is on the way. Soon everything will be so much better."

To Caspers’ consternation, Robert responded to this news by twirling happily, giggling. The hem of Roberts’ dress flew up as he spun round and around.

Miles away, in Z’s apartment, a transponder of a type that was implanted in every single one of Caspers’ employees was activated.

As Kirsten put on her coat to leave, Judy sat in Z’s living room watching television, completely oblivious to her inadvertent betrayal.

Sarah did not feel comfortable impersonating Judy Remmy. Her body was overweight and cumbersome. Purposefully, Sarah did not enhance her strength because carrying yourself in an abnormally healthy way would be a sure give away.

Sarah searched the entire building. The whole establishment was what it appeared to be, a lab. There were no hidden doors or elevators. There were no secret doors or cells where prisoners could be held.

Dejectedly, she left.

Sirens grew louder as Sarah approached the apartment. They weren’t police sirens, she was sure of that. These sirens were familiar for other reasons. All of her days at the hospitals and being around accidents engrained these sounds on her soul.

They were fire engines and ambulances.

As she ran, she transformed her body into a more youthful form. Smoke billowed ominously up ahead. She picked up the pace. Eventually she was running at a supernatural speed.

She hated to show off, but Judy’s clothes would burn quickly in any fire. She stripped them off, revealing her costume underneath. Reaching into the purse, she removed the cowl from its hiding place and lowered it over her head. Her worst fears were realized as she turned the corner.

Z’s apartment building was on fire. Fire crews were taking care of people left and right. It looked like a war zone.

Noticing that none of her friends were in the crowd, she rushing into the doomed building.

The stairways were collapsing; Sarah fell to all fours and climbed as fast as she could. Wood splintered and embers flew and she slowly progressed upwards to Z’s apartment.

Gasses in a building fire are astronomically hot. Sarah was feeling light headed as she climbed through the smoke and fumes. Purposefully, she did not take a breath, knowing that if she did so, her lungs would be fried. No lungs, no words, no healing, no power, it was all so simple.

Her eyes watered and her vision swam as she broke down the door to the apartment. She wasn’t going to make it much longer. The apartment was a mass of thick smoke and stifling heat. If they were in here, they were long gone. A loud crash sounded behind her and she fell to the floor.

The floor burnt her naked arms and legs and she saw that the floor of the hallway was no longer there.

The building was collapsing and she only had seconds of air left in her lungs.

Moving from memory she stood and ran. The heat threatened to overpower her and she wasn’t even sure if she was running in a straight line.

In a bloody and burnt mess, Sarah crashed through the window into the cool air.

Forgetting for a moment that she couldn’t fly, she reveled in just being able to breathe again.

Then she saw the ground.

Grasping for her cape, she flailed wildly. Her fingers weren’t working right, they refused to grip but strangely enough, they didn’t hurt.

Assuming that most of her body was cooked, she croaked out a word.

"Burns." She said as the ground loomed. Her hands worked again and she grabbed the whipping edge of her cape. The ground kept rushing at her. Stupid! She thought.

"Weight." Her descent slowed slightly, but not enough. The roof of a car softened her landing.

She lay silent for a moment on the roof of the car.

"Broken bones." She said. She started to lift herself up.

"Freeze!" was the next thing she heard. A policeman was holding a gun on her. Not again, she thought.

"Speed." She whispered and darted away as fast as she could.

Tired, grumpy, and stinking of garbage Pete and Charlie entered the office of Casper Collins.

"Finally get to meet him." Pete said. "Can’t I at least get a shower?"

"He wants this now. Believe me."

"What is it anyway?" Pete asked. Charlie shrugged and opened the office door.

A woman met him at the door. She was anxious and smiling and her demeanor was all over the place.

"Is that it? Finally." She grabbed for the plastic bag containing the lamp. Their instructions were very specific - no one is to touch the lamp. Pete held it away from her.

"This is for Mr. Collins." Pete said, holding her back with an open palm. Suddenly two more people were there: a little girl and....the giant who knocked him out.

Casper caught the lamp before it hit the ground. He glared at Charlie in way to say go away, NOW. Charlie left.

"Let me see." The child reached for the lamp as Casper removed it from the foul smelling bag. Casper dropped the empty bag to the floor and began to rub the lamp, the little girl jumped up at it.

She had just touched it as Casper started to speak.

"Djinn of the lamp, you are my servant."

"It’s mine!" The little girl said indignantly at the same time. She held onto the handle for just a moment before falling back to the floor.

From behind them, from the corner of the office that had no door, a voice spoke.

"What can I do for you Masters....I mean Mistresses?" The large man in the traditional garb of a Djinn, said with a smirk.

Sarah felt completely lost. Everyone that had ever meant anything to her was now gone. She sat on top of a tall building and sobbed.

This wasn’t an accident; this was a setup.

She removed her cowl and rubbed her hand over her head. All the hair fell out instantly. She grew a new head of hair and decided to go to the only place in the city she knew was safe, Kirsten’s.

She jumped rooftop to rooftop, trying to stay as stealthy as she could. Eventually she found herself on the roof of Kirsten’s building.

Not having any other ideas, she broke the window of Kirsten’s apartment and climbed inside.

"What do you mean, Mistresses?" Casper asked the Djinn, "You are mine to command."

"You are not the only one to invoke me." The Djinn laughed, "The little one had a hand in that as well." He pat Robert on the head and he smiled a winning little girl smile. "You must share the three wishes." The Djinn sat at Casper’s desk and the chair creaked from the strain. Robert climbed into his lap.

"A lovely child. Yours?" The Djinn laughed heartily.

"Yes.... No!" Casper said. "She WAS my son." Robert laughed heartily as the Djinn bounced him on his knee.

"Well, what can I do for you?"

"Do you know the one known as the Whisperer?" Casper asked. The Djinn thought a moment and eventually replied.

"Yes."

"I wish for the Whisperer to DIE."

"The criminal known as the Whisperer is currently at large in Denver again. Thought to have moved on to other areas, the woman known as ‘The Whisperer’ has returned to wreak havoc on our city once again." "There have been several sightings countrywide of this villain who tries to portray a benevolent healer. But in the last few days, her real agenda has become apparent. After crippling a dozen police officers at a kidnapping standoff last week she has now taken to arson." "Will we ever be safe again? Talking with the Chief of Police is our correspondent Amy Marvin. Amy are you there?...."

Sarah stared out the window at the city. The billowing smoke of the apartment fire was dying down now and she couldn’t stop crying.

How could she let Corey down like that? First the loss of his father and now his life? She collapsed to her knees and wailed.

A bright green flash brought her attention back to the sky. Further off on the horizon a strange looking green cloud billowed into the air.

There was nothing natural about that.

"Clear out this damn smoke!" Casper gasped. "What the hell was that?"

"I apologize. It’s an automatic response when someone wishes an illegal wish. I didn’t tell you that rule yet. Sorry."

"So, is she dead?"

"Not yet. Strangely enough, your wish has been granted, though. But it will not be counted against your total."

"Mr. Genie?" Robert looked up from the magical beings massive lap.

"You may call me Abdul, my child."

"Mr. Abdul?" Robert asked, "Can I have a cookie?"

"Your wish is my command." A gigantic cookie appeared in the child’s hand. Abdul smiled a mischievous smile.

Sarah knew that the strange smoke must be investigated, but she was also painfully aware that the entire city was looking for her. Taking a dress out of the closet, she slipped it over her costume.

On her way out the door, she spotted a small piece of paper next to the phone. "I took Corey up to a friends ski lodge. 4412 Bramble Tree Lesing, Co He wanted to see snow. Kirsten"

He was alive? So was Kirsten? She took the note in her hand and proceeded on her investigation.

"Explain, how was my wish granted and she is still alive? The woman who tormented me must be punished!"

"Your wish was: ‘I wish for the Whisperer to DIE!" Abdul said in a perfect imitation of Casper’s voice. "And she will, eventually."

"Fine, I’ll be more specific for my next wish. Are you listening carefully?"

Sarah stared down the street, getting her bearings. The green cloud was dissipating but was clearly recognizable several miles away.

She felt a great sense of relief, knowing that Corey and Kirsten were still alive. Now she could work on what’s important, saving Ted, Debby and Freddy. That green cloud had to mean something.

An excruciating pain knocked her to the ground. Her legs gave out from under her and she collapsed to a sitting position on the sidewalk. She coughed a quiet, but phlegm-filled cough. The crotch of her costume felt somehow binding. She felt weak, so weak.

‘Strength.’ She tried to say. ‘Heal!’ but her mouth only formed the words noiselessly. In a moment of true panic, she fainted.

Sirens woke Sarah up. She was lying on her back and people were playing with her arms.

"Subject is a male approximately 85 years old discovered unconscious in the street. He was found wearing women’s clothing and some kind of uncutable undergarment. We are proceeding to take him for psychological evaluation."

"He’s awake." A voice said. A friendly woman looked down at her. She shinned a flashlight in her eyes.

"What is your name?" The woman paramedic asked. Sarah tried to respond.

Trapped in the 91 year old body of Casper Collins she was finally male again, but she could only cry tears of frustration.

End Part 9

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