Chapter 34 - Two Are Better Than One

Chapter Thirty-Four

Two Are Better Than One

         At first, Matthew didn't know what happened. He suddenly felt dizzy, very weak, unstable, in pain, and disoriented. He saw Joe just staring at him incredulously.

         "Matt, what did you do? What happened? You are you again! You are your old, old self. Where did the Defender go?"

         Matthew looked down at his hands, arms, and body, expecting to see his green, well-built body. What he saw was an old, frail man wearing clothes that were six sizes too big for him.

         "I have no idea. I just wanted to turn off the protective green aura. You don't think I am back to normal for good, do you?"

         "I don't know. Do you feel super in any way?"

         "Not really. My bad leg is really hurting me, I feel really unstable without my cane, I have a bad headache, and I feel like I am ready for a nap."

         "Maybe we should get back to Misty's house to figure out what our next move should be. At the very least, get you into some other clothes, and new cane, and some rest. I am not sure how everyone is going to react to having the old grandpa back. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

         While Joe was helping Matthew into his car, Matthew was fervently going over what he did prior to his change. He remembered willing his Third eye to turn the green force field off. But why would that make him change back to this?

         After Joe got in, then headed back into Misty's house. It was still early in the morning, around 7:30 a.m., by the time they arrived. Joe stated, "Maybe I should go in and prepare her for what happened. She really has experienced many changes with you. You stay put."

         Misty was sitting at the breakfast nook reading the paper and drinking her tea when Joe came walking in.

         "Morning Misty. Are the girls up yet?"

         "Oh, hi Joe. No, they don't usually get up until 9:00 on the weekends. How did dad's workout go? Speaking of which, where is he? Did he have to go save somebody?"

         "Actually, that is what I wanted to talk to you about. We were practicing with your dad becoming desensitized to the color yellow, as you know. He came up with the idea of covering his whole body with a soft healing glow so if he would touch something yellow, he would not be harmed by it."

         "Did it work"

         "It worked better than we thought it would. The only downside was that it drew a lot of energy from your dad. He needed to rest. He thought if he could turn off the power shield, he would be able to rest, and the energy pull would stop. When he attempted to do this, well, you need to see this to believe it. I will go get him."

         Misty's brow furrowed, "Why? What happened? Is he alright? Did he spend too much energy and fall asleep or pass out?"

         "I will just go get him and bring him in." Joe left the kitchen and went back to the garage to get Matthew.

         When Joe returned, he came in first. He started off by telling Misty right away, "this isn't as bad as it looks." Then Matthew came limping in as he still did not have his cane.

         "Who is that? Wait. Dad? Is that you? What happened? You are your old self! What happened? I know I just said that but. .what happened?" She looked toward Joe for answers then back toward her dad. She was speechless.

         "Misty," Matthew began, "it's not as bad as you think. Joe and I will figure this out. We don't know what happened. One minute I was the Defender and the very next second I am the old me. We need to go over what happened. Retrace what we were doing and saying. I think I even need to rethink what I thought at that moment. We just don't know. Where are the girls? I don't want to get them upset about this. They don't need to worry about anything until we are sure I am going to be staying this way. If I am, well then, I am. If not, then I go on like I was. Fewer headaches, I guess. I don't know."

         "We should go to the basement where the girls won't see us then," Joe suggested, "you think you can manage the stairs?"

         "You will need to help me. Without the support of a cane, they will be difficult."

         "No problem. I can lead you down and get you set up in a chair so we can get started."

         "Dad, are you sure you are alright? You went from, well, a superhero to a 73-year-old man. You are taking this rather calmly."

         "What should I be doing? Screaming? Yelling? Cussing up a storm? I have never acted that way in a crisis. Ever. Even when I turned into the Defender, I took it in stride to find out the why and then to discover what I could about it. No different now. Let's go, Joe."

         Joe helped Matthew stand and they went toward the basement stairs and began working their way down. After reaching the bottom, Joe helped make Matthew as comfortable as possible before they began going over what happened piecemeal.

         At first, they discussed what they were doing during their time at the military training ground.

         Matthew discussed the fact that while he was touching the yellow objects without feeling any discomfort, he did feel a slight draining sensation of his essence. The sensation only grew more unpleasant the longer the draining occurred. After he stopped touching the yellow objects, the draining process did lessen but did not cease. He felt that using the healing power was sapping his energy level overall. He felt that his normal recharge methods, eating and resting, were increasing.

         He and Joe then discussed that during the draining process it would have been futile to use his innate healing ability because it drew upon the same healing process that was being drained.

         The next bit of conversation was more on what they actually discussed. They were torn on the actual verbiage used. They both agreed this point was important because if Matthew said something a certain way, he may have inadvertently caused his own change. The problem was that neither could remember what was said.

         "Maybe you wanted to try to change your clothes? And the picture in your mind was the picture of those?"

         "Why would I want to change my clothes? They would never fit. I like those clothes I was wearing."

         "Just an idea. I am brainstorming."

         "Sorry I snapped. I am getting nervous that I won't be able to get the other form back. I prefer that form. I miss feeling I am complete, I could do anything, and was healthy"

         "I can imagine. Since my transformation, I am forgetting what being in my old body felt like. I love walking and running. I don't miss the stares from people. Oh, I get stares now, but those are different kinds. Those I like. I used to wish I could have turned off all my disabilities, even for an hour just to be normal and now I am."

         "Joe, that is, I think. I wanted to turn off the healing power. but I believe I phrased it wrong. Dang it! I can't remember how I phrased it."

         "So, you said something in the line of, 'you wanted to turn the power off'?"

         "Yeah, something like that. I think if I could remember what I said, I could reverse it."

         "Wait, before that even happens, I thought of something you stated earlier. You brought up your third eye. Do you still have one? I don't see the third eyelid."

         "Dang it, never thought of that either. Without the power of the Third eye, I will never have the power to do any of that. What's the use of even trying?"

         "Well, wait. Let me look closer for a third eyelid. Maybe it's there and I just can't see it. You do have more wrinkles to look through. Do me a favor. Try activating it. I know when you have done that before, it has opened up."

         "If you say so". With this, Matthew focused on his Third eye as he has always done before. He didn't feel anything opening on his forehead. "Anything opening?"

         "Uh, nothing opening, but something is popping up. Try harder and really focus."

         With that cryptic response, Matthew again focuses on his Third eye. At first, he doesn't feel anything. Soon, however, he sees the familiar green scene coming within view. It is in a much clearer view than his other eyes. This view seems to take in more scenery than normal and be higher up. He reaches up to feel where on his forehead the eye is on. He can't discover its location. He feels further up and eventually feels two separate eye stalks coming from his upper forehead leading to two separate eyes at their ends approximately eight inches above his head.

         Matthew immediately let's go and turns toward Joe. "What are these?"

         "There appears to be an additional pair of eyes on stalks instead of your usual one eye. Why they are on stalks I have no idea. Maybe your body can't have an internal third eye. Can you see out of them?"

         "Yes, just fine. They are glowing green just like your one eye did. So, this is telling us, you still have access to your powers. However, we don't know where your body is at. Let's get back to what we were discussing. After you said, 'turn the power of', what did you do?"

         "Well, I think I focused on turning off the glow."

         "Did you focus on turning off the glow?"

         "I think I did. Then I got this body."

         "Just a bit ago, you said you were going to turn the power off, not the glow. Maybe you focused on turning off your power instead. Can you even do that? Maybe you did focus on turning your power off. I see a scowl. Hear me out. If you thought that you were going to be turning off your glow by turning off the power, but instead you turned off your superhero, you would have reverted back to your former self because you deactivated your power."

         After thinking about this for a moment, Matthew carefully stated, "If this were true, why don't I have my third eye?"

         "You do, but not your normal third eye. It is possible humans can't have a third eye as we know it. Try using your current third eye to reactivate your powers. I bet they work."

         With that, Matthew focused on his third eye again and willed his power to be reactivated.

          At this time in the kitchen, Misty was preparing Saturday breakfast for Cindy and Becca. The kitchen television was on the girl's favorite channel as they ate.

          Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and the television blinked off and then on then they heard a loud crash come from the basement with the cheering of excitement and congratulations.

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