"Father! What are you doing?!" Astral screamed as John got back up after getting shot.

"Don't...don't worry...boys." John smiled. "I'll protect you..."

Black Mist whipped out one of his tentacles and killed another one. "Dad, get back!"

Astral hurled a fireball with uncontrolled aim. Luckily, it hit its target. "Father, please stay back. You have been shot! You need that seen to!"

John swayed on his feet. He stumbled in front of the boys and held his arms out. John smiled before he was shot through the lung.

Astral awoke gasping and trembling. He sat up, clutching the blanket tightly in his fists.

"Was it a bad one?" a female voice asked.

Astral quickly looked over to the window, which was mounted on Black Mist's side. "Wh-who are you?" he asked with a trembling voice.

"I'm Marie," the girl answered. "What about you?"

"A-Astral..." he answered, not sure if he should talk to her.

"Oh, don't worry. Mr. and Mrs. Smith already told me about you two. So, was it a really bad dream?"

"A...a vision...actually..." Astral clutched the blanket tighter.

"What was it about?" Marie asked.

"I...I would rather not talk about it."

Marie nodded in understanding and jumped though the window. "So, you're the first one of the two, yet you consider yourselves twins? Doesn't that seem a bit odd?"

Astral shook his head. "No. Father said we would be twins, so that is what we are."

Marie smiled. "I do believe I met your brother the last time," she giggled. "He was keen on getting me out of the house. He startled me when he made that hissing sound. Almost made me believe that you had a venomous snake in the house."

Astral smiled softly. "Yes, he does that." Then, another vision hit his mind.

The two people in white strapped Astral down and went to a machine. They set the amount they wanted.

"No!" Astral cried. "Please, don't do this! I'm begging you!"

The woman in white ignored his plea and flipped a switch. Astral struggled to free himself from their trap. He was afraid even though his father told him about his ability. Yes, he would gain the element, but he would still feel the pain.

A sudden jolt of electricity shot through his body, causing Astral to writhe in pain, screaming until his voice went hoarse. He felt the electricity flow into his veins, becoming part of him as his new weapon.

Astral snapped back into focus as the scene ended abruptly. He saw Marie and Black Mist looking at him with worry.

"Astral...it was another one, wasn't it?" Black Mist asked.

Astral nodded slowly. "It was earlier than the others..." He shook his head lightly. "There were two. One was when Father got shot, and the other was how my ability activated."

"They must scramble, then," Black Mist mused. "There's no specific order."

Marie walked to the window. "Hey, guys, I have school tomorrow. I'll have to go home and go back to sleep. Good night."

**********

The electricity coursed painfully through him as his body tried to get used to it. The fact that the torture wasn't over made it almost impossible for his body to adjust. The people in white still had the machine on, sending sharp waves of pain into his fragile body, tearing him from the inside out. He had long since lost his voice.

"He's a strong one," one man commented. "To think he'd survive this long."

"He must have been made to withstand this," said a female. "Typical of his maker."

"Actually, this is ingenious work. I don't think anyone would be able to copy this."

"Yes. I agree. Do you think there may be-"

The electricity suddenly stopped, and the men in white fell down dead.

"That was close," Black Mist said as he undid the straps that were keeping Astral from getting up.

Astral looked at his brother and smiled. Then, he writhed in pain and let out a hoarse cry as the static inside his body activated on its own.

"Astral, what is it?" Black Mist cried as he tried to figure out what was wrong.

"Astral? Astral, what is it?" The voice sounded as he woke up well into noon. Black Mist looked down at his brother with worry. "What is it this time?"

"Just...just something that might happen soon," Astral said. "Not too soon, but it will happen soon."

Black Mist nodded, knowing that Astral didn't want to talk about it right now. They left their room and snuck to the corner to see that Michelle and John were in the living room, discussing something about the medicine. They looked deep in conversation, so Astral and Black Mist remained silent as they watched the two talk.

"I think this will finally put an end to cancer," John said gleefully. "I know it!"

Michelle chuckled. "You said that when you first made Astral," she commented.

"And look how he survived! Trust me, when I get this feeling, I'm normally right."

"I know, it worked in the past. Well, except for your creations. They normally ended in failure."

"I know, but that was for creating artificial life. Although, this might be just as difficult."

"You said it, not me. I hope we get to find the cure for real."

Black Mist and Astral passed around the corner and acted as if they didn't hear anything. " Hi, Dad," Black Mist greeted with a wave. "Hi, Michelle."

"Hello, Black Mist and Astral," Michelle greeted back. "How are you two?"

"I'm jusr fine," Black Mist answered.

"Not very well," Astral admitted.

"Is it the visions?" John asked worriedly.

Astral nodded. "Yes. They were scrambled, so I could not tell when they will happen."

John thought for a while. "Hmm...if only the exchange didn't have to be this. It could have been anything else."

"What else could have been the exchange?" Black Mist asked.

"Well...I'm really not sure, but I know that there were more." John sighed. "I just wish that it was something else."

"We have to get to the lab now, John," Michelle coaxed. "Come on. We have work to do."

"Right." John got up from the couch. "You two behave and do what your mother tells you."

The two nodded.

Michelle and John walked out the door as Sarah, who had gone walking, came back in the house.

"Good afternoon, sleepy head," she greeted Astral. "Did you sleep well?"

Astral nodded to not worry her.

"Well, that's good." She walked to the kitchen. "Oh, John forgot to eat. He's so forgetful." She picked out some food. "I'll take lunch to your father. Behave yourselves until I come back."

"Okay, we will," the two said at the same time.

Sarah left the house, and Astral and Black Mist went to the window to look outside, being careful to not be seen. Then they saw the bus with its screeching tires. It squealed to a stop, and the doors hissed open. The children got out, and the doors closed back up. The bus left.

"How do you think they drive that huge thing?" Black Mist asked as the bus pulled away.

"I saw Father press some kind of pedal on the floor with the key in. I guess that's how to drive it," Astral guessed.

"You know, I never really paid attention to what Dad was doing." Black Mist chuckled. "Hey, do you think you can go outside now?"

"I have forgotten about that, acutally. Maybe. I will have to ask Father."

"That or you could see for yourself."

Astral looked to his twin. "Why would I don that? Father said that it's risky."

"I know, but it's gonna be a long wait."

Astral sighed. "I know." He smiled. "So, when are you going to show me one of those songs?"

Black Mist grinned. "I thought you'd never ask. Come on." He led Astral to their room, and pulled out a silver,rectangular thing.

"What is that?" Astral asked as he and Black Mist sat down on the dark side.

"This is a laptop. You know those computers that they have at the lab?" Black Mist opened the laptop. The inside was filled with buttons with many uses. It didn't have a mouse pad like laptops of the 21st century. He pushed a button, and it hummed to life. He swiped the screen, and another picture showed up.

"Yes. I suppose this is a portable version of those."

"Yep. They had these a long time ago. They were less updated, but they were similar to this." Black Mist tapped a desktop-looking image, and the desktop showed up. He tapped the Internet icon. "Dad gave me this so that we can share. I'll show you how it works."

Astral watched intently as Black Mist's hands flew across the keyboard as he type in a website.

"This is YouTube. It was never taken down, but it was updated a lot during the years." He tapped the search bar and started typing in more words.

"This is all on here?" Astral asked as many results popped up.

"Yep." Black Mist pressed an image, and the content started loading. Rock music started playing. "This is 'New Year's Day' by Black Veil Brides."

"All the graves of the ones remembered, in a desert we call home.

All the slaves of the cold December

Find a voice to call their own.

Stand up, we are united

In the eyes of the greatest storm.

Line up, we are ignited

This world will be reborn

in five, four, three, two, one!

This is new year's day,

So rise from the ashes!

Faith will find a way

Like lightning crashes!"

"What is this about?" Astral asked as he watched the music video, intrigued that they could do this. "When was this made?"

"This is about rising to a new day and fighting back," Black Mist answered. "And to answer the 'when' question, this was somewhere in the 21st century, which was 3,053 years ago. Pretty cool for centuries ago, huh?"

Astral nodded as the music kept playing.

"Ring a bell so the serpent hears us.

Let her know that we're tried and true.

And no, the beasts, they won't get near us,

And we're not scared of you."

"Actually, all of these bands posted on my wall are from that time period," Black Mist said as the song ended.

Astral smiled. "I like this one."

"Well then, you'll like Skillet, Disturbed, Flyleaf, and Evanescence, too."