Mutation (14 page)

Mouse began gesturing and moving his lips, but no words came out.  He looked around, confused.

“Looks like he lost audio,” Magnavolt noted, then turned to Pace.  “Regardless, this is something entirely novel - we’ve never had to deal with anything like this before - so until we get it sorted out, Jim stays here.”

“Thank you,” I said, then gave Pace and Schaefer a smug, ten-thousand-watt smile.  “Adam, if you please.”

I tossed the sheaf of papers into the air.  Adam took his cue and a sound like tiny fireworks going off filled the air as the papers exploded into confetti and floated down to the ground.

Schaefer ground his teeth together, glaring at us.

“We’ll be in touch,” Pace said.  His side of the screen went dark.

Adam and I were preparing to leave when I heard Mouse’s voice cut through the air.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered.  “Even in another dimension, you somehow manage to set off a political hand grenade.”

It took me a second to get over my surprise at hearing him, since his audio was supposed to be on the fritz.

“What, simply saying I wasn’t going with them?” I asked.

“Yes, except it’s a little more complicated - since you declared the Academy to be a sovereign nation.”

“What??!!” Adam and Magnavolt sounded in unison.

“Don’t you get it?” he asked them.  “Jim basically said that no other nation has jurisdiction or authority there.  The Academy doesn’t have to obey anyone.  Ergo, it’s a country in and of itself - a sovereign nation.”

Magnavolt’s eyes went wide as saucers as the implications hit him.

“Is that why you pretended to have audio problems?” I asked.

“You betcha,” Mouse said.  “The last thing I needed was to get wrapped up in that kind of discussion right now.  There are already factions out there who think supers - both villains
and
heroes - represent a threat.  This is just going to fuel their arguments.”

I was somewhat in shock.  I had simply been trying to come up with a reason not to go with them, not start a secession.

“Look,” Mouse said, noting the concern on my face, “it’s kind of a mess, but we’ll get it sorted out.  Just forget about it for now and focus on school.”

I simply nodded, still stunned to a certain extent.

“Oh, and by the way,” Mouse added, “thanks for the intro to your friend.  I think we’re going to have some interesting collaborations.”

For a second I didn’t know what he was talking about, and then I realized he was referring to BT.

“No problem,” I said.  “Happy it worked out.” Mouse nodded and his side of the screen went dark.

Adam and I turned and prepared to leave the room when we heard Magnavolt clear his throat in a way that clearly invited attention.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked as we turned to him.  He pointed to a mass of shredded paper on the floor - the remnants of Adam going to town on the warrant.  “Clean that mess up.”

We both sighed and started picking up the paper off the floor.

Chapter 19

The rest of the week passed by without incident, and by the time the weekend rolled around, I had fallen into a routine:

Wake up.

Breakfast.

Classes.

Lunch.

Classes.

Dinner.

Homework/Study.

Lights out.

Rinse and repeat.

There were only slight variations in this pattern, such as perhaps squeezing in a little time at the gym, a pick-up game of basketball, or just hanging out with Smokey and Adam.

As to Electra, we were both fairly busy so we agreed to simply try to have lunch and dinner together at least once during the week.  (Naturally, we talked on the phone every night.)

All in all, I felt I had adjusted well in a short period of time.  Therefore, it should have surprised no one that I was in my room getting ready for bed when someone knocked on my door just ten minutes before curfew on Friday night.  I reached out empathically, quickly recognizing the emotions of the two people on the other side.  I opened the door and let Smokey and Adam in.

Adam looked me up and down.  I was in a t-shirt and boxers, which I normally wore to bed.

“Get some clothes on,” he said.  “We’re going out.”

“Out where?” I asked, puzzled.

“To fulfill a tradition,” Adam said.

“Another tradition?  It’s almost curfew!” I stressed.

“And?”

I looked at Smokey for support.  “Adam’s right.  You should get some clothes on,” he said.

When I still didn’t move, Adam began explaining.  “Listen, after the first week of school, it’s standard operating procedure for all the students to sneak out that Friday night.  It started out as just a thing for lovebirds - students who were dating - but eventually branched out to everyone.”

“Dude, you were in that meeting in Magnavolt’s office the other day,” I said.  “My presence here is already controversial.  I don’t need to give them a reason to kick me out.”

Adam was undaunted.  “Point A:  I recall that they told you not to worry about it, that they’d sort it out.  B:  nobody gets kicked out for breaking curfew.  At worst, they’ll just give you some punishment like detention for a week.”

Again, I looked at Smokey for assistance.  We had filled him and Electra in on what had happened with Pace, so none of this was news to him.  However, his silence indicated that I wasn’t going to get any help from his corner.

“Let’s try this from another angle,” Adam said.  “You have a thing for Electra, right?”

I frowned.  “I don’t know about a ‘thing,’ but
–
”

“But you do like her?” Adam asked again.

“I guess.”

“Then you’d better come.”

At this point, Smokey decided to put in his two cents.  “Like he said, this ritual did start off being a thing for lovebirds, so if you like someone it’s tradition - and expected - that you break curfew and go meet them.”

“Meet them where?”

“You’ll see,” Smokey replied.

*****

The meeting place turned out to be a small lake about a mile from campus.  You could get there via a couple of well-worn trails through the wooded area behind the guys’ dorm.  I had hurriedly gotten dressed and teleported the three of us outside, but that was about as far as I could take us since I initially didn’t have a clue where we were going.

With the trees blocking even moonlight, the trail was exceptionally dark.  I cycled my vision through the light spectrum until I could see nearly as well as in the daytime.  I was sure that Adam and Smokey couldn’t see nearly as well, but they seemed to know where they were going.  There were odd noises coming from the brush around us, and it took me a second to realize that it was other students also slipping between the trees, headed in the same direction as us.  Overhead, I occasionally heard an unexpected
whoosh
, indicating that some students were flying to the rendezvous point.

After about twenty minutes, I could see something like a light in the distance.  I pointed it out to Smokey and Adam, who got excited and started to move faster.  A short time later, we emerged from the underbrush to find ourselves at the edge of the lake, along with hundreds of other students.

“Well, this is it,” Smokey said.

I switched my vision back to normal and looked around.  The light I had seen turned out to be a mid-sized bonfire, around which a number of people were making s’mores.  I saw others in bathing suits, playing in the water.  Another group had set up a net and were playing volleyball.  All in all, there were lots of activities going on, but everyone seemed to be having fun.  Moreover, tiki torches had been placed strategically around the area and were providing a more-than-adequate amount of light.

“If you’re worried about the bonfire or the torches,” Smokey said, “don’t be.  They can’t be seen from campus, and the trees act as a natural acoustical barrier so sound doesn’t travel very well.”

“But if this is a tradition, doesn’t the faculty know you’re out here?” I asked.

Adam shrugged.  “They do, but it’s essentially harmless fun so they won’t do anything unless we get out of control.”

“Or if it runs too late,” said a voice behind me.  I turned and saw Electra, standing with two other girls.

“Hey, you,” she said, giving me a wink.  “Glad you could make it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” I asked.

“I didn’t want you to feel pressured,” she answered, then took my hand.  “And I wanted to see if you’d find out on your own.”

“Don’t be rude, Electra,” said one of her friends, a pale, willowy girl with hair that looked light blue in the firelight.  “You should introduce us.”

“Allow me,” said Adam, stepping forward and extending his hand.  “Adam Atom.”

The girl smacked his hand away.

“Not you, clown,” she said.  “We already know who you are.” She looked pointedly at me, as did her friend - a somewhat stout girl with red hair and freckles.

“Jim,” Electra said, “This is Glacia.” She indicated the blue-haired girl, who raised a cupped hand to her lips and blew on it.  Snowflakes seem to fly out from her palm into the air.

I reached out to shake her hand.  “How do you do?”

“And this is Sharon,” she said, motioning to the redhead.

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

“Come on,” Electra said, tugging on my hand.  “We’ve got a blanket spread out over here.”

*****

The night turned out to be an absolute blast, with fun all the way around.  Sharon had brought a trivia game, so we played a few rounds of guys against the girls.  Smokey, Adam, and I also got in on a couple of volleyball games.  Adam even talked Glacia - who had worn a bathing suit - into going into the water with him at one point.  However, something must have gone awry because she came back a few minutes later, having frozen the knee-high water he had been standing in into a block of ice.  Thus, for the second time in little more than a week, the student body’s most infamous prankster found himself being laughed at by everyone else.

Adam rejoined us after using his power to split the ice.

Glacia pointedly ignored him.  “I’m hungry.  Where’s the food?”

“There’s food?” I asked.  Other than little snacks like s’mores and chips, I hadn’t seen anything substantive to eat.

“Yeah,” Smokey said.  “Newbies like you don’t know the ropes yet, so students returning for their
second
year have the job of bringing food.”

“Well, where do we get it from?” I asked.

“Just wait,” Adam said.  “They’ll bring it to us.”

I was surprised.  “They serve us?”

“They serve everybody,” Electra said.  “You haven’t been paying attention, but they’ve been rolling it out for the last hour.”

I frowned and glanced around.  After a few seconds, I did notice people eating hotdogs and drinking from plastic cups.  I also noticed that a number of students were actually running around bringing the food to everyone else.

About ten minutes later, I heard Glacia mutter, “About time.” I looked in the direction that held her attention and saw a couple of guys approaching us.

The first guy was short (maybe five-four), with a cherubic face and curly blond hair.  He carried a tray with hotdogs - already in buns - on it.  He held the tray out to each of us in turn, and we each took one.

The other guy was slender and my height, with a Beatles haircut and glasses.  He carried a drinkholder which held a half-dozen disposable cups with plastic lids (much like those in the Academy cafeteria).  The straws were already inserted in the cups, but still had the paper from the manufacturer on the end.

He took the cups out one by one and handed them to each of us in turn.  I got mine last, and couldn’t help but notice that - unlike everyone else in our group - it didn’t come with a straw.  Rather than raise a fuss about it, I just took the lid off and drank from the cup.

We must have all been pretty hungry, because there was almost no conversation for the next few minutes as everyone finished the impromptu meal.  Smokey, Adam, and I then gathered up the cups and took them to a nearby trashcan.  When we got back, the girls were folding up the blanket.

“It’s getting late,” Sharon said.  “We should probably head in.”

“Yeah,” said Adam, “plus it looks like it might rain.  Look at that lightning.”

At that, Electra jerked her head up.  “What lightning?  I don’t feel any lightning.”

Her choice of words struck me as odd at first, and then I remembered her power.  She must also be able to sense certain types of electrical discharges.

Adam pointed up into the sky.  “Right there.”

There was a flash of light that looked like electricity.

“That doesn’t feel like lightning…” Electra said, her voice trailing off.

I telescoped my vision - and felt a mild sense of panic when I saw what was heading towards us.  Or rather
who
:  Magnavolt.  And he was moving fast.

“Oh boy,” I said.  At the same time, Electra’s mouth dropped open as she obviously sensed who it was as well.  “We gotta move!”

“Incoming!!!” I shouted to no one in particular and pointed up.  All heads swiveled in the direction indicated as a voice suddenly boomed out from overhead as if shouted from a bullhorn.

“WHAT ARE YOU KIDS DOING OUT PAST CURFEW???!!!”

The entire area erupted into chaos as everyone suddenly went scrambling towards the woods, trying to get away.  Speedsters zipped through the trees at high speed; several flyers took to the air and zoomed away.  One kid stepped into the underbrush and turned into a tree; a girl leaped into the air and shifted into a hawk.  In short, teen supers were turning on everything they had, trying to keep from getting busted.

My little group wasn’t immune.  Aside from Electra - who only stayed put because I’d grabbed her arm - the others who had been with us scattered to the four winds like everyone else, making it impossible for me to teleport all of us.  Still, if I could keep them out of trouble, I would.  I teleported myself and Electra just inside the tree line - hopefully out of view of the Academy’s principal but somewhat in the path of people racing back to the dorms.

On his part, Magnavolt simply floated there, calling out names.

“I SEE YOU, VANITY!  BARRAGE - BE IN MY OFFICE FIRST THING MONDAY MORNING!  YOU TOO, SCARAB…”

It was almost comical.  In fact, when I telescoped my vision and looked at Magnavolt’s face, he was actually grinning.

As I switched back to normal vision, I peripherally saw Electra reach out and grab someone trying to run past us.  It was Glacia.

“Did you see any of the others?” I asked.

“No,” she said, slightly out of breath, “but I think they were all ahead of me.”

I looked at her skeptically.  “
Sharon
was ahead of you?”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover!” she retorted.  “That chick is light on her feet!”