A/N: I've always thought that the mutant registration act, and what it would mean for so many people, would be an interesting subject for a story. So I finally broke down and wrote one. But get this, the story follows the act as it progresses in time, tracing the effects of it on one family, generation after generation. This is the first part, taking place present day, and in the life of Rebecca Doty. What effect will the act have on her? How will it effect the future generations of her family? Read to find out…
Rebecca 'Dodes' Doty:
"I got it! I got it!" Rothstein called at the top of her lungs, waving her hands to ward off our right fielder and lining herself under the long, fly ball.
"Cut'n 3, Cut'n 3!" was the return shout of the infield or, to be specific, Megan, our catcher.
The play was perfect. Rothstein was set directly under the ball. LD, the shortstop, was precisely lined up for the cutoff throw into the infield. Britt, at third base, was poised straddling the white leather, eager for the throw and ready to lay down the tag. The ball was almost down. Rothstein stretched out her mitt, straining for the catch when the ball…stopped. No, not really stopped, but floated, hovering and wavering back and forth, still spinning just beyond Rothstein's reach.
Then, it slowly began to drift, bobbing and floating along 'till it was directly over left field. As suddenly as it had stopped, the ball finally resumed its downward motion, dropping neatly into the waiting glove of the left fielder, me.
"Dodes! One more move like that and you'll run for the rest of practice, clear?" Stew, I mean, Coach Stewart bellowed from her position at home plate, bat poised to launch another practice ball our direction. I nodded, smirking despite myself.
Rothstein said a few things under her breath that I won't repeat to you guys. It wasn't very nice, but hey, 'Stein had deserved to lose that ball, especially after what she said about my latest crush. I usually don't take her comments to heart because believe me, there are a lot of comments. See, despite being a senior, 'Stein is shorter than everyone else, including myself, and Britt says she makes up for it by having the biggest mouth. Her favorite target to direct her big mouth at is me, being the little kid in the outfield. What can I say, as an underclassman, I deal with a lot of shit. I have to take my kicks where I can get 'em.
As you've probably already figured out, I'm a mutant. Through the miracles of genetics and evolution I've been bestowed with the ability to manipulate gravity and air density using just my brain power (yeah, yeah, get all the comments out of your system now, people). That's how I changed the direction of the ball I created a gravity-less pocket around it, and then bombarded it with extremely dense waves of air, moving it (slowly but surely) towards my waiting mitt. I know it sounds cool and all, but believe me, unless I'm using them to piss of Rothstein, my powers are completely useless.
Now you're probably thinking that it wasn't the smartest idea to just tell my entire team what I can do. I have two answers for you. First, I didn't tell them, exactly, it was by accident that they found out (it's a long story…I'll tell you some other time). And second, despite all my apprehensions, they've been really good about it. Complete and utter discretion, which is something new for them, believe me. I mean, when Anne got asked to prom, they covered her locker in pictures of the guy the following morning. Not exactly subtle, my team. But I guess that just goes to show how people can surprise you.
We've become really close this season, another surprising detail. I figured that being the only sophomore on the team, I was going to be the odd man out. Not the case here…in fact, the older girls made sure that Kelsey (a freshman and the only other youngster on varsity) and I were never left out. They drove us with them when we needed rides and stopped us in the hall to talk. It sounds corny, but it was nice just the same. I liked fitting in and being comfortable with different people. It broadened my horizons a little…
"Alright, people, bring it in!" Stew called, waving her hand in the air and retreating into the dugout. I shook my head and wrenched myself from my stupor. "Cool down then pack it up." Cool down was another lap around the field and stretching. Packing up was trying to pry up stubborn bases and haul the pitching machine away. Together, these events accounted for a very boring twenty minutes of our time. So as a team, we pooled together what little cash we had and bought an 80's era stereo from a garage sale down the street. It helped relieve the boredom a little. Which is why, as we jogged into the infield, I paused at the bleachers and began messing with the thing's ancient dials.
Now listening to the radio might be fun, but tuning it at the demands of my team is a different story. Static…Static…Music
"Change it!"
"No, keep
it there! I like that song!"
"Allie, stop dancing. Dodes, go to 102.6"
"94.4! 94.4!" You see can see where this is going, yes? Finally I turned down the volume so that I could hunt for a station that I liked without have the whole team offering their input. Finally, I got that piece of crap we call a radio (I'm not kidding. There is so much dust inside the wiring that the CD player doesn't even open anymore, let alone play) to tune into a station. I was just trying to figure out what station it actually was when a news report broadcast caught my attention.
"…And in national news, Congress has asked to reschedule the vote on the controversial Mutant Registration Act to an earlier date than previously discussed, which would allow several Congressional members to continue reelection campaigning. The Act, originally planned to be voted on at the end of May, is now being rescheduled to sometime next week. The Mutant Registration Act, if passed, would force the exposure of any and all mutants, and has the political world up in arms. And that's going do it for news on the 7's. I'm Karma Sanchez and now, back to the music on 98.6…"
I froze. I'd known that it was coming, that it was bound to happen eventually. But the Act had been postponed and thrown out and re-entered so many times that I never actually thought they'd get around to voting on it…
"Hey, where's the music?"
"Dodes, you okay? You look like you're going to be sick?" That shook me out of my stupor. I turned the radio back on loud and walked out from behind the backstop.
"Yeah…I'm fine. Let's finish up, I have to get home and write a paper," I said as I jogged back to join my team. I didn't say anything about what I'd just heard. I didn't need them all worrying for me. I could do that well enough on my own.
A/N: Yes, I know, more softball in my stories. I just can't help myself. I like to write about what I know, plus softball serves another purpose in this story. See, in my AOL profile, I have my FF.Net profile page listed as my homepage. Well, one of the girl's from my real softball team went online and found it one day. I came to practice the next day to find my team mates quoting Zoe, threatening to lock me in my trunk, and passing around printouts of both The Struggle and Trunk Space. So after enduring tons of razzing for my X-men addiction, I decided to extract my revenge by writing them all into my stories. 'Course I changed their names a little bit, but guys (you know who you are) this is what you get for messing with me! In here, I own you Mwwhahahahah (evil laughter)…..Now go review!
