The Replenishers-Chapter 7 Out!

[MessengerOfDreams]

I was on the run.

You see, escaping from the government is quite risky business. When you’re a freak like me and my nephew who I had managed to get out of the Hades we were in, the government wants you. And in the words of Tim Hawkins, the Government can because they mix it up with lies and make it all taste good. You see, I know the secrets that some of the government hides from the rest. I was one of them.

My 10-year old nephew Todd clutched the arm rests on the passenger seat of the Ferrari I managed to smuggle out of a dealership. Okay, so now I was officially a real criminal. I was planning on compensating once I exposed the branch of government known as Mutant Control. Not that it would matter too much, because, luckily for me, the world couldn’t care what the government does with freaks like us.

Mutants. What a disgusting danged word. What a disgusting danged world.

I sped down the highway I-90 right past Winnemucca, Nevada. A green sign for exit 178 faded away in my rear-view mirror, as a new one appeared with the appropriately named Bloody Run Peak in its background. This one was much more horrifying than a measly exit 178 sign for Winnemucca.

Police Cars. Sirens out, lights on, oh, day-ung.

No wonder. They musta figured out who stole the Ferrari via police report and the fact that I was pushing 120 mph. Now you see why Todd was clutching the arm rests like his life depended on it. Because for him, it practically did. Yes, I know I’m a bad aunt. Hey, I only learned I was a few days ago. Ah, but that’s a story for another time.

But don’t worry. Florence Mayer is always equipped with a plan.

One of the officers approached the side of my car. As if I wasn’t in deep enough dog doo-doo, I opened my door, the officer crashing into it, cleanly taking the door with him. It was okay, that car was getting kind of hot. I needed the fresh air.

I unbuckled my seatbelt (yes, I am fully aware that the door is nonexistent) and while I was at it, I unbuckled Todd’s too. His eyes widened, but for someone who just met me, he trusted me more than most people I know. I was gonna like this kid.

I pressed the convertible button (as I reminded myself to get a Ferrari once I got out of this mess) and grabbed Todd’s arm. Then I jumped out of the Ferrari right before a blind curve my GPS had predicted. It careened off of the railing, bouncing off of it like a pinball bumper, and then took out 3 of the 4 police
cars. Yep, ladies and gentlemen, let’s see your local insurance saleswoman do that.

Swerving around, I realized that the last car, an SUV Rhino (Called so because it rams the living bejeepers out of your car) was heading towards us. And this sunumagun had no problem with ramming the living bejeepers out of us, too.

Wait, metal is an element, right? It’s on that fancy-shmancy periodic table, I think. So I took a chance. Standing right in ramming distance, I reached my arms out and started to bend the metal. A headache-inducing screeching of a car collapsing inside itself followed, as I carefully folded the car in half, completely flattening the police officer inside of it.

Yep, way to go, Flo. You’ve just committed your second murder. You are SO screwed. When did you uncover your emotionless bad side?

That answer came easy in my existential argument with myself. When I became Test Subject #11411, when the government tried to harness my abilities to bend the elements, when I was separated from those I loved, and when those I loved were separated from me. But maybe it’s time I stopped blaming everyone else for my problems.

Besides, I got a long walk ahead of me to sort it all out.

Chapter 1

“Like kind of sucks for me. Am I an emo or something? Yeah… no. You see, I am a first class grade A Freak. I am a mutant. Straight out of X-Men, only this is real life. And I go to public school. You think the world is kind, you don’t remember high school. Where do I start?”

“At The Beginning.”

“Okay, here goes. Well, the most obvious thing about me is that I can duplicate things. I can create more of pretty much anything. From one more to a hundred more, depending on how much strength I have.”

“Now that is seriously cool. I could do a lot with something like that.”

“Tell that to my school. To them, I’m Torrance the freak show. I’m getting the whole 1950’s segregation feeling, short of white and colored water fountains. They’re following the law but finding a loophole by physically and verbally abusing us. It kills me inside.”

“Can’t say I’ve been through worse.”

“You see, I have three trials- getting a friend, avoiding bullies, and Mr. Ford.”

“You named one of your troubles?”

“No, his mother did.”

“Ah… go on. I’m listening.”

“There ain’t anyone who would want to befriend a freak, no matter how much they make me like me. Too much pressure, too much threats, heck, I would chicken out too. And don’t get me started on dating.”

“Okay, then, I won’t.”

“So then there are the bullies. Enjoy being hung from a flagpole by your underwear, nearly drowned in a toilet, and something entirely original. Torrance-Ball. It’s where the bullies throw you around like a ball. I’m short, so I am the perfect size for abuse.”

“Well, why in the flipping heck would you not just fight back?”

“How? I’m short, the NERDS pick on me, and my little skill can only do people good. What am I supposed to do?”

“We’ll get to that. So go on.”

“And Mr. Ford. He’s a psycho in a class by himself. Plus he’s my homeroom teacher. Lovely. You see, he and the rest of my school want me to use my powers to resupply the school, but the board, while pretty dang impersonal, was understanding that using my power drained me of energy if used too much. Mr. Ford pretty much doesn’t give a flying-“

“Hate to interrupt, wouldn’t you just say no?”

“I would, but this guy has threatened my family’s safety. You see, this guy is my teacher, he knows where I live, and did you hear the word ‘Psycho?’ This guy once parked in front of my house and just sat there.”

“Holy jumping… so I guess this means he forces you into it.”

“That would be correct. My parents know about it, they want to stop it, but what could they do? So that’s how I got in jail. My teacher actually cut a gash across his chest, planted the knife in my desk, and since the whole world hates me anyway, I get a 5-year sentence planted on me despite hiring the best lawyer for Mutants we could find.”

“Okay, now it’s my turn, Tory. You see, what is wrong in your life you can’t really help, so it seems. But everything that has happened to me is 100% my genuine fault.”

“It has, eh? Let’s see what you’ve got, Carla.”

“This started way back when I was ten. I was a good girl, good family, everything was good. I attended a boarding school on the other side of Reno. That’s when it all started.”

“You were probably expecting this, but when all what happened?”

“Well… everything. I was ten and got into the wrong crowd, which always seems to be the way it starts. They were the same age as I was, but acted like they
were in their late teens. They got me into things that I’m still kicking the heck out of myself over. First crime I committed was stealing from Sears. A godforsaken tube of lipstick. I passed it on to a friend and she got busted for the crime. She served 2 months in jail. Her record is tarnished; her parents don’t trust her, all for what? A freaking tube of lipstick.”

“I’m starting to get the 100% vibe here.”

“You should. After that I kept stealing and treating everyone like crap. My grades dropped, and I was booted out of the school. The only one out of all those girls. So they pretty much ditched me. Then I went back to public school.”

“So I can only assume it got worse?”

“Like you wouldn’t even believe. I can think of a number of obscene words to describe it, but to cut to the chase, I was cheating on all my tests, drinking, you
don’t want to know the rest.”

“I do.”

“NO, you DON’T.”

“Okay, then, I don’t.”

“Well, I can admit this much. During my junior year graduation, I collapsed as I was going to get my diploma. I had overdosed on valium in a suicide attempt, and nearly died. The cops busted me for other drugs my friend planted in my desk. I guess after the lipstick thing I deserved it. I was sentenced to 5 years. Just like you.”

“But that can all be behind us, Carla. We’re in the back of a pickup truck heading anywhere we like. Anywhere from Alabama to Wyoming and in between.”

“Torrance, you don’t honestly believe in that mumbo-jumbo, do you? We escaped from Juvenile Hall. There’s no help for us.”

“You see those starts up there, Carla?”

“No duh, Sherlock. What’s your point?”

“I believe that up there is a loving Elohim who really wants the best for all his kids, and will provide it to them in his own way. I wasn’t meant to be in jail and neither were you. So we’re probably going to get to where we need to be.”

“Yep, you go on believing that, Tory, while I stick to reality.”

“Carla, a little bit of the unbelievable could really ad a spring to your step. You are willing to believe that there’s a person who can recreate anything he wants,
but not that there’s a god in the heavens.”

“I can see you, Tory. I can’t see the latter.”

“You will someday, Carla, you will someday…”

Chapter 2

Todd was beat. I couldn’t really blame the kid, so was I. We had followed the I-80 on foot for about 50 miles. The last thing we had passed was the Rye Patch Dam and Recreational Area. Buffalo Mountain was within eyeshot, and at this time of year I couldn’t believe there was no snow on it. But, hey, just another October in Nevada.

I actually had never been to Nevada before, and all I knew about it was car shows in Reno and Las Vegas in all of its, well, Vegas-i-ness. I actually hail from the backwoods of West Virginia. Beautiful, hard to breathe from all the coal, but still beautiful. But it was in close proximity to Washington D.C. Cue Flashback
Time.

It was October 30, 2005. Nearly 5 years to today. It was raining like you wouldn’t believe. Flooding was becoming a feared threat, but, hey, on the bright side, a long drought had stricken West Virginia. Problem was, we were getting all that lost rain at once.

My brother Ash, my sister, Eve and I were peering out of the window as the water started up to the porch level, which was starting to unnerve us. I was 25. Ash was 25. Eve was 25. Yep, just three triplets coming to a family reunion. Then, suddenly… Flashback time within the flashback time. God, I gotta learn how to better time my flashbacks.

Now I am SURE I have it. It was still October 30th, 2005. Our birthdays and a perfect reason for a family Reunion. We were at good ole Ranson, West Virginia. Population-3,793. Eve, Ash and I were the 3 in the ones section.

We were in Ash’s house, and Eve and I were baking the birthday cake. Rule of thumb in the Triplets- NEVER EVER, EVER, EVER LET ASH COOK. You WILL be eating rock-flavored cake, which appears to be a charred mess for a simple reason- it is a charred mess. I pride myself on being a good cook, so Eve and I decided to tackle it ourselves. It’s not a burden; I love to cook as much as the next Julia Child.

Ash was sitting at the kitchen table reading a newspaper. His face lit up and he read aloud “Lookee here, Philly won another game!”

Ash and his sports. What a total man. Eve grinned and shouted “Super Bowl, here we come!” as she pumped her fist in the air. Okay, so we went to the Super Bowl every year. That doesn’t mean I’m exactly a fan of it. Rolling my eyes, I managed a weak fist-pump and got back to beating the living crap out of the eggs. Eve was brutally whipping the cream. Yep, that’s us. The kitchen tormentors. We beat the eggs and whip the cream.

Okay, please, PLEASE forgive that horrendous pun.

We were expecting a lot of family- Mom, Dad, Aunts, Uncles, the whole shebang. After all, we were hitting the big 2-5 and were still as youthful as ever.
While I was cracking the last egg, I decided that it may be a good idea to turn on the TV to help football-head Ash over here. Ironically, it was already on the news. Breaking news for that matter.

Our local weatherman had popped up and said “If you have any plans for today, I’d advise you cancel them as there is a tornado warning in the area of Jefferson County, West Virginia. It’s expected to fly right into the heart of Ranson, so if I were you, I’d get to your basements, hide in the bathtubs and get your biggest down comforter, because it is going to be a doozy of a storm.”

Eve shrieked and dropped the cream. On me. Glass bowl, too. Cue my painful scream. I grabbed my foot and hopped over to the table, grabbing the home phone. I guess now would be a good time to say we had no basement, no bathtub (we used a small shower) and we just moved back in from College, so our down comforters were hidden amongst about 50 boxes. Convenient. Just Freaking Convenient.

All there was to do was peer out the window in anticipation. I grabbed a phone and told all our folks the bad news. As in the “STAY AT HOME IF YOU VALUE LIFE!” kind of message.

Now we’re back here at the original flashback. Eve was, frankly, a mess. She scared quite easily and the thought of a tornado, well…

“Oh my god, what are we gonna do?” she sobbed. “We’re gonna all die! Are you sure mom and dad and the rest are on their way back?”

“No,” I reassured her. “They’re staying in Washington D.C. until the storm clears.”

“Flo, you idiot!” she yelled aloud. I can’t hold it against her, she’s frightened. “What if the storm heads that way! Or if we don’t even make it out of the storm?”

“Don’t worry,” I replied. “I have a plan.”

Ash, unusually silent for this long, put in “What do you have up your magic sleeve?”

“Nothing much, I’m just gonna control the storm.”

Perhaps now I should mention that I never revealed my powers to anybody. But before anyone could ask me what I meant, I was out the door and on my way to destroy a tornado.

“Hey, Flo.” Todd shook my arm. “You seem out of it. A lot on your mind?”

I nodded and noted “If the highway sign is right, a little village of Oreana is next.”

“Highways, what an amazing thing,” he said, excited. “Cars, too. It’s like I’m seeing things for the first time.”

“Well, Todd,” I said, kicking a rock competitively, “That’s because you are

Chapter 3

Torrance kept watching the skies. That was all there was to see. That and a rusty pickup truck he and Carla were being transported in. Interstate 90 was usually empty outside of their hometown of Reno. They were lying in the truck bed, out of view. If a police helicopter came, they had a tarp. Yessiree, they came prepared.

Carla was sprawled out sloppily among the entire truck bed, taking up a lot of space, considering that Torrance had to be shorter than ever. Smiling and sighing, Torrance gently moved the sleeping blonde to one side of the truck, himself to another. Man, escaping from juvie hall was tough work, but they had managed to do it. Flashback time.

Torrance was pacing back and forth in his jail cell, nervous as a fish in shark territory. He had just finished seeing his parents, a meeting cut short after
Torrance accidentally mentioned Mr. Ford. It was apparently against policy to mention a single detail about a case while in touch with others, unless it is to have them hire a lawyer. Next visiting time was in a week from now. Hopefully they would hire a lawyer. Not that it would matter, Torrance thought, because I’m screwed for being a mutant. I’m screwed for being alive.

The guard, New Yawker James Jefferson, noticed the kid. “Young guy, relax. A’ight? It’s all gonna work out. I read your case files, read up a bit on the illegitimate guy you mentioned, and you gots the case in the bag. You don’t seem to have a knife, so fuhgeddaboutit! This Juvie ain’t that bad. They treat you like people here.”

Torrance started to trust the officer. “They won’t with me.” He replied. “Can I show you something?”

James nodded.

Torrance got his soda can he was given previously, took it, and duplicated it. The cells from the first can came apart from each other, split into two, and formed back together, each set of cells creating its own can. Angrily, he threw the can on the ground and stomped on it once or twice, ashamed of his own power.

James smiled, took a decimated can, took it, and Torrance watch in awe as it un-crumpled itself, reverted back to its original state, and filled up from bottom to top. James smiled. “They treat everyone like people here, young guy.” He handed the can to Torrance. “Here, this way you’ll never run out of soda, and you’ll always remember how our powers are benefits, not curses.”

Torrance awoke from his dreams. All recaps, all the time. Every dream was reliving a scene of his life. Carla jolted up from her own sleep, shouting out in surprise.

It was morning, and they were no longer in the truck. They had been thrown off at highway exit 119 in the Nevadan portion of I-80.

“What happened?” Carla asked, grabbing Torrance’s arm. He didn’t exactly mind that, responding with an “I don’t know. Maybe they heard the news. We’re practically world-famous.”

Carla threw her hands up in the air. “Great. Just Great! Now what do we do, Torrance? There’s nowhere to hide, nowhere to go, we’re screwed! We don’t even know where we are!”

Torrance tapped her shoulder gently. “Carla, uhm, there’s a sign.”

Carla read it aloud. “You are at Oreana, Nevada. The small hamlet by the dam. Now you know where you are.”

She rolled her eyes. “Shut up, sign.”

Chapter 4

Carla only took two things with her when she escaped from juvie hall, one of which she cherished dearly. Her mother’s necklace and her journal. Fortunately,
her mother had not died, but Carla was not sure if she would ever see her mother again, so she made sure to grab the necklace as she and Torrance made it out of one of the many Juvenile halls in Reno, Nevada. Flashback Time.

Carla had been in juvenile hall for about a year now. She rarely heard from her parents, and she couldn’t blame them. She had let them down. And although she had never taken drugs in her life, such as she had been framed for, she knew she deserved this. She had been living far too recklessly, and felt herself better off here than out there.

She was half-asleep on her single-cot room when James rattled her cell bars. In her opinion, James was the nicest staff there. Everyone else was either a counselor-type hippie or a hard-nosed jerk. James was real. Carla, a tad bit dazed, scrambled out of her covers and fell out of her cot onto the floor.

“Whoa, young lady.” James grinned, amused. “Careful there. Youse gonna break a bone there.”

Carla couldn’t help but smile. James was New Yorker and proud to admit it. “Hey, James. I should be the one rattling the bars. Got any flour?”

James laughed. “To bake what with? We ain’t about to put a stove in people’s rooms, they’d burn the entire friggin place down!”

Carla replied “Guess I should just, I dunno, fuhgeddaboutit, eh?” as she winked.

James laughed again. “I’m here with a tad bit of bad news.”

The smile ran from Carla’s face. “Oh, crap. What is it now?”

“We got two new delinquents today.” James added. Personally, Carla hated it when he used the term delinquent. It made her feel worthless, not that she would admit it to him. “They need a room to their selves, since they’re siblings, and the older is very protective of the younger one. So we need to move you out of here into a shared room so we can put some bunks in here.”

Carla raised her eyebrows. “So who am I bunking with?”

James scratched his head. “He’s a real nervous shy-guy. He’s got something special about him, though. Amazing talent.”

Carla put her hand up. “Whoa whoa whoa.” She said, worried. “You lost me at ‘he’.”

James frowned. “Yeppers, lady, we only gots one bunk available. Shameful when you think about it. But don’t worry. This guy couldn’t hurt a fly.”

Carla nodded, unbelieving but not wanting to let James down. In about a minute, before James had the chance to leave, Carla had all her stuff packed.

“That was fast.” James quipped, smiling.

Carla replied with “Don’t have much to pack.”

“Carla, you alive there?” Torrance snapped his fingers and snapped her out of her daydream. She swung around, nearly clocking him in the face. In fact, if he hadn’t dodged, that would’ve been one heckuva accident.

Torrance looked ahead at what was supposed to be Oreana but was instead a ghost town. Oreana’s structure was that of a pass-through gas station town. It had a pizza place, a gas station, of course, a movie rental place, a grocery store, a bank, a couple houses, and a drugstore. Every door was open, there were no cars, and no people. It was really freaking Carla out.

Torrance, however, was another story. A whole town for the taking. He tapped Carla on the shoulder and asked “How do you feel about getting a DVD player from the drugstore, getting a few movies from the movie rental place, going to the pizza place and enjoy dinner and a movie? After all our troubles we deserve a little relaxation.”

Carla wasn’t really in the relaxation type of mood. “Torrance, everyone’s gone. This just seems like a really scary movie.”

Torrance shrugged. “Hey, maybe they won one of those vacations for the entire town like that place in Texas.”

Carla gave him an incredulous look.

Torrance shrugged. “What?”

Carla had half a mind to knock some sense into him. But his smile was too dang big, and too dang infectious. She gave in and shrugged. “Sounds good, I
guess. Risky, but good. I haven’t had pizza in what seems like years.”

Chapter 5

Carla had missed eating actual food. The Juvenile hall she had been in may have treated you human, but they sure made you eat like a farm animal. The food was practically dog crap.

Torrance ate his food with grace, but Carla was digging in like she had never eaten in her life. Torrance was trying not to direct his laughter at her as he ate another piece of salad, their troubles evaporating as they watched a comedy routine from Larry the Cable Guy, a perfect way to get a lifetime of weight off your shoulders without committing any acts of violence.

Carla sighed and said “Ah… this is the life. We have the entire town to ourselves. That is, until some angry pizza store owner comes in and is all like ‘Mama Mia, what-a are-a you a-doing-a?’”

Torrance burst out in laughter, spilling his soda on his lap. This caused Carla to laugh, as if Larry warn’t ev’n thare. Both of them spent the next minute bursting out in laughter to the point that Carla was starting to cry.

Torrance took in a breath and composed himself a little and asked “Hey Carla, you okay? Seriously, you’re freaking me out. Are you schizophrenic or something?”

This caused Carla to laugh even more, almost insanely, before she made an attempt to compose herself and her mess of emotions and replied “I’m okay, Tory, seriously, it’s just, I don’t remember the last time I was this happy.”

“Well, then, I’m honored.” Torrance’s smile could have lit up the Mammoth Caves.

Carla then added “Being here and now, I don’t care if we get caught; it was worth it just to be this happy again.”

Torrance beamed as he took a bite of pizza.

That was when someone burst through the door, wooden bow and arrow in hand.

Torrance mumbled something unintelligible through his full mouth.

A teenaged Indian girl was aiming a loaded weapon (bow and arrow to be repetitive) at the two surprise diners. She seemed to be wearing normal clothes, a shirt and a skirt, entirely brown, but on a second glance, Torrance could tell that they were made out of animal skins. He put his hands up while Carla went to shake her hand. “Great to meet you!” Carla said, surprising the Indian. “My name’s Carla and this is Torrance. Who are you?”

The Indian got her bow and arrow up again and said “Back away, Carla. Or I will shoot.”

Carla backed away, still smiling, and whispered to Torrance “I think she’s in a bad mood, that’s all.”

Torrance hissed back “Of course she is, we friggin broke in to their abandoned town!”

The mysterious Indian never let her bow down for a minute. “What are you doing in our town with our things with no payment?”

Carla never stopped smiling. “We thought this was a ghost town. We looked around, no one was here, and we thought everyone had just, I dunno, moved!”

The Indian put her bow and arrow down and smirked. “How absurd. We whom you call Indians were merely on a hunt. The entire town went. Even women and children. And I got to test out this beautiful creation of mine.” She lifted her bow back up.

The bow was impressive. The detailed markings on the side depicted flowers, trees and mountains. It was like walking through a wooden forest just looking at it. Torrance whistled in awe.

“Impressive, huh?” The Indian beamed proudly. “I drew it myself.”

Carla walked over to the mysterious Indian and told her “We’re sorry for the mix-up, ma’am. We thought you had abandoned the town. It doesn’t look like any
Indian settlement I’ve ever seen in books.”

The Indian simply replied with “You cannot believe everything you read. Even Indians have movie stores and pizza parlors. We even live in houses. That does not make us like the lazy white man.”

Carla, hands up, put in “Hey, we were all carved out of the same rock. No need to get all racist.”

“Just as you are of us.” The Indian spat back. “You still, after all the generations, assume us as savages. We are like you in so many ways.”

“Exactly.” Carla replied. “So no need to call us lazy.”
The Indian paused for a moment and replied “Touché. Now come with me. There are fellow white settlers with us. You should meet them.”

Before Torrance could argue, Carla put in “We would be honored, wouldn’t we, Torrance?”

Torrance shrugged and said “Guess so.”

The Indian stooped down on the ground. “Torrance, Carla, I would like to show you something. It will help you understand me and who I am.” Carla eagerly knelt down to see. Torrance stood upright, not entirely trusting her, and a little frightened of the bow.

The Indian smiled as she beckoned him down, and shoved her bow and arrow away carefully. “I don’t bite, Torrance. Trust me.”

Nervously, Torrance bent down on the ground, as she got a piece of playground chalk out of her skirt pocket and started to draw a flower on the ground. No detail escaped from her knowledge; every aspect of the Morning Glory was accounted for. That was amazing enough to Carla and Torrance, but then it got more amazing. She put her hands on the flower, completely covering it, and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she lifted her hands and in them was an actual Morning Glory. The exquisite drawing was gone.

Carla squealed with excitement and a little bit of envy. Torrance grinned, loving the feeling of not being alone. The Indian smiled. “Now you know that I am different. My power is a blessing. They call me a long Indian name I will not reveal to you in fears that your efforts to pronounce it will butcher it, but in English, it means Wonder.”

Torrance took the flower from Wonder’s hand and told her “Now it’s my turn.” He closed his eyes, and momentarily, the cells of the flower were floating in the air and splitting in half. Pretty soon, they had formed two Morning Glories. He handed a flower back to Wonder and another he put in Carla’s hair. “Now you know that I am different. I just don’t have a fancy name like you do.”

Wonder looked at Carla. Carla shrugged and added “I got nothing. Sorry.”

Wonder nodded and started walking. Carla grinned at Torrance and repositioned the flower in her hair as they followed Wonder to the outskirts of the small village.

About 10 minutes later, Wonder stopped. “Well, here we are. Our white friends also have powers like You and I, Torrance.”

Torrance was about to walk over when a sudden blast of water hit Carla, Wonder and Torrance, with the strength of a big wave, soaking them to the bone.

“Sorry!” I yelled back. Todd shook his head and added “Way to go, Aunt Flo.”

Chapter 6

Five minutes and several towels later, three very soaked teenagers were sitting around a campfire in Beaver-Skin clothes that you could mistake for Levis and
a Denim Jacket. I think I may have given Torrance a cold, poor thing.

“So, who are you, and what on earth was that water?” was the first question he had to ask.

“Florence Mayer,” I responded, hand out. He shook it and replied with a “Torrance Klein. Nice to meet you. Are you a mutant, perchance?”

“No I am not.” I replied, hating the term. “I am an individual with extreme powers. Not a mutant in any way, shape or form.”

Torrance smiled. “I like the way you think, ma’am.”

Ma’am. Can you believe that? First time I got that from a stranger, instead of “Over here, 11411.”

Carla was next. After the extremely polite introduction, I knew I was gonna like these two newcomers.

“Around the campfire newcomers.” I announced. “Torrance, you ever wonder why you have your powers?”

“All the time.” He replied nervously.

“Well, you’re looking at test subject 11411 of the secret Mutant Control division of the Government. I gots the tattoo to prove it.” I pulled the arm of my shirt up to reveal that I in fact had 11411 marked in ink on my arm. I pulled the sleeve back up and added “If you wanted to keep it secret, why’d you make the tattoo?”

“Dare I ask, what went on there?” Carla asked.

I shook my head. Wonder added “She never likes to talk about it.”

“That’s right. But, I can tell you how you got your powers.”

Torrance leaned over, grabbing Carla’s hand tightly. She blushed just a little bit, but made sure to try not to let me know. I winked and continued.

“When you were created-and let’s just leave it at that-“Cue Carla releasing Torrance’s hand and them both turning red “You had double the cells than you needed. So every other cell was put to work at a power to make the world better. And… that’s it.”

“That simple?” Carla asked. “I expected it to be much more complicated than THAT.”

Torrance smiled, and for some reason re-grabbed Carla’s hand. I raised my eyebrows, practically having kids now, and winked. Yahweh knows I would tease my real kids had I any. I also noticed that Wonder was gone. “Wonder?” I called. “Where’d you go?”

As if on cue, Wonder ran in and said “The Pizza place… on fire!”

Chapter 7

That brought a feeling of shock, enough shock to light up the dark side of the moon. “What the heck?” I cried out. “Who would burn down the pizza place?”

Carla muttered an obscenity and said “We were there, Tory! Someone’s after us!”

“How can that be, Carla?” he shouted, frightened. “The cops wouldn’t burn down an entire building just to catch us!”

Carla kicked a log in frustration, pretty dang hard, too. I’m surprised that she didn’t break a toe. She yelled “It’s not the godforsaken police, dang it!” shaking Torrance’s shoulders.

“Cool it, Carla.” Torrance told her nervously, putting his hands on hers, which were shaking him up like a fruit salad. “You’re about to have a panic attack. Just take a deep breath.”

Carla let him go and took in a deep breath “Okay, getting my senses together, Tory. Sorry about that.” Torrance smiled and nodded, and then Carla added

“But I just don’t know what to do. I would never say this to anyone else, Torrance, but” she leaned in to whisper “I’m really frightened.”

I prepped myself for battle. “Okay, I’m gonna need your guys’ help to fight this fire. I can control the fire but I can’t destroy it. So, Wonder, I’m going to need you to draw a couple of things-a bucket and a flame-resistant suit. Torrance, you duplicate the buckets and fill them with dirt. I’ll control the buckets and throw the dirt into the pizza place, because dirt works better on fire than water. Carla, you get the suit on and look for anyone in the fire, you get them out safely, okay? If he’s a civilian, we want him safe, if he’s the one who started this B.S., well, I wanna talk to the son of a-“

“What about me?” Todd asked me, and thank Yah; I was just about to uncork enough vulgarities to cut down a forest.

“If any plant life gets in the way, Todd, grow a new one.” I added. Todd’s power, which was never referred to before, was to plant in an instant, instead of years and years. Todd got out his jar of seeds, which he always kept with him after snatching it from Mutant Control. I’m getting to that, jeez, you don’t seem to get that those memories are hard for me to tell to other people.

Wonder got out her chalk and stated drawing Buckets, beautiful as buckets can be, but she didn’t bother getting into details. A few seconds later, a foot tall bucket stood in front of Torrance. Taking in a deep breath, he started duplicating the cells of the buckets, then again, then again, then again. Meanwhile I was trying to move all the fire to one spot, to avoid it spreading. Wonder started on the flame-suit, but that’s a tall order. She knew how to draw everything, but what do you draw on it to make it flame-resistant?

Nothing is the answer. You just believe that it is flame-resistant, as corny as it sounds, I mean, you’re creating it. It’s all up to you.

Torrance started to fill the buckets with dirt and gravel from the side of the highway, and I started to telekinetically bring them over to the fire. A bit tough, but I could handle it. It feels like you’re really carrying it, but from a distance. I had been given 3 times the strength of an average body builder, explaining the scrunched SUV over past Winnemucca. But the energy it takes to use your powers really takes it out of you. It’s like a limitation, to rationalize your power. Makes you more humble.

Carla put on the suit, and, to test it, put her hand in the fire. Suddenly, she cried out in pain.

Wonder turned around and said “OHMYGODAREYOUOKAY?”

Carla started laughing. “Yeah, yeah, just messing with you. You really need to lighten up, you know, Miss Bow and Arrow Introduction.”

Wonder giggled a little, her job finished.

Carla rushed into the fire. The place was a wreck. The TV they were watching the comedy routine on emitted more sparks than chemistry between couples.

The Salad Bar really wasn’t, unless you prefer flambé. And burnt pizza, let’s not forget that. Plus, the beams were looking mighty shaky. Carla knew she had to
hurry; her life definitely depended on it.

Todd walked around the back. A tree started to catch on fire, and then fell to the ground within inches of him. He yelled out in shock, and then put a seed next to the trunk of the fallen one. The thing sprouted up 30 feet in the air. Satisfied, he walked away with no fear that it would burn again. Todd’s trees had the side effect of being indestructible and having a nice infinite age. Makes you wish he could grow humans, eh?

The fire was starting to grow out of my control, despite the gravel I was pouring on it. I then smacked my forehead in frustration, accidentally splattering gravel on myself. Of course! Why didn’t I think of it sooner? I started to grab the entire gravel gathering by the road and poured it into the fire.

Meanwhile, Carla was dodging the gravel being poured down through the nonexistent roof. To her horror, an entire roomful of it was heading down on her. She ducked under a table as it fell. Sighing with relief, she crawled back from under it when she slipped on the rocks and fell against a pizza cutter leftover from earlier, ripping open her suit and cutting a gash into her leg. She sank to the ground, helpless. She could only hope someone would save her before the fire went out.

Suddenly, she heard a human cry from the arcade room. Desperate, she started crawling over slowly as gravel fell from the heavens like manna, hitting her repeatedly. Her leg started to get burned with the absence of the suit on her leg, and she was starting to worry it might spread. But, she had a job to do.

Reaching the arcade room, she called out “Is anyone there? Anyone?”

A mean looking man, also wearing a flame-resistant suit, reached for her and with a gruff voice, replied “Got you, you little-“

“Oh, no.” she replied, rising unsteadily to her feet and hobbling away, “I’ve had enough crap in my life, and I am not going to add kidnapping to my list.”

“Oh, yeah, you little runt?” Replied the man, stopping. “What you gonna do about it?”

Carla spit at the man and told him “Why don’t you come ask me face-to-face?”

The man, enraged, started to charge, and ran into Carla’s pizza cutter, which hit him in the stomach, not enough to kill him, but enough to leave him writhing on the ground in pain. Angrily, Carla got on her knees and started to drag the man out. A harder task than it sounds when your leg is broken.

Torrance and Wonder waited anxiously as the fire died down for Carla to get out. Todd was planting more replacement plants along the building and I was finishing the fire off.

Suddenly, she emerged, on hands and knees, dragging our mystery man out. Noticing her leg, I threw some gravel on it to stop the fire, and she cried out in pain “ENOUGH OF THE GRAVEL!”

I ran over, the fire dead now, and saw that she had a gash in her leg. “Dang! That’s a bad tear.”

“I’ll say!” Wonder replied. “Who’s that?”

“A sonomagun, let’s just leave it at that.” Carla replied.

Torrance removed the head of the sonomagun’s suit and in shock, replied “I know this man!”

Carla dragged herself over to him and replied “Who is it?”

Still in shock, Torrance replied “That’s my evil teacher, Mr. Ford.”

[Zunar]

That's pretty good! Add more plz!

[MessengerOfDreams]

Most of these chaptersn should be shorter than usual so they should be speedier than most to make. Thannks zunar!

[Buff_]

Great start, I like the way it's going. *thumbs up*

[MessengerOfDreams]

Will have chapter 2 up tomorrow!

[MICrophone]

Not bad…not bad at all…but…make it original (a.k.a. don't make this X-Men). It's original so far, but make sure you keep it that way.

[MessengerOfDreams]

Chapters 2 and 3 are up! Rawr!

[Buff_]

They were quite good, although a little confusing. Maybe you could space out the paragraphs a bit more, please?

[MessengerOfDreams]

Chapter 4 out, peoples!

[MICrophone]

All right. This is still good, but it's starting to become…not tight. All you have so far is people moving, flashbacks, and dialogue. You're taking too long to have something happen, and you're taking a little too long to explain how everybody became mutants and stuff. I would suggest you do both of those things in Chapter 5. Good otherwise, though.