Disclaimer: see chapter one
A/N: Boy, when it comes to creating character names, an old phone book really comes in handy! And yes, Snowball is a real name, in a real phone book, in case you wonder when you read that name.
Den of Thieves"Police are baffled as the investigation into the latest case in a series of disappearances comes to a dead end. Twenty-eight year old Jacob Snowball vanished without a trace from his home two days ago, and both the police and the man's family are clueless as to the cause. As with each of the other five disappearances, there was no sign of a struggle, and no notes explaining the disappearings. Nothing was taken but the victims themselves and whatever clothing they were wearing at the time of their supposed kidnapping.
"The families of each have said that none of the victims had been acting unusual in any way in the week preceding their disappearances, precluding the possibility that they planned to leave of their own free will.
"Even more baffling, every single one of them was a high-level employee of reclusive business man Felix Spencer. He declined to comment on this string of kidnappings until a press conference late last night. While there, he claimed to have a number of private investigators working on the cases in hopes that they might find some clue the police missed."
"In other news—" At that point the television was muted, and the outline of a figure stood up from the couch in front of it.
"It looks like it's time to start our own investigation," it said in a male voice, and it turned sideways to the light emanating from the screen. The only thing about the figure that could be seen for sure in the otherwise dark room were the spikes of hair on his head.
The HIVE filed into their hideout, Elm with them. He still had a couple of cheese pizza slices he was munching on in his hand, and they were rapidly disappearing into his stomach.
His eyes widened at the sight. A large, flat-screen TV was on one wall, with a gamestation attached, and several padded chairs plus a comfy-looking couch in front of it. "Nice place," he commented after a few seconds of silent observation.
"Thanks," grunted Mammoth, and Jinx grinned at Elm's admiring expression. He absently stuffed the last of his food into his mouth, then plopped down onto the couch with a contented sigh. "Comfortable too," he added, and yawned so hugely his jaw nearly cracked. Before anyone else could thank him for the compliment, he was fast asleep and snoring lightly, his chest rising and falling with his even breathing.
"That was fast," said See-More.
"Huh?" Mammoth asked.
"It didn't take him long to make himself comfortable," See-More clarified.
"Shh." whispered Jinx. She put a finger to her lips. "Let him sleep. It's obvious he needs it." As they all filed out to go to their own rooms, Jinx lingered for a few moments, staring at their guest. "What have you gone through, to make you so weary?" She asked quietly. Her only answer was a snore, and a twitch of his arm, as if he were dreaming…
He was in an empty plain. As far as the eye could see, there was only low, brown grass and the occasional scraggly bush. Not a single tree, mountain, or even small hill were in sight. The only other thing visible was the sun in the bright blue sky, beating down on him in waves of heat that brought large beads of sweat to the surface of his skin.
He shed his cloak, but it didn't make one bit of difference. Neither did attempting to use the shade underneath one of the nearby bushes, for they provided none.
He also heard nothing, other than the slight wind that did nothing for the heat. No animals rustled underfoot, no birds called out from the sky.
But then suddenly, out of nowhere, he heard a quiet trickling, seemingly of water, and he turned his head in the direction of the sound. His eyes opened wide, and he scrambled to his feet. Where there had been only featureless plain before, there was now a pond, with a small river coming into one end and flowing out the other. Trees and flowering bushes lined the banks. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but when he opened them again, it was all still there. Numbly, he shuffled towards it, and when he reached out a hand to feel a tree, it was solid to the touch. The rough bark was really there, not a hallucination.
Eagerly he rushed to the pond, kneeling to gulp down huge swallows of water, and when he had drunk his fill, he splashed water on his face to cool himself.
He closed his eyes and lay back on the soft, green grass to rest, but hardly had he done so, when he heard a twig snap behind him. He jumped up and whirled around, coming face-to-face with—
A mile apart, two people shot up simultaneously, their hearts beating wildly.
"I don't think you ever told us your name," Jinx said over breakfast.
He chewed his cereal, swallowing before answering with one word. "Elm."
"Elm? Where'd you get that crummy name?" queried Gizmo, with a look that said he didn't think much of it.
"Gizmo, be nice," Jinx reprimanded. The pint-sized little boy folded his arms across his chest and sulked. She turned back to Elm and introduced the team members, pointing to each in turn. "That giant over there is Mammoth." The hulking teen across the room waved, and Elm waved back. "See-More." The one with the lens over his eyes smiled, prompting the same from Elm. "Kyd Wykkyd." The dark figure in the cape made eye contact and nodded once. Elm solemnly did the same. "Billy Numerous." The look-alikes glowered, evidently not having forgiven him for beating them. Elm eyed them warily.
"And I'm Jinx." She finally said, grinning widely. Elm shyly returned the smile, but cocked his head a moment later, the smile disappearing into an expression of curiosity. "Jinx? That's an interesting name. How…? Where's it come from? I mean, I can see where they get their names…" he observed, gesturing at the others.
"It comes from my power. My bolts of energy give bad luck to whatever they hit."
He raised an eyebrow at that, muttering under his breath. "If it wasn't for my empathy, I wouldn't believe it." He lifted another spoonful of cereal to his mouth.
Gizmo narrowed his eyes and spoke up again. "What was that, snot-muncher?"
Once again, Elm made sure to swallow before replying. "I said," he spoke more loudly and clearly, "If I wasn't an empath, I wouldn't believe her. But, since I am…" Leaving the midget to the obvious conclusion, he turned back to the girl with a small smile. "Just how powerful are you?"
"Let's just say you don't want to be near a tall building if I throw all my energy into it."
His eyes widened appreciatively, and he gave a low whistle. It was a few moments before he turned back to his food, but once he did, he finished it in absolute silence, as did the rest of the teens with theirs.
Afterward…
"So, when's practice?" Elm asked, as he started up the water in the kitchen sink to do the dishes.
Everyone froze. "Uh, practice?" Mammoth scratched his head.
"We don't need no practice!" Billy declared.
"You said it," Gizmo replied.
"Thanks." Billy folded his arms across his chest and glared at Elm. Several replicas appeared, all with the same expression and posture.
"And besides, every time I build an obstacle course, you losers trash it!" Gizmo added.
"Hey, I can't help it if it's fragile!" Mammoth protested.
"Fragile?! Titanium alloy isn't fragile, you Neanderthal!"
"What did you call me?" Mammoth cracked his knuckles threateningly, and in response, out of Gizmo's pack extended four metal, spider-like legs. Elm stared at the confrontation, absently turning the faucet off before the water overflowed.
At that moment, Jinx walked into the room. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" she screamed.
Mammoth and Gizmo pointed at each other, both saying, "He started it!" They glared at each other. "I did not, you did!" They gritted their teeth and scowled furiously.
"SHUT UP!" They complied instantly when they saw her eyes starting to glow pink. "I don't want blame, I want an explanation!" When her clenched fists started glowing in the same color, everyone backed away from her, slowly. All except Elm, who was oblivious to what they meant.
"Really, I suppose it's my fault." She turned to face him, the glow fading slightly from her eyes. "I asked a question, and they started arguing about the answer." The glow faded even more, and her fingers started relaxing.
"What question did you ask?"
"I asked what time practice was."
The glow was completely gone from her eyes, and her hands were completely relaxed.
"That's not a bad idea. It's been a while since we had one, but it doesn't help that we destroy every obstacle course Gizmo builds."
Elm thought for a minute. "What about a holographic course?"
After a long pause, Gizmo mumbled, "The snot-muncher's right. Why didn't I think of that?"
200 miles up the coast, in an abandoned warehouse
The room was almost pitch black. The only illumination was the glow of a nearly expired light bulb on the ceiling. However, it must have been enough for the shadowy figure, who sidestepped several barely discernable piles of clutter as it crossed the floor. It stopped in front of another, even more indistinct figure.
The one who had moved spoke in a low-pitched voice that was, nevertheless, decidedly female. "Sir, I have to report that our newest member has failed his initiation."
There was silence, then the other spoke in a gravelly voice. "How did this happen?"
"Apparently, from the scattered memories we coaxed from the neighbor's minds, there was a metahuman living with them at the time."
"And why was I not made aware of this before the initiation?"
The woman took on a placating tone. "Sir, the metahuman was not reported as being very powerful, so—"
"It would appear that you were mistaken, would it not? Don't answer that." There was a short pause, then he changed the subject. "How goes our mission against the traitor?"
'We have managed to capture several of his…underlings. Our best interrogators are working them over as we speak."
"Excellent. Begin preparations at once. We are moving our base closer to the traitor's city."
Before I forget—not that I'm likely to, as each incident is seared into my memory—I should probably write of how I develop new powers.
Let's take the robbery while I was staying with Alex and Brian as the first example of many. I was simply browsing through a video game store in the mall, when a gang of thieves decided to hold it up. Yes, I know I told Brian it was one robber, but I didn't want him to idolize me more than he already did. Anyway, There I was, in the middle of a robbery, with one thief to guard the only entrance, and two at the cash register, all carrying guns.
Quick as thought, I teleported to the spot right behind them and whipped out my staff, managing to knock them both out. However, when I turned around to deal with the third, he was already lifting his handgun and beginning to squeeze the trigger.
In the time it took him to finish leveling the gun at my head, I realized I couldn't just teleport out of harm's way. The man behind the counter was also in the line of fire. I couldn't let him die!
As I heard the shot, something inside of me knew what to do, how to save both of us. A shimmer appeared in the air, about two feet in front of me, and the bullet ricocheted into the ceiling, as did the rest of them. When the robber's clip ran dry, he turned to run for it, but only got five steps before he joined his fellows in unconsciousness.
The manager of the store was so grateful, he offered me anything I wanted from the store. I immediately spotted a Game Boy Advance, and the perfect game to go with it—it said Teen Titans.
But enough of that. I was walking out of the mall, when an intense pain filled my body. I don't know how I managed to stay upright, much less find the nearest bathroom for privacy, but somehow I did, and I stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, feeling like fire was racing through my veins and clutching the stall door so hard my knuckles turned completely white.
Finally, it stopped, but I still had another slightly painful experience trying to pry off my death grip on that door, and I was trembling for several minutes afterward recovering from the experience.
When I finally felt confident to leave, I saw that I had been in there for a quarter of an hour. That had been the longest 15 minutes I'd ever felt, but unfortunately, it wouldn't be the last time I felt it.
End notes: I don't know why, but every time I upload a document with italics in it, the first paragraph after a break (like the one above) reverts from the italics to normal lettering. Someone needs to talk to the admin about that.