Chapter 3: Discovering All the New Toys

Late-February, 1986

With a look of abject horror, Bob gasped, “You’re shitting us, right?”

“Uh, no, I wouldn’t shit you, you’re my favorite turds!’

Greg chuckled, “Let’s get back to the room, quick, before things get too weird. Charlie, you’ve been hanging out with Bob waaay too much!”

We carefully packed the rope and gear into the backpacks then mounted up and rode back to the hotel.

It was after 2am by the time we got in bed.

The problem was, our minds were all spinning. Somehow we managed to get a few hours of sleep, but, my brothers were anxious and wanted to get headed home ASAP.

We ate a hearty breakfast at Bubba’s where I loaded up with biscuits and gravy with 3 eggs on top!

Greg chuckled, “Well, at least Charlie’s appetite is still normal. And he’s still incorrigible! We’ve just got to figure out what they did to the rest of his brains.”

We quickly loaded up, then tied down our new bikes and ATVs. By 10am we hit the road.

One of the things I was able to do, since I couldn’t sleep, was to start getting familiar with some of my new ‘gifts’.

I told Greg and Bob that I still needed to meditate for a little while. I think I’d discovered a way where I might be able to tell them some things without wreaking havoc on my gut. I wanted to make doubly sure I understood all the ramifications.

I ‘nodded off’ while Greg was still headed towards Flagstaff. When I woke up I noticed we were already on Interstate 40 headed east. Bob and Greg were both looking at me intently.

“Well,” Bob smirked, “did you figure anything out while you were sleeping?”

“Yeah, I think so. Which one of you guys wants to accept the ‘Gift of Confidant’? From now on we’ll just call it the ‘GoC’.”

“What’s that exactly?” Bob asked.

“It binds you to secrecy much the same way that I am. In other words, if you try to blab about anything that you hear, you will get a severe gut ache. By accepting that consequence, you will also get enhanced telepathic communication. Meaning that, even from here, you could talk to the girls back home.”

Greg was smirking, but with a very puzzled look while Bob said, “Sure, why not!”

I touched Bob’s shoulder thereby conveying the gift. Then I looked at Greg. He didn’t know it yet but I wanted to test out the Temporary Confidentiality Spell or ‘CS’ to see what the difference was. He didn’t know it, but I could convey that simply by looking into his eyes and capturing his attention. The second I had him, I conveyed the spell.

Now it was time for me to find out if I could tell them anything.

I cleared my throat, “Okay guys, now I can tell you everything.”

Bob immediately cut me off, “Hey dude, don’t you have to do something to Greg?”

I chuckled, “I did already, he just doesn’t know it yet.”

Greg harrumphed, “I thought you said we had to agree to it?”

“To receive the one that I gave to Bob, yes that is correct. I just gave you a temporary version so that I could check it out. The temporary version does not need any acceptance and doesn’t come with the pain consequence. If you start blabbing, you’ll simply forget everything that I told you. Basically, you’ll turn into a blithering idiot.”

Bob stopped laughing, long enough to choke out, “How would we know the difference?”

Greg was now glaring at Bob, “Careful, mouth, your ass is getting dangerously close to swallowing my foot.”

I just smiled, “Don’t worry Buddy, if you end up accepting the full ‘Gift Package’ that I’m hoping to give you, that will come with the same risk/reward that Bob has plus a lot more. I want to try something a little bit later because I need to know how each of these work.”

I started explaining to them about the gift of ‘Popping’ or ‘Jumping’ from one place to the next. What it really is, is the ability to travel at near light speed at the blink of an eye. All that needs to be done is to get a good mental picture of either a place that you have been to before or a person that you want to be with. I could see the advantages and disadvantages of doing it either way.

I decided to experiment.

I looked at my ‘brothers’ and said, “I’ll be right back.”

Then I pictured my bedroom, with me standing a few feet to the right of the bed. The second that I blinked I was there! The bedroom was empty but I could hear voices in the living room. Since CJ’s crib was empty, I decided to make my grand entrance by simply walking down the stairs.

Mary, Linda and Jamie were sitting at the kitchen table and CJ was asleep in his playpen.

Still totally oblivious to my presence, I announced, “Luuucy, I’m hooome!”

After several squeaks, shrieks and squeals, I was surrounded by three women and being given very intimate kisses.

They, of course, immediately began bombarding me with questions.

I hadn’t thought this through all that well.

I flashed Mary that I didn’t have much time and I couldn’t really say anything about what happened in Arizona. I begged her and the other girls to trust me. Mary gave me a confused yet truly heartfelt kiss saying that she understood, but missed me terribly.

I winked at her and said, “I will be baaack! And sooner than you think. Trust me my loves, the best is yet to come!”

I pictured the passenger seat of Greg’s truck, blinked my eyes and presto-chango, ‘POP’, and I was back with my buds. Even though they were startled by my sudden appearance, they took it in stride.

Greg chuckled, “So, where did you go just now?”

“I had to give my sweetheart a kiss! Jamie wanted me to give both you and Bob one and so did Linda. I told them I would wait and let you do it in person.”

“You gotta be kidding me,” Greg chuckled, then put his hand over his mouth, “Did you really just go and visit the girls, then come back that fast?”

“Yep. I would’ve kissed my son, but the little guy was sleeping. He must sleep like a log, since even with the three girls screaming and squealing, he never woke up!”

Both Greg and Bob were shaking their heads. Greg took a deep breath, “And you’re saying that Bob and I could BOTH do that after we, you know, do the ‘boo-foo skidoo’?”

I laughed for a second, then took a more serious tone. “Look guys, believe me when I tell you it was NOT my idea. I can’t even begin to tell you what it felt like when Zeus or whoever he was rammed what felt like a 16 inch cock up my ass! There was blood and cum everywhere. Fortunately, they healed me quickly and the pain really only lasted for a couple minutes.

“According to the instructions, I have 8 ‘Gift Packages’ I can convey to my most trusted friends. 3 of them convey 5 ‘Abilities’ and 5 of them only 3 ‘Abilities’. Unlike before, where we had to learn everything gradually and actually even discover them on our own, these come fully operational and you will know how they work. We’ll still have to practice to figure out all the nuances of them, but the ‘using them’ part won’t have to be learned.

“We just have to follow certain ‘Rules’ that I’ll explain as we go along.

“Now that I can tell you, we DID have some of these abilities before. Not this ‘pop’ thing, but several of the things that I’m about to show you. What they didn’t give us before was the ‘instruction manual’! We had to figure everything out on our own, by trial and error. Greg, I know you remember your ability to put up that protective bubble?”

Both of them were nodding their heads.

“Well, along with that was the ability to do what I am about to demonstrate.”

I closed my eyes and invoked the ‘Invisibility’ gift. When I looked at my two friends they were looking all around. Bob asked, “Greg, you don’t think he just popped back home again do you?”

I shocked them when I said, “Nope, I’m still here! You just can’t see me because I’m invisible. Go ahead, reach over and touch me.”

Bob reached from the back seat and began patting me all over, realizing that I was actually still there. Greg gasped, “Holy cow, how did you do that?”

“I just told myself to be invisible! According to my ‘instruction manual’ somehow or another it makes my body bend light to make people either see around me or through me. It EVEN makes any clothes that are touching my skin invisible too!

“The weird thing is, I can’t do this AND make a protective bubble at the same time. It’s kind of an either/or. I found out that any of us could have done that. It’s just that, Greg, somehow you figured out how to do the bubble, but never considered being invisible!”

Bob asked, “Isn’t being invisible and in the bubble the same thing?”

“Oh no, just being invisible would not stop a bullet from hitting us. While it bends light so people can’t see us, a bullet or a car or a knife would find us just as surely as you did with your hand just now.”

“And you also can’t be in the bubble and invisible at the same time, is that correct?” Greg asked.

“Exactly. If we need protection, we need to put up the bubble. It’s just that, while we’re in the bubble we can’t also be invisible. The two gifts are actually one and the same. Imagine it like a toggle switch, it’s either-or and can’t be both. The good thing is, if all three of us have the ability, each of us could create our own bubbles just like you used to do.”

Bob said, “That’s cool, we can live with that. So what other neat tricks have you got for us?”

I grinned then decided I would try out the ‘Chameleon’ Gift. I imagined a four-month-old golden retriever puppy. The instant I blinked, I found myself looking up at Greg’s open mouthed expression.

“ARF, ARF, ARF.” I found I could no longer talk but was barking like a puppy. When I looked up I saw Bob’s face peering over the seat.

With an expression of wonder, he said, “Charlie, is that you?”

I flashed, “Yes siree, Bob! I tried talking, but you heard what I was able to say. I guess we won’t have any talking dogs!”

“I guess not, but you should remember how you did this, because you sure are a lot cuter than you are in person. Just think of all the chicks you could pick up with this little trick!”

Greg popped him on the arm saying, “And you my friend, have been hanging around Eddie too long! Talk about a horn dog!”

“ARF, ARF, ARF”, I added along with a howling “AROOOOF”. I then nipped at Bob’s finger. That made both of them laugh like crazy. I heard Bob asking if I could become anything else, so I decided to turn into a rattlesnake!

“Jesus Christ, holy fuck! Dammit Charlie, you better not bite us now!” Bob screamed, jumping back behind Greg.

Greg was now freaking out!

He put the gearshift into neutral and slid away from me as far as he could, cowering against the door, while nailing the brakes.

I flashed, “This could have interesting possibilities wouldn’t you say?”

Greg was still freaking out, as he pulled over on the shoulder, stopped and jumped out of the truck! I must have looked pretty real, since he wasn’t EVEN listening to my flashes.

“Holy SHIT, Charlie, you could’ve warned us,” Bob yelled.

Greg was now out of my range of sight, but I heard him holler, “Jesus H Christ! I just totally shit myself!

Bob was now cautiously looking over the seat, “Okay Charlie, you should turn back into something a little easier on the eyes, aye?”

“Oh, all right,” I flashed before changing into a white, baby bunny. Bob was now reaching over the seat, petting me.

Greg started REALLY freaking out. “Bob, ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY? What are you doing?”

Bob pushed the button, lowering the window, “It’s just Charlie! It’s nothing to be afraid of!”

I hopped around so I could see up to the open window. Slowly, VERY slowly, Greg’s head nervously peeked over the ledge. He visibly relaxed, “What the fuck, Charlie? Why the hell couldn’t you have done that instead of that damn snake?”

I quickly changed back into me, looking and laughing at my friend. He had opened the back door to the truck and was in the process of pulling off his jeans, then his heavily soiled undies.

I chuckled, “What fun would that have been?”

“Well, GOD DAMMIT, I damn near wrecked my new truck! Now, have some fun and fetch me some clean drawers and jeans out of my suitcase. These are going into the weeds,” he said, after wiping his ass with them, then throwing them as far as he could over his shoulder.

Bob had already gone into the trailer and fetched a clean pair of undies and jeans, that Greg was hurriedly putting on. As Greg sat on the edge of the rear passenger seat, putting on his clean jeans and shoes, his breathing finally returned to normal.

Without further ado, or any jokes on my part, we got back underway. We’d gone about 15 miles when I turned back into a puppy.

They were both happy to pet me now, while I playfully tried to nip at their fingers. I flashed, “Hey guys, I just got an idea. Supposedly I can use the ‘distance pop’ while in chameleon mode. I want to try something. Don’t panic if I’m not back for an hour or so, okay?”

They both nodded as I popped back home trying to land very close to CJ’s playpen. I was successful and found myself looking directly into CJ’s wide eyes.

“ARF, ARF, ARF”, I barked, causing the three girls to squeal.

Mary giggled, “Where did that puppy come from?”

CJ flashed, “pup-up mama, pup-up”

They all came running over and began petting me. I flashed, “I don’t wanna burst your bubble, girls, but it’s just me.” I then scampered a few feet away and turned back into myself.

They were awestruck.

Linda giggled, “No offense Boss, but you were much cuter as a puppy! When are you going to tell us what’s going on?”

I knew what I had to do.

I sat them down at the table, then quickly explained about the ‘Gift of Confidant’. They, while not fully understanding about the consequences, quickly agreed, to get the enhanced communication that came with it. (They didn’t know it yet, but they would be getting a MUCH nicer ‘gift’ later.)

As quickly as I could, I ran down everything that I’d already told Bob and Greg.

I also told them about Zeus and how he ‘GAVE’ me my gift.

Then, I took Mary by the hand, “I need to talk to Mary, ALONE, for a while. Would you ladies please excuse us?”

There were some anxious looks, but they nodded their consent.

By the time I got Mary into the bedroom, she was crying.

“The Spirits told you what I did ... didn’t they?”

Just before breaking into a smile, I pulled her tenderly into my arms. “Yes, my love and I wanted to tell you how much I love you for doing what you did.”

That opened the floodgates.

Her sobbing turned into bawling, then finally into tears of relief. “You’re not mad at me for stealing your gift? I feel like I deceived you. Then, when you didn’t get your powers back, I just knew I messed everything up!”

“Shhh, sweetheart. A wise female spirit told me that a loving woman sometimes does the wrong things for the right reasons. While it did suck to be powerless for 6½ months, by doing what you did, now I’m a full Catalyst and our son is now a Secondary Catalyst. Just like I was! You see, if you hadn’t done what you did, yes I would’ve become a true catalyst but it just didn’t happen the way you thought.

“What would have happened, if you hadn’t done what you did, was, as soon as Sherman died I would’ve been given his catalyst ability.

“But then, mine would’ve been lost forever. I also may not have gone to the Monument and received a second gift that, in many ways, was FAR more important than just being a Catalyst. None of the Catalysts from the beginning of time, until me, were ever given instructions on how to use all or any of their abilities. Just like I did the first time, they had to figure it out for themselves. I now have many more abilities than I ever had before and now I know how to use all of them!

“Which brings me to this very important question. I have eight ‘packages’ of abilities I can bestow on those that I trust the most. Three of them are extremely powerful and the other five, shall we say, are very powerful. All of them include the same if not better communication abilities than we had before. The difference between the two packages is that the three big ones allow me to bestow five abilities on somebody, while the five smaller packages only allow me to bestow three. All eight involve the same ‘Gift of Confidant’ that is not considered as one of the abilities. It simply comes with being one of the eight people that I trust the most. The quandary I am in currently is this. Who, besides Bob and Greg, should I give the last big package to? My first choice is to give it to you, my love.”

“Besides me, Charlie, who would be your second choice?”

“I was thinking it would be my dad. I know for these last six months he’s been going crazy not being able to help TJ and Janet or Jim solve cases. I just don’t know if having this much ability would be overwhelming for him.”

Mary reached up and kissed me warmly, “Charlie, as long as I can always be in your head, the way I used to be, anything else you give me would just be icing on the cake. I think you should give it to your dad. You could think about maybe Ed, but I think we’d both feel better if you just gave it to your dad.”

“Thank you my dear. Now comes the second part of my quandary. You know how I was able to give my gift before, by pushing people, well, now I have to have mutual orgasmic sex with them.”

Mary started giggling, then began laughing so hard that tears were running down her cheeks. “Oh Lord, you have to make love to Bob, Greg and your dad? Please, please tell me that I’m going to be able to watch!”

I pinched her on the ass, causing a squeak, “I wish you could have seen Bob and Greg’s faces when I told them how I may have to ‘bestow’ my gift upon them. I also received a few other gifts that I’ve yet to fully check out. Right now, however, I want to give you yours. I’ve missed you terribly and this will be the most wonderful chore of my life!”

Because of my new abilities, in a matter of seconds I was mentally able to get both of us naked and in the bed. I made love to Mary with far more passion than I had with Hebe, the Greek goddess.

Mary is more beautiful and special to me than all the goddesses ever written about. We loved and kissed and caressed each other nearly everywhere on our bodies before joining in our usual slow but passionate love dance. As our mutual orgasms crashed over us like a Hawaiian tube over a surfer, Mary became the first of my special ‘Gift Recipients’.

(I had also used the very special gift that Hebe had given me. By laying my hands on any woman, I could shut down their menstrual cycles for any length of time I wanted to. They would no longer be able to get pregnant or have periods until I laid my hands on them again and purposely restored their cycles.)

When Mary and I were laying in each other’s arms, I explained to her what I had done to her and then wanted to do with Linda and Jamie.