Learning to Breathe
52. The Seekers
Good thing is we weren't grounded. Bad news is that we had to spend two hours moping up oil spills in the garage last night.
But it was worth it to get to work today.
Andi and Steve stayed on base with Virus as some kind of punishment. After finishing whatever she's doing, she'll go try to hunt down Corona. For now, though, we've split up into two groups: one to check into the Razor thing, and the other to find Shatter and get whatever information we can out of him. I'm in the latter group along with Golem. The rest of the group is hunting for our misplaced hero.
"What are we doing down here?" He asked.
"Because it's where they live." I answered. "All of the mutants down here have mutations that make it nearly impossible for them to adapt to the above-ground world."
"That's a shame." He sighed. "But I know why they would want to hide away."
"Then you know why you must leave." Mitch seemed shocked. I wasn't. I'd sensed his heartbeat from the moment we entered the corridor. We met with the eyes of a man who appeared from a shadowy fog. I stared him down.
"We won't stay long." I said. "I am looking for someone."
"You will not find him here." The mutant said.
"I bet I will." I said. "He goes by Shatter. " The burly mutant stiffened. Oh yeah, he's here.
"Wait here." He said, turning to go back into the sewers. Mitch turned to me.
"Are we sure he can help us?"
"He better." I said. "I'm not spending all afternoon chasing down someone I don't know how to locate."
"What are you doing here?" Shatter asked, looking at me with his solid yellow eyes.
"Well, I'm not trying to build a new bowling league." I deadpanned. "What has Corona been up to, Shatter?"
"Who is he?" Shatter pointed to Mitch.
"Golem." I said. "He's one of us. Now answer the question."
"I don't know." He said. "I don't want to know."
"Which is it?" I asked. "Because you're as bad a liar as you were back in the labs, Shat. Where is she?"
"I don't know." He growled. "She only shows up to scare off cops. She's probably at her grandmother's."
"Which is where, Shatter?" I asked. "I need a location."
"I don't know! Somewhere on the South side, I think." He said. "Can't you just do your whole blood-track thing and smell her out?"
"Not If I don't know where to look." I muttered. "And since you've been such a fountain of information, I'm going to have to check the city records to find her."
"Yeah, thanks a lot." Mitch grumbled. "Why don't you want to see your friend?"
"She's not a friend." Shatter glared.
"Maybe not, but she's one of us, Shatter." I glared back. "She's one of us. A survivor. We're all supposed to be looking out for each other. If you can't do that for her, don't expect us to do the same for you."
And with that, Mitch and I left. With a whole lot more questions than answers.
Chicago Dreadnoks' base
Steve was somewhat agitated about having to wake up half an hour earlier than the other kids his age. And all because he still had to work. On the upside, that little jerk Virus was a genius, so work didn't take so long. He was in the depths of a broken Thunder Machine, Andi handing him tools, when Zartan came calling.
"Atlantis. Leathersuit. Get over here now!" The man ordered. Steve grumbled and wriggled out from under the vehicle. Andi stalked over in front of him.
"What?" She asked. "We were working here!"
"Time for a training break." The ninja answered. "You two go change into your swimsuits and meet me by the pool in ten minutes."
Andi and Steve exchanged confused glances.
"I don't have a swimsuit." Steve said.
"Mine doesn't fit anymore." Andi shrugged.
"Fine then." Zartan groaned. "Atlantis, go suit up. Leathersuit, find some old clothes you don't mind getting wet. By the pool in ten. Don't be late."
Both teens ran back to their rooms to change.
(ten minutes later…)
Steve had just reached the pool, and found Zartan talking to what he thought to be a whirlpool. Deciding not to pry, he sat down on an old lawnchair and watched. Something shimmered under the surface, but he couldn't tell what.
"Good, you're here." Zartan said, finally noticing the boy. "Go on and jump in. Atlantis will stop the whirlpool."
He inched closer, watching intently as the swirling vortex of water dissipated. He slipped into the water on the shallow end of the Olympic-sized pool as something rose out of the water on the opposite end. Or, someone. A blue someone with blond and black striped hair.
Wait a minute.
"What took you so long?" Atlantis called out to him. He stood frozen in shock. Sure, he remembered that the girl could shapeshift, but he'd never seen her do it. As it were, patches of reflecive scales dotted her face in the spots where water droplets made contact with her sapphire-blue scales. From her shoulders down, he saw nothing but water swishing as if something were kicking it away.
What the hell kind of creature was she?
"Are you just going to stand and stare, or will you swim over?" She demanded, grinning playfully. He quickly breezed along the surface to reach her.
"What are you… how do you?" He replied, seemingly unable to form a complete thought. She laughed.
"Like Mitch said yesterday, I'm a shapeshifter." She explained. "An aquatic shapeshifter."
"Wow." He breathed, unable to contain his astonishment. "So, what are we doing out here?"
"Practicing your underwater abilities." Zartan answered, stealing Steve's attention.
"Huh?"
"You have a reptilian mutation." Zartan stated. "A crocodilian mutation, to be precise. You also have gills, which means that you can breathe underwater as well as on land. Since you have obviously been oblivious to this, you are going to get a crash course today."
"Okay." Leathersuit answered, wondering just what Zartan had in store for him and the strange fish-girl.
"Let's start off slow." Zartan said. "Both of you, underwater now. "
Atlantis bobbed once, then completely submerged. Leathersuit, however, was a bit slower, and dove down more awkwardly.
At first, he held his breath. But some kind of switch flipped in his body chemistry. Initially, he felt like he was choking. The breath he'd held, he released in the process of trying to sort out just what was happening to him. Panic began to creep over him as he realized that the whole breathing thing wasn't going like it should have.
"Stop struggling, Steve. You'll never get the hang of it that way."
He opened his eyes and stared at the girl before him. She looked at him with a face that clearly read "what a newb".
"How do I…" he rasped, then froze. People can't talk underwater. Unless… holy crap! He'd figured it out.
"Preferably not like that." Andi rolled her eyes. "Next time, just relax. Your body knows what to do, so let it."
"Uh huh." He nodded. "And what about when I surface?"
"Same rules apply there too." She shrugged. "Now come on, we've got work to do."
From the back porch, Virus watched the two mutants perform their underwater exercises. Gator-boy obviously lacked the experience of Atlantis. His movements were awkward and slow. Hers, on the other hand, were as fluid as the water that surrounded her. "It's not fair." Vincent muttered. "Why does he get to work with her while I'm stuck in the garage?" he sneered as he saw the other boy eyeing her. "And why is he looking at her like that? He knows she's my woman! Mine, I tell you! And why is she letting him do that to her? What does that baffoon have that I don't?"
Virus' question answered itself when Leathersuit removed his shirt. As much as the teen genius hated to admit it, the other mutant had a build that most girls would drool over. That's when the idea came to him.
"That's it!" Vincent grinned. "I need to work out! She'll love me then!"
And with that, he scurried off to the workout room.
So, after an hour, Steve had improved. He was no olympic diver yet, but there was progress. After we both dried off and changed clothes, we headed straight for the south side of the city. I remember that her aged relative's name was Lupe, so finding someone by that name shouldn't be hard.
"Hello, we're looking for Lupe Sanchez. Can you tell me where she is?" I asked the police officer on the street corner. He looked at me strangely.
"Why would you want to talk to her?" He asked, glaring at Steve (who had on an image inducer) and I.
"My friend Corona is staying with her." I said. "Can you tell me where she lives?"
"St. Anthony's cemetary." The cop said. I stared in shock.
"Why there?" Steve asked.
"That poor woman's been dead for two months." He said.
I gasped. "Then… what about Corona?"
"Foster care." He shrugged. "I can call the Social Services department and find out what foster home she's in."
"No." I said. "Thank you for your help, sir."
"No problem." Rent-a-cop smiled as Steve and I walked off. He turned to me.
"So, what do we do now?" he asked.
"Well, she's obviously not in the foster home." I said. "Otherwise, she wouldn't be roaming the streets as a sewer-dweller's guardian angel. I guess we can have Kris sniff her out."
"Yeah, that sounds good." He nodded, then spying someone trying to hold up a convenience store. "Hey, look. A show."
"So, do we act like terrified civilians and run away, or use the opportunity to swipe some sodas while he's keeping the owners busy?" I asked. He laughed.
"I like the second plan." We both ran in to make use of the poor store clerk's misfortune. Little did we know how our lives were about to change.
