Authors note: Oh, come on, people! I put up four chapters of my hard work and still only have four reviews? Jeez, does my story really suck that bad? You people are making me feel kinda disappointed here. In fact, I might not upload any new chapters until I receive at least a few good reviews, if anything to see that you still want me to continue on with this story. Okay, enough of my rant, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 4

If I could probably have seen the look on my own face at that moment, it would probably be a mix of shock, amazement, fear, and maybe all of the other words in between. I shot up off the porch and actually backed up a couple of steps. No, I did NOT just hear a golden retriever speak to me. That was way beyond impossible. I figured that the stress of the last hour had finally gotten to me. Maybe I really was going crazy or something. Was it even possible for a 14-year-old girl to have a nervous breakdown?

The dog, or whatever he was, let out a small laugh. "Okay, you can close your mouth now. It's open so wide a jumbo jet can fly into it."

It took a while before I finally remembered how to speak again. "You…y-you can talk! That's impossible! Dogs can't talk!"

He chuckled again. "Well, normally they can't, but you see me talking to you right now, don't you? You see my mouth moving, don't you?"

"Who, or what, are you?" I asked. "Are you like the Wonder Dog or something?"

"Oh, please! Wonder Dog's got nothin' on me!"

"Well, come on!" I nearly shouted. "Tell me!"

He sighed. "Okay, okay! Jeez, there's no need to shout. The fact is, I'm not a dog at all. I'm human just like you, and I'm a super just like you as well."

I was astonished. "So you're a super in disguise? That's…" Then I remembered what else he said. "Wait a minute. How do you know that I'm a super? Are you the person that called me earlier?"

He shook his head. "No, that was someone else."

"Alright, you better start explaining what's going on here!" I demanded. "Tell me how you know about me right now!"

"Wow, you sure have some attitude. Anyway, if you're a super you can't exactly hide it. Rumors get out, you know. In your case, it was a rumor of you burning a certain class bully's cheek."

Now I was really astonished. I had to sit back down on the porch. It just felt like my world was going to pieces. Apparently, my effort to hide my true self had all been in vain. How did this rumor come out? I think that I already knew the answer to that question. I remembered the rumor that went around school that Chris Andrews burned his cheek while cooking food and then how he moved away afterward. What exactly happened during that time? Was the whole thing somehow covered up?

"Look," he said. "If it makes you feel any better, as far as I know there are only four people that know about you, and we're all supers. There's you, me, my so-called partner in crime, and…"

"Hey, I heard that!" a voice yelled from somewhere around us.

I again jumped up onto my feet and looked around. I didn't see where the voice came from. "Hey, who said that?" I asked out loud.

My new dog friend sighed. "That would be my so-called partner in crime."

"You know, that really hurts, man," the voice came again. "I thought we were friends."

"Okay, that's enough. You can stop hiding now."

Just then, it seemed like part of the scenery just to the left of us began to shimmer and distort. That continued for a second more before suddenly a person was standing in its place. He was wearing a black, grey and white camouflage suit with black boots and gloves. A black mask was covering his eyes. He had dark blond hair. As far I could tell, he wasn't that much older than I was.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"I'm known as the Chameleon," he answered.

I raised an eyebrow." The…Chameleon?"

"The Chameleon." he repeated.

"The Chameleon?"

"Yes, the Chameleon." He was starting to sound annoyed. "Do you have a hearing problem or something?"

I started to laugh. I couldn't help it. "I'm sorry," I said in between laughs. "I just can't picture someone wearing a camouflage super suit and calling themselves the Chameleon."

He frowned. "Well, some people like it."

"And which people are those?" his partner asked.

"The ones that don't care too much for names, that's who. Isn't that right, Changeling?"

"Changeling?" I asked the dog. "Your name is Changeling?" Wow, that was even worse than the Chameleon.

He groaned. "Actually, it's the Changeling, officially."

I shook my head and chuckled. These two supers were really giving me a good laugh, despite of all that was going on. I really needed one at that point. Still, I definitely recognized the voice of the Chameleon as the one on the phone. I also never even heard of them before. Even if they were good supers, I knew that I had to be cautious around them. I also had to know what they were capable of.

"So, your super names are the Chameleon and the Changeling," I said. "What exactly can you two do?"

"Well," Chameleon said. "I have the ability to blend into environments like a, well, chameleon. I don't actually turn invisible if that's what you're thinking. I could still be seen if I make sudden movements and if someone really looked at me close enough. It works best when I'm in a dark place."

I was impressed. "That sounds kind of neat."

"Well," he hesitated. "It can be at times, but sometimes it can be a little disappointing."

"What's so disappointing about that?" I asked him.

He sighed. "It's probably the fact that I can't turn completely invisible, you know, like Ultraviolet. It still has its uses, though."

I then turned to the Changeling. "And what about you? What are your powers?"

"You're pretty much seeing it," he told me. "I have the ability to turn into any animal…"

He suddenly began to change right before my eyes. First, his golden fur began to blur and change into all sorts of colors. Then all of his legs began to grow longer until he began to stand on his hind ones. He began to change into a person, although I couldn't tell what person just yet. When he finally finished changing, I was totally shocked by what was standing in front of me. He had transformed into an exact duplicate of me! Same red hair, same blue eyes, even the same clothes I were wearing at that moment. He (or she? Man, this was so freaky!) smiled at me.

"…or any person," he finished with exactly my voice!

Seeing someone change into a complete duplicate of yourself was bad enough, but when you hear that same duplicate talk to you in your own voice, it was a million times worse. It was also amazing how different your voice sounds when you hear it from another perspective. It was like when you record your voice and then play it back. You then wonder, 'Is that how I really sound like?' That was basically how I was feeling at that moment.

"Well?" he asked me. "What do you think?"

When I didn't say anything, the Chameleon answered for me. "I think that she's a little freaked out, that's what."

"It's not the first time that happens."

I walked around the Changeling, studying him closely. I still couldn't believe what I was actually seeing. As I said, he was a perfect duplicate of me. No one would be able to tell us apart even if their life depended on it. In a way, I now knew what it felt like to have a twin.

"How can you do that?" I asked.

"It's easy," he said. "I have the ability to change my form to duplicate any living animal, and that includes humans. Before I could do that, I would need a sample of their DNA."

"DNA?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know. Deoxyribose nucleic acid. The building blocks of all life here on Earth. It's something you learn in science class…"

"I know what DNA is," I interrupted. "Get to the point already."

"Alright, the point is that I can absorb another living being's DNA into my own molecular structure and store it there. I can then become that same living being anytime I want. With you, I was able to collect your DNA when I touched your knee with my snout during my dog form. Oh, and don't worry, I can't absorb another super's powers along with it. That kinda sucks."

"To me that's a relief," I said. "And about touching me, if I had known it was you, a DNA sample isn't all you would've gotten from me."

He snickered a little. "Did I ever tell you that you have a bad attitude?"

"Yeah, you did." I was really starting to get annoyed with him still in my own form and speaking to me in my own voice. "Thanks for the demonstration. You think you can change into something else now, preferably your true self?"

"Why? I kinda like it in this form. Besides, it's not often that I'm in a girl form."

"Do it, Changeling," Chameleon told him.

He sighed. "Okay, fine. You're both spoilsports, you know that?"

He then began to change his form. I watched as my features began to melt and distort until they were unrecognizable. It was almost sick to look at, and I didn't know if I could ever get used to looking at something like that. Luckily it didn't last long, because he began to reform quickly. When it was all done, he was now a teenage boy wearing an almost totally dark green super suit. His boots, gloves, and mask were a dark gray color. Like the Chameleon, he also had dark blonde hair. He seemed to be the same age that I was. In fact, I thought I knew who he was.

"Is that better now?" he asked me.

"Yes, very much," I told him. "I know you, don't I? You're that boy in my homeroom that came in late today. Chance Harding, isn't it?"

"Shh! Not so loud, will you?" he silenced me. His face was now a deep red color. "Jeez, are you trying to tell the whole neighborhood or something? Yeah, that's my real name. How'd you know?"

"Call it a lucky guess," I said.

He chuckled. "Yeah, a real lucky guess, I suppose."

Chameleon chuckled as well. "Well, I guess I better tell you my real name before you guess that also. It's Leon Harding. We are, kinda like we said earlier, the so-called brothers in crime. Not literally in crime, of course. If you hadn't guessed already, I'm the person that called you earlier."

"I already had," I told him. "Speaking of which, I think it's time we discuss what's going on here."

"Yes, it is," Chameleon agreed. "I would prefer it if we didn't talk about it here. We already took a huge risk revealing ourselves to you right here. Let's go to the park at the end of the street. It should be deserted at this time anyway."

"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well, you do want to hear what we think is going to happen, don't you?"

"Of course I do." I looked back at the house for a moment, then I started to walk. "Come on, let's go."

Together we started to walk toward the park. The sun had long since set and the bright streetlights were lighting up the streets. People were already inside their homes at that point. It was probably a great thing. There's nothing like seeing two teen supers flanking a normally dressed teen walking down the street that would end up drawing out the neighborhood and start asking questions. I don't think that any of us wanted or needed that type of attention right then.

"So, how long have you two been fighting crime?" I asked them.

"Do you want the honest answer to that?" Chameleon asked back.

I grimaced. "Uh, oh. Something tells me that I'm not going to like the answer."

"That depends." He cleared his throat. "Well, we have yet to face any supervillian, and let's hope that good luck holds. We haven't even fought against any regular villain. We have settled some…disputes, though."

I looked at him in amazement. "That's it? You've never faced another villain?"

"Hey, give us a break here," he said defensively. "We're still kinda new to the scene. You've never heard of us before, right? I've only been doing this for nearly a year now. My brother only started last month."

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I just assumed that…"

"Say no more," he interrupted. "It's an honest mistake. I know that soon we'll have no choice but to face some villain, but by then we'll be ready."

"Are you two like a sibling team or maybe a family team, kind of like the Incredibles?" I asked.

"Not really," Changeling said. "Both of our parents aren't even supers. We got our powers from our grandparents, and of course, they're both retired and now living in sunny Arizona. I mean, we would like to be a team, but one, we can barely stand each other, and two, we don't have a name."

"How about the Brothers-In-Arms?" I suggested.

"That was one of our first choices," Chameleon said. "We didn't like it. It just didn't sound right. We would like to have a name that would strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. Also, I don't think that we'll make a truly awesome team with just the two of us and the powers that we have."

"What are you talking about? You two have great powers. You can hide in plain sight and your brother can change into all kinds of different animals and people. I don't know about you, but I don't know of any other super that can do either of those."

Chameleon snickered under his breath. "You're just saying that to make us feel better. Your power is probably much cooler than ours. We don't know exactly what it is, but it sounds like it involves fire. Think of what you can do if you joined us…"

"No!" I said loudly. "I vowed never to use my powers again. They're just too dangerous. If you knew about me, then you should've known that."

"No, we didn't know that. What happened that made you this way? Are those rumors really true?"

"I really don't want to talk about it," I told him. "Let's just drop it at that, okay?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. We walked the rest of the way to the park in silence. My two super companions didn't know it, but at that moment I envied them. In fact, if I could I would love to be able to trade my powers with either one of them. I was certain that they would be able to handle my destructive powers far more than I ever could. Their powers couldn't kill, well, maybe the Changeling could turn into any animal that could eat a person, but at least he could control that. There was no way I could control mine, or maybe I could, but I wasn't willing to try. Between the two, I thought that the Chameleon's power was the best, probably because it reminded me so much of my childhood idol, Ultraviolet. Don't get me wrong, I thought that the Changeling's power was cool as well, but I think that I was still freaked out when he turned into a perfect duplicate of me.

A few minutes later, we reached the park. It was quiet and deserted, just as we hoped that it would be. We went over to the picnic area and sat down at one of the table.

"Okay, we're here," I said. "Now will one of you explain what's going on?"

Chameleon looked around to see if anyone was there, then he started talking in a low voice. "Okay, we heard a rumor that there's something huge going on at ATI. From what I hear, a lot of advanced military and weapons technology had begun to disappear from ATI's main storage depot outside of town. We're talking about the high end, cutting edge, and extremely destructive stuff. This had been going on for nearly a month now. Not only that, a few of ATI's top researchers had been mysteriously transferred to an unknown location."

"Wouldn't the government know something about this?" I asked.

"I don't think they even know what's really going on. It's all being hidden quite well. Whatever's happening, it's being done by professionals."

I found this quite hard to believe. However, I had to know where my dad fit into all this.. "What does all this have to do with my dad?"

"Your dad is one of the heads in the Department of Research and Development at ATI, right?" I nodded. "Well, most of the stuff that went missing he helped design and build. That's why I said that your dad might be involved and not even know it."

"I'm not quite so sure," I said slowly. "I found something in my dad's diary that doesn't look good."

"What do you mean?" Chameleon asked.

I hesitated, then said, "It said in his diary that he's working on a top secret project and that he had to install a new system on it by order of some guy named Harriman."

"Harriman?" Changeling said. "That could mean John Harriman, the CEO."

"Yeah, could be," Chameleon agreed.

"I gotta know," I said. "How did you hear about this rumor?"

"We were contacted by a woman who works there about a week ago," Chameleon explained. "She's also among one of the higher-ups at ATI, but not in the same department as your father. She's also a super just like us, but she hasn't done any super work in five years because of her career. She's doing her own investigation at the company, but she requests that you investigate your father."

This was getting more confusing by the second. "Why me?" I asked. "And why did she contact you to contact me?"

"She knows quite a lot about us," he said. "She knows that you and Chance are in the same homeroom. I think her plan is for you to find out about your dad so you could tell Chance, then he could tell me, then I could tell her when she calls."

"Do you even know who this woman is?"

"I've never met her, I think. I know that I heard her voice from somewhere, though. I can't remember where."

"I'm sorry to break up this little party," Changeling cut in, looking up from his watch. "It's getting real late and we have to get going. Our parents will be home soon."

I then remembered my own parents. "Oh, wow, my own parents are probably wondering where I went. They're probably thinking I've walked around the entire city."

Chameleon stood up. "Okay, folks, the meeting's adjourned. Remember what we discussed here. This is extremely important."

"You don't have to worry about that," I told him.

He looked at me for a moment, then said, "Do you mind if I tell you something?"

"Not at all."

"I'm going to have to be blunt here. If what we know is really true, it sounds like the shit is about to hit the fan in this city. As far as I know, we might be the only supers that know that something might happen. If that's the case, then you'll have to be ready to use your power."

"What?" I said in surprise. "But I can't…"

"It won't matter that you don't want to use them. You might not have any choice but to use them. It most likely won't be a question of if, but when. I just want you to be ready when that time comes."

He just couldn't understand the nature of my powers. "No, you don't understand. They're too dangerous for me to unleash. I swore that I would never use them again for any reason, and I plan to stick to that forever."

He sighed. "Okay, then. Just don't say that I didn't warn you. Come on, Changeling, let's go home."

I watched as they slowly walked away from me. I watched as the Chameleon disappeared and the Changeling transformed back into his golden retriever form. I sighed heavily and started my own slow walk towards home. I was once again highly upset, but I didn't exactly what I was upset at, nor did I care. I just seemed like my entire world changed so much between yesterday and today. It seemed like I didn't know who or what I could trust anymore. All I really knew was that somehow I had been dragged into a potentially dangerous plot and didn't even know it until it was too late.

Author's note: Remember, no new chapters until I receive a few good reviews.