Black. Everything was black. Michelle could faintly hear someone calling
her. No, more than one person. Maybe two. Michelle opened her eyes, only
to quickly shut them again. The world was swirling sky-blue and pink.
Slowly, Michelle realised that someone was slapping her face lightly, and
another person was applying damp towels to her wrist. She tried to open
her eyes again, this time lifting her eyelids slowly. Through narrow slits
she saw Holly's panicked face, still calling her name.
"Humus? Hey. What happened?" Michelle asked quietly. She tried to sit up, then groaned and lay back down saying, "I'm a bit dizzy. Where am I now? What time is it?"
"Oh God, you're awake! Guys!" Holly called down the hall, "She's awake! Melissa, you can stop the towels now."
"Michelle, are you all right?" asked Melissa, then, "What's your name? What's two plus two? What am I trying to figure out using the formula a2+b2+=c2?"
"Michelle, four, and a hypotenuse which is the side of a right triangle opposite the 90 degree angle," Michelle smiled, then groaned, "Could you please quiet down? I think I've developed a headache."
"Michelle?"
Michelle slowly turned her head toward the voice, so that her head wouldn't start spinning again. Mike stood at the doorway. It clicked to Michelle that she was on her bed in her room.
"Hey Mike. 'Sup?"
"Not much. How are you?"
"I don't know. What happened?"
"You fainted, right after demorphing from testing the whole 'morph equivalent' thing on Adam."
"Where's Geordie, Phil and Gordon?"
"Gordon had to go home. Geordie's sticking around so Holly won't bike home on her own, and Phil can teleport. In fact, he said he'd go as soon as you woke up so that he could drop Melissa off on his way."
Michelle sat bolt upright.
"OMIGOSH! Melissa, you live far away! What time is it-whoa!"
Michelle let herself drop back down.
"Remind me not to make my head do any sudden movements, please? The world goes all whooshy when I do."
Mike turned and went back down the hallway with Melissa to tell Phil that he could go home. Shortly after Phil and Melissa said goodbye, Michelle turned to Holly.
"Humus, where's my brother and cousin?"
"Oh, they went to the store while we were all outside checking our your fires and frost. Sorry. Forgot to tell you. Hey, do you need anything? Water? Something?"
"Um, yeah. Go downstairs to the small library we have, and in one of the small side pockets of my backpack, there's a small bottle of Motrin. Could you go get that and a small glass of water?"
"Sure. Hang on."
Holly got up and went downstairs, and Michelle sighed and stared at the ceiling. She really did not feel too good. She heard a cough at the doorway and looked up.
"Hey Adam."
"Hi."
They were quiet for a moment.
"Come in. My room isn't a trap."
One corner of Adam's mouth twitched for a moment, then he stepped into the room, hesitated, then closed the door behind him before kneeling near the bed.
"You seem stressed," Michelle commented.
"I am. I'm a kid with psychic powers that must save the school from two other mutated teens. Also, a really close friend of mine fainted after trying a new battled tactic and-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Michelle interrupted, and rubbed her temples with one hand. "Ok, go on. Just speak quietly so you don't give me a worse headache."
"Oh. Sorry."
"You ok? Did the morphing thing do anything to you, or what?"
"No. It was just you," Adam shook his head.
Michelle sighed.
"What exactly happened Adam? Tell me everything."
"Well, when you demorphed, you looked really pale. Especially for you since you're pretty dark. And, you whispered something like the word 'tired', and then you just fainted, like that. Luckily I was able to catch your head before you hit the ground, so you didn't get a concussion. But Holly and Melissa had a huge job on their hands trying to bring you to."
"What time is it now?"
"About five thirty."
"You guys should get home! Won't your parents get mad?"
"Nah. I'm going to my dad's place today, and so long as I'm home by 6:30pm, I'm good," Adam paused, then said, "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah. Just, tell Phil and Geordie not to include morph equivalents in their plans unless absolutely necessary. I think getting you to morph without Melissa's help used up nearly all my energy."
"Not all of it?"
"If all of it, then I'd be dead."
A shadow seemed to pass over Adam's face before he said, "Yeah. Not unless absolutely necessary."
"Hey," Michelle raised an eyebrow; "Do you wanna talk about whatever you wanted to talk about earlier? If I get mad, I can't yell since it would hurt my head, and I can't hit you since it would take too much effort."
"If you want."
Michelle carefully nodded, and Adam took a deep breath.
"Ok, uh, how's your grandfather been lately? How's he been managing since that heart attack?"
Michelle sighed, then said, "When did Mike tell about that?"
"He didn't. Mike goes out of his way not to speak to me unless absolutely necessary. I was trying to read your mind in order to find out what you and Mike meant by 'high,' and all these thoughts, memories and emotions just hit me."
"So that's why you fell backward. What else did you see?"
"Well, exhilaration from flight for one thing, but also some resentment against your brother and cousin, and stress from the up-coming French test. Also, you realised that you'd found Nomalca's planner in you Business class and needed to give it back, and a glimpse of a memory from this summer with your parents."
"Which one?"
{Since when was your family racist?} Adam asked inside her head.
{No, not racist. They just prefer that I date and marry an Asian person.}
{But.why?}
{That talk took place a few days after Mike came. They knew that Mike and I were always really close, and Mike's part Philipino. Also, they both knew Mike a whole lot better than they knew you, so.}
{You they had you break up with me because they liked Mike better?!}
Michelle turned away from Adam, but he was still able to read her mind.
{Your excuse is that they yelled at you? Do I have that right?}
Michelle brought up the entire memory of the talk with her parents, for Adam to see. During the talk, Adam saw that she'd begged and reasoned with her parents with every idea and thought that she could use in her defence. Her parents had called her a whore and a mistake that they should never had made, and that they'd wished they could take back, but couldn't. As it was her memory, Adam saw Michelle's feelings during the argument too. Michelle loved her parents, and in everything she did, she tried to make it so that her parents would be proud of her. But that pride never seemed to come up.
{Your parents are really like that?} Adam touched Michelle's arm.
She hesitated, then put her hand over his and answered, {Only some of the time. Usually they're kinder.}
Adam frowned, then said, {I don't want you hurt on my account, but.} his voice trailed off.
The door opened and Holly walked in with the bottle of painkillers and glass of water for Michelle.
"Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting anything?" Holly asked.
"No," Michelle slowly sat up saying, "We were just about done talking anyway."
Michelle opened up the bottle and took one small, white pill out. She popped it into her mouth, and then quickly finished the glass of water before the pill's bitter taste became too strong.
"I think I'll be able to walk to the living room," Michelle said, "Who's here now?"
"Well, Geordie's still here to take me home with our finished 'science project,' and then of course there's Adam, Mike, you, and me," said Holly.
"You sure you'll be able to stand up, let alone walk?" asked Adam.
"If I fall over, you and Holly are responsible for catching me, ok?"
Michelle slowly put her feet on the floor, and gingerly stood up.
"See? Nothing to it! I'll just step out of the room and, whoa!"
Michelle stumbled, but Holly managed to catch her before she fell entirely.
"Nothing to it, huh?" Holly asked.
"Let go of me! I can stand!"
Michelle carefully stood yet again, and before either Holly or Adam could stop her, she morphed into a golden retriever puppy, and quickly trotted down the hall.
"Hey!" Adam exclaimed, then ran to her and scooped her up, "Morphing would take up too much of your energy!"
{I'm fine!}
"Yeah, right!"
The pup tried to wriggle its way out of Adam's arms, but he held her firmly until she stopped. Holly followed behind as Adam carried the pup to the living room.
{Actually, in this morph I'm ok. I think I got back enough energy so that the dog could function normally.}
Adam ignored her and used his telekinesis to levitate her to the ground as he sat on the couch, opposite Mike. Michelle as the puppy walked over to where Geordie sat in his chair, and sat in front of him.
{Have you and Phil formulated the plan of infiltration yet?} she asked.
"Sir, yes, sir," Geordie said loudly, in his best army voice.
{Well? Are you just going to sit there like the barely evolved lump of slime that you are, or will you inform me?} The young dog barked for good measure.
"Sir, the plan is that Holly and you shall share the wind morph with Melissa's help, and Gordon will follow invisible, while Matt is at a piano lesson, and Scott is not around. Adam and Phil will each stand in the backyards of the neighbouring houses as lookouts in case either of the miscreants appears. Signal will then try to telepathically contact Spiderman, Whirl, or you. Then-"
{Call me Cassie,} Michelle interrupted.
"Sir, pardon, sir?"
{Cassie's the 'Animorphs' character that is best with her morphing abilities. And why 'Signal' and Whirl'?}
"Sir, 'Signal' is a card game that Adam always cheats at with his powers nowadays, and Holly likes making her hair whirl around her with the wind. As I was informing, Signal will then try to telepathically contact Spiderman, Whirl, or you, Cassie. If connection fails, Genie will-"
{Wait! Why Genie?}
"Sir, because Genie in Disney's 'Aladdin' said 'First I am here, and now I'm here, and here' in one of the movies. Now, if connection fails, Genie will teleport in there quickly, find the windiest room or the room with two creatures and a boy searching a room; warn you, then pull out. If all four of you do not show up at the John G. Althouse Playscape within an hour of the penetration assignment's commencement, Mozart, Changeling, and I, Yin- Yang, will-"
{Wait, wait, wait,} the pup put a paw over it's eyes, {I understand Mike's Changeling, but why Mozart and Yin-Yang?}
"Did everyone come up with their own nicknames here? I know I made up mine," Holly whispered to the other two boys.
"Yeah," nodded Adam.
"It wouldn't be the same if someone else made them up for them," said Mike.
"Sir, Yin-Yang is the balance of opposites, and fire and ice might as well be opposites, sir!"
{And Mozart?}
"Sir, Mozart was a conductor, sir!"
Adam and Holly groaned while the pup whimpered helplessly, then waved a paw, saying, {Go on.}
"Sir, Mozart, Changeling and I, Yin-Yang, will rush the scene as fast as we can in whatever form Changeling has that is most swift. I, Yin-yang, shall create a disturbance in the two villains' backyard, making sure that the flames hurt nobody, nor cause any unnecessary damage. Changeling will morph into whatever form is most dangerous, so that he and Mozart can cover for you in case Scott and Matt try to come inside. But if all goes well, you, Cassie, Whirl, and Spiderman will try to find something out about that mysterious package. By the way, Scott was seen delivering these bundles every afternoon during the weekend and after school today. Signal will be keeping track of time for our three house bugs. At the end of the hour, Matt will be expected to arrive home, so you, Cassie, Whirl, and Spiderman must head out of there with Signal and Genie. All of you must then rendezvous to the Playscape in order to inform us of what you know about the house and its mysterious packages, sir!" Geordie smartly saluted before asking, "May I get a drink? My throat's dry."
{Be my guest,} answered the pup. It got up and turned to Holly, saying, {You need to remember that after becoming the wind, you can morph to anything but human. Otherwise, you won't be able to morph back, and getting out could pose as a problem. By the way, Yin-Yang, how will we all get into the house in the first place? And how do you know about Matt's piano lessons?}
Geordie drained his cup of pop, then said, "Sir, Mozart/Melissa eavesdropped on one of Matt's conversations when it was her shift to spy. She learned that he has lessons every Thursday at 6:30pm, which last for an hour. The assignment shall begin at that time until 7:30pm, this Thursday. Also, while spying on Scott, Whirl/Holly noticed that a second level window is always open. When you, Cassie/Michelle, and she, Whirl/Holly can get in as the wind through the window. Then, one of you is going to morph into some animal or imaginary creature of sorts that can open doors. Remember that we don't want the two delinquents to know they're being watched, unless entirely necessary. Then, one of you will open one of the doors and let Gordon in, sir!"
"How will we get there in the first place?" asked Adam.
"Sir's friend, all of you will have become wind in the first place in order to get there. You, Adam/Signal, and Genie/Phil will demorph in the neighbour's backyards, sir's friend!"
"Won't the neighbours see 'em?" asked Mike.
"Sir's live-in boyfriend, they'll be in the trees that overlook both yards, sir's live-in boy-ow!"
Michelle had nipped Geordie's ankle.
{"Knock it off!"} said Michelle, Adam, and Mike.
"Fine."
"Hang on. I'm gonna be sitting in a tree for an hour?"
"Don't worry. The tree's both have tree houses. That was another one of Holly's observations. Also, Adam, you'll be in the maple tree, while Phil will be in the oak tree. He knows all this already. Oh, and Mike. What battle morphs do you have? I bet they're really good."
"Ok, Geordie? You forget that you'll be distracting Scott and/or Matt with fire outside."
"No, I didn't forget. But what if it doesn't work? I could just run inside and morph with you and Melissa."
"No, Geordie, they won't need anymore help. While you're putting out the fire if it doesn't work, Nutmeg will morph both her and me into something really good. Gordon can morph with Mike and Melissa if need be," said Holly.
"Besides, fighting's only a last resort if Michelle, Holly, and Gordon don't get out of the house in time," said Adam, "And there will NOT be any bloodshed. The whole diversion thing is just so that our 'spies' don't get trapped in the house, and Matt and Scott don't start wondering why the house suddenly became so draughty, or about strange footsteps."
"D@$^," said Geordie.
"Hey, Holly and Geordie? It's about 6 o'clock," informed Michelle. She had demorphed, and no longer looked tired, "You should head home. And Adam? Doesn't it take about a half-hour for you to get home?"
"Oh, didn't you see? While Geordie was explaining the plan, I called my dad. He'll pick me up in about, maybe, 15 minutes. That ok?"
"It's fine by me," said Michelle.
"Um, yeah. Sure," said Mike.
"So we'll see you guys next Thursday, 6:15pm, at ESA?" asked Holly.
"We'll be there," nodded Michelle, opening the door for both Holly and Geordie.
"Wouldn't miss it," added Mike, half-smiling.
Holly and Geordie waved before grabbing their bikes and zooming off towards Holly's place.
"What's with that?" Michelle asked, pointing at Mike's face before sitting at the piano bench and toying with the keys again.
"Odd sense of déjà vu," he answered, finishing off what few chips were left in the bowl on the coffee table.
"What do you mean?" asked Adam. He sat on the couch and suddenly looked very, very tired.
"I used to be a basic thug in Uganda," Mike explained, "I was one of the strongest, so the gang I was in used to call on me to beat up members of rival gangs. I'd need to study and learn about the person's habits in order to do a good job, and get them when they least expected it. Wasn't too bad, at first. But then again, I was in the biggest, strongest gang. Some of the newer members of other groups occasionally quit and joined us instead. And that felt like true power. Just wearing their colours brought me plenty of respect. Only, once you're in, you're in. They want you around 24/7, even to skip school, and if they told me to do something, I had to do it. Otherwise, they'd kick me out and I'd become a public enemy to them. My parents and I didn't want me to drop out of school or hurt anyone too bad, and it seemed the only way to get me out was to come here and make a fresh start. At least this fighting has a good reason behind it."
Adam stared at his hands, slowly zoning out. Some internal instinct was telling him that something was going to happen to someone, somewhere. Quickly, he got up and yanked the front door open. He looked outside, and saw Michelle's brother, Nathaniel, on his scooter, going fast.
"Nat!" he yelled, "Slow down!"
The younger boy turned this head to Adam, not looking where he was going.
"What?"
Michelle appeared at Adam's side, then clapped a hand over her mouth, just in time to see her brother ride straight onto a sidewalk crack that caught onto his scooter's front wheel. Nathaniel flew off of the scooter, his collected momentum throwing him of the scooter. Mike mouthed, "No," as he watched from one of the house's front windows. Quickly, Adam reached out with his telekinesis and barely managed to push the nine-year-old so that he fell onto the grass, instead of the sidewalk, and so he landed on his side; not his back or head.
"Thank you," Michelle whispered to Adam, before running to her brother. Glancing down the sidewalk that Nathaniel had come from, she saw her cousin Ivy was running toward them.
"Nat? Dragon-child, you ok?" Michelle frantically rolled her brother over so that she saw his face. Mike and Adam ran up. Nathaniel had a few grass stains, looked shocked and was trembling, but was otherwise just fine.
"Yeah," he said shakily.
"Why were you going so fast?" the older sister demanded.
"Ivy and I were racing," he said simply, then, "Is my scooter ok?"
Nat jumped up and inspected his scooter, just as Ivy ran up.
"Is he all right?" she asked.
Mike nodded, then said, "He's more interested in how his scooter is than how he himself is doing."
"You still going to kill him?" Adam asked Michelle, whom by now was standing with her arms crossed, watching her brother.
"Maybe tomorrow," she murmured, "That stupid, stupid boy."
"Humus? Hey. What happened?" Michelle asked quietly. She tried to sit up, then groaned and lay back down saying, "I'm a bit dizzy. Where am I now? What time is it?"
"Oh God, you're awake! Guys!" Holly called down the hall, "She's awake! Melissa, you can stop the towels now."
"Michelle, are you all right?" asked Melissa, then, "What's your name? What's two plus two? What am I trying to figure out using the formula a2+b2+=c2?"
"Michelle, four, and a hypotenuse which is the side of a right triangle opposite the 90 degree angle," Michelle smiled, then groaned, "Could you please quiet down? I think I've developed a headache."
"Michelle?"
Michelle slowly turned her head toward the voice, so that her head wouldn't start spinning again. Mike stood at the doorway. It clicked to Michelle that she was on her bed in her room.
"Hey Mike. 'Sup?"
"Not much. How are you?"
"I don't know. What happened?"
"You fainted, right after demorphing from testing the whole 'morph equivalent' thing on Adam."
"Where's Geordie, Phil and Gordon?"
"Gordon had to go home. Geordie's sticking around so Holly won't bike home on her own, and Phil can teleport. In fact, he said he'd go as soon as you woke up so that he could drop Melissa off on his way."
Michelle sat bolt upright.
"OMIGOSH! Melissa, you live far away! What time is it-whoa!"
Michelle let herself drop back down.
"Remind me not to make my head do any sudden movements, please? The world goes all whooshy when I do."
Mike turned and went back down the hallway with Melissa to tell Phil that he could go home. Shortly after Phil and Melissa said goodbye, Michelle turned to Holly.
"Humus, where's my brother and cousin?"
"Oh, they went to the store while we were all outside checking our your fires and frost. Sorry. Forgot to tell you. Hey, do you need anything? Water? Something?"
"Um, yeah. Go downstairs to the small library we have, and in one of the small side pockets of my backpack, there's a small bottle of Motrin. Could you go get that and a small glass of water?"
"Sure. Hang on."
Holly got up and went downstairs, and Michelle sighed and stared at the ceiling. She really did not feel too good. She heard a cough at the doorway and looked up.
"Hey Adam."
"Hi."
They were quiet for a moment.
"Come in. My room isn't a trap."
One corner of Adam's mouth twitched for a moment, then he stepped into the room, hesitated, then closed the door behind him before kneeling near the bed.
"You seem stressed," Michelle commented.
"I am. I'm a kid with psychic powers that must save the school from two other mutated teens. Also, a really close friend of mine fainted after trying a new battled tactic and-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Michelle interrupted, and rubbed her temples with one hand. "Ok, go on. Just speak quietly so you don't give me a worse headache."
"Oh. Sorry."
"You ok? Did the morphing thing do anything to you, or what?"
"No. It was just you," Adam shook his head.
Michelle sighed.
"What exactly happened Adam? Tell me everything."
"Well, when you demorphed, you looked really pale. Especially for you since you're pretty dark. And, you whispered something like the word 'tired', and then you just fainted, like that. Luckily I was able to catch your head before you hit the ground, so you didn't get a concussion. But Holly and Melissa had a huge job on their hands trying to bring you to."
"What time is it now?"
"About five thirty."
"You guys should get home! Won't your parents get mad?"
"Nah. I'm going to my dad's place today, and so long as I'm home by 6:30pm, I'm good," Adam paused, then said, "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah. Just, tell Phil and Geordie not to include morph equivalents in their plans unless absolutely necessary. I think getting you to morph without Melissa's help used up nearly all my energy."
"Not all of it?"
"If all of it, then I'd be dead."
A shadow seemed to pass over Adam's face before he said, "Yeah. Not unless absolutely necessary."
"Hey," Michelle raised an eyebrow; "Do you wanna talk about whatever you wanted to talk about earlier? If I get mad, I can't yell since it would hurt my head, and I can't hit you since it would take too much effort."
"If you want."
Michelle carefully nodded, and Adam took a deep breath.
"Ok, uh, how's your grandfather been lately? How's he been managing since that heart attack?"
Michelle sighed, then said, "When did Mike tell about that?"
"He didn't. Mike goes out of his way not to speak to me unless absolutely necessary. I was trying to read your mind in order to find out what you and Mike meant by 'high,' and all these thoughts, memories and emotions just hit me."
"So that's why you fell backward. What else did you see?"
"Well, exhilaration from flight for one thing, but also some resentment against your brother and cousin, and stress from the up-coming French test. Also, you realised that you'd found Nomalca's planner in you Business class and needed to give it back, and a glimpse of a memory from this summer with your parents."
"Which one?"
{Since when was your family racist?} Adam asked inside her head.
{No, not racist. They just prefer that I date and marry an Asian person.}
{But.why?}
{That talk took place a few days after Mike came. They knew that Mike and I were always really close, and Mike's part Philipino. Also, they both knew Mike a whole lot better than they knew you, so.}
{You they had you break up with me because they liked Mike better?!}
Michelle turned away from Adam, but he was still able to read her mind.
{Your excuse is that they yelled at you? Do I have that right?}
Michelle brought up the entire memory of the talk with her parents, for Adam to see. During the talk, Adam saw that she'd begged and reasoned with her parents with every idea and thought that she could use in her defence. Her parents had called her a whore and a mistake that they should never had made, and that they'd wished they could take back, but couldn't. As it was her memory, Adam saw Michelle's feelings during the argument too. Michelle loved her parents, and in everything she did, she tried to make it so that her parents would be proud of her. But that pride never seemed to come up.
{Your parents are really like that?} Adam touched Michelle's arm.
She hesitated, then put her hand over his and answered, {Only some of the time. Usually they're kinder.}
Adam frowned, then said, {I don't want you hurt on my account, but.} his voice trailed off.
The door opened and Holly walked in with the bottle of painkillers and glass of water for Michelle.
"Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting anything?" Holly asked.
"No," Michelle slowly sat up saying, "We were just about done talking anyway."
Michelle opened up the bottle and took one small, white pill out. She popped it into her mouth, and then quickly finished the glass of water before the pill's bitter taste became too strong.
"I think I'll be able to walk to the living room," Michelle said, "Who's here now?"
"Well, Geordie's still here to take me home with our finished 'science project,' and then of course there's Adam, Mike, you, and me," said Holly.
"You sure you'll be able to stand up, let alone walk?" asked Adam.
"If I fall over, you and Holly are responsible for catching me, ok?"
Michelle slowly put her feet on the floor, and gingerly stood up.
"See? Nothing to it! I'll just step out of the room and, whoa!"
Michelle stumbled, but Holly managed to catch her before she fell entirely.
"Nothing to it, huh?" Holly asked.
"Let go of me! I can stand!"
Michelle carefully stood yet again, and before either Holly or Adam could stop her, she morphed into a golden retriever puppy, and quickly trotted down the hall.
"Hey!" Adam exclaimed, then ran to her and scooped her up, "Morphing would take up too much of your energy!"
{I'm fine!}
"Yeah, right!"
The pup tried to wriggle its way out of Adam's arms, but he held her firmly until she stopped. Holly followed behind as Adam carried the pup to the living room.
{Actually, in this morph I'm ok. I think I got back enough energy so that the dog could function normally.}
Adam ignored her and used his telekinesis to levitate her to the ground as he sat on the couch, opposite Mike. Michelle as the puppy walked over to where Geordie sat in his chair, and sat in front of him.
{Have you and Phil formulated the plan of infiltration yet?} she asked.
"Sir, yes, sir," Geordie said loudly, in his best army voice.
{Well? Are you just going to sit there like the barely evolved lump of slime that you are, or will you inform me?} The young dog barked for good measure.
"Sir, the plan is that Holly and you shall share the wind morph with Melissa's help, and Gordon will follow invisible, while Matt is at a piano lesson, and Scott is not around. Adam and Phil will each stand in the backyards of the neighbouring houses as lookouts in case either of the miscreants appears. Signal will then try to telepathically contact Spiderman, Whirl, or you. Then-"
{Call me Cassie,} Michelle interrupted.
"Sir, pardon, sir?"
{Cassie's the 'Animorphs' character that is best with her morphing abilities. And why 'Signal' and Whirl'?}
"Sir, 'Signal' is a card game that Adam always cheats at with his powers nowadays, and Holly likes making her hair whirl around her with the wind. As I was informing, Signal will then try to telepathically contact Spiderman, Whirl, or you, Cassie. If connection fails, Genie will-"
{Wait! Why Genie?}
"Sir, because Genie in Disney's 'Aladdin' said 'First I am here, and now I'm here, and here' in one of the movies. Now, if connection fails, Genie will teleport in there quickly, find the windiest room or the room with two creatures and a boy searching a room; warn you, then pull out. If all four of you do not show up at the John G. Althouse Playscape within an hour of the penetration assignment's commencement, Mozart, Changeling, and I, Yin- Yang, will-"
{Wait, wait, wait,} the pup put a paw over it's eyes, {I understand Mike's Changeling, but why Mozart and Yin-Yang?}
"Did everyone come up with their own nicknames here? I know I made up mine," Holly whispered to the other two boys.
"Yeah," nodded Adam.
"It wouldn't be the same if someone else made them up for them," said Mike.
"Sir, Yin-Yang is the balance of opposites, and fire and ice might as well be opposites, sir!"
{And Mozart?}
"Sir, Mozart was a conductor, sir!"
Adam and Holly groaned while the pup whimpered helplessly, then waved a paw, saying, {Go on.}
"Sir, Mozart, Changeling and I, Yin-Yang, will rush the scene as fast as we can in whatever form Changeling has that is most swift. I, Yin-yang, shall create a disturbance in the two villains' backyard, making sure that the flames hurt nobody, nor cause any unnecessary damage. Changeling will morph into whatever form is most dangerous, so that he and Mozart can cover for you in case Scott and Matt try to come inside. But if all goes well, you, Cassie, Whirl, and Spiderman will try to find something out about that mysterious package. By the way, Scott was seen delivering these bundles every afternoon during the weekend and after school today. Signal will be keeping track of time for our three house bugs. At the end of the hour, Matt will be expected to arrive home, so you, Cassie, Whirl, and Spiderman must head out of there with Signal and Genie. All of you must then rendezvous to the Playscape in order to inform us of what you know about the house and its mysterious packages, sir!" Geordie smartly saluted before asking, "May I get a drink? My throat's dry."
{Be my guest,} answered the pup. It got up and turned to Holly, saying, {You need to remember that after becoming the wind, you can morph to anything but human. Otherwise, you won't be able to morph back, and getting out could pose as a problem. By the way, Yin-Yang, how will we all get into the house in the first place? And how do you know about Matt's piano lessons?}
Geordie drained his cup of pop, then said, "Sir, Mozart/Melissa eavesdropped on one of Matt's conversations when it was her shift to spy. She learned that he has lessons every Thursday at 6:30pm, which last for an hour. The assignment shall begin at that time until 7:30pm, this Thursday. Also, while spying on Scott, Whirl/Holly noticed that a second level window is always open. When you, Cassie/Michelle, and she, Whirl/Holly can get in as the wind through the window. Then, one of you is going to morph into some animal or imaginary creature of sorts that can open doors. Remember that we don't want the two delinquents to know they're being watched, unless entirely necessary. Then, one of you will open one of the doors and let Gordon in, sir!"
"How will we get there in the first place?" asked Adam.
"Sir's friend, all of you will have become wind in the first place in order to get there. You, Adam/Signal, and Genie/Phil will demorph in the neighbour's backyards, sir's friend!"
"Won't the neighbours see 'em?" asked Mike.
"Sir's live-in boyfriend, they'll be in the trees that overlook both yards, sir's live-in boy-ow!"
Michelle had nipped Geordie's ankle.
{"Knock it off!"} said Michelle, Adam, and Mike.
"Fine."
"Hang on. I'm gonna be sitting in a tree for an hour?"
"Don't worry. The tree's both have tree houses. That was another one of Holly's observations. Also, Adam, you'll be in the maple tree, while Phil will be in the oak tree. He knows all this already. Oh, and Mike. What battle morphs do you have? I bet they're really good."
"Ok, Geordie? You forget that you'll be distracting Scott and/or Matt with fire outside."
"No, I didn't forget. But what if it doesn't work? I could just run inside and morph with you and Melissa."
"No, Geordie, they won't need anymore help. While you're putting out the fire if it doesn't work, Nutmeg will morph both her and me into something really good. Gordon can morph with Mike and Melissa if need be," said Holly.
"Besides, fighting's only a last resort if Michelle, Holly, and Gordon don't get out of the house in time," said Adam, "And there will NOT be any bloodshed. The whole diversion thing is just so that our 'spies' don't get trapped in the house, and Matt and Scott don't start wondering why the house suddenly became so draughty, or about strange footsteps."
"D@$^," said Geordie.
"Hey, Holly and Geordie? It's about 6 o'clock," informed Michelle. She had demorphed, and no longer looked tired, "You should head home. And Adam? Doesn't it take about a half-hour for you to get home?"
"Oh, didn't you see? While Geordie was explaining the plan, I called my dad. He'll pick me up in about, maybe, 15 minutes. That ok?"
"It's fine by me," said Michelle.
"Um, yeah. Sure," said Mike.
"So we'll see you guys next Thursday, 6:15pm, at ESA?" asked Holly.
"We'll be there," nodded Michelle, opening the door for both Holly and Geordie.
"Wouldn't miss it," added Mike, half-smiling.
Holly and Geordie waved before grabbing their bikes and zooming off towards Holly's place.
"What's with that?" Michelle asked, pointing at Mike's face before sitting at the piano bench and toying with the keys again.
"Odd sense of déjà vu," he answered, finishing off what few chips were left in the bowl on the coffee table.
"What do you mean?" asked Adam. He sat on the couch and suddenly looked very, very tired.
"I used to be a basic thug in Uganda," Mike explained, "I was one of the strongest, so the gang I was in used to call on me to beat up members of rival gangs. I'd need to study and learn about the person's habits in order to do a good job, and get them when they least expected it. Wasn't too bad, at first. But then again, I was in the biggest, strongest gang. Some of the newer members of other groups occasionally quit and joined us instead. And that felt like true power. Just wearing their colours brought me plenty of respect. Only, once you're in, you're in. They want you around 24/7, even to skip school, and if they told me to do something, I had to do it. Otherwise, they'd kick me out and I'd become a public enemy to them. My parents and I didn't want me to drop out of school or hurt anyone too bad, and it seemed the only way to get me out was to come here and make a fresh start. At least this fighting has a good reason behind it."
Adam stared at his hands, slowly zoning out. Some internal instinct was telling him that something was going to happen to someone, somewhere. Quickly, he got up and yanked the front door open. He looked outside, and saw Michelle's brother, Nathaniel, on his scooter, going fast.
"Nat!" he yelled, "Slow down!"
The younger boy turned this head to Adam, not looking where he was going.
"What?"
Michelle appeared at Adam's side, then clapped a hand over her mouth, just in time to see her brother ride straight onto a sidewalk crack that caught onto his scooter's front wheel. Nathaniel flew off of the scooter, his collected momentum throwing him of the scooter. Mike mouthed, "No," as he watched from one of the house's front windows. Quickly, Adam reached out with his telekinesis and barely managed to push the nine-year-old so that he fell onto the grass, instead of the sidewalk, and so he landed on his side; not his back or head.
"Thank you," Michelle whispered to Adam, before running to her brother. Glancing down the sidewalk that Nathaniel had come from, she saw her cousin Ivy was running toward them.
"Nat? Dragon-child, you ok?" Michelle frantically rolled her brother over so that she saw his face. Mike and Adam ran up. Nathaniel had a few grass stains, looked shocked and was trembling, but was otherwise just fine.
"Yeah," he said shakily.
"Why were you going so fast?" the older sister demanded.
"Ivy and I were racing," he said simply, then, "Is my scooter ok?"
Nat jumped up and inspected his scooter, just as Ivy ran up.
"Is he all right?" she asked.
Mike nodded, then said, "He's more interested in how his scooter is than how he himself is doing."
"You still going to kill him?" Adam asked Michelle, whom by now was standing with her arms crossed, watching her brother.
"Maybe tomorrow," she murmured, "That stupid, stupid boy."