A pronged attack

So, at about the same time Cleo and TP were being attacked by a John, one wandered into our base. Yeah, I know, just sauntered in like he owned the place. I was in the main part of the 'shop' as it were, the ground floor bit at the front that used to be a shop anyway, checking my machines (Which is a lot harder and slower without Technopathy!) and Diffy was doing some maths behind me from some worksheets I'd printed out for him, and every now and then a brightly coloured number would float past me as Diffy illusioned visual aids. I heard the door's bell tinkle as it opened (Tingle can't always be on guard duty so we kept the shop bell) and then a shuffling noise as Diffy turned in his sitting position to look at the newcomer. 'I heard him yell 'Oi! Mr Stinky!'' and blow a huge raspberry and dived behind the counter. I know it seems stupid, but without my powers there didn't seem a lot of point trying to attack someone like John without the aid of surprise, and he'd already seen me. I heard him pace slowly across the floor, and stop just infront of Diffy 'You've got questions 3, 7, and 9 wrong' he said, and then there was a rasping noise of someone's windpipe slowly being crushed, strangely close, which nearly made me run at John, no doubt ending in my death, but I trusted Diffy, so I stayed down.

'I could take control of your mind, but everyone knows about your illusions already, and you are strong-willed for one so young. Mind you, that attack you pulled on me in Paris...but no, I can see it would be very hard to make you do that to your friends, your mind is not worth the effort.' Diffy sailed over the counter and smashed into the shelves behind me. He fell to the floor, bleeding heavily, and crawled under the counter with me, out of sight of John, only to disappear completely and reappear on my other side, completely fine.

'I nearly gasped out loud 'Diffy?!' I whispered, shocked and delighted.
'What, you not think I was going to stay with Mr Stinky to get all beatened up, did you? I learnt from before when he thowed me around the room. I made a spook of me and turned invisdable as soon as bell went tinkly tinkle.'
Wow. Well done.' I whispered back, and then clapped a hand over his mouth as John reached the counter and stopped to examine my machines. Then he turned and came round the edge of the counter to be standing just in front of us.

I whacked the back of his knees with the emergency cricket bat (Yep. Emergency cricket bat under the counter. I didn't see the point, but I'm glad Precog insisted now!) and as he buckled, almost keeling over, Diffy grabbed his leg and bit it, hard. John yelled, stood up, and kicked, sending Diffy flying into my arms. 'You think your pitiful attempts can stop me?' He cried, and we ran up the stairs, me throwing the cricket bat behind me getting a headshot with it giving us a couple of seconds spare.

'Playwrite?! Healthbar?! Dragon?! Please, someone with an offensive ability, do something!' I called, hoping someone was near the stairs and could help. Dragon was at the top waiting for us, and said 'Get out of the way please' in a surprisingly calm voice. Then a torrent of water shot from his hands, gushing and roaring down the stairs, and with a slight grin and a crackling sound, he electrified the water, sending John reeling and falling down the stairs. He sent a handful of the gooey weblike substance he used last time down after John, and then he lead us, including the rest of the group who'd arrived by then down the stairs again. Thinking about what John had meant to do to Diffy swept a surge of anger over me, and I felt a strange wave of heat pass through me. We made a circle around the webbed John, and what we could see of his face glared at Dragon.

'Playwrite, I will require your help blocking young John's powers' said Dragon, and Playwrite nodded, and then signalled for the webbing to be cleared from John's mouth.
'Don't think you can stop me' said John, and he stared at Healthbar, frowned slightly, and Playwrite and Dragon both winced, but Healthbar seemed fine, and swirled her hand, smiling at John, and sent a small cloud of her dark fog stuff settling over Johns head like a helmet, and Playwrite and Dragon seemed to relax a bit, as she joined in fighting his control. John seethed, and then said 'I knew there would be resistance. I knew the best chance was to isolate you into your pathetic friend groups. I'm currently attacking Cleo's little band and Damian as well.

'Yeah, Cleo just tried to reach me' said Playwrite. 'At least, it felt like Cleo, it feels like she's signalling from the other side of the planet, it's very faint. All I got was: 'Playw..... ..t Tem.... ... ... ...ers and come ... ..lp .... John. We're .. ... ....ey ....... brid...' It was really quiet. It's lucky we both have such good range or I wouldn't have got so much.'

'Ah, clearly I'm doing well over there then' said John, and Dragon started quivering as John started, very faintly, to glow orange. Playwrite's nose started to bleed and he was starting to shake as the fog faded and Healthbar keeled over backwards, got caught by Tingle and set gently on the floor. I went to whack John with the cricket bat again (I'd picked it up again on the way down) but it flew out of my hand and embedded itself in the wall behind me. Diffy ran up behind John and yelled 'Slappy slappy slappy slappy!' while repeatedly smacking him in the back of the head, but he soon froze where he stood and slid back wards out of the shop door, which slammed shut after hum, leaving him pounding on it angrily.

Precog was staring at a bit of paper in his hand in horror, and said to me 'Tempest, please tell me you're calm right now'
'Not really' I said, seething, as John slowly but surely gained the upper hand again. 'How could I be?' I felt that heat rising in me again, an a burning sensation made my hands feel strange.
'Ah, right. Dragon? You said that the power sqaushing thing Howard made you do could last a couple of weeks, yeah? And that the Dragon's Pyrokinesis would be the first to re-manifest?'
'Yes, that's true Precog' Dragon said, frantically adding another coat of webbing to John.
'Could emotions cause a manifestation? I mean if it was when they were able to manifest again?'
'That is usually the method'
'Right. Everyone upstairs. Now! Not you, Tempest. Stay down here and get as angry as you like.'
He showed everyone else a picture I couldn't see, and with widened eyes they all legged it for the stairs, except Dragon, who said 'I will help him through this.'
I watched them run and called out 'Guys? That's quite worrying actually. What's going on?'
Diffy blew a raspberry at John as he went past, and John imitated him, blowing one back with a perfect Diffy expression on his face.
This was, apparently, the final straw for me. I yelled at John, a wordless, senseless scream, and there were two whff! noises as my hands burst into flames. I stared down at them, pausing in my rage, and then fire poured from them, bigger than the flametrower Diffy had faked back at B26, and I pointed them at John.

A raging inferno surged from me hands, and Dragon held it from destroying the base with telekinesis while yelling 'Tempest, my friend, please, you have to bring your new ability under control!'
'Oh really, Ya think?!!!' I was leaning away from the flames as they threatened to consume the room, and I heard Healthbar call 'Woohoo! Roast that evil clone, he can take it!' from the stairs.

'Playwrite, I know you don't like messing with us, but I am officially asking you to get in my head and stop this!' He considered for a moment, and then suddenly my flames started to die down. I stopped them myself, but I was glad Playwrite had nulled it a bit first.

That was the main action over. Dragon gave me some training so I can control the flames on my own now, and I've started to hear little murmors within the hum of all our electronics, and started to understand some of the secret language of computers again, so my Technopathy is coming back aswell.

All that was left of this particular John was a very charred bit of floor. We had a very confusing ten minutes a little while ago when Damian teleported in, demanded Double, and then vanished again with him. I wasn't sure, but were his eyes bronze? It was hard to see. Precog said I had to go and see Cleo's new restaurant, so Dragon took me, Cleo's blog lists the details of that. Doolittle phoned me to say that Double was still in the safehouse, so clearly he'd sensed danger and sent a clone. I picked up some food for us lot (I had VeggieBurger, it was delicious, Cleo and Roxy, you are very good at this!) and then Dragon said we should get on with Zodiac stuff. Cleo and Damian, he says you both have vital parts to play in it, so please come over when you can.

Also Precog gave me a flat cardboard box, saying that he'd seen what was coming, and thought it was time I had this. 'Remember when me and Pete went shopping in DC, when I got imprinting, and there was something I refused to tell you about? This is it. I think you can find a use for it very soon.'