The Loonatics all swapped uneasy looks. The snow-white bunny remained where he was, still smiling lopsidedly and waiting calmly. Ace stepped forward, addressing the waiting figure.
"Hey, uh... John, right?" The bunny tilted his head lazily giving him that casual grin.
"Jason"
"Jason… right. Anyway, listen buddy. We-" Ace motioned towards the rest of his team. "-Just don't let anyone in. There is a rigorous physical and psychological screening that you have to pass." Duck chose this moment to butt in.
"And even if you do pass them, having a superpower is kinda essential you know." Ace sighed inwardly as Lexi swiftly slapped Duck across the back of his head. "Ow… watch the feathers!" Luckily Jason seemed unoffended by Duck's bluntness.
"Yeah about that… I was gonna tell you guys once I passed, but I guess I might as well let you guys know now." Ace raised his eyebrow sharply.
"Tell us what?" Jason met his eyes calmly and coolly. They were deep brown and highly unsettling.
"I can pretty much read your thoughts." He smiled slyly at The Loonatics, mostly directing it at Lexi "and I must say… you're certainly intriguing." Lexi's face turned a brilliant shade of red. The others all shifted uncomfortably. Ace kept up a friendly façade, his smile tight.
"Alright then, why don't we get you started with the obstacle course. Tech would you mind showing Jason to the obstacle course?" Tech started moving towards the training room, Rev and Duck fell in step with him. Jason followed them, smirking as he passed Lexi. Ace watched him go. Once they were alone, he turned to Lexi. "What do you think?"
"Well, he's not that bad looking." Ace raised an eyebrow. She smiled cheekily "I'm kidding! He seems alright if a little cocky. His power certainly is interesting."
"As well as dangerous." Lexi shrugged.
"All our powers are dangerous, we may just have to take that risk." Ace had to concede that point.
"I suppose we'll just have to wait for the screening result to come back then discuss it with everyone else." He started off in the direction of his room "Anyway, I'm taking this fine opportunity to get a decent rest." Lexi flopped down on the couch, turned on the television and let it wash over her.
Tech sat in his lab, pouring over the screening results for the fifth time. He was sure there had been a mistake. Not with the physical portion, that all checked out. It was the psychological evaluation. He had calibrated it to test applicants for any forms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, any personality disorders or anxiety. Jason had passed with flying colours. That wasn't the issue. Tech had also thrown in some other general knowledge and Intelligence Quotient (IQ) questions to hide the true purpose of the tests. Jason had an IQ of two hundred. Tech was considered a genius by anyone who worked with or knew him, his IQ was only one hundred and sixty. He was mulling the implications of this development over as the door to his lab slid open seamlessly. Paying it no attention, he continued inspecting the findings.
"Hey doc, whatcha thinking about?" Tech spun around as Jason leant against one of the tables in his lab. Jason chuckled at Tech's surprise. "Stupid question, I already know." He tapped the side of his head. "Anyway, I've got nothing else to do so I thought I'd give you guys a hand with stuff."
Tech raised an eyebrow. Seeing Jason was serious, he directed him to his latest invention, or what would be his latest invention. It was a round cylindrical object, with a large spike at one end. A transparent plastic bulb was at the opposite end. One of the panels from the side of the cylinder had been removed, the wires were spilt out with other internal components spread around the workbench.
"Now my latest invention, a personal kinetic energy diffraction barrier device, basically a forcefield. I've been working on it for a couple of months now, unfortunately, I've been unable to achieve a satisfactory strength of the barrier." Jason coolly assessed the disembowelled forcefield device.
"How long have you been trying to fix this issue?"
Tech hated having to admit when he couldn't solve a problem by himself. "I've been trying for five weeks," Jason smirked as he leant close to Tech's ear
"Have you tried attaching the plasma to the output unit directly?" Tech eyes widened. How could he have not seen that before?
"That would stop them from having to share power, which was weakening the barrier." With an exaggerated bow, Jason left him to fix his device, pausing at the door.
"Oh, by the way, Tech," Tech looked up. "The test's actually wrong. It's two hundred and ten." Flashing his lazy smile Jason left.
Lexi was lying by herself on the roof of the tower. It was her favourite spot to just come late in the day and just unwind. It had been a long day, she really needed a breather. The new guy had turned out to be way more interesting than she had expected. After her chat with Ace, she had just waited for the physical trial to finish. She must have dozed off because next thing she was waking up to Duck and Rev arguing about what show to watch. They told her how the trial had gone. Jason had blitzed it, coming second only to Rev. That had surprised her. He hadn't looked real athletic. But then again looks could be deceiving. The only thing that worried her about Jason was his power. Despite what she had told Ace when Jason had said he could read their thoughts she had realised that he knew what she thought of him and of the others. Luckily Ace hadn't noticed her reaction otherwise he may have been curious why she was blushing. She didn't know how he would react if she told him how she felt about him. Lexi pushed that out of her mind as she took in the beautiful landscape. The setting sun reflected off all the glass from the surrounding buildings, giving everything an orange tinge. Looking out past the city, she could see the calm stillness of the ocean, smooth and untouched. It was amazing. Lexi was snapped out of her musings as someone sprawled on the ground beside her. Glancing in that direction, she saw it was Jason.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He was staring into the middle distance, seemingly lost in the picturesque scenery.
"Yeah. It really is." Jason glanced at Lexi, who was still enthralled by the view.
"Listen, you know after this do you maybe wanna grab a couple of drinks?" Lexi baulked at the suggestion
"What?! No, we're teammates it wouldn't be professional." Jason bit back hard.
"You wouldn't say that same thing to Ace."
"What? That's ridiculous! He's the team leader, it would be even more unprofessional!" Jason just smirked at her excuses
"I can read your mind remember? I know how you feel about him and I know how he feels about you and honestly, you're wasting your time." Lexi's couldn't hide her disappointment. Ace didn't feel the same way she did. Jason leant in close staring straight into her eyes.
"I also know you find me attractive, so why wait?" As he leant in even closer, Lexi shifted back ever so slightly, hoping somehow, she could get out of this terrible situation. He drew closer until their lips brushed against each other. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught someone standing in the doorway leading back down from the roof. As she turned to look at the figure, she realised it was Ace. Blushing profusely, she stood abruptly dusting herself down and pulling away from Jason, who for his part offered Ace his usual cocky smile.
Ace stood unmoving, arms crossed and clearly vexed. He was silent for a few moments before he spoke.
"Lexi, you know how we all feel about this. You know how these sorts of things end."
"I didn't see her pulling away anytime soon." Ace turned to the white bunny, staring him down. He remained unbowed.
"Jason, please just let me talk to my second in command. The team will be voting on whether you will be accepted or not." The tone of his voice brooked no argument. With a wink at Lexi, he left leaving Ace and Lexi alone.
"Ace, it wasn't my fault! I was just sitting up here and out of the blue he showed up and kissed me!" she decided to omit that Jason had told her how Ace felt.
"Lex… I'm- I- What I'm trying to say is-" Ace looked out at the view. "-You know what, we can talk about this later. Now let's go vote." Lexi just nodded, wondering what he had been trying to say. Ace turned and left the rooftop, only to run into Jason in the corridor leading to the loungeroom.
"Hey Ace, can I talk to you?"
"Uh, sure what is it?" Jason cast furtive glances around to ensure they were alone.
"Not here." He gestured to the room closest to them. "Your room would be better." Puzzled, Ace lead him into his room.
"Okay, what did you what to tell me?" Jason rubbed the back of his head sheepishly
"Well, I kinda forgot to mention my other power." Ace's eyebrows shot up.
"Really? Okay, then what is it." There was a pause before he got a response
"Well uh… it's hard to explain. You see I can- Oh dropped your pen." Ace frowned
"I didn't bring in a pe-" The last few words were cut off as Jason rose from a crouched position, closing the distance and sliding a small penknife in between Ace's ribs. A cruel smile spread across his face as he removed the knife and watched as Ace tried feebly to staunch the blood flowing from the vicious wound. He stumbled back against the wall and slowly slid down into a sitting position, eyes wide from shock, hands desperately clasped against his side. Jason crouched down next to Ace, his voice barely above a whisper
"I can do…this." He pressed a single finger against Ace's forehead. Immediately Jason began to change, growing the same size and height of Ace. Then his fur changed colour from its usual snow white to a light grey. Suddenly there were two identical bunnies, one slumped against the wall, bleeding, and the other crouching next to him. An evil perverse grin spread across Jason's face as he slowly stood and turned his back on the semiconscious bunny. Ace, his body rapidly shutting down, managed to croak
"Why are you doing this?" Jason barely paused next to the door before replying
"Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." He left the room as Ace lost his battle and slipped into unconsciousness.
