Heads up for some more swearing this chapter.

-?-

Randy was cold. Instinctively he reached for the blanket that had probably been pushed to the end of the bed, but he couldn't move. He was still in that dreamlike state before consciousness where his mind would play tricks with reality. Suddenly he was in a coffin, buried deep down where there was no light, no sound, no warmth. He couldn't move and the walls were closing in…

"Hey look, the spy's awake."

Randy awoke with a jolt. The first thing he saw was a girl. Or perhaps woman was the better word. She was most likely in her late twenties or early thirties; it was hard to tell due to her heavy makeup. Her dark hair fell way past her figure-hugging blouse and tight miniskirt to her knees. She was gorgeous- except for the sour expression on her face.

"What…?" Randy's mind could barely process what he was seeing, let alone a coherent question.

Randy's hands were chained behind his back around a support column in an old office. He knew it was old because papers were peeling of its walls, the floor was bare, dirty concrete (his butt was already numb) and it was sparsely furnished. He also knew it was an office because he was sitting across from a desk.

Someone was on that desk. She was Debbie Kang.

The events from before… all this (how long had he been out?) came flooding back into his mind.

"Traitor!" Randy struggled against his bonds, wanting to give the girl a punch in the face as payback.

Debbie rolled her eyes and hopped down from the desk so that she could casually lean against it. It was light enough that it shifted backward from her weight. She stumbled, then stood with an annoyed look on her face.

"Aw, how cute," the woman cooed mockingly, "the pot's calling the kettle black."

He wasn't a traitor! Okay, maybe he looked like it because of the ninja suit, but… he searched his mind for a good comeback but found none.

"I'm not a traitor," he muttered.

"No, but you were trying to spy on us," Debbie said, crossing the room and kneeling in front of him. "Who are you?"

Randy sensed the power behind her words and was reminded of a few weeks ago when she had confronted him at the teens' club. This time however, he did not feel compelled to answer. He sat smugly in silence.

"Who are you?" Debbie tried again, then made a noise of disgust. "It's no use."

"Maybe you should try a little harder, sweetie," the woman said. The words might have been supportive, but her tone was far from it. "After all, you lost a third of our forces to bring this boy back."

Debbie's fists clenched. "Well maybe you should pull your head out of your ass Amanda!"

This would have amused Randy if he wasn't so scared that the girl would turn on him and punch him again. Come on! He had a magical ninja getup and he couldn't even escape some handcuffs? Invisibility and healing were terrible offensive powers.

Amanda's mouth formed an O, like she was surprised that anyone would dare say such a rude thing to her pretty face.

"Look, just tell us who you are and take off the mask so we can send you back to McIdiot okay? It'll be a simple trade, you for our Ninja," Debbie said.

Wonk. Without the suit, escape would be near impossible. It also brought up another problem. Last time he saw the Ninja, he was trying to bring Randy to the Sorcerer. They might not ever let him go back to McFist.

"Make me," came Randy's juvenile response, emboldened by his earlier victory.

Amanda fumed. "Believe me, you will regret this." She turned to Debbie. "Be a darling and go get… Bongo? The clown one, whatever its name is."

"His name is Juggo and let me handle this." Debbie went back to the desk and sat on it. Despite her short height, she was able to hop up effortlessly. "I'm going to tell you what happened- correct me if I'm wrong Mystery Boy."

Randy nodded hesitantly. He stood up the best he could in his restrained position; it took a little work since his legs were tingling from being on the floor so long. Randy didn't like how the girl was looking down on him.

"First off, you must be a student at McFist High. He doesn't like hiring outsiders- that's why he had Viceroy build him his secondary robot army. Also, your voice sounds pretty young, even when you tried to disguise it. Am I right?"

"And Finn was much more defined," Amanda added.

"Hey!" Randy knew it was true, but still.

"Just answer the question, yes or no will do," Debbie said.

Randy waffled on whether he was going to answer her or not. He decided her first conclusions were harmless. "Mhm."

Debbie looked pleased. "Of course, McDick had kidnapped Finn. The McForcers were probably a distraction. Finn would have destroyed them easily. I bet the Messenger himself took care of business." She paused. "I don't know when he brought you in on this deal or how much you know, but Finn is dead isn't'he?"

Randy shrugged.

"How else could you have gotten the mask?! They interrogated him, Finn refused to answer their questions and they killed him! He would never hand over the Mask willingly to our enemy!" Debbie was frowning; she looked genuinely upset. "Later, he cut you some kind of deal, handing you the Mask and telling you the typical nonsense about how we are trying to turn everyone in the school to monsters. You accepted and laid low until we tried to rescue our Ninja so that you could pretend to be him."

Randy remained silent.

"You did a bang up job. Didn't they brief you at all? And why did you come to me?" It wasn't a question for him. Debbie was lost in thought. "It would have been more convincing to pretend that our plan worked and let us rescue you. You lied to me that you escaped."

Randy was sweating and he was very thankful that the suit's fabric was black. He wanted to say yes. He was a little confused about Debbie's scenario, but it made sense to her. She thought he was important enough that McFist would trade his important prisoner (if he was still alive) for him! In reality, he was nothing. He hoped McFist cared enough about his students to do it though.

Unfortunately, Debbie would detect a lie.

"Are my assumptions correct? Were you spying for McFist in hopes of finding our location by impersonating our Ninja?"

Reluctantly, Randy shook his head.

"Y-you aren't spying?" She stuttered in disbelief.

"No."

"Half truth," she declared, satisfied. "And working with McFist?"

"No."

Debbie was once again flabbergasted. "Are you working for someone else?"

"Nope."

Debbie was silent, no doubt thinking of more yes or no questions.

"This is boring," Amanda whined. "Just let the clown scare him shitless! He'll spill his guts in no time!"

Randy winced. Clown weren't as scary as chickens, but that did not sound fun. And he really hoped 'spilling his guts' was not literal.

"No! We need to make sure we have the whole story and nothing but the truth. Plus it's good practice," Debbie replied. "So you are working by yourself?"

"Yes." Randy knew he could choose to stay silent. However, having a clown rip his guts out was not his idea of a good time.

"Mostly truth?" Debbie was concerned again. "Did you steal the mask?"

"No."

"Someone stole it for you?"

"No."

Debbie threw up her hands in frustration. "Did you find it?"

"No." Randy sighed. As amusing as this was, it couldn't go on forever. He was tied up and they were going to find out one way or another. "He gave it to me."

"He- what?" Debbie crinkled her nose. "Truth. Did he give it to you because-"

"Holy cheese, no more questions just take the honking mask off!"

"Not only does the Norisu Mask protect from any sort of mind control, it also can only be removed by the user or someone he trusts," Debbie said.

That would have been nice to know earlier. "So untie me then! I won't run."

"Lie!" Debbie hissed.

"I won't try to run until after I take the mask off," he conceded.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Or turn invisible instead of taking the mask off."

Debbie smiled. "See Amanda?"

Amanda huffed, but handed the key to Debbie. In turn, Debbie unlocked the handcuffs.

Randy messaged his wrists, trying to delay the inevitable. Then, true to his word, he removed the mask from his head. In a brief flash of light, Randy Cunningham stood in front of his captors dressed in skinny jeans and a t-shirt.

"Oh my god, it's you," Debbie deadpanned.

"Nice to see you too, Debs." Randy feigned hurt.

"I don't believe this! He was captured trying to find you and then you stole," she snatched the mask from him, "his artifact and stalked me? What the juice?" exclaimed Debbie.

"I just told you I didn't steal it! Look, he did find me, but there were all these robots so he gave it to me for safekeeping or whatever. Then this cowboy appeared and took him away."

Amanda cleared her throat. "Excuse me? Who is this?"

"He's supposedly the Sorcerer's son," Debbie said.

"Ah, him," Amanda said it like 'ew, germs.'

Randy had to think of something fast. The room had no windows and the door was closed and possibly locked. From there, the Sorcerer's hideout could be underground or floating a hundred miles in the sky for all he knew. Escape would be highly unlikely without the mask.

Howard was probably worried sick and at the end of Friday so would his mother. He should have listened to his friend; this had been a horrible idea.

"I can see you don't like me very much- I know when I'm not wanted- so I'll just get going now," Randy said hopefully, starting for the door.

"Not so fast," Debbie said. "Why did you pose as the Ninja?"

Randy barely had enough time to think 'ugh, I'm an idiot' before it all came tumbling out without the mask's protection.

"I wanted to save Theresa and anyone else from the Sorcerer's evil plan and then give McFist the location so I could prove I'm not a mistake." There, he said it. He hadn't even realized his complicated emotions could boil down to one sentence, but it was true. Not only did he feel like it was a mistake that he was enrolled at McFist High, sometimes he felt like his entire existence was a mistake. His father hadn't been interested in a family; he was a product of one, careless night.

Defeating the villain and saving a girl is what all heroes did, right? If he could be a hero, then he wasn't a failure.

"Seriously." She said, unimpressed. "There's someone you need to talk to."

With that, Debbie reattached the handcuffs and led him out the door and through a drab hallway. There were a few other doors, which were closed. Randy was pretty sure he knew where they were going- straight to the big man himself, the Sorcerer. He hoped he was wrong. Would he too be turned into an ugly monster? Or would he be spared due to his special status? Debbie, Finn and Amanda all looked normal now that he thought about it.

Amanda walked confidently ahead of them; she knew exactly where they were going. At the end of the corridor, she passed through the doorway, not bothering to hold it open for Debbie.

"I thought you and Theresa were friends?" Randy said accusingly before Debbie opened the door.

"We are," Debbie confirmed. She saw his confused expression and continued, "Please, stop trying to pretend like you know everything. I don't know how you knew she was here, but she's safe. And if you see her, try not to stare."

She pulled him through the doorway into a huge, central area.

"Actually, don't stare at anyone. Keep your eyes down."

The Sorcerer's base was a repurposed factory. The floor was made of concrete; holes and metal bits sticking up hinted at all that had been removed to make room. The walls were grimy and faded pink lettering read 'Norrisville Fudge.' A rusted metal claw hung from the ceiling by a chain, reminding Randy of the games where you fished for a stuffed animal. Below the claw was a raised dais, around that many tables were set up. At these tables sat the Sorcerer's army.

The sight threw Randy for a second- the half-human things were casually eating a meal and conversing like they weren't the stuff of nightmares or part of a group that abducted children from school. It couldn't have been all of them though, Randy estimated about 20 creatures were there. He looked away quickly. Debbie was watching like a hawk.

No one seemed to care that Debbie was dragging a prisoner across the room. A few glanced up but continued eating. Except for one.

"Debbie!" A familiar voice yelled across the room.

Debbie roughly yanked on her captive's restraints, warning him. He didn't see her come to them, but could tell where she was as she talked.

"And Randy! Awesome. Hey, where's Finn? Amanda wouldn't tell us anything."

"Long story… It's not mine to tell anyway. We have to talk to the Sorcerer first."

Keeping his head down, Randy used his peripheral vision to sneak a look at Theresa. His first thought was 'she's not wearing any pants!' Though he figured no pants had been invented that would fit her.

Her top half was just like he remembered, really cute, and she wore a yellow crop top. From her waist down were eight green legs (tentacles?). He had been too late! Howard was right… Morbid curiosity wouldn't let him look away. They were not from a spider or an octopus; they reminded him of a flower's stem or a vine- no joints and they were covered with fuzzy little hairs.

"Move." Debbie not so gently pushed him forward.

"Be nice, Debs," Theresa scolded.

Randy quick looked back at Theresa; she smiled and waved.

"Don't make me smack you," Debbie muttered. Randy returned his eyes to the floor.

She guided him through another series of doors and hallways, finally stopping in front of one door that she tapped politely.

"Come in," a gruff voice answered, muffled by the barrier.

Debbie opened it and stepped aside, prompting Randy to enter first. Waiting for him was Amanda and the ugliest man Randy had ever seen. He took the expression 'green around the gills' to a whole new level. His skin wasn't an alien green, it was pale with a green hue like a moldy corpse. He was bald and a crooked grin revealed seriously neglected teeth. As if this wasn't gross enough, there was something else disturbing about him. It took Randy a second to figure out: his eyes. They had no color, just white on black.

"I knew you would come to me."

Randy suppressed a shiver. The Sorcerer practically oozed psycho. "I was actually kidnapped, but okay."

Amanda giggled. The Sorcerer whispered something to her and she reluctantly removed herself from his lap. She gave Randy a dirty look and left the room.

The Sorcerer did not get up from the desk he was seated at. Randy had thought someone with the title of sorcerer would be on some sort of throne in a creepy dungeon or basement. On the contrary, the room was a cozy, disorganized place. Books and unusual tools cluttered every available horizontal surface and the walls were painted a cheery yellow. A large rug covered the floor.

"Don't you see? It was Hannibal who kidnapped you; we brought you home." He gestured for Randy to take a seat in front of him.

Randy acquiesced, thinking all the while how this disgusting man could be related to him. Did he have some sort of disease? Randy wouldn't even hazard a guess at the Sorcerer's age, he was that far gone. (Young enough for Amanda to get all cozy with him… Ew, never mind.) Randy sat down, but pulled the chair back a bit so he wouldn't be too close.

The Sorcerer hummed. "Horrible, isn't it? Don't worry, I'm not contagious."

Randy shrugged. He did not feel the least bit guilty about how obvious his thoughts had been.

The man carefully ran his cracked, yellowed fingernails down the length of his discolored arm. "It is a side effect of a gift from Hannibal McFist." Suddenly, he slammed his arms down across the desk.

The action startled Randy. He almost jumped out of his seat, but then he noticed something. Two gold colored bracelets encased the Sorcerer's wrists. They were too big to be considered gaudy jewelry- they were handcuffs without a chain.

"Power dampeners, inhibitor cuffs, whatever you want to call them." He brought his arms back to a more natural position by his body. "Not only have I been denied the use of my innate abilities for almost fifteen years, but they have disrupted the natural flow of energy. My own powers, turned against me, poisoning me." His voice had dropped to a whisper by the end.

Something was off. Randy shifted nervously in the chair. He had been expecting maybe anger for the trouble he had caused or maybe awkward happiness for the reunion of a long lost son to his father. This was somehow worse.

"Do you see how this is a problem?" The Sorcerer sneered.

No. It dawned on Randy that if the Sorcerer couldn't use his powers, then everyone was safe!

"Not really." Randy smirked, crossing his arms and leaning back. The enemy had lost its Ninja, a third of its forces, and the leader lacked powers. The Sorcerer's defeat was inevitable.

"Ah, but then who has been deforming students from McFist High all these years?"

Randy opened his mouth, and then closed it.

"I know you don't trust me after all the lies you have been fed, but I am certain you will join our cause if you'll only listen to my story."

He wanted to resist. The Sorcerer was evil! But then why did Principal McFist say the Sorcerer was doing things he couldn't?

The Sorcerer nodded, taking his silence as a cue to begin.

What's going on? He tried to say. It came out in a monosyllabic jumble of sound. His mind felt numb and he couldn't think of anything except that it was bright and he really had to pee. As he regained consciousness, other sensations were added to the list like his wrists hurt and his forearm was sore.

"Welcome back to Hell." A gruff voice said.

Tim turned his head, surprised to see something other than white. There was another student (he assumed he was also a student because the last place he remembered being at was the school) in the room. His dark red hair stood out like a fake nose on a clown. His cutoff t-shirt revealed more red hair and he even had a beard started. Dang that's one hairy dude, Tim thought.

"I'd shake ya hand, but wer both a bit tied up at the moment." He rattled the chains as emphasis. "Name's Catfish. Mind Control, Level 5."

"Cat…fish?" Tim said slowly, the stranger's name somehow more concerning than the fact that they were chained to the wall in some sort of medical area. Nowhere else could be that white.

The rugged teen grit his teeth. "Somthun wrong with that?"

"No, no. My name is Tim. Demonization, Level 3," he offered.

Catfish whistled. "Well ya did quite a number on that poor fucker. I've never seen anythin' like that before- he had blood coming over of his eyes and everythin'!"

"Excuse me?" The last thing he remembered was going to the principal's office. He hadn't been in trouble and he especially didn't start a fight or something. He was tiny! Shrimps like him couldn't 'do a number' on anything. Unless he used his powers… "What happened?"

"Ya must be new to this then. Doc Driscoll is usin' us as science experiments, that's what's happenin."

Tim instinctually panicked, tugging on the restraints.

"Wer fine, calm down. Wer just the donors. They'll give us food and a cell to sleep in, in return we give them blood every once n' awhile." Catfish crossed his arms casually- a difficult feat considering the short leash they were on. "The subjects on the other hand? Not so lucky. Lots of pain n' screaming. Then they in permanent coma."

"This is insane! Mind control someone and get us out of here!" He had come to McFist High to get off the streets, but that alternative was looking pretty good right about now.

"Can't. I can only control 'non-sentient beings,' like dogs."

"Well then I'm busting us out, but you have to trust me."

They were tied up far enough apart that they couldn't touch, but that did not stop Catfish from shuffling further in the opposite direction warily.

"I promise it won't hurt, but you have to accept it. I cannot force a transformation without physical contact or if you are emotionally vulnerable," Tim said. He had never found anyone who would submit to the process willingly, so he figured the school didn't know he could do it.

A cold knot of certainty formed under his ribcage. This school's first mistake was messing with him, their last was going to be underestimating his power.

"I dunno about this…"

"Do you want out or not?"

There was a moment of silence. Tim grinned wickedly; he could feel the teenager's emotions- anxiety, hope and finally resolve. Catfish didn't have to say a word. The future Sorcerer sent his power out to the open mind and the creation released was a sight to behold.

The preteen reveled in the destruction his creation wrought. As the duo progressed through the hallway, Tim found more willing to join him. The evil he saw in each new room sickened him to the core. Demonization wasn't the nicest power, but he always returned the owner's body.

The war had begun.

"Catfish Booray was my right hand man from then on. We were unstoppable together; I raised the army and he controlled it. His gris-gris stored my power and allowed him to assume his Pythanthigator form whenever he wished," the Sorcerer sighed. "Those were the good days."

Randy was still trying to process the fact that Mcfist's father had been experimenting on his students. He had been trying to make synthetic powers that could be transferred to non-powered humans for profit.

Not to mention that the Sorcerer was actually the good guy. It had taken a couple of years, but eventually the two sides came to a truce. The school would do what it was supposed to and teach the children instead of exploiting them and the Sorcerer would leave them alone.

"But what about Principal McFist Jr.? You said you won, what's going on now?" Randy asked.

"That son of a bitch ruined over ten years of peace. Hannibal resumed his father's work when he became principal in 1998, but this time he wants to give himself powers. I would have stopped him years ago, but," he gestured to his inhibitors, "he… tricked me. His damned Crafter made them from Titanium and a melted down artifact. The only one who can unlock them is his new scientist, Viceroy. However, before he restrained me, he stored much of the gaseous form of my power and converted it into an unstable liquid. McFist has achieved his goal of transferring powers with it, but it has side effects. So far, his step-son is the only successful test."

Speaking of which…

"So… you're my dad, right?"

The man frowned, choosing his words carefully.

"I had a son once. He died. After that… well, let's just say that there's a good chance. McFist certainly thought so. Plus, we reviewed the footage of your fight with his step-son and we think you might have the rare gift of Power Erasure."

Boom. It was like a bomb had dropped; that statement somehow blew all the other crazy things he'd learned out of the water.

The Sorcerer leaned in conspiratorially. "Are you in?"

Randy grinned. "I'm in."

"Welcome home."

a/n: Sorry this took so long, I got hooked on Transformers beginning of break. Also… this may be my last update on this unless I get some serious inspiration. I didn't plan much beyond the sorcerer revealing the plot twist. I grew out of this fandom awhile ago so yeah. If you really want it I can write another, shorter chapter with Theresa's, Debbie's and Finn's backstories. Any questions?

Thank you to my beta who caught some annoying errors :)