The tension was so thick in the air that you could cut it with a knife. The gang was sitting at their normal table at the end of lunch. Jade was leaning against Beck as he held her but watched Robbie with intense eyes. Robbie was looking at him with the same amount of intensity which somehow Jade didn't notice. Cat was coloring in a book but not a normal coloring book she was coloring DNA strains and Andre was watching all of them.
"Is everything alright guys?" Andre asked flinching a little as both boys turned their gaze from each other to him.
"Yes Andre, we're doing fine except I need to talk to Robbie and something, is that okay Jade?"
"Yeah that's fine with me, just don't be too long I don't want you to get geek cooties or anything," she said snapping at Robbie. About a week ago she overheard in the bathroom a pair of Senior girls saying that Jade and Beck were so cool but it was weird how close Jade was with Robbie. Beck and Robbie was understanding they were boys after all and since then she'd been treating him less like a person and more like a thing which just made Robbie even more irritated but he directed it towards Beck instead. Pushing himself up from the table he handed Rex to Cat.
"Watch him for me," he said to which she nodded and set him next you him.
"You can have blue Rex," she said putting it in his hand as Robbie followed Beck along the side of the school. Making sure no one else was around Beck shoved his hands into his pockets and faced Robbie. Figuring that they were about to throw down Robbie clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes at his dear friend relaxing, only a little, when Beck held up his hands in surrender.
"Look Robbie let's just start over, I think it's awesome that you have powers too and I finally have someone I can talk to about this."
"You mean aside from Jade," Robbie spat and Beck's eyes widened in surprise, "I tackled you as you waved goodbye, she protected you, she called me a monster. I will play the part of a high school student, I can even pretend to be okay with you and Jade but she's right, I'm a monster."
"Stop it Robbie, she called Mastermind a monster not you, she didn't know it was you."
"And why didn't you just tell her?"
"It's not my secret to tell," he said softly looking away but hearing Robbie laugh got him to stare at him again.
"You really are the hero type aren't you Beck? So what you think if she found out I had powers everything would be fine? What about the fact that we don't have the same powers? That as Mastermind I can make people do anything I want them to, do you think she'd still be fine with that?"
"I cant talk for her but she was much more understanding when I told her."
"That's because she loves you," he said spitting at the word love, "Bah, as if she knows what real love is."
"And you do?"
"Yes Beck, I know what it means to want to protect someone from everything, knowing that she is sad, hurt, crying just destroys my soul and when you break up with her it will be me consoling her."
"What?"
Closing his eyes and focusing Robbie's eyes flew open glowing red.
"Punch yourself," he ordered and Beck felt his hand close into a fist, with his free hand he tried to stop it pushing down against it.
"What are you doing?" he shouted fear rising as he was losing the fight against his arm.
"Seeing if I can control you like I control others. Looks like I can if I force it enough," he said as the shine in his eyes increased, "Do it, punch yourself!"
Fighting it he tried to stop it but finally he broke and slammed his fist into his face knocking him back onto the ground. Pulling himself up he saw that Robbie's nose was starting to bleed.
"You will dump Jade, you will flirt with another girl and make her so jealous she will come to me," he said stepping over to him slowly, "You will fight with her, you will annoy her, you will stop loving her."
"No Robbie stop!" Beck shouted as he felt Robbie's commands starting to embed themselves into his mind, hands flying up to his head. Robbie kept focusing on these thoughts as Beck slowly opened his eyes which were red as well but Robbie wasn't looking at them. "I'm sorry!" Beck fired a laser blast which sliced into Robbie's shoulder, the pain making him lose focus. Falling backwards Robbie reached up and touched the spot where Beck's vision had sliced his skin, it burned. Turning his attention back to Beck he started to speak when Beck blasted him again, this time along his stomach causing him to scream and fall to his knees. On the ground Robbie heard footsteps and rolled onto his side, bursting through the bushes was Jade who saw her boy friend and her friend on the ground opposite of each other.
"Robbie what did you do? Try to beat Beck up?" she demanded going to his side. Pulling himself up Robbie smiled at her before spitting blood to the side.
"Yeah he's so strong," he mocked slowly standing up. "He's so special isn't he Jade?"
Jade held onto Beck and looked at Robbie, a Robbie she didn't know anymore, a Robbie she only saw in her nightmares. Robbie looked at the couple with pure anger in his eyes, he had nothing else to say to him to to her either so instead he flew up a foot in the air hearing Jade gasp before turning and flying into the air. Another softer gasp could be heard as Cat almost fell down seeing her crush fly off into the air, she had arrived just after Jade had but instead of running away she watched quietly.
"Beck what was that?" Jade demanded but it looked like Beck wasn't going to say, "How is he like you?" Hearing that Cat did run off, trying to figure out some way to help Robbie.
Standing in his bathroom at his place Robbie looked at himself shirtless in the mirror. The burn marks cut into his skin leaving nasty red scars. Gingerly touching the one of his stomach he frowned trying to figure out why Beck could do this and he couldn't, but then again he had the power of command and Beck didn't. It looked like it was just a crap shoot. Walking across the room to where his shirt was laying next to his phone he paused as his phone buzzed for like the millionth time. Picking it up he scrolled through all of Jade's texts asking where he was just not in that nice of words. There was a worried one from Andre who also said Cat left Rex with him and a final one from Cat asking where he was. He thanked Andre for taking care of Rex and told Cat he was at home. Instantly getting a reply from Cat Robbie was surprised.
"No you're not, I'm here and your parents haven't seen you. Jade's really angry and kind of trashing your room too."
"Crap," he muttered asking her what she wanted.
"I just have something I need to talk to you about and want to do it in person."
Shaking his head he sighed and gave her his new address, he received a reply stating that she'd be there soon. Putting on his shirt he scanned the room, picking up the random items that were across the floor and putting them away. After five minutes the bell rang and Robbie let Cat in. She automatically went to his kitchen table and spread out a bunch of items including microscopes and test tubes.
"Cat what are you doing here?"
"I trust you with my life Robbie," she said getting things together, "I saw you and Beck earlier."
This shocked Robbie stepping towards her, "What do you mean?"
"I saw you fly off, heard Jade talk to Beck but it's okay I know what I can do for you now."
"I'm sorry Cat but I cant let you know this about me, I have to make you forget," he said stepping towards her but she turned and faced him.
"I can help you beat Beck." This caused Robbie to stop.
"What?"
"If you beat Beck then that will make Jade sad."
"You really hate her, don't you?"
"I don't want to," she said honestly, "But yes I do, but I love her too."
"What do you mean you can help me beat him?"
"Robbie I'm an amazing scientist, I think that if I study your DNA I can figure out how you got your powers and maybe get you new ones." This got Robbie to small and go over to his computer desk opening the drawer and removing a bag.
"I got one better for you," he said holding up the bag so she could see the letter opener inside, "Beck's DNA."
When Cat was doing her thing with science it was as if she was another person or as she was when she danced. It was so fluid, so amazing that Robbie powered off his phone in order to stop getting the messages from Jade. She turned smiling at him holding up a vial.
"This is it, the reason he has powers and probably the reason you have them too. There's this dormant gene that everyone has, I tested myself against it, but it's active in Beck's DNA. If I could have some of your blood I can test it too but I'm almost completely positive that it has happened for you too. That was the first two hours though I spent the next two," Robbie looked at the clock and was surprised to see that it was already ten pm, "Isolating the gene and pulling it apart, amazing like a rainbow of strands of things, oh I can even put it into words. I made a serum that should give anyone super powers, if you take it, it should give you Beck's powers."
"There's only one power Beck has that I don't have already," noted Robbie to which Cat nodded.
"Yes so you should just get that power, or you'll gain a completely new one," she said smiling a little bit before looking away.
"Is it dangerous?"
"Everything in science is."
Reaching out and taking the device from Cat he pressed it against the inside of his arm and injected himself. Handing it back he took a deep breath and concentrated staring at a picture of Beck he had hung up while she was working. After five solid minutes of trying he just ended up with a head ache.
"What went wrong?" he asked, "Nothing happened at all," he said waving his hand at the picture to show that he didn't have laser vision, however as he did that a blast first from his palms blowing apart the picture and the wall behind it.
"Woah," he said dropping his hands down before looking at them, they looked normal enough.
"Peculiar, it comes out of your hands instead of your eyes. It must be your DNA, you are capable of learning new powers but these powers are dependent on your own DNA. You are not Beck so the likelihood of you having his identical powers would be one in a million. It's quite amazing that you had almost identical powers."
Nodding Robbie held out his hands and felt the energy build up in them. Cat jumped over to him examining the energy within them amazed.
"This goes against all laws of physics, you have to be creating energy from nothing. That shouldn't be real," she said in awe.
"Cat I don't think I should be able to fly or control minds either but somehow I can."
"You're right, I just get a little intense when it comes to science."
"What else can you do?" he asked anxiously.
"Nothing, not yet at least. Please give me your DNA, I'll try to force abilities into it myself but more then likely I need a source to get the powers from. I would need the DNA of another super to give you more powers."
Nodding Robbie began pacing thinking hard suddenly he felt something in his mind, like a small blip. Turning to Cat, his eyes wide.
"That bastard," he stated causing her to look at him oddly.
"What?"
"You gave me all of Beck's powers right?" she nodded, "He has some sort of super sense, but I cant figure out what it is. It's like my command only different, I can sense a blip but I think that's him."
"Oh that means if you practice and get better you can find others and get even more power!" she said excited and he nodded, rubbing his hands together.
"Can you stay with me?" Cat asked suddenly, shyly and it was Robbie's turn to look at her confused.
"I'm going to need to go home and work in my lab and it gets lonely. Sure I have Doggy and Sid two but they aren't very good company."
"Sid two?" he asked.
"Yeah remember I told you I tried to clone my brother, I succeeded except the clone cant talk or walk or do anything really except sit there."
"Who are you?" he asked softly.
"Same old Cat you've always known just with a much higher IQ then I lead people to believe."
"I would love to come visit you more, see how awesome you can be."
"Yay, Doggy will be so happy." she said jumping up and hugging him, which he returned.
Sitting on his bed an hour later Robbie had flown Cat home and wished her a good night before returning to his parents' house. She was right when she had warned him that Jade had torn his room apart, it looked like a hurricane tore through here. Jade was looking for something, anything that explained his abilities to her, luckily everything was moved to his new place. Pulling his knees up to his chest he sighed wondering what Jade was going to say to him, probably just yell and berate him and them he'd have to leave again, it was going to make things harder to play normal at school but what could he do. Suddenly his door creaked open and standing there looking breath taking in a long, black night gown was Jade. Their eyes met yet Robbie couldn't read what was going through her mind. Making her way over she reached out and touched him as if making sure he was really there. He closed his eyes feeling her soft touch on his skin before he felt her slap him. Opening his eyes he touched the spot where she hit him.
"What the hell Robbie?" she demanded, "You left me, you lied to me, you've been lying to me."
"Just because I failed to mention that I had powers I'm suddenly a liar?" he said just as angry at her as she was with him, "Or did you fail to notice that the guy you were sucking face with wasn't exactly up front at first either."
"I thought we were closer then that," she said looking away but he reached out and made her look at him.
"Yeah me too, except when we're at school and I'm a stupid object that gets in the way of your popularity."
"I'm sorry Robbie, I'm sorry that we're suddenly not so close anymore but it's not just on me."
"Of course it's just on you, you decided that you wanted Beck over me, you decided that popularity is more important then me. There's no way you cant see how much I love you Jade," he said pulling her close to kiss her but she pulled away.
"I don't love you like that Robbie," she said softly causing him to turn away from her.
"I can make you love me Jade."
"What?"
"I don't have the same powers as Beck."
"I know, I made him tell me everything Mastermind." Robbie rose off the bed and walked pass her towards the door.
"Fine, so you know that I'm a villain, I guess it will be easier for you to ignore me at school. I'm leaving now, I'm letting my parents know that I just cant be here anymore and that I will move in with my grandmother." he stopped at the door, "For your sake you wont remember me confessing to you, you will remember that I have powers though but you will think that I have the same as Beck. You wont worry about me not living here, you wont," this command stuck in his throat as the tears ran down his cheeks, "miss me either" once he was done his eyes returned to normal and he wiped his tears away.
"Where are you going Shapiro?" Jade asked crossing her arms.
"I'm moving in with my grandparents, that way I don't get your way anymore."
"That's the first nice thing you've ever done, thanks I guess." she said not looking at him anymore, Robbie turned back as well.
"Yeah Jade, see you at school tomorrow."
That had happened three hours ago and now Robbie was standing on his roof looking out at the city. The blips were there but they were weak, the odd thing was that he couldn't just feel Beck but someone else out there. His thoughts went to this new person, did he or she know they had powers? Could they control them? What powers did they have? Rubbing his head he went back down into his room and crawled into bed.
AN - So I'll go ahead and announce the names of the new stories now, these will run in the same timeline as these stories and focus along the next few years of school. So starting Sophmere year will be, drum roll...Cat Valentine, Mad Scientist and Jade West, Dark Knight. Well Jade's is still up in the air but I keep picturing Catwoman, a hero who as self interest in her heart but still plays for the good guys, or something. Don't forget to review and let me know how I'm doing
