The Stronghold

Body Swap

A/N: If you are laughing at the title picture, so am I! (GO AVENGERS!)

I yanked a handle down and immediately looked up to see the reactions. Both Josh and Shaade had their eyes shut, magic curling from their torsos. Shaade had bursts of shadow break free every so often whereas parts of Josh would spontaneously combust before becoming inflammable again. Seeing his arm go up in flames for the eighth time I prayed that he wouldn't burn to death for the second time.

"Is everything okay?" I shouted. There was no reply but I felt something pulling my hand towards more buttons, more levers, more dials and knobs. My fingers danced across the control panel and bright lights flashed up at me. My brain was moving faster than I could register, working on autopilot. A frown of concentration was on my face and my eyes were a blur, darting from one side of the board to the other, checking that everything was level and correct.

"His hands are blurring," I heard Rebecca whisper to Sophie.

"So are his eyes," the cat-human whispered back. "And they've gone red."

Oh my, that is beginning to hurt, dream man murmured. Slow down a little.

I sped up and realised that there was a throbbing in my head. Ignoring it and flicking a final switch I stepped back, seeing two shadowy figures step free of their hosts.

Edaahs was the exact same height as Shaade but with an outfit made completely of shadow. Where Shaade had colour Edaahs had blackness, the contrast sudden and sharp. He grinned and his teeth glowed white than Shaade's ever had, his eyes a deep, rolling black. Running his tongue over his teeth Edaahs began to walk forwards, shadows spreading from his every footstep.

Burn terrified me. He was a towering inferno, the same broadness and height as Josh but made entirely of fire. Peering past the flames I saw eyes that were dusky grey, the same colour as smoke. He raised a hand and looked at it curiously, flexing his fingers. No smoke arose from his fire, no smile was on his face. Hatred burned in his eyes and he looked down on me, a sneer of distaste made up of flickering blue flames.

"You are a child," Burn growled, lunging forwards. The lower part of his body vanished and he stumbled, crashing into Edaahs. The shadow demon hissed and spun around, eyes opening wide in horror as he saw half his shoulder missing.

Instantly I knew what was wrong. The demons were fading without their hosts and the hosts life signs were failing. Shaade's chest was heaving and his skin was pale. Josh's head had drooped and his eyes had rolled back in his head. Both were wheezing and seemed very weak, unable to grip the handholds.

"They need their demons," Amalia shouted over the noise of the machine. "They need to go back!"

"Never!" Edaahs howled, shadows whipping around him.

"But the demons need a host," Emmi frowned. "So they have to go back."

"We shan't," Burn rasped. "We are free now and we shan't be prisoners again!"

I closed my eyes and went into my own head, going into a trance to block out the world. Dream man jumped backwards at my arrival, a suspicious look in his eyes.

"How did you get in here?" he asked.

"I concentrated," I snapped. "Now, how do I get the demons in my own body?"

"You can't do that," dream man argued. "You'll die, and so will I."

"But it will save Josh and Shaade and that's all that matters," I retorted. "Now. Tell me."

"You have to be willing," dream man sighed, explaining reluctantly. "Open yourself to the demons. Don't talk to them, just clear your mind and wait. They will be drawn to you and all of their power will enter your body. But be warned, Pepper, such a rush of magic will kill you."

"I'll take the risk," I shrugged, exiting my mind and returning to the world of the living. I imagined all my thoughts drifting away, just leaving me and vanishing. My mind was empty and my brainwaves were stilled. I could see the demons slowly moving towards me, arguing with one another. The closer they got the louder the drumming got in my temples, the more ferocious the pounding in my head. Hoping that neither would reach a point where I couldn't stand it any more the demons rushed into me, hitting my chest at full speed.

*

I woke up a lot taller than I was before and in a different place. Groaning and holding my head I stepped down from the archway.

"Whoa," I heard a voice say. "This is weird."

Glancing across the room I froze in place. I, or my body, was getting up from the floor, looking around uncertainly.

"Pepper?" another voice said. I turned my head and saw Josh looking at me in confusion.

"You are Pepper, right?" he continued. "Because I know that I'm me. Well, I'm Shaade. Am I Josh now?"

"Well, I'm in Pepper," Josh said. "So yes."

"Never has a sentence sounded so creepy," I muttered, amazed at how posh my voice sounded. I ran a hand through my hair and was met with what seemed to be a wall of keratin.

"Shaade, how much gel do you use in your hair?" I exclaimed. Shaade/Josh scowled at me, folding his arms. Then he raised an eyebrow and looked down at his forearms, a smirk appearing on his face.

"Josh, how many muscles do you have?" he asked slyly.

"None right now," Josh/me replied. I glared at him and walked forwards, stumbling over my own feet.

"You have clown feet!" I cried, falling flat on my face. "How the heck do you walk without falling over?"

"I'm not used to being this bulky," Shaade/Josh replied. "I'm going to not move from this spot."

"I'm really small and really light," Josh grumbled. "I have a feeling I'm about to float to the ceiling."

"Do you guys have powers?" Georgina interrupted, an amused smile on her face. I shrugged and rolled onto my back, waiting for the familiar buzz of energy that signalled my speed rush.

"No speed," I said sadly.

"No shadows, light or rainbows!" Shaade cried. He clicked his fingers again and a spark flared. "But apparently I have fire."

"So that means, via process of elimination, I have the power of speed," Josh calculated. I stared at him, my mind blank.

"Have you also got my brain?" I said suspiciously. "You're never that intelligent."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Shaade grinned. "He says words like acrylonity... acrilon..."

"Acrylonitrile butadienestyrene," Josh said quietly. "And it was obvious that I have speed." He zipped around in circles then skidded to a halt, smiling.

"Right, I'm turning you pink," I scowled, snapping my fingers and feeling warmth trickle down my arm. Josh laughed and ruffled his - my - hair. I realised my mistake and cursed, sitting on the floor and trying to work out how to turn pink hair brown again.

"You're all annoying me," Rebecca whined. "Can't you go back to normal?"

"If I could walk then I would activate the controls and work everything but I can't walk and I'm not fast enough," I explained. "Josh, however..."

"Oh no," he said, shaking his head. "No no no. I can't do it, I'm not smart enough."

"I'll direct you," I offered.

"No!"

"Come on, Josh, it's irritating hearing smart ass comments come from my own head," Shaade pleaded.

"What's different from usual?" Emmi muttered.

"Please, Josh?" Shaade said, a smile on his face. "Pleeeeeease?"

"Only if you stop doing that with my face," Josh said in alarm. "Pepper, show me what to do."