OHOY!!! An update! From ME!!! Certainly wasn't expected was it? Yeah, I'm sorry for the long wait, but ever since school started, I haven't had time to do much of anything. But, hey, this chapter's longer than the last chapter, and far more interesting…so enjoy…and don't be expecting a chapter for a while, because it's just by chance that I have time to do this right now.
Aaron, Shawn, Melanie, Steve, and Louis were assembled in the living room, Aaron, Shawn, and Melanie sat on one of the couches while Steve and Louis were scattered in various armchairs. They all looked up as the door opened and the rest of the students entered the room, followed by Jubilee and Kitty.
"What is this, a court hearing?" Shawn looked startled, "I said I'd tell you, not the world!"
"This isn't one of your pranks, is it?" Jubilee asked as she closed the doors.
"Bringing all these people was your idea, not mine!" Shawn said indignantly.
"Not that!" Jubilee snapped, holding up the envelopes, "This whole mutation database thing."
"Oh, that," Shawn looked at his brother, who shrugged, "Well, here we go."
"Let me begin," Aaron insisted, "Now it'd be real nice if you didn't let this stuff into the open, because, well, you'll see. Anyway, it all started when me and Shawn offered to do a little…"
"Research?" Cory finished.
"I wasn't going to say that!" Aaron objected, "We offered to do a little…spying…for Roy, you know, that lizard guy who works for Nucleo. Anyway, we found this weird article about mutations or experiments doing things to people. At the bottom of the paper, there was a website written."
"So we checked it out," Shawn cut in, "We read a few more articles about taking DNA from a mutant bug and giving it to a so-called volunteer test subject. He ended up getting all mutated and stuff."
"So that's what those security cameras were from," Roberto said accusingly.
"I was getting there!" Shawn protested, "Well, we looked at some crappy security footage that showed their database getting trashed and robbed by four mutants. One of them did something to the guards' eyes. Maybe he burned them out or something."
He paused to ponder it while Amara gave a grimace of revulsion which received a look from Ray.
"Um, ok," Aaron began again while Shawn concentrated, "Anyway, one of them was eating through their fence and the security doors and stuff. Another one was kinda creepy lookin' and disappeared a lot. The last one looked like a big rock."
"Man, dis is only our first day and it's already exciting!" Marcus nudged Jaime who smiled and nodded in agreement.
Aaron continued while Allen muttered, "Exciting?" to himself.
"So anyway, the four mutants stole the mutant bug, the mutated test subject, and some shiny-looking guy. And ever since we saw that footage, we've been wondering about this…mutation database."
"Mysterious," Kurt mumbled to himself.
"Terribly mysterious," Ruben corrected him, quoting Mystery Men.
Siryn looked over at Jubilee, who was sifting through the envelopes, "Who're they from?"
"Huh?" Jubilee looked up, "Oh, it looks like they're from other mutant testing places and there's a couple from some guy."
"Open them! Open them! Open them!" Sam could no longer contain his excitement.
"I agree," Erin nodded, "Let's see what's inside."
"Maybe it's money," Ray suggested.
"Maybe it's not," Ruben shrugged.
"Wait, guys!" Amara interrupted them, "What if whoever sent these finds out that we took them?"
"Exciting?" Allen muttered.
"But we didn't take them," Travis pointed out, "Besides, Frank's an expert at copying other people's writing. We could just put the mail in another envelope."
"That's illegal, too," Amara mumbled.
"What could possibly go wrong?" Shawn asked the whole room, while Aaron poked the hair spikes on the front of Travis's head.
"Well, there's always the possibility of…" Bobby started.
"That wasn't a question to be answered!" Shawn quickly cut him off.
"Dude, how do you know if you can answer a question or not?" Allen was completely bewildered.
"Someday, Allen, someday you will know," Aaron assured him and pretended to prick himself on Travis's hair, "Ouch! I'm bleeding!"
"Shuttup," Travis muttered.
Jubilee finally decided to open the letters. The first one was from XX Industries in Oklahoma.
"Ok," Jubilee began to read, "It says: We received your shipment of parts yesterday. Expect payment after your next shipment. We expect it in two weeks."
"My mom writes better letters than that," Kyle commented, "And she doesn't even write me any."
"I feel your pain," Steve told him.
Allen punched them both, "There! Now you feel his pain."
"Gee, thanks, Allen," Steve said sarcastically.
"No problem, dude," Allen obviously didn't catch the sarcasm.
"Next letter," Roberto said impatiently.
Jubilee removed the next letter from its envelope. The return address read only 'Clark'.
Jubilee told the students who it was from and began to read, "It says: It would deeply satisfy me to carry out your task. I will accompany one of my squadrons and we will arrive at your headquarters soon after you receive this letter. I would like nothing better than to eliminate your pests. --Clark"
"Who's Clark?" Louis asked.
"Superman," Ruben shook his head in amazement, "Duh!"
"Dude, you're right!" Allen exclaimed.
"Who cares who Clark is?" Amara said, trying to get to the point, "What is this 'task' he's talking about?"
"How do you know Clark is a guy?" Travis asked, while Ruben chuckled.
"Hey!" Shawn shouted at Jubilee, "You opened the rest without us!"
"There's only one good one," Jubilee shrugged, "Here, I'll read it to you. It says: This is a simple request. Our technology is of premium quality. Our SiestaRay is guaranteed to keep any living organism asleep for hours, with only the press of a button. But we are sure that what you are most excited about is our full Mutant-Security-System. It should keep your mutant problem at an all-time low. We are, however, expecting payment in two weeks. Don't be late."
There was a short moment of silence.
"Well, I think we know what Clark's task is," Kyle broke the silence.
"They're trying to kill us all," Sam hung his head.
"They're only trying to kill the criminal mutants," Bobby assured him.
"Yeah, right," Ray muttered.
"I'm going to have to agree with Ray on this one," Roberto said hesitantly.
The twins gave an exaggerated gasp. Rahne, Amara, and Allen looked bewildered. Ruben chuckled.
"Can I quote you on that?" Kurt asked.
"Shut up," Roberto mumbled.
"It is the first time that you've agreed with Ray since, like, three years ago," Kitty said, followed by nods from everyone else.
"Perhaps we should converge our attentiveness on the significance of the circumstances at hand," Frank suggested.
"Whatever he said, he's right," Erin agreed.
"Guys, we have to keep this whole thing a secret from the teachers," Jubilee insisted, "If they find out…"
"They'll go nutso!" Ruben finished.
"That's a bad thing, right?" Jaime asked.
The twins put on serious faces and nodded ominously.
"That's a yes," Rogue whispered.
There was a sudden outburst heard from outside the room.
"Meeting adjourned," Jubilee announced and headed for the door.
The students flowed from the room and into the hallway. Scott was holding Packrat to the floor with the help of a man with neatly trimmed blonde hair.
"Hey, what're you guys doing?" Bobby asked.
"Packrat's gone crazy," Scott explained.
"Again?" Ray muttered.
"Oh, by the way," Scott said, out of breath, "This is my brother, Alex."
"Yo," Alex greeted the students.
"It is a pleasure, dude," Allen was pleased to hear the word 'yo'.
"So why is Packrat off the deep end?" Sam asked, followed by a chuckle from Ruben.
"I think he smells someone outside," Scott explained.
Sure enough, the door opened and Nucleo walked through the door.
"We are back," he announced as the rest of his followers walked inside, "And we have another member."
Packrat let out a rather disgusting noise as the newest member walked in. Everyone else looked startled, some accompanied by gasps.
"Whatchu lookin' at?" Massacre said rudely. He took one look at Packrat and walked upstairs calmly.
"Our school is turning into a criminal hideout," Cory mumbled.
"Why do I feel that this is just the beginning?" Kurt asked.
Not bad, eh? Ah, well…be happy with it, it's probably all you'll be getting until I get some more time on my hands. OH!!! By the way, when Ruben chuckles about Sam's comment about Packrat being off the deep end…it's because Weird Al has an album called Off the Deep End…and as you know, Ruben is a great fan of Weird Al. Alas, I must leave my semi-adoring fans. Farewell, farewell!! (asterisk)places rose between teeth and dances away (asterisk)