© 2010 by Freya
I do not own the Whateley Academy series nor am I a canon author.
Thanks to Holly Hart for editing
The boy standing on the steps of the brownstone was frowning. The weather was good for June in NYC. It wasn’t raining, there was just enough breeze to feel nice, and it wasn’t too hot. He was a little short for a boy, but he’d only just turned fourteen, so he had time to catch up to his taller friends. The black hair on his head was a chaotic mop and his black eyes stood out in a pale and serious looking face.
Rick Leitner was depressed. As he stood there frowning, his best friend, Bobby, walked up and waved a hand in front of his face. “Hey, why the long face man?”
“I got a scholarship to some school up in The Bronx,” Rick muttered disconsolately.
“Yeah? So why are you frowning? That’s good news, right?” Bobby was honestly puzzled.
“My grandparents can’t afford to send me anywhere else while my older sister is in college,” Rick said in tones of imminent doom.
“I still don’t see the problem, dude.” Bobby shrugged.
“The Mt. St. Michael Academy is an all boys school!” Rick wailed.
“That sucks, dude,” Bobby sympathized. “I know something that’ll cheer you up though.”
“Yeah?” Rick was skeptical but willing.
“Yeah! A trip to Forbidden Planet! I got some birthday money, and so do you. Where better to spend it than the Mecca of all things geeky?”
Rick finally smiled, “Yeah okay. Let’s go.” He stepped on to the sidewalk and they started walking together. They could have run the whole way; they did enough running together that a mile was not enough to make them winded. Today though they were in no hurry, so they walked to the subway and rode it into Greenwich Village, the tangled area on the southern tip of Manhattan that was home to, among many other things, the Forbidden Planet store.
The building was huge. It contained the current issue of any comic still in print, back issues of most and many out of print. It had dice, trading cards, every RPG you can imagine and more board games than you knew existed. It had miniatures, hex and square grid maps, and science fiction books in the hundreds, if not thousands. They spent hours just looking around. Each left with a large bag of goodies they couldn’t wait to take home and a large grin.
As they were heading back to the station they heard a voice say, “Don’t turn around! Put the bags on the ground along with your watches and any cash you have on you then you can go.” They heard an ominous click, and a second voice said, “Don’t even think about running or we’ll stab ya both.”
The boys took off running. This, more than the exercise, was why they ran together often, so that when they needed to they could accelerate and hold the pace as long as needed. They heard cursing as they accelerated and turned a corner at full speed. Rick sneaked a look behind and seeing two large individuals racing behind him, he gripped his bag so as not to let anything spill and sped up. Bobby sped up alongside him and they dodged around people and leaped obstacles. After about 5 more minutes they were certain they lost the two guys and slowed back to a walk. The grins came back.
“That was awesome dude! We passed a bike messenger!” Bobby was ecstatic.
“No way! Those guys ride seriously fast!” Rick was wide eyed at the thought.
“Yes, way! I saw him when you were dodging around that Village Voice kiosk. We so did it. We rock, dude.” Bobby looked thoughtful now but still happy. He walked closer and lowered his voice, “The Empire City Guard is doing free mutant testing as part of a goodwill thing. You know to promote the idea that being a mutant isn’t a bad thing.”
“So?” It was spoken with careful nonchalance.
“So they said that anyone who tests high will have a chance to join!” Bobby was enthusiastic, and it showed clearly in his tanned face and brown eyes. “Imagine us working with the Empire City Guard!”
Rick scowled at his best friend and also lowered his voice. “First, I just turned fourteen and you did the same only a month ago; we are too young to join a super team. Second, we aren’t mutants.”
“Are you sure about that Rick?” Bobby looked at him.
“What d’you mean?” Rick demanded looking up and down the street.
“I mean every time we go running you have to stop after and pour sand out of your shoe, and sometimes at school you’d shake it out of your clothes changing for gym.” Bobby sounded matter of fact.
“Yeah, so?” Rick sounded defensive.
“So we’re in freakin’ Manhattan and we run on the Lower West Side. Where does the sand come from?” Bobby leaned in, “I think you’re what they call a Manifestor. You’re making that sand.”
“Who cares? It’s just sand. You don’t see any heroes named Sand Boy, do you?” He sounded bitter now.
“Hey, you might manage more than that with training, and just that is enough for the bigots to hassle you. If you were part of a respected team, even a junior or probationary member, they wouldn’t let them bother you. I know we’re a bit young but this when you first start showing abilities and they KNOW that so I think we should go.”
“If I’m getting tested, so are you,” Rick said. “How did you hear about this, anyway? It’s not like they’d advertise openly. They’d have picket lines and Humanity First! attacks on whoever showed up.”
“Hey, I was planning on it. There might be some pretty girls there. Besides I kinda think I might be one too,” Bobby said sheepishly. “I heard about it while searching sites for info. I happened to get my hands on the IP addresses for some .mut websites. I dunno how many other ways they advertised, but if we are the only ones who show, then so much the better, huh?”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, well I keep up with you right? Sometimes I even pull ahead; and we did just pass that dude on a ten speed. Both of us. I know that’s why we started running together, so bullies and such would get lost in our dust, but man, this was different. We left them in the dust and we aren’t even breathing hard. It wasn’t super speed or anything, cars still passed us, but those messenger dudes ain’t slow.” He smiled, “So yeah, I’m going too, and for more than the girlwatching opportunities.”
“Okay, so when is it?” Rick came off the steps and finally smiled, “The women on that team are pretty spectacular. Worth going to see all by themselves.”
“It’s tomorrow at noon,” Roberto answered with a smile.
“Want to stay over tonight? We can watch the anime we bought and decide on codenames,” Rick asked.
“I think you just want help with all the stuff your grandpa has you do as chores, but yeah, count me in.”
Later Bobby asked, “Hey, if your grandpa is the one getting paid to be the super, why are we the ones fixing this vent?”
“Well sometimes I think it’s because he is kind of old, but mostly I think he does it because he can. I’ve been learning a lot though, and I’ve been figuring I can do this for living after school. At least unless I get shot for being a mutant or something,” Rick answered.
“Come on man! Stop being such a pessimist. Think about being a superhero and in the ECG. All the girls, the fame, the girls, endorsements deals, and did I mention girls?” Bobby sounded eager as he screwed the butterfly screws back into place.
“Ha, ha, I think you did.” Rick shook his head; he never knew what to say to girls anyway, so it was just as well that they generally ignored him. “Come on let’s go watch MD Geist.”
The next day they left before Rick’s grandpa got up, so he didn’t send them to rewire a doorbell or something. Then they hit McDonald’s for breakfast. After they ate, they went over to the Headquarters of the Empire City Guard.
It was a beautiful building in Neoclassical mode with columns out front. They entered and made the short line in front of the receptionist. She smiled at them and asked, “Purpose for coming here today?”
“Uh, I uh, we’re uh…” Rick was staring. The receptionist seemed to him to have acres of cleavage, and his brain was swamped by hormones. He managed not to say what he was thinking but nothing else got out either. Bobby interrupted, “We’re here for the free testing. He’s Rick, I’m Bobby.” He smiled back and extended his hand. The receptionist shook his hand and called someone on her speed dial, “Hello? More people for testing. Two boys about twelve or so.”
Rick found his voice and interrupted to say, “We’re both fourteen!”
She smiled and amended herself, “Two fourteen year old gentleman here for testing, I meant. Yes? Okay I’ll have someone lead them back.”
A twenty-something guy led them back through a door and into a little room with lots of chairs and two girls in the corner. The girls looked up at them and giggled, then started whispering. Rick steered Bobby over to the opposite corner and they waited.
A woman came in wearing a lab coat. Rick recognized her as Doctor Thunder, the Gadgeteer and leader of the Empire City Guard. “All of you follow me and we’ll begin.” She led them deeper into the structure and down a level into what looked like a large gym, “We exercise in here and I think that here we can get a good, if basic idea of what powers you may have, if any.” She pointed to two doors off to one side, “If you need to change, the lockers are through there.” The two girls headed off to the doors and Doctor Thunder led Bobby and Rick over to what looked like a Nautilus machine on steroids.
“I’ve altered this machine so that anyone of us can use it, and it should work fine as the first test. Grip the bar and pull it up. The way it is currently set the weight will go up with each repetition; the first rep will be fifty pounds. Strength is the main determinant of Exemplar level, and easily quantified, so we start with this. If you don’t know what I mean, don’t worry. After the testing we’ll give you an overview of the basic power categories and go into detail about any that you actually have. Now who wants to try before the girls get here, and who wants to wait for an audience?”
“I’ll go first,” Rick offered. He was shocked at how easy the first pull was. He didn’t feel any real resistance until the fourth pull. He stopped after only six, but when the Gadgeteer checked, she told them he had topped out at a thousand pounds!
“Yeah!” He jumped and punched the air. Then the door opened and the girls came through. They looked like they picked their workout clothes as much for fashion as anything. One was wearing a lavender halter top and matching sweatpants and sneakers, the other was all in red, but otherwise a mirror image. She had on a well filled red sweatshirt, matching spandex shorts and sneakers of the same shade. “We’re ready!” the one in red announced.
“Okay, come over here to the strength machine so you can all introduce yourselves before we continue.” The blonde in red was Maria, and the brunette in purple was Rhonda. Then Bobby got his turn at the machine and Rick saw the look on his face as he started pulling. “How could we not notice this?” he asked the leader of the ECG. “I mean, you’d think we know, right?”
“Not necessarily,” she said. “It’s entirely possible that your extra strength was there but when it works well, you still have control of how much to use. Have either of you tried to lift or carry anything heavy or gotten into a fight?”
“We usually avoid fights. Neither of us is large, and after getting creamed a few times we made it a point to getting in better shape by running in our spare time so we could leave bullies in our dust. Yesterday though, we did that a little too well, so I agreed to come with Bobby to get tested because running faster than a lumbering hulk with no forebrain is one thing, but passing a courier on a ten-speed is something else again.”
“Definitely. Okay, it looks like your friend is finished. Let’s see what weight he finished with.” She went behind the machine and when she came out she told him he had lifted a full ton at the last. He looked shocked, and she patted him on one sweaty shoulder. “Don’t worry, this why we are doing this, so we can get emerging mutants like you proper training so you don’t injure people accidentally. If you had fought those bullies yesterday, it could have turned out badly for all of you, but fortune smiled on you as well as them.” She looked at the girls, “And possibly on these two ladies. Which one of you is next?”
While they whispered and decided, Rick thought about what that guy’s face would look like if he’d punched him with his full strength. It made him nauseous. Then he imagined the MCO showing up, and how they’d react, and felt worse. ‘Man, I’m glad the Guard had this idea,’ he thought. While Rick was preoccupied, the girls sorted out who was first and Maria was grabbing the bar.
Rick watched Maria lift. She was pretty, and those shorts looked hot on her. Then he heard a giggle; Rhonda had been watching him watch Maria. ‘Oh man!’ he thought. ‘I was totally busted, checking out her friend’s ass!’ Rick blushed and looked away. waiting for her to say something.
“Also one ton!” Dr. Thunder announced and I looked back. Maria was puffing and sweating, but still managing to look hot rather than overheated. She also looked shocked. “But I just came with Rhonda as moral support!” she exclaimed, “I never thought … I mean, I’ve out-wrestled her during sleepovers, but I never … and she said she did say lifted her brother’s barbell in one hand…” Doctor Thunder interrupted, “You are clearly a mutant, my dear, but don’t worry, we’ll get you trained properly, and once you are old enough you’ll have a place here as long as you’ve kept your nose clean and learned what Whateley has to teach you. We are going to need new blood eventually, and we should provide leadership and opportunities to the next generation, especially in the city we are responsible for protecting.”
She continued, “Speaking of responsibilities and protection, if at any time you feel the least bit odd, I want you tell me. If you feel hurt or extra hungry, or anything out of the ordinary let me know, okay?”
Rhonda giggled again, “She’s always hungry.” Maria blushed and nodded, “Lately I have been. My dad said it was just puberty. Is that like a mutant thing?”
“It can be. Energizers always eat a lot, and some other types eat more than normal for Baselines.” Doctor Thunder replied.
“Baseline? Energizer?” Maria asked.
“Baseline is the word we use for those who are not mutants. Much better than ‘Normal,’ because that implies that we aren’t.” She created a forcefield briefly, “I’m an Energizer, and forcefields like this are one of the normal things Energizers can do. Supercharging their bodies to lift more and run faster is another. Once testing is over I’ll go over all the basic power categories for you, along with more in-depth info on whatever category we decide you fit into best.” She smiled, “Now, Rhonda, I believe it is your turn.”
Rhonda started lifting, and shortly the good doctor announced, “Twelve hundred and fifty pounds. All of you are solidly past Baseline, especially for your age.” As she led them over to a treadmill she announced, “You are all hereby accepted as probationary members of the Empire City Guard. If you do well in the school we’ll pay for, you will be granted a place in our ranks.”
“Even if all we can do is manifest sand?” Rick asked.
She smiled kindly at him. “Even if that were true, yes. It isn’t however; you are solidly above Baseline in strength as well. All of you should remember there are no useless powers; even Baselines can be heroes, so no matter what your powers, you too can be heroes. Any power can be used positively if you are creative enough.”
Rick doubted that he could come up with a use for making sand appear in his sneakers, but he didn’t want to say anything out loud. He was feeling more than a little lame as they took turns sprinting as fast as they could on the treadmill.
Being the fastest, if only by a hair boosted his spirits a bit. His top speed was 40.1 mph; a top speed that beat Bobby’s by .1. Rhonda was slowest at 30 mph, and Maria was holding steady at 39 when her stomach started growling audibly. Rhonda giggled and Dr. Thunder insisted they break for lunch right then.
“We get to eat at the same place the heroes do?” Rick asked, excited.
“Yes, and you’ll get to see how much Energizers eat, too.” She smiled at Maria, “We Energizers eat like horses, but if you’re an energizer you’ll never be fat.”
‘She was definitely correct about that.’ Rick thought as he grabbed a tuna sandwich and some milk. ‘Her tray is as piled with food as could be and I think Maria’s matches it.’ Then he heard what was by now a familiar giggle, and turned to look at Rhonda, “Why do you giggle so much?”
“Empathy.” Rhonda replied, and giggled.
“She has a warped sense of humor is why,” Maria replied, “But she is also an Empath. It’s why we decided to come today. She started picking up feelings from people in school, and at first we made a game of it, but as she got better we realized it wasn’t just good guessing, so we started researching carefully and heard about this. She was scared to come alone, so I agreed to get tested too. Watch out for her. She might develop Telepathy next, and know exactly what you’re thinking.”
Rhonda poked both boys, and giggled, “I don’t need telepathy to know what most boys are thinking. That’s why I giggle. If you had to deal with all the horniness pouring off the boys, we know you’d giggle too. It’s either be amused, or start swinging.”
Laughter echoed behind them and a voice with a noticeable New Jersey accent said, “You tell’em girl! That’s the spirit!” She introduced herself as Heavyweight, the heavy hitter of the team. Both Rick and Bobby found her beautiful but intimidating; she was taller than either of them, and looked to be in much better shape.
After lunch they played games against the computer, and tried to solve complex problems with equations that were new to them. “These are only the most basic of mental tests, I’m afraid. I was hoping to learn more, but I can’t say anything for sure. Maria might be an Exemplar/Energizer, instead of just an Energizer, but I can’t be sure yet. Let’s jump straight to testing your physical endurance, then try to see if we can get you to manifest some sand dunes for us.”
“Hey, Dune might not be a bad codename, right?” Rick asked.
“I like it,” Bobby said.
“It’s short, easily pronounced, and related to your power,” Doctor Thunder said. “All good things.”
They could all jog on the treadmill for more than an hour at a steady 25 MPH. Doctor Thunder made notes and documented that none of them had a history of inventing anything. “We don’t any Psychics here, Rhonda, so unfortunately we can’t help with that at all. But on the bright side it will make you all the more valuable as a teammate once you are trained. Can you broadcast as well as receive?”
Rhonda blushed at the idea of broadcasting her emotions to other people, “No, I just receive, fortunately.”
Doctor Thunder noted the fact of Rhonda’s Empathy, then nodded, “Okay, let me set up the cameras, then we’ll have Dune try to produce sand.”
Rick leaned in to Bobby and whispered, “What if I can’t do it?”
Bobby whispered back, “It’s cool, man. You haven’t been trained yet. No reason for you to be able to do it on command, yet.”
From the other side of the room, Rhonda moved towards him, “It’s okay, Rick. I worry about my power too. If you manage to create some sand you’re doing better at control then I am, and if you don’t, then you’re no worse.”
“Thanks, Rhonda.” He was wondering what it must be like to receive emotions from people around you whether you wanted to or not. “I’m sorry if my worry was, uh, you know, bugging you.”
She smiled. “It’s okay. Just do your best at this and then we can move on to the real test. Telling our folks.”
Doctor Thunder said, “We can have some of our staffers call for you. If you think it will be bad news, they are experienced at telling unpleasant truths or talking to mutant fearing people.”
They all smiled at that. Then Rick frowned and spoke up, “My folks are dead. You’ll have to call my Grandpa.” He was pointedly not looking at Rhonda’s face as he said that. He concentrated on creating sand. The area he was in was ringed by various cameras and other sensors. There was a platform with a clear container that he was supposed to aim for. Nothing appeared in the area, so he concentrated harder.
“Hold on a moment! I’m getting error readings from some of these sensors.” Doctor Thunder called. She moved forward and opened a panel on the side of one and sand came trickling out.
Rick blushed, “Sorry, I guess my aim was off.”
“It’s fine. This happens fairly often at the beginning. I can fix them, and at least we now have proof you are manifesting sand. Alright now, it's explanations and answers time. Follow me."
She led them into another room with a whiteboard. There she told them about all the basic powers and went into detail on Exemplars, Manifestors, and Energizers.
"Any questions?”
“None I can think of right now.” Rick answered. The others shook their heads.
“Alright. I’ll get our people to call your parents or grandparents. Come with me.” Doctor Thunder led them from the room.
Rick had no trouble with his grandfather. Once the old man realized he wouldn’t have to pay anything for schooling at Whateley, he was more than happy to let Rick go.
Bobby had even less trouble with his folks. Once Doctor Thunder laid out how it was, they were committed to him learning to use his abilities as best he could and proud that he would have an opportunity to join the ECG.
The ladies unfortunately both had problems, very similar problems. Both their families were prejudiced against mutants, and refused to even let them come home at all, not even long enough to pack a bag.
The boys were shuffled out and a lawyer called in. Rick wasn’t sure exactly what happened, but both girls ended up in the care of the ECG, with Doctor Thunder and Heavyweight as their legal guardians. Rick only heard that in jumbled form from Maria. She came running out of the room crying and he held her somewhat awkwardly as the taller girl cried against him. He found himself agreeing to go with them to Whateley and to let her cry on him anytime.
“Really?” she asked tearfully. Both Rick and Bobby assured her solemnly that they’d go with her and be her moral support. Then they repeated it to Rhonda and Dr. Thunder after she brought them.
“That’s a nice thing for you boys to do.” The head of the Empire City Guard smiled at them and added, “You boys go home and pack. We’ll meet you here tomorrow at 9 A.M. sharp. Then we’ll get you all on a chartered flight.”
She turned to the girls, “In the meantime we’ll be escorting you home to pack, along with some of New York’s Finest. Grab everything you even think you may want. You won’t be back.” She paused briefly then nodded grimly to herself, “And if perchance the MCO is there waiting, let us handle them. We have the authority to do so and the power to insure they follow the laws of this country.”
The next morning the boys were ready. They appeared at the doors with two suitcases each. Bobby's parents were there to see them off, but they were the only ones. Lioness led the boys to the ECG garage and to a heavily modified H1 Humvee.
The girls showed up as they were packing, "Good things boys always pack light,” Rhonda said. She was trying for humor, but her voice was brittle, "We are going to need a lot of room." Each girl had suitcases and boxes piled near them.
"Well I'd be happy to help you put it in the Hummer." Bobby said, and Rick nodded solemnly. “It looks big enough to accommodate all of our stuff.”
“It is.” Lioness agreed, “You can also leave some stuff here. We’ll store stuff you don’t want to take to your dorms.”
The girls quickly conferred, and some of the pile was sent back. The rest was stored in the Humvee shortly after.
"We're going with you and we’re getting allowance money, so we can help," Rick added with a tentative smile, “Just in case you do forget to bring something.”
"That's so sweet!" Lioness smiled at the boys and added, "You all have an account set up at the Whateley bookstore so you can buy uniforms and anything necessary for classes.
“The girls might be a little shy of pocket money, though: at least until the semester officially starts though so I'm sure they'll be glad of a treat or two on you. The nearby town of Dunwich is small, but has surprisingly good sweet shops and restaurants, and the people are used to students like yourselves."
The girls were smiling at them, and Rick felt uncomfortably like a steak being examined by a butcher, but when Bobby spoke up he nodded. "We'd be happy to treat them as our funds allow. Maybe we can get school jobs?"
"It's encouraged from what I hear, but I don't know if they're available during the summer. The Dean of Students should be meeting us at the Berlin airport. I'm sure she'll be able to answer all your questions. Let's get you all loaded up. We're on a schedule."
After they were all seated she continued, "We'll be meeting the plane on its way back from Whateley, after dropping off another student. I won't be flying with you but there will be adults on the plane and I want you four to behave, understand?"
"Yes, ma'am." they replied in ragged unison.
When they got to the airport she parked and they walked over to the charter terminal where a plane was already waiting. A woman in a security guard uniform met them. She talked with Lioness in private briefly then Lioness led her over, “This is Wanda Barrett from Whateley security. The school has sent her and a partner, who is still on board the plane, to escort you on your way to the school. Please don’t give her any trouble. Remember you are representing us, so keep your noses clean if you ever want to be full members!” With that, Lioness hugged them all and left, misty-eyed.
Once on the plane Wanda introduced them to her partner. “Kids, this is Matt. Matt, this is Rick, next to him is Maria, and these two are Bobby, and Rhonda." The pilot then spoke, "Fasten your seat-belts everyone, we will be in Berlin before long.”
They took off and for awhile everything was calm. Rick noticed Rhonda was frowning though, "What's wrong?"
"I've just got a bad feeling about this." Rick was about to tell her not to worry when the co-pilot suddenly said, "Oh, shit! We're off course. What are you doing?" The last was directed towards the pilot who merely grinned back at him. The copilot clutched his head then, and slumped forward in his seat. The five point harness kept him somewhat upright, but he was clearly unconscious.
"We're making an unscheduled stop, I'm afraid. You see, my boss has paid me well to deliver four mutants to him, and it's always best to get them before they hit Whateley. The school protects its own quite fiercely, and after they are well trained and dangerous." He smiled a bright white smile at them, "Don't worry though, we're not mutant haters. We just want to test you a little." Then he started laughing maniacally.
The two security guards drew their sidearms. Wanda put her gun to the base of the pilot’s skull while her partner Matt checked on the co-pilot. “Asleep,” Matt said frowning.
“Put us back on course now!” Wanda shouted at the pilot.
He laughed, “Go ahead and shoot! I know Whateley Security use frangible bullets on airplanes to avoid poking holes in them, and my TK field is more than good enough to handle those.”
She shot at him as he turned to concentrate on Matt. By the time her slide locked back Matt was down as well. The four kids were unbuckling as she pulled a radio, kicking herself for not reporting earlier. The cockpit door had been left open, so they knew something was going on even before they heard Wanda's truncated report.
"Help flight is being hijacked. Pilot is a ringer! He is a dangerous mutant and has taken us off course..." That was as far as she got before the pilot sent her to dreamland as well.
As the four teens advanced on the cockpit, the pilot started tossing unconscious bodies out the door. Rhonda stopped to check on them while the rest pushed forward. He grinned at them, "You may be strong mutants, but you have no training at all in psychic defense. I can drop you all at once." He grinned wider and did just that. Then he waited until Rhonda looked at him before continuing, "You might have found me out if you were more practiced at your powers, but then that's why we grab you kids before ..." that was the last thing she heard before falling into a deep, dark sleep.
© 2010 by Freya
They woke up in a small auditorium, chained at wrists and ankles to their seats in the front row. Wanda and Matt were there and feeling just as helpless as the kids.
They were in the front row facing a stage with a podium and microphone. Rick quipped, “I usually sit in the back row at these things, so the principal doesn’t see that I have my tie crooked.” Rhonda giggled at that, and hearing it made him feel better too. He was actually relaxing when a man came striding out of the wings and up to the podium.
“I call myself Dr. Incubator,” he said. He was dressed all in glossy black, from his mask to his boots, to the high collared cape behind him. “I do that because I take young mutants and put them through a forced growth process. The ones that survive are worthy of being on the forefront of evolution.”
‘Survive?’ thought Rick and he gulped. He heard Matt and Wanda struggling in their bonds. The man turned to look at them, “I see we have two members of Whateley Security here. Even though you are Baselines, we won’t kill you. We will put you back to sleep until we are done. Then you can escort the survivors to Whateley. We approve of Whateley in principle, you know, we just don’t think they go far enough to prepare mutants for a hostile world. The training we give here may kill about one third of our “students” on average, but those that survive are the strongest and most adaptable. A few even join us in our work afterward.”
He gestured and their charter pilot came out. His face was bare, so they recognized him but he was in a different uniform now. It was all matte black with a phoenix on the chest in shades of red and yellow.
“John here was one of our sleeper agents. He joined us after surviving the worst we could do to him and was allowed to be rescued. We had two agents adopt him and surreptitiously backed his education and training as a pilot. He brought us a fine catch, and now has his choice of staying with the core group or getting a new identity and becoming a sleeper agent again.” The mad doctor then hugged John, who smiled insanely at them all.
“Time for another nap, everyone!” They struggled but one by one they went back down into a deep sleep.
In a steel cylinder set up in a special room, Rhonda woke up slowly. She was awkwardly crouched in a confined space. 'Oh my Gawd!' she thought to herself as she remembered what had happened. 'I'm going to die,' she thought as she straightened up. 'I'm in no shape to pass a hard gym test, much less some mutant 'survive or die' test.'
She surveyed her surroundings; she was in steel tube with blank insides, a grill under her feet and open tubes under that, above her were a light, a camera lens and a speaker grill. 'Oh great,' she grumbled to herself, 'I get to die on camera.' Water started pouring in from below and she started beating on the walls of the cylinder with her fists and shouting, "Help!"
"There's no one that will help you but yourself." A sinister voice called from above.
It scared her so much she jumped in the water that was now rising over her feet. "Isn't killing me enough? Do you have to humiliate me first?" she shouted back. "Are you broadcasting this you bastard? Or are you just getting your jollies from seeing me naked?"
"You need not die. Just transcend your current limitations, and you will be able to free yourself. Empathy won't save you. Reach out for more. Your companion, Roberto, is pushing his strength to the limits and may yet free himself. Of course he might just tire himself out and die faster, but if he does, he deserves it. Which are you, Rhonda McIntyre? Are you dead wood to be left behind as mutants claim their rightful place? Or are you one of the strong? Show us what you can do, or die in your watery tomb."
Rhonda had an odd feeling that she was going to be rescued but put it down to wishful thinking. She punched and kicked at the door holding her in but nothing worked until with a click it opened and Rick let her out.
In another cylinder in the same room, Bobby woke up quickly and took stock. 'I'm naked!' he thought, 'and sealed into some weird tube thing.' The voice from overhead spoke, and he listened to a reiteration of their crazy manifesto, then shrugged. If he was as strong as he thought, he should be able to batter his way out. Eventually he did break out, and when he did he was glad to see that Rick and the girls were okay.
In yet another cylinder in the same room Maria wondered if they'd done anything to her when she woke up and discovered she was naked. However after checking herself as well as she could, she put that out of her mind. 'I need to concentrate on getting out of here first.'
When the voice from above spoke, she listened, "Yeah, you tell yourself that. I don't believe it. What survival purpose does my being naked and apparently on camera serve? Never mind, I don't expect a straight answer to that. Anything else you want to say or gloat over?"
"We do have the best interests of the race at heart. You evidently don't trust us or our word, and that's fine. We aren't doing this for praise. I saw you checking yourself, and I want to assure you that no one took advantage of you while you were unconscious. We just stripped you naked and stuck you in this cylinder for the first part of your test."
She rolled her eyes and thought to herself, ‘Of course he probably means that. Irony is wasted on him, and so is sarcasm.’ The water was reaching her knees just then so she concentrated on possible ways to escape.
'Okay, if I'm supposed to be an Energizer I should have an energy blast of some kind,' Maria said to herself. 'It would be nice to have peace and quiet to try this but here goes.' At first nothing happened, and she frowned, but fortunately, on her third try a beam of coherent light speared from one finger and through the steel shell surrounding her. She shouted, "Yes!" while grinning triumphantly. It might take a while, but this would get her out of the cylinder eventually. She made several more small holes in the cylinder, each glowing red briefly as the laser drilled through and the voice from the speaker encouraged her with such seeming sincerity, that it was hard to believe he would have let her die. Then she heard Rick's voice coming from outside the cylinder.
In the final cylinder, Rick woke up disoriented. He was leaning against something cold and hard, and his feet were wet. He opened his eyes and looked around. 'I'm sealed into some sort of tube,' he thought, 'and I'm naked!' It was all steel from what he could tell, and the wet feeling was because water was bubbling up from below through a grating. When he looked up he saw light, a camera lens and a speaker grille. He tried creating sand, but it didn't stop the water flow.
“A little sand will not help you now. Reach for more power, reach for more strength, reach for a miracle. Transcend your limitations or die here.” The voice spoke the sinister words in a creepily excited tone.
“Why are you doing this?” Rick shouted. “This is wrong! No matter what your goals are, this is wrong, it’s evil!”
“The good doctor does important, necessary work, and we are his support organization. Yes, he sometimes kills people, but the end justifies the means if the end is survival. And all of us are people who not only survived one of his little tests, but found new strength from the experience, and want others to have that epiphany.” There was a pause before the voice continued, “We force mutants to realize their potential or die. We may seem evil, but the world is not black and white, and some day you may agree with us. We could have killed you all while you slept, but that is not our purpose. You will only die if you are weak or stupid.”
Rick beat on the opaque lid in front of him as the cylinder slowly filled from pipes by his feet, but it didn’t open. He pushed with all of his might, and, nothing. He panicked briefly, then forced himself to become calm. He concentrated, and more sand appeared but, not in the right place. A few more tries just produced sandy water.
“Water seeps through sand all the time, you know. You’ll need more than that to escape. If you can escape that, there is a way out past all the locked doors and guards. Freedom can be yours if you can just get this box open. Fail, and it will be your tomb,” the voice intoned.
Rick realized that the speaker was watching him and that the cylinder was probably only well lit for that reason. He imagined being trapped there in the dark and shivered. ’I have to hold it together!’ he thought to himself. ‘I need to get free and help the others.’
Rick strained his brain looking for some solution. ‘Maybe I have powers I haven’t tried yet?’ he thought. ‘It’s possible. They weren’t able to test for anything I didn’t already know I had, and some mutants have a variety of powers.’ Meanwhile, the water was creeping upward, and had made it up past his knees. He started trying everything he could think of, and hoped that Powerhouse would wake up and save them. He didn’t want to chance that, however, and furiously tried to do various things to the water. “Move!” he shouted, and concentrated, but nothing happened. He tries to call forth an energy blast, but nothing came out.
“Oh come on … You’ll have to do better than that if you want to live!” the sinister voice chided him.
Rick got angry and focused his rage on the water. He realized it was a bit irrational but right then he hated water with a passionate fury. He tried to beam that fury into the water and something happened!
The water starts bubbling, and at first he thought it was boiling, but quickly realized it was not getting any hotter. The level started dropping slightly, even though more water was coming in and Rick smelled ozone. In a flash of intuition he realized what he was doing. He was separating the water into Hydrogen and Oxygen. He concentrated and tried to speed up the process. ‘At least I don’t have to worry about air’ he told himself as a plan formed in his mind. He would later realize that too much oxygen is as dangerous as too little, and that if he hadn't been an Exemplar he would have died from the stunt he had in mind.
As he destroyed the water, more flowed in and the air pressure inside increased. Applause sounded from the speaker, “Bravo! You’ve found a new power. It may not get you free, but it looks like it will keep you from drowning.” Rick kept his smile to himself; it seemed to him that the man behind the voice was not thinking creatively enough. ‘Thank you Doctor Thunder’ he thought, ‘I just hope I manage it in time to help the others.’
After a while that seemed endless, Rick’s ears popped and he started pushing on the door while continuing to denature the water as fast as it came in. The door popped open and he stepped out hurriedly. He looked around to see who else was free. Nobody else was in the room, and all the other cylinders were closed. A closer looked showed only one of them was intact, though. The one closest to him had several small holes in it and water was pouring out of the lower ones, the next one over was intact, and the third had several fist sized dents.
A laser beam poking a new hole in the nearest cylinder, reminded him of what his first priority should be. He knocked on the cylinder, “It’s me, Rick. I’m going to try and get you out of there, so don’t shoot for a minute, okay?” He heard a muffled response, and hoping it was a yes, he stepped in front of it and looked for a way to open it. It was only meant to be secure from the inside, so he easily had it open and Maria rushed out into his arms.
He hugged her, then blushed at the feel of her nakedness against him. “I need to go rescue the others.” he said while disengaging.
“Yes, of course,” she said, equally embarrassed as she realized her condition. Then there was the groan of tearing metal and Bobby forced his way free.
"Good to see you made it out, too!" Rick called out.
Bobby raised a fist and replied, "We bad! Takes more than a few perverts and a mad plumber to kill us!"
Rick smiled at that and went to the final cylinder, "Rhonda? We're going to get this open and let you out. Don't worry about a thing!" Then he set her free and got his second naked hug of the day. 'I could get to enjoy this sort of thing,' he thought. 'However now is not the time' and disengaged gently from Rhonda. "Sorry, but we aren't home free yet."
Looking around the place he saw that in addition to the cylinders, the room had one narrow steel door and a circular hole about 4 feet in diameter opposite the door and low on the wall. He also noticed that water was still pouring from the cylinders. It was almost ankle deep and getting deeper.
The voice they'd heard in the cylinders was suddenly back and chuckling, "No, it's not over yet. Not by a long shot. There are choices ahead of you. The first is to force the locked door, the second is to take the tunnel. But you'd better decide fast, because the water hasn't stopped and the tunnel is low."
"No," the voice said chuckling again, "it merely has men on the other side pointing a heavy machine gun at it and is narrow."
"Rhonda can you check that without opening the door?" Rick asked.
"Well maybe," she replied dubiously and walked through the rising water to the door. "I can feel emotions from the other side, more than one but I'm not sure how many. They do seem eager and bloodthirsty though."
"Then I guess we should go through the tunnel. Maria you should go first."
"Why me?" Maria asked.
Rick replied, "Because you are the only one with a long range weapon. Bobby should be last because he's the strongest. He can deal with anything coming up behind us."
"If you want continued helpful narration you should go boy, girl, boy, girl."
Rick sighed then, "I knew it." He looked up towards the speaker in the ceiling, "Why exactly should we do that?"
"Well the good doctor may be doing this for ideological reasons but not all of us are with him solely because of that. I make good money selling these videos." The speaker sounded amused.
"You sell them?" Rhonda asked in a horrified voice. She tried to cover herself with her hands and her shoulders hunched.
"Yes, the action scenes go to Vegas and some of the other scenes go to collectors with odd and various fetishes. It helps defray the costs of the operation after those of us involved take our cut. The guy who brought you in has likely sold your possessions online by now." He paused as they all gasped, "Oh yes, the good doctor wanted us to give all your possessions back but he won't check. He'll just accept our word for it when we report to him what the results of his 'grand experiment' were." He chuckled at their expressions, "You are all far too trusting but I guess it comes with youth." Rhonda crouched low and hugged her knees, face burning in shame at the thought of videos of her being sold. "This scene and the one of you in the tunnel will bring a nice chunk of change from an old pervert I know who's into that sort of thing."
Rhonda buried her face against her knees and Maria squeezed her shoulder, "It's okay honey. We understand about being scared. You just ignore him and put it out of your mind. What we need to do now is get out of here."
"Yes, and that brings us back to my offer. If you go the way I suggested I will give you occasional useful hints to make it more likely you'll survive. It will also make a better video for me."
Rick sighed and patted Rhonda's shoulder, "We need to decide soon. I'm in favor. It might be embarrassing but it can't hurt and it might help."
Maria nodded, "I'll agree." She hauls Rhonda to her feet. "Hey! You can feel my emotions so you know that I am mostly angry. I don't give a damn if the bad guys scared you into peeing on camera we need you! Later we can try to find whoever has the video and get it back and if you learn telepathy you can scrub the memory right out of his brain."
Rhonda looked up and met Maria's eyes hopefully, "You think we can find it? Before it hits video shelves and everyone's seen it?"
"Yes, I'll help you and so will the guys." Maria looks at them and they quickly agree. "See? But we have to get out of here first."
Rick sticks his hand out, "I think we should make a pact. None of us will be embarrassed by anything we have to do to get out of here alive and none of us speak of this to anyone at all without unanimous agreement beforehand. Until we leave this place behind we do whatever it takes to get us all free. No one left behind and no guilt. Agreed?"
Maria puts her hand on his and Bobby puts his on Maria's. They all look at Rhonda and she hesitates for perhaps half a minute. Then she takes a deep breath and lets it out, squares her shoulders, lifts her head and puts her hand on top. "Done!" she says solemnly and looks up to the unseen speaker, "I refuse to let you make me feel degraded or embarrassed. You are the one who is the disgusting pervert and if I ever see you in person..." she trails off but her eyes are hard and angry.
The voice chuckles, "That is why I never let myself be seen. And by the time you can lead anyone back here we'll have rented another lair in another state and there'll be no trace of us anywhere. I won't even hold it against you. Well if you are going to use the tunnel you'd better get going. Tick-tock tick-tock."
Maria crouches down and moves into the tunnel on hands and knees, followed by Rick, then Rhonda and Bobby came last. Once he was all the way a thick block of stone lowered from the ceiling of the tunnel making him pull his feet in to accommodate it. As the echoes of the boom echoed through the smooth stone tunnel they waited a bit hoping for internal lights to come on. Nothing of the sort happened, darkness reigned absolute.
"You may wish you weren't right behind me Rick. I had the chili for lunch," Maria said with half a grin to lift the silence that followed as she started forward again.
Rick laughed easily, "That's the least of my problems, don't worry about it." After a brief pause he said, "If I bump into you please don't get upset. It's just very dark in here."
It was her turn to laugh, "Like you said, that's the least of my problems. If it happens I'll probably be the one at fault. I'm trying to figure out how to make a light beam that's more like a flashlight than a laser and I keep stopping while I concentrate."
"Want us all to stop while you experiment?" Rick asked, it would let the water get higher but if the good get light it would be a lot easier to navigate and see any possible traps as well.
"No, not just for that," Maria said, continuing to crawl forward.
"I have a feeling that we shouldn't stop anywhere for long." Rhonda added.
"That's why light would be useful, there may be traps ahead or cross tunnels we'll never see." Rick added.
"Okay, I'll try. Stopping now." The sound of splashing stopped as they waited to see if she managed to do it. Suddenly a brief but intensely bright light flash went off and Rick was seeing afterimages of Maria's outline dancing in front of his eyes.
"Ow, that was bright. Let's wait a minute before you try that again." Rick said wincing in the darkness.
"Yeah, I have wong afterimages dancing before my eyes," Rhonda said then giggled, "I notice Rick isn't complaining about his afterimages though."
"Once more please Maria?" Rick said, glad no one could see him blush in the dark.
Maria tried again and this time she managed something other than a laser. She started glowing all over and became immediately visible but indistinct. A softly glowing outline with two dark patches. "Eeep!" Maria squeaked and the light went out.
"Okay try one more time then if it doesn't work we'll move on carefully." Rick had found her brief exposure sexy but he wanted to get out there before trying anything romantic.
The next time there was a noise as well as a bright flash as her laser fired off down the tunnel. It was followed by a distinctive odor. Rick heard a giggle from behind and an embarrassed "Sorry" from ahead.
"Heh, don't worry about it. You did warn me." Rick was nonchalant about her breaking wind, he didn't consider it a big deal and he didn't want Maria to feel bad.
"What was that?" Rhonda said and dissolved into giggles.
"Nothing. Okay, we shouldn't stay in one place too long so let's get moving but later I'll ask you to try again. Light would make a big difference here." Rick knew Rhonda's giggling and warped humor was probably just her way of dealing with stress but he felt sorry for her future boyfriend. She'd probably drive him right up a wall.
© 2010 by Freya
The voice they were coming to hate spoke from above, "Keeping moving is a good idea. If you stay too long in one location the ceiling over you will start dropping. But you can't just rush on through either because the tunnel has been boobytrapped."
Maria stopped dead when she heard that and Rick's face bumped into her ass. As he started stammering apologies the voice from the speaker was laughing, "Oh man! That was pure gold! These nightvision cameras are great."
"Don't worry about it Rick. It's covered under the pact we made." Maria said. She looked up at the ceiling she couldn't see and asked, "What kind of traps? If we are really amusing you that much how about a little more info?"
"Well sure honeycakes, I was coming to that. The good doctor wanted all kinds of traps in this tunnel. Light triggered traps, sound triggered traps, even traps triggered by changes in air pressure. Do you how expensive all that would be? He's rich but not that rich and even with our alternate methods of fundraising we don't have enough money to do everything he dreams up. So all the traps in this tunnel are triggered by pressure plates in the floor. I don't know if you can use that to your advantage but maybe you can."
Maria sighed quietly then said, "I'm continuing forward but slowly." She started forward feeling ahead for anything suspicious.
"If you want I can go first," Rick stated, "I thought we might have to fight things when I asked you to go first but if it is just traps I shouldn't let you take the risk." He took a deep breath, "If you'll just slide over I go ahead of you. Maybe I can try the traps ahead of time with sand."
"No, I don't think it is possible to switch places in this tunnel and we'll lose the dubious but possibly necessary help of our pervy friend in the ceiling. Unless you want Bobby and Rhonda to try and switch too? No, it's not feasible. Especially since we shouldn't stay in one place too long. I'll continue and hope to find the traps before they find me." Unfortunately she found the first one the hard way.
There was a click then a loud 'ZAP' sound. Rick had afterimage of something poking out of the water and a very bright electrical arc. With his eyes closed Rick asked worriedly, "Are you alright Maria?"
"Ow, yeah mostly. I absorbed all the electricity. I didn't even know I could do that and I don't think I did it right because it hurt, but I'm not injured. I'm going to have to release this energy somehow so brace yourselves."
"Why? Oh yeah the water." Rick answered his own question. "Are you okay to start moving again?"
Maria replied, "Yeah, but I can't hold it in much longer. I hope you're enjoying the view because it'll be gone soon."
"Huh?" Rick opened his eyes. She was glowing again and perfectly visible, "Oh, I had my eyes closed before. Go ahead and blast away, I'll close them again."
He didn't quite close them as fast as he said and they were still open when a lightning bolt ripped from her down the tunnel. "Wow, that was bright!"
Maria chuckled a little, "I thought you were going to close your eyes?" She had stopped glowing and they were once more plunged into darkness.
Rick blushed unseen but his voice showed his embarrassment as he started to apologize. "I was ... I mean I'm ... yes I was enjoying the view so much I couldn't stop. I'm sorry."
"Heh, it's okay. I'll take it as compliment." She was proceeding very carefully after that and found two more without triggering them. She tried to relay exactly where they were to those behind her but Rhonda triggered one anyway despite her efforts.
There was a click, then an "Ow!" from behind Rick. "All stop," he called back. "Who got hit?"
"Rhonda," Bobby's voice called back from the darkness.
"I got shot in the ass!" She sounded hurt and angry, "I think it's still in there."
There were splashing sounds as she frantically searched herself. "Got it! It feels like a dart. What the fuck?"
"Are you feeling weird or numb or anything?" Rick called back.
"I don't feel anything," Rhonda started then paused. "My butt is numb and my leg is starting to get numb too. Crap! What do I do?"
"Don't panic, I'll think of something." Rick thought fast for a few moments then spoke, "I have an idea. It's a little embarrassing but it should work."
"Tell me. It can't be worse that what we've already been through."
by Freya
The End of the tunnel is in sight but that light they are seeing isn't sunshine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell me. It can't be worse that what we've already been through." Rhonda said. Then she thought, 'Famous last words'.
"I was thinking that you can't stay and dragging yourself by the arms would be needlessly hard on you so you should get a ride on someone's back," Rick replied.
"Well unless you meant Maria's I was wrong about it not being worse..." Rhonda started, "but my right leg is already going numb and if it was a tranquilizer dart I might just fall asleep in the water here so I agree. Better to do while I still have some feeling left." She sighed, "But please can I try to make it onto Maria's back?" She paused, "Assuming Maria agrees?"
"Sure, I don't see how it's going to save any modesty of yours though since you're going to have to crawl across Rick to get to me." Maria sounded both amused and annoyed. "Maybe you should let Bobby carry you? He's the strongest of us."
"He's also ... ," she was thinking 'the boy I kind of like' but said, "a pervert and a boy. I can trust you not to take advantage and I think I can make it past Rick to you and if he tries anything I'll still have working hands to slap him with. So I'm coming over there unless you say you won't help." Her right leg was almost entirely numb and she was crawling on three limbs already.
"I already said yes. You're welcome to a piggyback ride, bad English and all," Maria said.
Rick called a temporary halt to make it easier for her.
"Bad English?" Rhonda asked as they all stopped briefly.
"Yeah, you ended a sentence with 'with' which is bad English," Maria replied.
Rhonda giggled, "Maybe you can improve my grammar during the ride."
Rick felt Rhonda climbing up his legs, "Are both your legs numb now?"
"Yeah, I'm getting a little worried. Hey you, pervert! I thought you said the tunnel wouldn't kill us." Rhonda asked as she made it on to Rick's back. Her face was blushing as she thought of him feeling just about everything she had slide across his bare back.
"Oh the poison on the dart is not lethal," the voice replied, "At least it never killed anyone before. Not even Baselines, it just makes them sleep. If you are any sort of Exemplar you'll stay awake but you'll probably be numb from the neck down considering how fast it seems to be hitting you. In fact I'm tempted to turn the tunnel lights on just to get better footage of you sprawled like that on Rick's back with your thighs around his hips and your legs so wide open." He chuckled, "But the next few traps were designed by me so I hate for you to miss them. Maria would look so much sexier with a few piercings. Right boys?" He started laughing insanely then his voice was cut off with a click.
Rhonda attempted to move on past Rick but she could barely move her arms and couldn't move her hands at all, "I'm sorry Rick I think I'm stuck here."
"No problem Rhonda," Rick replied gently, "just enjoy the ride until you are feeling better." He replied as they started moving again.
"Oh I simply can't miss this naked piggyback ride! Man, I bet this one will make me so much money I don't even mind missing the chance to see Maria pierced!" The nameless pervert watching them sounded beside himself with joy.
Rick could feel Rhonda's blush hot against his back. "You pervert! Just remember after we get free we'll be looking for you and we'll repay every humiliation back tenfold! Do you understand me?" Rick knew he shouldn't bait the man. The mysterious watcher might make things a lot worse for them if he was annoyed but he just couldn't help himself. What a rat bastard!
Their eyes adjusted rapidly to the now lit tunnel and they could proceed faster and be sure of avoiding the pressure plates under the water. They just had to ignore the sounds from the overhead speakers. First was the sound of rivers, then waterfalls, then rain. After the rain it cycled through again but he threw in the sound of a toilet flushing at random intervals and he giggled. He sounded scarily insane when he did it and that sound chilled Rick more than his threats.
Shortly Maria reported seeing the end of the tunnel. "Before you start cheering though it's blocked by fire. It looks like a waterfall only made of fire instead."
"You absorbed electricity before do you think you might be able to absorb fire too?" Rick asked. He hated putting her on the spot but she was their best chance of getting through without harm. If she could absorb fire.
"I don't know. I've been experimenting a little as we moved. I managed to absorb a little of the light when it first came on and I pulled a little heat from the water so maybe I can." She sounded scared and Rick almost told her not to even try but if she didn't, then what?
"I want you to be very careful and stop the instant it doesn't feel right but when we get to fire try it. If you can do that then we'll have a way out. Can you see anything beyond the fire?"
"I can see enough to know it's a full sized room not more tunnel. I think I saw toilets even."
"Oh, thank god," Rhonda added. All the water sounds made her want to go badly. She was still atop Rick's back leaning on her forearms. She was getting feeling back but slowly and he'd ordered her not to get off until she could feel everything down to her toes. Somewhat to his surprise she didn't even question his order, she just acknowledged it. She was still mostly numb from the waist down but she had managed to close her legs. They were still dangling behind her like dead meat but at least they were together. It was a small thing but it helped.
Soon they could all see the fire that ended the tunnel. The hated watcher finally stopped the water sounds and in an amused voice spoke, "The good doctor pretends to a classical education and as such wanted an overarching theme to his "challenges". First was the challenges of water, then earth, and now you are entering the arena of fire challenge. Good luck not becoming charcoal! I've got enough footage to sell so I won't be helping you any more unless knowing what's coming will make things worse or at least more amusing. Everyone else evacuated when you entered the tunnel and I'm bored. I hate being left behind all the time."
"Almost as if they don't like you isn't it?" Bobby said. "As if they wished they could leave you behind like an unwanted pet." He hadn't said much but he was a rock of reliability. He soldiered on and never made anything harder than it had to be. If he was taunting the voice then it must be for a good reason. Rick smiled, probably psychological warfare now that he's said he won't be helping us.
"Maria, can you check to see if you can absorb the fire now?" Rick asked worriedly.
"Okay, here goes," Maria answered and slowly extended one finger forward towards the fire.
Out of the Frying pan...
Rick held his breath as she touched it, "Are you okay?"
"Yes," Maria plunged her whole hand into the fire and when she pulled it out it was unmarked. She turned to Rick, "So what's your plan? I know you have one. You always do."
"It looks like the fire pit has a nice high ceiling. If you can absorb it you can keep it from going past long enough for us to scoot under you through the to room beyond. Then I'll help lift you free." Rick explains.
"Well as long as you don't take too long I think I can manage. No stopping to sightsee along the way though and what about Rhonda?"
Rick blushed, "No sightseeing if I can possibly resist it I promise. As fir Rhonda I'll leave her here until I'm across then pull her through. Then I'll make sure Bobby doesn't lag behind or sightsee either."
"Thank you. Okay, no time like the present right?" Maria replied.
"Hey!" Rhonda called from his back, "That looks like mesh the fire is flowing through! Pulling me across that would shred me."
"You can go face up then. I don't think Maria will worry about you ogling or sightseeing," Rick replied with a grin.
"Actually I think we should all go face up to avoid the cheese grater effect on private parts," Rhonda said grinning.
"Have you always been this perverted?" Maria asked.
"Nope!" Rhonda giggled, "But it's more fun than being shy! Well hop to it, we can't sit here all day talking. Ceiling will fall remember?"
Maria gave her a nasty look then smiled, "I'm glad you're coping. And you're right so I'll just get on with it but remember not to dawdle, this won't be easy." She leaned into the fire and soaked it in, eventually her body made an arch from one stone lip to the other with fire raining down on her back.
"Slide off my back as I crawl forward," Rick said over his shoulder and started forward on his hands and knees as fast as he could go. He didn't look at all because he knew he'd stop if he did. He tried not to even think about how he was between her legs right this minute. He gulped and closed his eyes to help him ignore the wonderful sight passing above him. He was panting and wished she didn't smell so good. He couldn't close his nose! Then one hand touched empty air. His eyes flew open then closed again and he pulled himself out into the next room. The back of his head brushed against one breast as he did and he was glad she couldn't see his erection. He made sure he was facing away from her as he did a quick scan of the room.
"Thank you for being a gentleman," she said and he swallowed before answering. "N-no problem. I'll turn to help Rhonda in a minute. I'm ... making sure the coast is clear and the room is safe." He was blushing, sure she knew exactly what he'd been thinking. He gulped and looked around. The room was lower than the floor of the tunnel and had nobody in it. It had four toilets in a row along the left wall and and two doors out. There was nobody in it but him and the cold air was helping with his ... problem. "I think it's safe,' he said and turned around.
AS soon as he saw her looking at him he sprang back to full erection. He blushed again and started stammering an apology. She gave a strained smile and said, "Right now I don't care! Just get them both into the room with you fast because I can't keep this up for much longer."
Rick shook his head and reached in to grab Rhonda's hands. He flipped her over on bto her back and said, "Grab her ankles Bobby. The express train to freedom is leaving now!"
"I'm on!" Bobby called.
Rick heaved as hard and fast as he could and Rhonda flew from inside like a cork from champagne. Bobby let go as soon his arms were free and dragged himself out and to his feet. Rick put Rhonda down gently and turned to help Maria.
"Don't touch me, I'm hot," she said as she slowly climbed out of the tunnel.
Many jokes presented themselves but neither boy said them. Maria was glowing and heat rose from her skin as if she were a Franklin Stove with a roaring fire inside. She stretched and held her hands out facing the tunnel and said, "You all might want to back away and close your eyes. I'm not sure how well this will work."
"Be careful Maria!" Rick shouted as he helped Rhonda move back. "I ... care about you."
"I'll try to be careful but I need to let some of this out and I'm only mostly sure how to aim it." Trickles of fire were twining along her arms and the stone under her bare feet was sizzling.
"We're all clear. Let her rip!" Rick called to her.
A huge ball of fire flew from her fingers and boomed down the tunnel turning the water into steam and melting the metal mesh entirely. Rick snatched her backwards as a cloud of steam and molten metal started to expand into the room.
In the Break Room between challenges, but can any room designed by these lunatics truly be relaxing?
The blast blew him to the floor with Maria on top and together they slid across the floor until they reached the far wall.
"Is everyone okay?" Rick asked. He couldn't see anything because Maria's hair was covering his face.
"Yes," Bobby replied.
"Yes, and thank you," Maria said.
"Anytime Maria," he said as he could hear Rhonda giggling he asked, "I guess you are okay too Rhonda?"
"Yes, but I think I'll need help to get to a toilet, my legs are still numb," she said.
"You were giggling because of that?" He asked confused.
She giggled, "No, I was giggling at the sight of Maria sprawled naked across with her legs wide and your boner visible above her thighs."
Rick blushed bright red. He hadn't thought it was visible! He figured if he ignored it while checking on everyone it would be gone by the time Maria got up and only the two of them would know. Rick sighed, 'So much for that plan.'
Maria blushed too then closed her legs fast, forgetting how much stronger she was these days.
"Ahhh!" Rick shouted in pain.
"I'm sorry!" Maria quickly opened her legs again and sat up. "I've taken first aid, let me see if," she paused then continued with a different word, "if I can help." She gently examined him and found he wasn't really damaged but he wouldn't be having sex anytime soon. After telling him that in a clinical voice her face softened, "I'm sorry Rick. I didn't think."
"Don't worry about it. No permanent harm done and I know exactly how you felt. I was embarrassed too. This is exactly why we need our pact." He turned his head and pointed to where Rhonda was trying and failing to stand, "Bobby, pick her up and put her on one of the toilets. Check it for for any obvious traps first." If he concentrated on something else he didn't notice the pain and besides the group needed him. As Bobby picked up Rhonda he continued, "Are you sure you're okay Maria? That was a LOT of effort you expended and you haven't eaten for many hours. If you need help or to be carried it's okay, you've already saved us all from the fire. We ... I can carry you the whole rest of the way and still count myself in your debt."
She started to talk when suddenly there was a loud PSSSHHHHH sound. They both looked over at Rhonda. She was bright red, "It's amplifying the sound!" They could barely hear her over the sound of peeing, it was so loud. "This is not how loud I normally am!"
"Obviously!" Rick shouts back, "There's probably a microphone concealed in the bowl." He turns back to Maria who is still sitting on him, "You're too tired to get up aren't you?" he says using the sound as cover so that only she can hear him.
"Not quite but too close for me to want to move unless I have to," Maria replied. "Do you need me to get off? I'm not too heavy am I?"
"Not at all! You can stay there as long as you like. I wasn't kidding about carrying you either. Soon I'll get up and I'll lift you in the process then we can look for some food. If I'm hungry you must be starving."
"Oh hell yes," she replied.
"Alright, try to slide over so you are sitting sideways on my thighs, then I'll sit up and we'll proceed from there to me standing with you in my arms." Rick saw that Bobby was whistling but he couldn't hear it. As Maria carefully shifted position he kept his attention on her. Then he sat up and lifted her into his arms. She leaned her head into his shoulder as he carefully stood up. "Now let's go see if we can find some food huh?"
Maria blushed a bit, "Umm, actually I think I need you to take me to the toilet first. I hope they don't all come with microphones." She sighed, "but they probably do."
"Okay, no problem. I'll go look for food in the meantime and if you need for anything before I get back just call out and I'll come back. I'll be able to hear you now." That last was a reference to the fact that Rhonda was finally finished peeing.
"Not once I start. Can you wait until I'm done?" she asked still in my arms. "Or maybe Bobby can go?" She looked at him and he smiled and nodded, "I'm willing."
If she wanted me close to her I was happy to stay, especially since Bobby could search as easily as I could. "Sure! Start with the door to the right of where we came in." The one across was like a Vault door. There was probably another stupid test behind it. He decided they needed to be as ready as possible before they opened it.
He nodded and moved towards it as I lowered Maria down on to the Toilet seat next to Rhonda. As soon as her butt hit the seat I could tell this toilet had a different surprise. The wall behind the toilets rose to reveal a huge High Definition screen with a picture of Maria, a video feed rather, from a lens looking up from inside the toilet bowl. She looked so relieved when the sound of her pissing wasn't amplified that I almost didn't have the heart to tell her but I did.
After looking over her shoulder she sighed and said, "I'm glad Bobby is looking the other way."
"I'll keep looking this way until I exit the room and stay gone until one of you ladies gives the all clear or until someone calls for help," he said as he exited the room.
As Rick turned away from the screen, he saw Bobby leaving while staring straight ahead. He looked down at his feet, "I am really starting to like you. All of you insides as well as outsides. Is that okay? Could you ... Can we be ... more than friends after this is all over?"
She smiled and took my hand, "I think we already are more than just friends, but yes it will have to wait until we are out of here, mostly at least." She grinned as her stomach rumbled, "I hope Bobby finds some food!" They were both glad of the subject change.
"As soon as you are done I'll open the door and see what if anything he's found. I hope he's found food too."
"Why wait?"
"I'd hate to imagine what kind of surprises are rigged in the last two toilets and I have to go too." When he went a few drops of blood came out first and it burned like hell to start with but soon he was done and they all went to the door to see what Bobby had found.
Maria winced, "I'm sorry."
Rick reassured her, "No apologies are necessary." He continued, "Are you ready for you ride milady? Your chaffeur awaits you?"
She nodded and he lifted her into his arms and carried her through the door.
Bobby had found both what looked a shower room and a room with food set out buffet style. They all agreed that nobody should try the shower because it was likely altered by the same crazed pervert who had done the toilets.
"I hope we can trust the food, I'm starving." Maria said from Rick's arms. He was making good on his promise to carry her.
"I guess one of us should try it and see if it affects them in any way," Rick replied.
"Already done," Bobby announced holding up an empty bowl.
"Are you okay, Bobby?" Rhonda asked looking him over.
"Sure," he answered laconically.
Rick looked over the foods available, all but one in a catering tray with a burning can of sterno underneath to keep it hot. There was a meaty chili that smelled good, cheese covered Enchiladas, a three bean salad, Refried beans, Yellow rice with bits of something red sprinkled on it, and last a tray of nachos covered in shredded pork, tomatoes, jalapenos, shredded cheese, sour cream, and guacamole. He turned to Maria, "Do you sense a theme here?"
She smiled, "I think I do but fortunately I've always liked Tex Mex."
"So what would you like to start with?" he asked wondering how they'd eat while she was in his arms but reluctant to put her down.
"Well I think what we do to start is ask Rhonda to make up a big plate with enough for both of us and then I feed us or you can put me down on the floor and I'll feed myself."
Rick grinned, "How could I pass up a chance to have to you feed me?"
"Good because the floor in here doesn't look clean enough that I'd want to sit on it naked," She replied and looked at Rhonda.
"I hear and obey, O Mistress of the World," she bowed with her hands out front palms down. "Your wish is my command." Then she stuck out her tongue and grabbed a plate to start filling it up.
Soon we were all eating and talking, "If he is going by the Classical Elements there should only be one more." Maria observed between bites of chili.
"If he's using the Eastern version there will be five," Rick replied.
"What are the five Eastern ones?" Rhonda asked.
"Water, Earth, and Fire are the three common to both and we've already seen all of those. The remaining two are Metal and Wood. If he's staying Classical then it's got to be Air next."
"That fits," Bobby added in, "The other door was like airlock. I hope it's not vacuum on the other side. We're pretty tough but we still need to breath." He was frowning in thought.
Soon all but Maria were finished eating. As an energizer who had expended nearly all her reserves she soaked up calories like a sponge until the table was bare. On the plus side her metabolism was fast enough for her to be standing on her own two feet and feeling much better by the end of her nosh.
"Well I guess there is no reason not to see what is behind that last door," Rick says and the others nod.
Maria agrees, "It's time to finish this."
Everyone ready for the Challenge of Air? Will they get to go free after this?
Read and Find out!
Rick steps up to the door, “This time I’ll go first.” He spins the wheel unlocking the door and pulls it open with a pop. Through the doorway they see a large empty room with a similar door at the far end and holes in the floor.
“I don’t like the looks of this,” Maria said and frowned. “Then again, there’s no way I would like it regardless of what it looked like.”
Rick steps in and they all follow one at a time. Once they are all in a wall drops down from above and seals to the floor behind them with a hiss.
“Welcome to the challenge of Air,” says the voice they have come to hate.
“You must get to the other side and open the door before all the air in the room is removed.”
“What? You frigging bastard!” They were running for the far door as soon as they heard he’d be evacuating the air.
“Of course I might be persuaded to stop halfway if you can make it worth my while,” he said with an unnatural eagerness.
“I doubt we’d enjoy whatever you have in mind,” Rick said.
There came a nasty chuckle, "Oh you might. It depends on what you like."
"Keep your mouths open," Bobby said. "If not the pressure difference might damage your lungs." He was clearly ignoring the bastard above them and the others decided he had the right idea.
Their run became a jog about halfway there and then a walk with about a third of the way to go. Suddenly Rhonda staggered and fell to her knees. Rick didn't waste breath asking her how she was he just helped her up and put her arm around his shoulder and together they walked on. Bobby came up and put her other arm around his shoulder and she smiled.
"Hey Maria? Come join us. All for one and one for all," Rick gasped out. She nodded and soon they were all linked and supporting each other.
"No one will take my offer? You don't even want to hear it? Too bad. Well if you make it out that door you're free of the test and out of our clutches. However you'll still be naked and have quite a long walk to the nearest town. Maybe you want to make a last deal? I would love a video of some foreplay." He snickered sleazily, "Anyone up for that?"
They all ignored him and walked closer to the door.
"You don't even want to know what information I'd give?" The voice was distorted and hushed because of the thin air but the nasty, teasing tone still came through.
Finally they reach the door and Bobby got it open helped by the air pressure on the other side once the seal was broken. They were free!
Well there was actually a smooth tunnel leading upwards to Daylight but it was large enough to stand in and not too steeply sloped. They staggered out of the airlock still gasping and the door shut behind them.
As they wearily walked up the slope the air kept getting warmer and they felt odd sensations now and then, as if their surroundings were moving but the floor under them seemed solid. When they finally got to the mouth of the cave they received a shock.
"Well now we know what info he wanted to sell us," Rick said.
"If I ever get my hands on that bastard I'll squeeze his neck until his head pops off!" Bobby's hands rose in front of him and squeezed in demonstration.
"Oh, I'm so there with you man," Rhonda added. "Before you kill him I want you to hold him up while I kick his balls repeatedly."
Before stretched desert and behind them rose a stone ridge. The opening they'd walked out of was already gone.
"That must have been some sort of teleporter or something. It's probably why nobody has caught the damn bastard yet. We will find him though. I will look for him each summer until I graduate or find him. Are you with me?" He stuck out his hand and the others each put theirs on top. "One for all and all for one!"
"Just like the four Musketeers!" Rhonda said smiling.
"I recognize this place," Maria said looking around. "It's Furnace Creek, inside Death Valley National Park. My mom is half Timbisha Indian. I've been here often to visit Grandma during Christmas but never in the summer. It can get to 120 degrees here in the summer!"
They are out at last but surviving mother nature can be the hardest test of all.
Rick has been searching the horizon, "Hey, is that a mirage or is that some sort of hotel or something peeking up over that ridgeline?"
The others all looked, "I think it is!" Rhonda squealed happily.
"Yeah, but we still need water before we go because it looks several hours and a hard climb away and they say you should hydrate every 20 minutes in the desert." Maria replied with a frown, "As Exemplars we might get away with every hour or even longer but a hike through this desert with a climb at the end could still kill us if we don't have water. Anyone see any springs?"
"In the desert? I thought deserts had no water?"
"Not really. All deserts have some and Furnace Creek is known as an Oasis of sorts. There are hot springs and even occasional rains here. I'm worried that the building has drained the local water table to supply it's guests. If we are where we think we are it's the Furnace Creek Ranch and Inn. Depending on which location that is it might even be open but first we need to get there and that means water and shelter and traveling by night if at all possible."
They spread out a little and were looking to see if the ridge they were on had any caves or anything that might even suggest water. "Travel by night because it's cooler?" Rick asked.
"That and because otherwise we'd fry. Rhonda will get it worst but all of us will sunburn if we stay in the sun for long enough," Maria replied.
"Yeah, I think I'm a lot more likely to fry." She looked down at her milk pale skin, "I used to try to tan every summer with Maria up on the roof or out at Orchard Beach but I burned even with SPF 30 on." She frowned, "I hate to think what I'll look like out here without any unless we find shade soon." She wiped sweat out of her eyes, "and water too."
"I'll think of something to do Rhonda. Don't worry, I'm on it," Rick called to her.
Rhonda replied from off to the right, "Actually I think we should go this way." She was pointing off to the right and down, "I'm not sure why but I do."
Rick looked at her, she seemed oddly confident, her arm was pointing with not even a little wobble. He said, "Is this like the bad feeling you got just before our plane got hijacked? I mean I'm for taking the chance anyway but if these feeling keep being right then we have found another power that might help us."
Rhonda looked startled, "Man that feels like so long ago now." She paused then nodded, "Yeah I think it is the same feeling. How weird is that?" She started walking again and the others shared a look then followed behind her.
About 10 minutes later she led them to a cave hidden from above by a shadowed overhang. It would have impossible to see from above and was even hard to see from as little as ten feet away. Getting out of the sun was a blessing but they were dog tired after everything they'd been through. They all picked a relatively smooth rock and sat panting. The brutal heat making everything an exertion, even walking.
After a few minutes though Rick stood up, "I'm going to explore the cave. If we're really lucky there might be water back there instead of hungry bears or killer bees."
He started walking and Maria called, "Wait up, I'll come with you. It'll get dark in there soon. I want to see if I can manage the flashlight trick. If nothing else I can ..." She paused, about to say 'protect you' she changed it to, "keep you company." She didn't want to call attention to the fact that she was stronger and had powers better suited to combat. She was worried he'd hurt himself but doubted he enjoy hearing that or having his girlfriend protect him. She wasn't even sure he'd want to hear her calling him her boyfriend.
Rick smiled, "You are always welcome to accompany me anywhere Maria."
As they walked back farther in to the cave they made small talk. He learned about what it was like going to public Grammar and Middle Schools that go from grades 1-6 then 7-9. She learned about going to a Catholic school that had eight grades. They were both faintly surprised that there were two ways of doing it.
"So you're a year older?" he said.
"Yeah but we'll both be Freshman at Whateley. Whenever we get there," she frowned.
"Hey, we will get there. Never doubt it," Rick put a hand on her shoulder, "We got this far didn't we?"
"I wasn't frowning at our chances, I was thinking it's gotten dark enough to try making light again," she sighed. "You'd better move back a little and close your eyes. I'm not sure how well this will go."
Rick put his hand back at his side and stepped two paces away to the other side of the tunnel. He kept his eyes open though, "I bet you get it right this time."
Maria smiled, "Thanks. Here goes nothing." She lifted her arms to shoulder level palms forward, closed her eyes, and concentrated. She started glowing all over at first like she had in the tunnel and Rick was wondering if he should say something when things changed. The light started to reced upwards from her feet and grew brighter as it did so. As Rick watched fascinated on several levels the light slowly continued receding upward and after it passed her knees it started receding from her head down. The light stopped moving down shortly after it passed her shoulders but continued moving up past her hips until it all pooled on her chest. It was as bright as a strong flashlight, more than good enough to allow them to see their footing and notice any tunnel branches or dangers. She breathed out and opened her eyes, "That's as concentrated as I can get it."
"It's good light," Rick said, "But have you noticed ..." his voice trailed off as he searched for the right words.
"Yeah, I know," she said smiling. "I think I might be losing my ability to be embarrassed though because I mainly just think this is funny." She chuckled, "At least now boys have a good reason to call these 'headlights'."
Rick blushed, "Boys used to say that to you?" He couldn't imagine walking up to a girl and saying something like that. A couple of guys in his old school might have but they knew they teacher would send them home if they tried it.
"Well not to my face but I've heard it said about me." Maria looked at him, "You can't be too surprised. I know boys have all sorts of names for breasts and even if you and Bobby are nicer than most you must know them."
"Well yeah, but we'd never say them in school or to any girl," he shrugged. "I guess you think we're lame huh?"
"No, I think you're awesome and he's pretty nice too," she kissed his cheek. "Now let's keep looking for water."
"Okay," he started walking again and told her about being on the track team and getting Bobby to start running with him as a way to stay in shape and get away from bullies easier. She told him about being taller than all the girls in her class and most of the boys. The cave was longer than they expected and had been sloping down so when they reached the back of it they were well below the sand and it was cool enough that they were hopeful of finding water.
"Some caves like this have pools below because moisture in the air condenses out as it gets cooler and rolls downhill to the bottom." Is the way Maria put it so they kept walking further hoping to find enough to drink and maybe even bathe.
When they finally reached the far end of the tunnel however the water they found was just a trickle running down the back wall. She looked at him, "Not very useful is it? I think I have an idea that will help though."
"Go for it. Need any help?" Rick asked.
"Nope," she placed her palms on the wettest part of the rock and absorbed as much heat as possible. When she stepped back ice was filling all the cracks and glittering in the light she cast. Then she released all the heat she'd absorbed from the wall and elsewhere in a single blast. The ice turns to steam and the sudden temperature differential cracks off bits of stone. She does that several times and each time the water flows a bit faster and with a bit more volume until it reaches a point where it looks like a water fountain and stops there. She drinks thirstily and steps back, "It takes less energy to do that if you can absorb some first but I hope we can find food soon."
"Now that we have water we can head for the resort by daylight. There must be food there." He smiles, "I've even come up with a way to keep the fair skinned Scot from sunburning." He stuck out his tongue, "She might not enjoy it but it's her own fault for being born so pale." He bent to drink himself, it was warm and had a lot of minerals but it was very welcome.
Maria giggled, "Yes, I have a Timbisha grandma and my dad is from Spain, your dad might have been German/American but your mom was Japanese, and both of Bobby's parents are from Peru so she was clearly delinquent in her choices. Let's go back, I want to see the look on her face when you tell her whatever you have in mind."
After everyone had their fill of water he explained his idea to Rhonda. "I don't see how sand will keep me from burning," she said.
"Well while you and Bobby got your drinks I practiced and I can manifest it where I like now as long it isn't too far away and in line of sight. It should stick to the sweat of which we're all producing copious amounts and you can't get a sunburn through it. It blocks the sun completely like zinc oxide. I wouldn't even try it if we had food but we don't so we need to go where we can get it. If you really hate the idea then I guess we could try to wait until night but I think it will work."
Rhonda sighed and nodded, "Well I've had sand in my suit often enough to know how it'll feel and it's better than sunburn everywhere so I agree." She turned to Maria, "But you know how I suck at climbing. How many times over the last nine years of gym class have I made it to the top of the rope or the wall?"
"None. I'll help you all I can. I know that Rick's mostly worried about me and my fast metabolism," Maria replied.
"That's not your fault and I happen to agree with him that potential starvation is worse than a sandy buttcrack," she grinned at them, "but you still owe me a piggyback ride. You got out of it last time but this time I'm holding you to it." She gestured, "If we are going up that ridge across the sand out there I'll be riding up on your back. Otherwise I'll fall and it won't just be a few feet to the gym floor this time either." She frowned briefly, "You can manage that right? I mean I know you're strong enough but will you have the energy?"
"Sure!" Maria said brightly, "I can absorb some from the sun and the heat of the rock face. Don't worry about me I'll be fine."
Rick saw she had her fingers crossed behind her and almost said something then decided against it. He'd just keep an eye out and carry them both up if necessary.
Rick coated Rhonda thickly with sand everywhere but her face at a distance. He manifested a big handful more and gave it to her, "I'm hoping that if you keep your head down you'll not burn much there. Fortunately your hair is long enough to block the sun from your head and neck. But you can put this anywhere you worry about. If it slides off anywhere else just tell me and I'll add more." He smiled, "You'll be better protected than us! We might get red despite any protection we get from from our ancestry and then you can laugh at us."
Bobby added, "Yeah and we'll probably end up just as sandy by the time we make it in."
With that they took off into the brutal heat and fierce sunlight and started walking to the next ridgeline. They reached it panting and sweating and arranged themselves for the climb.
"Your grandma lives here year 'round?" Rick asked Maria incredulously. He found it hard to imagine an old woman moving around in this desert.
She smiled and nodded, "Yup! She doesn't even bother with air conditioning either. It wasn't available when she was growing up and she never bothered to add it in after. The tribe has been here since time immemorial and are fully adapted. The younger generation usually does get A/C but I doubt they use it as much as I would. I just wish we'd had something to carry water in when we left the cave. With proper water and food I'd bet we could walk right through the National Park the long way."
"Well I'm glad we don't have to," He looked up at the sloping ridge, "It doesn't look too steep but if any of you get in to trouble just call out. The others will come help." He looked over to where Rhonda was hanging from Maria's shoulders. "That goes extra for you as you'll be off balance with Rhonda on your back. Let me know if you need any help at all."
"I will," Maria promised. Rhonda nodded tiredly, she seemed to need the ride for more reasons than one. "Let's get started," Maria said, "Sooner we get going the sooner we finish."
"True. Alright, let's move out," Rick said.
A Very Eventful Summer
Chapter 11
by Freya
They survived everything so far so how hard can a little rock climbing be?
Bobby turned to the smooth rock and punched it at head height. *crack* Once he cleared out the broken stone he had a handhold. He lifted himself up by it and punched higher. In this fashion he slowed ascended. They would climb single file of necessity.
"You next Maria. I'll go last," Rick gestured her ahead of him. She nodded and started climbing.
"If we fall and you try to catch us you'll most likely end up falling yourself," she was concentrating on her footing but couldn't help worrying about him and about Rhonda on her back.
Rick shrugged, "I guess I'm busted. I thought you'd just accuse me of wanting to go last so I could ogle."
Maria chuckled, "I doubt I look that appetizing at the moment and I smell even worse, besides I've gotten to know you and you feel responsible for us even though we're older than you, even Bobby by a month or two, and you don't have any more experience at this than we do."
"Well I am responsible for you if I'm in charge," he replied, "That's one thing I learned from my dad before he died."
"I am sure he'd be proud of you Rick, you're doing a great job." She chuckled, "And if you can climb well enough to ogle while you climb I won't even complain."
"What?" he said startled.
She laughed, "You're fun to tease." She started to shrug then thought better of it, "I told you in the cave I think I'm fresh out of embarassment where you guys are concerned." Her voice took on a teasing tone once more, "As long as it's me you're ogling and not Rhonda and her big, white, sandy butt." That got protests from all three of the others and she laughed again.
"Her butt isn't fat!" Bobby called down, "It's just right, J. Lo quality at least. Even if it is pale it's..." he trailed off and Rick was sure he was blushing as well as his complexion allowed.
Rhonda giggled, "Thank you. That's quite a compliment."
They continued climbing in the hot sun and Rick had to replace the sand on Rhonda a few times but it seemed like his makeshift was working. As they neared the top though he noticed Maria's arms were shaking as she climbed and for the last few steps her legs were too.
Rhonda noticed and once they'd reached the flat ridgetop she said, "I shouldn't have asked you to do that. Now you might not have the energy to get yourself down." She was frowning, "I'd offer to switch but unless the trip down is much shorter than the trip up I don't think I can."
Bobby had been lying flat on the smooth rock but at that he rolled up on to one elbow, "It would be my honor to carry you down Rhonda. May I?" He was looking her in the eyes as he said it so he saw her blush a bit as she nodded.
"I'll agree but please don't tease me because while Maria may have run out of embarrassment I've still got a whole bunch. Okay?"
Bobby nodded, "I won't tease if you don't. Deal?" He sat up and stuck out a hand.
"Deal," she replied and shook on it.
Rick sat up, "Maria? May I carry you down? I am glad you helped Rhonda but I think she's right in saying you'll need help getting down."
She stayed laying down but looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "You can carry me down?"
"Yeah," he replied, "I may not be as strong as Bobby but I'm still far stronger than a baseline. I can carry you easily and it will be my pleasure. I won't promise not to tease though. You've got some teasing coming." He smiled though to show he was mostly joking about that.
Maria gave a tired chuckle and held out her hand, "Deal."
Rick shook it with a smile on his face. "We'll rest here a bit I think then go down. I'll go check to see if we'll need Boby to make handholds down like he did on our way up." Rick got up and walked the few paces to the place where the ridge started sloping down.
"I hope not, Bobby replied, "it'll be harder to do going down."
Rick called back, "Well my friend you need not worry. This side has natural handholds all the way down to the Inn's back fence and it evens out to a walkable slope halfway down."
"Good," called Maria. Can you see if the place is open or closed for the summer?"
"I can," Rick replied, "It's open. I see people by a big pool but I can't make out too much from up here. Let's get down and get this over with hopefully by tomorrow we'll be at the Academy or back in NYC at least and dressed."
"Oh man, I so want a shower. I smell like a goat and I can't wait to get all this sand off," Rhonda said as she climbed on Bobby's back.
"We all smell like goats Rhonda, it's okay." She turned to Rick, "How do we do this? I mean with me being taller."
Rick thought briefly then replied, "I think you'll have to lift your feet until I'm over the side than it shouldn't matter anymore. At least not until we get all the down."
"Alright," she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her weight forward then lifted her feet off the floor, "I'm ready."
They started climbing down but soon they switched to walking down the sandy slope. Bobby had no trouble switching but Rick needed to use a fair bit of dexterity. He ended up with her arms still around his neck and a hand under each of Maria's knees as he walked down the slippery slope to the back fence.
"We could break in but I think it's best if we just follow this around to a door and ask to be let in. We can pay as long as it's not an astronomical amount so there's really no reason they shouldn't let us stay until Dr. Thunder can send someone for us." He started around the fence to their right, "Come on. We're almost to showers and room service!"
When they reached the doors they caused a huge commotion. the others let Rick do the talking, "We can pay," he panted. "I have a credit card number to give you but we need a phone, a meal, and a room or two. We need to call our guardians to come get us."
Arms helped them to seats in the lobby and a bellhop brought them all glasses of water clinking with ice. "Bless you for this," Rick said after draining the glass in one long drink.
The people clustered around had been asking questions rapid fire and he used the time he spent drinking to think. He also noticed that he and his friends weren't the only ones naked. The staff was dressed but the patrons weren't. Oh, most had sunhats and a few had shoes and fannypacks but none had on clothes. 'This will make it both better and worse,' he thought. He didn't want to mention mutants if he didn't have to but he didn't want to make them suspicious with a story that couldn't be checked out either.
"Maria's grandmother lives nearby and we were visiting during the summer. We'd heard of this place and wanted to come see it," not technically true but hopefully they'd give Maria a chance to talk to her Grandma before they asked her anything. "We were driving a dune buggy and it turned over but we knew we were much closer to here than there so we walked in."
"You could have been killed you crazy kids!" seemed to be the gist of what everyone was shouting but at least nobody was shouting for the cops, or worse the MCO. Once Rick gave them a credit card # that checked out and signed for a two bedroom suite they were allowed to go and rest. They did have to promise to call Maria's grandma before they fell asleep and Rick truthfully promised they would.
They moved up to the two bedroom suite where Bobby and Rhonda headed for the showers while Maria and Rick headed for the phones. Rick called the ECG from one bedroom and Maria called her grandma from another.
The Empire City Guard was shocked but pleased to hear from us. The guards had been thrust also naked through a different one way portal and landed in Denali National Park in Alaska two days ago. They'd fortunately landed in sight of a Ranger station and were fine now but they'd assumed the teens had landed in the same park but further away. There was a large search going on both near where the plane was found and in the Alaskan park. However after two days of no traces found and no contact it was assumed they'd perished in some particularly brutal test.
Rick was surprised two whole days had passed. He was suddenly feeling much more tired knowing that. He told Dr. Thunder the basics of their situation and she agreed that not coming out and announcing they were mutants was a good idea. She sighed at the fact that they were in a nudist resort but agreed they'd had little choice. She okayed his use of the emergency funds and told him he could use it further as necessary but to be ready to explain each purchase. She would send actual cards and some clothes by fast messenger to the resort and asked that they stay there until collected. She wasn't planning on taking any further chances with transportation. She was planning to drive the ECG's specially Hummer to get them personally but there was a current crisis the team had to take care of first. Since they were safe it would be best if they stayed at the resort incognito until the team could collect them. He had a sudden flash of them getting on a Greyhound bus and finding John the traitorous pilot behind the wheel so he agreed to wait right where they until someone from the team arrived to collect them.
After his talk with her he took a cold shower to keep himself awake long enough to eat and head back to the main room with a towel around his waist. Maria was just entering wearing a larger towel wrapped to cover her from cleavage to mid-thigh. She smiled as she hung up, "I ordered food for all of us from Room Service. My grandma is willing to cover for us but I'll have to give her the whole story this Christmas. She offered to come pick us up but I don't want to get her any more involved in this. Those bastards are still out there somewhere. Did you get through?"
"Yeah, I did. Dr. Thunder is shipping us some clothes and some credit cards. We can charge things to the room until then but only necessary purchases please. I'll have to account for them when we get back to New York. She is coming for us in person and says it may take a few days so we should sit tight until then." He thought about telling them there was a crisis but he decided they had enough to worry about without adding to it.
After a huge meal they all slept about twelve hours, the girls in one bed, Rick in the other and Bobby on the couch. The girls giggled at them but neither boy felt comfortable sleeping naked in the same bed.
The next morning after breakfast they hit the gift shop looking for anything to wear or at least some sunscreen. They found lots of sunscreen but no actual clothing. They ended up getting SPF 45, and four sets of sun hats, flip-flops, fannypacks, and cellphones with the resort's logo on them and charging it to their room. Attired as well as possible they went and explored the resort for the remainder of the day. The promised cards and new clothes arrived the next day via express courier and they were happy to see them even if they couldn't wear them yet. Something else arrived that day however that they weren't happy to see, not at all. Criminals intent on robbing the resort!
A Very Eventful Summer
Chapter 12
by Freya
Criminals attack the resort!
As he stepped into the lobby Rick saw three men with guns pointing them at Bobby. Rhonda was crouched down behind him. She looked relieved when she saw him. Rick put a finger to his lips and she nodded. Rick slowly sidestepped to the wall looking around for Maria. He was happy was he saw she wasn't involved. Her only offense was entirely too obviously a mutation and she wasn't as tough as either Bobby or Rick. He slowly stepped along to the wall towards the men as Bobby spoke.
"You've got everything we have already why not just leave?" His voice sounded weary rather than angry and Rick shared that sentiment. If they gunmen left now he could safely leave them to the reservation police. However the next words out of the criminal's mouth dispelled his hope along any chance of peaceful resolution.
"Well she may not have any money but she still has something we want," the leader said leering at Rhonda. The others chuckled nastily and grinned as Bobby frowned and clenched his fists.
"I won't let you harm her," he declared. It was a very real threat but the three men didn't know that anymore than they knew Rick was sliding slowly closer along the wall. He was concentrating on filling the guns with sand but was unsure as to how well he was succeeding if at all so he continued to slowly inch closer as Bobby continued to hold their attention.
"Think you can stop us boy? You ain't got no weapons at all and we can tell," the leader laughed at his own humor, followed shortly by his cronies. "That's why we picked this here resort, because we could be sure that no one but the guards would be armed and there ain't many of them. By the time they get here I'll have me some hostages and the boys will be having fun with your friend there." He gave a grin that would have matched any supervillain for pure evil and said, "You might as well just give up since we hold all the power here."
Rick was almost even with them now and debating when he should step away from the wall to be closer still when he heard a female voice, "There are many types of power villain."
Everyone looked towards the voice and there was Maria standing with legs well braced and her fists on her hips. The leader laughed again, "That pose is less effective when you're nekkid you know. If you're trying to scare us then I'm afraid all you've done is add yourself to the list after the blonde there." He gestured with his gun and suddenly noticed Rick stepping quietly forward. He pointed his gun and said, "Nice diversion kid, if you'd had a gun it might even have worked." Then grinning maliciously he pulled the trigger; unfortunately for him the trigger barely moved and that with an audible grinding sound.
Rick smiled, "Sand in your gun? How could that have happened?" He and Bobby stepped closer and the other two goons found their guns likewise fouled as they tried to shoot. After that the hardest part was not hitting them too hard.
The manager thanked them and comped their stay, refunding everything they'd spent in gratitude. Then he asked them to meet him in his office before the police arrived. "Although I am grateful to for your help and I'm sure the tribe as a whole would be proud of Maria for her part in things it has also come to my attention that you four are mutants. Now I'm not going to call the MCO on you and wouldn't even if you hadn't just saved the resort. I'm Timbisha myself and enough of a student of history to see parallels between how our tribe was treated and how people treat mutants today. However I am going to ..." he paused briefly as if searching for the right word, "expedite your travel to your destination."
Seeing suspicious looks on their faces he hastened to reassure them, "I only mean that it would be in the interest of both you and me that you not meet the police and that we cover up your part in things. I've arranged for my driver to take you to the nearest Amtrak station in my limo. I'm not sure you should head back to your rooms even once so with your permission I'll send my assistant her to pack your belongings and bring them down here. We can take the service elevator to the garage and meet her at the limo." He gestured to a cheerful blonde in a teal suit, "If you'll just hand her your keys?"
Rick frowned and thought for a bit, "Well I can't fault your logic however little I like it so we'll agree to go." He handed over his keycard and the others followed suit, "Thank you for not charging us for the stay and not calling the MCO. This might have ended better but it might have ended far worse too." Rick shook the manager's hand and followed him to the service elevator. Once at the limo they dressed and Rick pulled out his new smartphone. "I'll see if I can book us on a train going to Dunwich," he smiled, "Who knows? Maybe a train will be safest after all. I know I'm not anxious to get on another chartered plane."
The others agreed with that. With a train at least to could get off early if you had to without needing a parachute. By the time they arrived they were all dressed and had four tickets and two sleeping compartments waiting for them.
"I tried to get one sleeping compartment for us all," he started then blushed, "for safety's sake only." Rhonda snickered and he blushed darker then continued, "But they won't do it since we are underage. So we have two sleeping compartments right next to each other and we'll sit together in the dining car. Good enough?"
"More than good enough," Maria kissed his cheek, "You're doing great. When does it leave?"
"Three o'clock. One hour away, it was the soonest I could find one going our way."
An uneventful hour later they were on board storing their meager belongings. When the train arrived it was more full than they'd expected and less luxurious but they were still happy to be getting on and happier still when it pulled out on time with no problems. They gathered in the boy's sleeping compartment to talk. "I'm glad I stored my sentimental stuff back at ECG headquarters," Maria said and Rhonda nodded. "Yeah," Rhonda added, "otherwise we would have lost it all. As it is we have little enough. I never knew being a superhero would be so hard on the clothes."
They chatted about possible costumes and codenames and relaxed. It seemed that their eventful detour would be over soon and they were already imagining what life would like at school. Eventually they wound down and headed for the dining car.
"I'm sorry Maria but if we are going to stay under cover I don't think you should go back for thirds," Rick said frowning and whispering. "I know you're still hungry but people nearby are already whispering about us and I don't think we can afford to stand out. Let's head back to the rooms and I'll go see if they have any place to buy snacks." He hated the thought of her going to bed hungry when there was food but if she ate like a hungry energizer on the train it might lead to much worse.
"It's okay Rick," Maria replied. "I shouldn't have asked. Don't look so worried I'll be fine with two plates full. I could eat more but I don't have to." She smiled, "Thanks for watching out for us."
That night there was some discussion, in both rooms, about whether to sneak over to the other bedroom but, brave as they were, none of the four were audacious enough to risk the rejection that might come. it was even for the best as they would need to be well rested for what came next.
Just as the sun was rising the train was forced to make an emergency stop. All the crew and passengers were throw from their beds or off their feet. In the boys room Rick picked himself off the floor unhurt, "Are you okay Bobby?"
"Yeah," Bobby got up and stretched. "Let's go make sure the girls are okay."
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Rick spared a thought for the fact that they were both in boxer shorts but he figured anyone they met in the hallway would be either just as badly dressed or not give a damn.
The door to the girl's room was only steps away but they passed a few people trying to make their way forward to see what had happened. Rick was curious too but he wanted to be sure the girls were safe first. Reaching the door he knocked, "It's us! Can we come in?"
"If it's just you two you can come in. We're not dressed," Rhonda's voice came back. Rick and Bobby went and Bobby locked the door behind them. Rick saw Rhonda still wrapping an ace bandage on Maria's ankle and shouted, "What happened? Can I do anything to help?"
"I'm okay Rick. I just twisted my ankle falling off the top bunk. Rhonda has it wrapped up and its feeling better already. I'm just sorry for her because she got to feel the pain too." She did look mostly okay Rick thought. The red nightshirt she was wearing reached to her knees so it might be hiding bruises but, except for her left leg, she was wasn't moving like anything hurt.
"Yeah, " Rhonda took up the story, "for awhile after we fell I thought it was my ankle that was twisted. I'll be glad when I learn to block this it gets in the way of helping. I also should take some first aid courses too. At least if I can treat wounds I won't feel quite so useless."
Rick turned to look at her, "You're not useless!" He started to say more then he saw she was wearing just a pair of white silk panties and his tirade faltered. He was getting set to start again when she giggled.
"Why the blush Rick? I'm flattered by both the emotion you started out with and the one that replaced it but you've seen it all before and I know how you feel about Maria," she paused to giggle again as both and Maria blushed, "so why would did me being topless throw you?"
Rick just shrugged, "It was different at the resort. I'm not sure how but it was."
Bobby answered for Rick who was unable to articulate his thought, "I think it's because you girls are in bedclothes of your own choosing. We didn't have much choice at the resort and we had even less choice before but knowing that all you sleep in is a scrap of white silk is ... sexy. To me too by the way." He smiled at her and Rick nodded, "I guess that's true." He turned to Maria, "Not that you don't always look great! I just ..." he trailed off.
She raised an eyebrow, "We'll go in to this wandering eye of yours later. For now do you know what happened?"
"No, we came straight here," Rick said. His stomach dropping, he wasn't looking forward to that little talk. Maybe by the time they could talk she'd have forgotten it? He decided it was worth a shot, "Bobby and I can go look but you should stay and rest your ankle and Rhonda should stay to guard you."
"Ha! You mean the girls should stay behind and let the manly men take care of things!" Rhonda looked genuinely upset.
"NO! You can sense people before they are visible and point them out to Maria before they get into the room and she can zap them if they're hostile but without you they might surprise her and even if they don't she won't know they are around until they come through the door or the window. You really are an important team member and I want you here to guard her because you're the best person for the job. We'll go forward because nobody will find anything unusual in that and we might learn something. I'm hoping we don't need to use our powers at all but I'm afraid our luck is not that good."
Rhonda smiled again, "Wow, these switches from fearless leader to gawking bashful boy and back are getting faster. You'll have to pardon me if sometimes I can't keep up." She stood up and said you know given our luck so far as a team you should practice developing tactics while staring." She started to shimmy making her breasts wobble in intriguing patterns, "Who said 'All war is deception'?"
"Sun Tzu, and stop trying to get me in trouble with Maria," Rick replied then winced when Maria corrected him.
"You mean 'more trouble'. If we're going to be dating I can't have you gawking at her nipples," Maria said then frowned, "especially if our luck for the past few days holds and we end up walking home naked or something."
"Right, well I'm just going to go check with the conductor. I'll be back." Rick left looking flustered and Bobby went with him. They met the conductor in the dining car. He looked scared and nervous and he was hiding it badly. "I have an announcement to make here then I'll go and make it to following cars." He cleared his throat, "Please remain calm. The train is not damaged, it has been stopped by robbers." There were gasps but before anyone started shouting or anything he held up his hands for silence and continued, "There is still no cause for alarm! They have said they plan to harm no one, they just want loot. Their leader states that as long as no one resists no one will be hurt. Please cooperate and the corporation will assist you in filing any insurance claims and take care of the police reports. One of them will be coming through shortly with a bag, please return to your staterooms and be ready to put your cash and jewelry in the bag. Please do not try to attack him as there are four more and they are all powerful mutants. They call themselves 'The Royal Flush Gang' and attacking them will just get us all hurt." He waited a beat then ended with, "That is all."
Rick and Bobby left the group who were all standing around asking each other things like "did he say mutants?" and "What can we do?" They headed back to the room and Rick knocked, "Are you decent? It's Rick and Bobby."
"No we aren't. Come in anyway!" Rhonda replied with a giggle.
They entered and told what the conductor said, "I think we should do it. There are more of them than us and they have more experience. We should just pretend to be baselines and hand over our cash and watches. We can replace them and we won't get kicked off the train for starting a superpowered fight or worse. That's what I'm planning and I hope you all agree."
Bobby agreed right off while looking at Rhonda, she argued a bit but agreed that Maria was in shape to run and then they all looked to Maria. She said, "I'm willing to pretend but I want us all in one room when he gets here. I worry about you guys just like you worry about me. So go and dress and grab your stuff and be back before he gets here okay?"
"Sounds fair to me," Rick said and Bobby agreed. As they rushed off to get dressed and grab their cash Bobby asked, "Do you think she'll still be topless when the supervillain comes by?"
"I dunno man. I'm trying not to think of it. I just hope we get to Whateley in one piece. Getting to school shouldn't be this hard!" Soon they were dressed and had all their spare cash in their pockets, returning to the girl's room Rick gestured for Bobby to knock.
He knocked once, "We're coming in." Then he opened the door and headed on in. Rick followed relieved the girls were dressed.
Rick said, "Now we just wait," but they didn't have to wait long.
Shortly a man wearing a bodysuit festooned with gear and carrying a weird gun in one hand and a bag in another appeared in the doorway. The body was mostly white with black symbols resembling the card suit of spades all over it. In an electronically filtered voice he said, "Put your hands up. IF you cooperate you will not be harmed. This gun fires sleep rays not bullets, you will wake up in four hours poorer but unharmed unless you give me trouble."
Rick lifted his hands over his head and the others followed suit. The man shot Maria first, the beam was a pale yellow and caught her directly in the chest. Nothing happened and he shot her again. Rick frowned and leaped towards him and the man dove back out of the room. "Ten here," the man voice sounded as he ran back towards the front of the train firing wildly behind him, "ran into mutant opposition."
Bobby slammed the man's head into the wall stopping him from giving any further specifics but the damage had been done. Maria limped up leaning on Rhonda's shoulder, "What do we do now?"
"Necessary change of plan. Bobby and I will try to pick them off one by one while you two guard sleeping beauty here." Rick looked Maria in the eye, "You can't sneak on that ankle," he looked at Rhonda, "And you can spot someone approaching even through a wall. So you two hold the fort here unless you'd rather go back to the room."
"No, I'd rather be out in the open, better chance of spotting people coming and maybe we can at least make these people comfortable," she gestured at the sleeping forms sprawled around the dining car.
"Alright," Rick looked up at Bobby, "you okay with this?"
"Yeah, I agree it's the best thing to do," he put his hand on Rick's shoulder. "If we're going we need to go now."
Rick nodded, "They'll be expecting us so let's try to do the unexpected." He opened a window and stuck his head out looking both ways, "We can climb up out here and maybe catch them by surprise."
"Good enough," Bobby nodded and soon they were creeping along the ground towards the head of the train.
As they were creeping along the side of the train they saw a shadowed figure outside speaking to someone inside the engine room. "I think that's one of them," Bobby whispered.
Rick nodded and taking careful aim fired the strange ray gun he had removed from Ten. There was a soft zap sound and the figure collapsed revealing itself to be a woman with butter blond hair and pale skin dressed as if she was the Queen of Spades. Her crown had fallen beside her and rolled away striking a rock with a sharp ringing sound.
Both boys winced at the sound, looking around to see if anyone noticed. From the engine room of the train raced a man wearing another crown. He was running towards them as fast as a racehorse gallops with his hands in fists. Rick managed to shoot him with another pale yellow ray from Ten's gun before he reached them. The man, obviously either King or Jack, fell to his hands and knees but stayed conscious, mostly. He was shaking his head and blinking a lot as Bobby walked up to him. Rick tried to shoot him again but the gun started to get hot and smoke. Rick tossed it away as Bobby punched the villain hard in the back of the head. The man slumped down but any chance of stealth disappeared as the gun exploded with a loud bang.
Rick and Bobby hurried forward and stepped into the engine room. Inside were only sleeping men in train uniforms. "Looks like we're not going anywhere soon even if we defeat all these clowns," Rick said.
Bobby went to look down the other side of the train and found a forcefield blocking the open doorway. He rapped his knuckles against it making *tap tap* sounds. Rick frowned and checked the door they'd come in by and it was blocked as well. "I'm going to see if I can overload it. If I can't but nothing bad happens then you can try next," Rick said.
Bobby frowned in return, "Let me try first. We might not get more than one crack at it and I'm stronger."
"True. Okay, but be careful," Rick replied.
Bobby planted his feet and punched as hard as he could at the invisible barrier blocking them in the engine. The forcefield made a *tung* sound and a rainbow of colors briefly outlined the otherwise invisible barrier but nothing else occurred. "Well no boobytraps at least. I'll give it a few more whacks. Maybe you can find a hammer or something? My fists will probably start hurting soon."
"Sure," Rick said starting to look around the engine room. Shortly he walked over to Bobby with two things, a knife and a ballpeen hammer. "It's no sledge but I found a hammer," he shrugged, "the knife might be better though. It'll concentrate all your strength on the point which might help you crack this thing."
"Don't strain yourself," an unseen man called. "I'll only keep you pent up until Ace can deal with your girlfriends and get back then you'll be free." He chuckled nastily, "Free to be beaten up and maybe worse but free! So just settle back and wait, hitting my forcefields will just make you more tired later."
Bobby took both and Rick turned back and went to the PA system, "Watch out girls! They are sending someone codenamed Ace to get you and we're stuck up front for now." Warning given Rick turned to nervously watch Bobby stab at the forcefield with the Bowie knife.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The girls heard the warning as they were arranged the sleeping bodies in the dining car more comfortably. Rhonda stood up and looked around then closed her eyes as she concentrated.
"Can you detect anyone?" Maria said as she looked out the windows.
"Yes, there is a guy broadcasting very clear anger and malice and he is getting closer fast." Rhonda pointed with her eyes closed towards a section of wall with no windows, "He is that way."
Maria pulled in sunlight darkening the car as if it was twilight, "Let me know if he suddenly changes course. I can't see anybody out there but for all we know he's invisible."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Bobby hit the forcefield it became briefly visible as concentric rings of color spread through it from the point of impact like ripples in a pond. Bobby then gripped the handle in both hands above his head and drove the point forward with all his strength. The field held but the heard a loud cry from outside and the forcefield shuddered visibly as pastel colors washed back and forth across it.
A man dress as the Jack of Spades stepped in to view as Bobby was pulling back for another blow. The man was bleeding from the nose and put his hand on the other side of the forcefield. "Damn your unnatural hide boy; I will not let you through. If I let myself get beat by some high school kid my rep is gone."
Bobby just drove the knife forward again without saying anything but Rick chuckled, "We already beat three of you already isn't your rep already trashed?"
The Jack just growled and did not reply. Everytime Bobby hit the forcefield it shook like jello and more blood poured down the man's face. Soon the pastels were no longer fading back to transparency in between blows. Rick decided he could help best with his mouth since there wasn't room for two in the narrow doorway. He chuckled again on purpose and tried to make it sound nasty, "Man you must be hurting Jack and all for nothing. Whoever you sent after the girls will fail, now that they are warned they'll kick his ass. If you keep this up you'll have a stroke or heart attack even before he gets through your forcefield and if you don't ... well imagine the field falling and the knife hitting you as hard. Do you think you'd survive that?"
That last comment made was unwise as it made Bobby stop and back away instead and the villain got a much needed breather. The Jack of Spades smiled through bloody teeth, "I think your scare tactics just backfired on you boy but it wasn't a bad try. Too bad your friend here is as gutless as he is strong."
Bobby dropped the knife and started pounding the forcefield with his bare fists. "I'll get through your forcefield anyway and this way it will be that much more satisfying when I do finally break through."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Maria was waiting with glowing hands for Rhonda's word to attack. Rhonda stood with her eyes closed concentrating hard when suddenly she pointed. Maria didn't question it she just blasted where Rhonda was pointing.
There was a scream and a man wavered in to visibility, sweating and gasping. He was ghostly looking still and gave Maria a scared look then jumped right through the wall like a ghost. She had the time to take a second shot but was too shocked.
"Thanks," she stammered to Rhonda once he was gone. "You were dead on target."
Rhonda's eyes were open now, very wide open. "You're welcome," she gulped, "I should keep checking. He might be back." She took a few moments to before she was calm enough to search again but she managed it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the Engine compartment Bobby's punches were too much for the weakened forcefield and when it collapsed so did Jack. As he lay on the ground gasping and bleeding from the nose, and ears Bobby jumped out to guard him, "Should I try to knock him out? He doesn't look so hot now and I might hit him too hard. Still he might recover if we just leave him alone and make more mischief for us later."
Rick looked around for makeshift restraints, "We can tie him up long enough to go help the girls then decide what to do with him." Finding nothing else Rick used pieces ripped from Jack's own uniform to tie him up. "Now let's go help the girls."
Rick and Bobby took off running back along the train, trying to get back to their companions in time to help.
By the time they got to their friends the girls had triumphed over the Ace and he was lying unconscious by the Ten. "Why didn't you tie him up like we did the Ten?" Rick asked.
"He can walk through walls, I doubt ropes would hinder him at all if he was awake," Maria replied.
"Did you boys defeat the other three?" Rhonda asked.
"Yes," Rick replied. "I'm just sorry we didn't get back in time to help."
"You did help Rick," Maria said. "You gave us a warning. Thank you," she smiled, "besides this way Rhonda and I learned what an awesome twosome we make!"
"We've always made a great team Maria!" Rhonda said giggling, "We just stepped it up from shopping and homework to defeating supervillains!"
"True," Maria said with a grin, "and the boys are keeping up very well at the hero stuff so maybe we should take them shopping with us when we finally get the chance to hit a mall?"
"As much fun as that would be," Rick said, looking as if he'd rather do almost anything else. "We have another small problem to solve first. All the crew are sleeping and we don't know if they or the villains will wake up first."
"For that matter," Bobby added, "we don't know if they called for help first or not and if the help they called will believe our story or not." He frowned, "They should but I've heard many stories about well meaning mutants getting arrested after helping or even worse. I'd hate to discover some of those rumors are true."
"So we have to vote on staying or going," Rick said. "Staying might be best after all since if we leave it will be 'leaving the scene of a crime'." He shrugged, "I think you girls are in less danger than we. We might or might not convince them we are probationary junior members of the Empire City Guard but you two have members of the ECG listed as your legal guardians. Anyone looking to make a few mutants disappear quietly won't want to bother you."
They went back to the girls' room to discuss it and then voted to stay and call the authorities. The Kansas state police were cooperative and helpful once they'd checked with the Guard. They had brought a specially reinforced vehicle and took custody of the royal flush gang. Paramedics checked over the sleeping crew and passengers and pronounced them to fine except fror a few bruises and bumps they got while falling. Eventually everyone woke up and the train continued on. It reached Grand Central Station around 8 A.M. the day after it should have arrived but without further incident.
However once they got off the train they spotted another problem, and worse it was looking for them!
Rhonda had a sudden bad feeling and looking to her left she saw the evil man that had taken over their chartered flight and started this nightmare. Fortunately he was looking away from her at the time. She gripped Rick's arm and hurried him along. He looked at her face and saw she was serious so he made for the steps at the fastest walk he could manage without causing a noticeable commotion in the crowd. The others followed them and soon enough they were outside and her feeling went away. She let out a shaky breath, "Let's keep walking away and I'll tell what happened."
They headed north on Park Avenue and she told them who she'd seen. They all gasped then Bobby wanted to head back and pound the guy's face in but Rick vetoed it. "We don't know all his powers and we do know he laughed at bullets fired at him from point blank range. They might have been hollow points instead of armor piercing but they still would have at least hurt most mutants. If you go back he'll just put the whammy on you again or you'll end up fighting in the midst of that huge crowd. We may be more experienced now than when he first took us but he is major league bad news and I doubt we are up to taking him down yet. We'll catch up to him someday but sorry, that day is not today."
Rick looked around at all of them, "Anybody know of a good place to hide around here? We need a place where we can hole up for the whole day if necessary and where we won't be visible to passers by or just anyone who wanders in off the street. When that guy realizes he's missed us he'll be looking all around. I don't know how much data they have on us so we should probably avoid any place any of us visits a lot and our homes as well as ECG HQ. At least until they are back from their current mission."
Maria suddenly smiled, "I think I know the perfect place! We can stay there all day, they don't let people past the front lobby unless they are clients and they have security because their clients include occasional celebrities and famous heroes. I know where it is because Rhonda and I always wanted to go and it's not too far." She shrugged, "It's also not cheap but it's definitely an emergency right? So hand over the credit card and I'll call to make a reservation as we walk there."
Rick handed over the card asking, "What is this place?"
"Don't worry, you'll see it soon. Now shush, I've got to call them before we arrive and set things up." She pulled out her phone and dialed a number from memory, "Hello is this the red door?" The others could only hear her side of the conversation but it made Rhonda grin like her favorite Birthday wish was coming true.
Rick tried to follow her comments and shortly he was wondering if he shouldn't have just suggested they just lose themselves in a huge store or something.
Meanwhile Maria's half of the conversation was going something like this, "Yes, I would. The VIP room. Two men and two women. No, that is fine. I assure it is not an issue, we have just com from a week at the Furnace Creek Inn. I'm glad you've heard of it, so you see... Very well my guardian's phone number is," and she then rattled off a phone number, "Why yes that is the phone number for Dr. Thunder. I guess she must be a good customer if you recognize it. I doubt she'll thank you for the interruption but if you insist on checking with her I can't stop you. Proof? Well the credit card I have is issued by them will that do? Ah, excellent. Here are the numbers, now can you accomodate us or not? Good, you'd have lost quite a lot of business otherwise. Oh, of course that was not a threat. We'll want the Ultimate Indulgence package for all all four of us. Yes, the whole day. Ending at seven p.m.? Just perfect. We're almost there. Shouldn't be more than five minutes or so. Thank you, I am sorry if I sounded harsh. I know you need to be careful, it's one reason we picked your establishment. It has a reputation for discretion and safety. Yes, we'll see you soon. I'm looking forward to it!" With that she hung up the phone and beamed a smile at them all.
Bobby groaned, "Do we have to get facials and all that frufru stuff?"
Maria said, "You'll love it if you try it. You can't possibly not love a spa day and besides the bastards will never find us there. By the time we leave we'll be rested and refreshed and we can call to see if the Guard are back yet. If they are we can wait inside for them and if not well then we'll be able to decide what to do next with clear heads. Right Rick?" She fixed him with a look that said clear as day that he'd better agree enthusiastically if he ever wanted to get back on her good side.
He couldn't quite manage enthusiasm but he did agree, "She's got a point Bobby. It is the last place anyone would think to look for us and it does meet all the criteria I outlined. I just hope they feed us." He looked at Maria.
"Oh yes," she replied. "Spa cuisine is included in the price and they already know we are mutants so they won't be shocked if I eat more than a normal teenage girl and they even have Exemplar masseuses so they can get at knotted muscles of Bricks like you and Bobby but I better not catch you ogling them mister! You are still on thin ice with me."
"I promise to ogle no one but you," Rick said with a smile.
Shortly they reached their destination and walked through the eponymous red door. "Hello and welcome to Elizabeth Arden's Red Door salon! Did you have an appointment?"
"Yes, I made one over the phone. We are booked for the vip room for the Ultimate?" Maria responded as they all waled up to the desk. There was soothing music being played and the walls were done in soothing pastels. Off to one side were a small cluster of chairs for people to wait in but they were currently empty.
"Ah yes, I see that here," the woman beamed a professional smile. "Please follow Jane here," she pointed to a younger woman in a pink smock, "She will show you to the room and get your food orders. Please tell her if you need anything or have any allergies or special requirements. I hope you enjoy your day with us!"
The pink smocked Jane led them through a door that cut off all sound from the street and looby. Inside it was hushed and the lighting was dimmer, the floor had deep and plush carpeting that absorbed the footfalls without a sound. Rhonda sighed and relaxed, "Ah, this is so nice. Soothing on many levels."
"Well if you're relaxed then I'm happy," Rick said. It was a reference to her premonitions of danger but their guide smiled back at him, "Aren't you just the sweetest boy? Always thinking of your friends."
Rhonda giggled a bit, "Yes, that's him in a nutshell! Too bad he's taken huh?"
The woman shook her head, "He's a bit young for me in any event but I am not surprised he's been claimed early."
Bobby chuckled at the look on his friend's face, "Yeah, all's that left is for them to get matching tattoos."
Rick rolled his eyes, to show what he thought of that idea but said nothing and soon they arrived at a set of double doors.
"Here we are," Jane said entering. "Over here are the lockers for your streetclothes and inside each is plush robe to wear when you are not on the massage beds. You can tell me what you would like to eat and we will have someone bring it in and set it up on a table here," pointing to a section of bare carpet, "and then take it away when you are done. We will consult with your Aestheticians to make sure we bring it between one treatment and another so you'll all be free to enjoy it." She stopped and faced them, "So do you all know what you'd like to order or would you like our healthy breakfast special?"
"I'd prefer ham and eggs with toasted bagel and waffles. Bring jam for the bagel and syrup for the waffles and I'll be a happy boy," Bobby said and Rick agreed that would be a great breakfast.
Maria looked a bit embarassed, "Do you have an Energizer special?"
The woman smiled, "Yes we do. Don't worry, it's covered under the price of the day. I'll have them send it up." She looked at Rhonda, "And you young lady?"
"I think I'll try to the healthy breakfast special. I need to watch my wait more than these other three," Rhonda replied.
"I see we are in the same boat then," the woman replied. "We have exemplars on staff and they can eat anything it seems and still look beautiful." She looked wistful for a moment then continued briskly, "I'll go put in your orders. When you are undressed please get under the top sheets of the massage table and your aestheticians shall begin. Have a very pleasant stay." Then she gave a little bow and left.
They had no longer had any qualms about undressing in front of each other although Rick made sure he was not looking at Rhonda and so missed her humorous attempt to get his attention. He sighed though as he took the robe out of his locker and, after clicking the locker shut, laid it on a nearby chair.
"It'll be fun Rick," Maria said. "Please just go with the flow and try to enjoy it okay?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, "For me?"
He had to smile, "Okay, for you I'll do my best to enjoy all the silly frufru things we'll be doing today."
"Thank you," she climbed up on the first massage table and he took the second. Bobby meanwhile turned to Rhonda, "Do I get a kiss if I promise to be good too?"
"Do you want one?" Rhonda replied, "I'm pretty sure you'll be good anyway so I wasn't going to bother, but if you ask nicely I might consider it."
He grabbed her waist and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned it then quickly broke off and stepped back, "We'd better go get under the sheets unless you want them to find you like that," she pointed down to where an erection was rising then giggled merrily and slipped off to slide under the sheets of the third massage table just as there was a discreet knock on the door.
He managed to ask for a minute in a normal sounding voice and was lying face down on the last bed when they came in.
They were massaged and exfoliated. They then ate like kings and queens and afterward were given facials and mud wraps. The boys were even convinced to get manicures and pedicures alongside the girls once they were assured that there would be no nail polish used on them.
Eventually they'd done everything and were dressing again. Rick was rushing in the hopes of leaving first but he had to stop at the front desk to discuss gratuities and sign the receipt so Bobby was actually the first one out.
Rick actually left last and when he got outside he was shocked by who he saw waiting for him, "Wow, I didn't expect to see any of you before tomorrow and then only one or two." He was looking at four members of the Empire City Guard. Dr. Thunder, Lioness, Heavyweight, and Captain Quantum were all standing on the sidewalk in front of their heavily modified stretch Humvee.
Dr. Thunder said, "We finished the other crisis early and decided not to take any chance of something else happening to you before you get to Whateley. Once there you'll be safe and you'd be covered under the 'hands off rule' even when not off campus as long as you are students there. So we're picking you up and driving you there ourselves."
"I think she might also want to avoid any more emergency expenditures before that credit card melts," Heavyweight added with a chuckle.
"I take full responsibility and I'm able to justify the reasoning behind each purchase," Rick said gulping a bit as realized exactly how much they'd spent in the last week or so. "If you disallow any I'll repay you for the amount from whatever campus jobs I can pick up."
Dr. Thunder smiled, "I see you've learned some of the basic lessons of leadership Rick, I'm proud of you. Now get in before another supervillain team attacks you."
Captain Quantum opened the back door and they all filed in one at a time, "Now you can tell us the story of your very eventful summer. We know the high points but now we've time for the full version."
"Yes sir," Rick said, "I'll start at the beginning and the others can take over or add things whenever they feel like it." He started off with discovering he was a mutant and proceeded from there.
Dr. Thunder aassured them that the insidious villain who'd kidnapped them was certain to be caught soon. "He's been staying under the radar but this incident has brought him into the light. Now that we know about him and have your descriptions of him and his chief minion we can circulate both through the paranormal community. He WILL be caught and if he's lucky it will be by a hero."
"What do you mean?" Maria asked.
"Well some of the children he's kidnapped might have been children of supervillains. If they find him first it will go much worse for him." She saw their faces, "I don't blame you if you want that to happen but try to rise above it. You have the making of true heroes and it would be a shame if you let him drag you to a lower level. You want to take the high road always when at all possible."
"Yes," Lioness agreed. "You can do a lot more good as a hero future generations can look up to than as a vigilante. It may seem like Vigilantes can get more done but it's an illusion. Law Enforcement does not trust them and while they may turn a blind eye to their actions, mostly, they also deny them the sort of resources acknowledged heroes can use. Which may make the difference between saving and losing lives."
Captain Quantum nodded, "Also the haters and bigots use vigilantes as "proof" that even the good guys are dangerous. Don't be another weapon in their arsenal, they don't need any more."
All four teens solemnly responded that they would let the authorities deal with Dr. Incubator and his henchman John.
When they finally arrived the staff also assured them of their safety at Whateley Academy and an upperclassman showed them the campus while the adults completed paperwork and discussed things. They were very impressed with the tour and were happy when they met their patrons for lunch in the Crystal Hall.
Dr. Thunder told them, "You'll all be stationed in Melville until the end of August. They close down most of the dorms during the summer and for reasons we won't go into now it wouldn't be appropiate to put you in Hawthorne or Poe." Seeing their smiles she added, "Enjoy it while it lasts. Once Summer Term is over the boys will be moving to Emerson and the girls to Dickinson." She gave each of them a stern glance, "And there will be no discussion on this subject for at least a year." Her expression softened, "I know you've all gotten to rely on each other and are used to being together 24/7 but you need to expand your horizons a bit so the boys are going to an all boys dorm and the girls to an all girls dorm. You'll get first pick of rooms being here already and you can at least get each other as roommates but aside from being cheaper than rooms in Melville it'll be good for you too. Otherwise you might not socialize with the rest of the students much and lose valuable contacts and experience."
"Yes, Dr. Thunder," all four chorused.
"Good, if next fall you still want rooms in Melville we'll consider it. No promises though! You'll see each other quite enough as it is I'm sure."
"You can sign up as a training team together," Heavyweight added. "You seem to work well together and trust each other. That's very important for teammates, and this way you can continue to learn how to make your powers mesh as well as possible."
After lunch the four members of the ECG left and the four teens settled in to their rooms. "Well I guess that's the end of our adventures," Bobby said.
"At least until Winter break," Rick replied. "I don't trust our luck. Or rather I trust it to be bad." He grinned ruefully, "Something will happen I'm sure."