I do not own the Whateley Academy series nor am I a canon author.
Thanks to Holly Hart for editing

The boy standing on the steps of the brownstone was frowning. The weather was good for June in NYC. It wasn’t raining, there was just enough breeze to feel nice, and it wasn’t too hot. He was a little short for a boy, but he’d only just turned fourteen, so he had time to catch up to his taller friends. The black hair on his head was a chaotic mop and his black eyes stood out in a pale and serious looking face.

Rick Leitner was depressed. As he stood there frowning, his best friend, Bobby, walked up and waved a hand in front of his face. “Hey, why the long face man?”

“I got a scholarship to some school up in The Bronx,” Rick muttered disconsolately.

“Yeah? So why are you frowning? That’s good news, right?” Bobby was honestly puzzled.

“My grandparents can’t afford to send me anywhere else while my older sister is in college,” Rick said in tones of imminent doom.

“I still don’t see the problem, dude.” Bobby shrugged.

“The Mt. St. Michael Academy is an all boys school!” Rick wailed.

“That sucks, dude,” Bobby sympathized. “I know something that’ll cheer you up though.”

“Yeah?” Rick was skeptical but willing.

“Yeah! A trip to Forbidden Planet! I got some birthday money, and so do you. Where better to spend it than the Mecca of all things geeky?”

Rick finally smiled, “Yeah okay. Let’s go.” He stepped on to the sidewalk and they started walking together. They could have run the whole way; they did enough running together that a mile was not enough to make them winded. Today though they were in no hurry, so they walked to the subway and rode it into Greenwich Village, the tangled area on the southern tip of Manhattan that was home to, among many other things, the Forbidden Planet store.

The building was huge. It contained the current issue of any comic still in print, back issues of most and many out of print. It had dice, trading cards, every RPG you can imagine and more board games than you knew existed. It had miniatures, hex and square grid maps, and science fiction books in the hundreds, if not thousands. They spent hours just looking around. Each left with a large bag of goodies they couldn’t wait to take home and a large grin.

As they were heading back to the station they heard a voice say, “Don’t turn around! Put the bags on the ground along with your watches and any cash you have on you then you can go.” They heard an ominous click, and a second voice said, “Don’t even think about running or we’ll stab ya both.”

The boys took off running. This, more than the exercise, was why they ran together often, so that when they needed to they could accelerate and hold the pace as long as needed. They heard cursing as they accelerated and turned a corner at full speed. Rick sneaked a look behind and seeing two large individuals racing behind him, he gripped his bag so as not to let anything spill and sped up. Bobby sped up alongside him and they dodged around people and leaped obstacles. After about 5 more minutes they were certain they lost the two guys and slowed back to a walk. The grins came back.

“That was awesome dude! We passed a bike messenger!” Bobby was ecstatic.

“No way! Those guys ride seriously fast!” Rick was wide eyed at the thought.

“Yes, way! I saw him when you were dodging around that Village Voice kiosk. We so did it. We rock, dude.” Bobby looked thoughtful now but still happy. He walked closer and lowered his voice, “The Empire City Guard is doing free mutant testing as part of a goodwill thing. You know to promote the idea that being a mutant isn’t a bad thing.”

“So?” It was spoken with careful nonchalance.

“So they said that anyone who tests high will have a chance to join!” Bobby was enthusiastic, and it showed clearly in his tanned face and brown eyes. “Imagine us working with the Empire City Guard!”

Rick scowled at his best friend and also lowered his voice. “First, I just turned fourteen and you did the same only a month ago; we are too young to join a super team. Second, we aren’t mutants.”

“Are you sure about that Rick?” Bobby looked at him.

“What d’you mean?” Rick demanded looking up and down the street.

“I mean every time we go running you have to stop after and pour sand out of your shoe, and sometimes at school you’d shake it out of your clothes changing for gym.” Bobby sounded matter of fact.

“Yeah, so?” Rick sounded defensive.

“So we’re in freakin’ Manhattan and we run on the Lower West Side. Where does the sand come from?” Bobby leaned in, “I think you’re what they call a Manifestor. You’re making that sand.”

“Who cares? It’s just sand. You don’t see any heroes named Sand Boy, do you?” He sounded bitter now.

“Hey, you might manage more than that with training, and just that is enough for the bigots to hassle you. If you were part of a respected team, even a junior or probationary member, they wouldn’t let them bother you. I know we’re a bit young but this when you first start showing abilities and they KNOW that so I think we should go.”

“If I’m getting tested, so are you,” Rick said. “How did you hear about this, anyway? It’s not like they’d advertise openly. They’d have picket lines and Humanity First! attacks on whoever showed up.”

“Hey, I was planning on it. There might be some pretty girls there. Besides I kinda think I might be one too,” Bobby said sheepishly. “I heard about it while searching sites for info. I happened to get my hands on the IP addresses for some .mut websites. I dunno how many other ways they advertised, but if we are the only ones who show, then so much the better, huh?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, well I keep up with you right? Sometimes I even pull ahead; and we did just pass that dude on a ten speed. Both of us. I know that’s why we started running together, so bullies and such would get lost in our dust, but man, this was different. We left them in the dust and we aren’t even breathing hard. It wasn’t super speed or anything, cars still passed us, but those messenger dudes ain’t slow.” He smiled, “So yeah, I’m going too, and for more than the girlwatching opportunities.”

“Okay, so when is it?” Rick came off the steps and finally smiled, “The women on that team are pretty spectacular. Worth going to see all by themselves.”

“It’s tomorrow at noon,” Roberto answered with a smile.

“Want to stay over tonight? We can watch the anime we bought and decide on codenames,” Rick asked.

“I think you just want help with all the stuff your grandpa has you do as chores, but yeah, count me in.”

Later Bobby asked, “Hey, if your grandpa is the one getting paid to be the super, why are we the ones fixing this vent?”

“Well sometimes I think it’s because he is kind of old, but mostly I think he does it because he can. I’ve been learning a lot though, and I’ve been figuring I can do this for living after school. At least unless I get shot for being a mutant or something,” Rick answered.

“Come on man! Stop being such a pessimist. Think about being a superhero and in the ECG. All the girls, the fame, the girls, endorsements deals, and did I mention girls?” Bobby sounded eager as he screwed the butterfly screws back into place.

“Ha, ha, I think you did.” Rick shook his head; he never knew what to say to girls anyway, so it was just as well that they generally ignored him. “Come on let’s go watch MD Geist.”
The next day they left before Rick’s grandpa got up, so he didn’t send them to rewire a doorbell or something. Then they hit McDonald’s for breakfast. After they ate, they went over to the Headquarters of the Empire City Guard.

It was a beautiful building in Neoclassical mode with columns out front. They entered and made the short line in front of the receptionist. She smiled at them and asked, “Purpose for coming here today?”

“Uh, I uh, we’re uh…” Rick was staring. The receptionist seemed to him to have acres of cleavage, and his brain was swamped by hormones. He managed not to say what he was thinking but nothing else got out either. Bobby interrupted, “We’re here for the free testing. He’s Rick, I’m Bobby.” He smiled back and extended his hand. The receptionist shook his hand and called someone on her speed dial, “Hello? More people for testing. Two boys about twelve or so.”

Rick found his voice and interrupted to say, “We’re both fourteen!”

She smiled and amended herself, “Two fourteen year old gentleman here for testing, I meant. Yes? Okay I’ll have someone lead them back.”

A twenty-something guy led them back through a door and into a little room with lots of chairs and two girls in the corner. The girls looked up at them and giggled, then started whispering. Rick steered Bobby over to the opposite corner and they waited.
A woman came in wearing a lab coat. Rick recognized her as Doctor Thunder, the Gadgeteer and leader of the Empire City Guard. “All of you follow me and we’ll begin.” She led them deeper into the structure and down a level into what looked like a large gym, “We exercise in here and I think that here we can get a good, if basic idea of what powers you may have, if any.” She pointed to two doors off to one side, “If you need to change, the lockers are through there.” The two girls headed off to the doors and Doctor Thunder led Bobby and Rick over to what looked like a Nautilus machine on steroids.

“I’ve altered this machine so that anyone of us can use it, and it should work fine as the first test. Grip the bar and pull it up. The way it is currently set the weight will go up with each repetition; the first rep will be fifty pounds. Strength is the main determinant of Exemplar level, and easily quantified, so we start with this. If you don’t know what I mean, don’t worry. After the testing we’ll give you an overview of the basic power categories and go into detail about any that you actually have. Now who wants to try before the girls get here, and who wants to wait for an audience?”

“I’ll go first,” Rick offered. He was shocked at how easy the first pull was. He didn’t feel any real resistance until the fourth pull. He stopped after only six, but when the Gadgeteer checked, she told them he had topped out at a thousand pounds!

“Yeah!” He jumped and punched the air. Then the door opened and the girls came through. They looked like they picked their workout clothes as much for fashion as anything. One was wearing a lavender halter top and matching sweatpants and sneakers, the other was all in red, but otherwise a mirror image. She had on a well filled red sweatshirt, matching spandex shorts and sneakers of the same shade. “We’re ready!” the one in red announced.

“Okay, come over here to the strength machine so you can all introduce yourselves before we continue.” The blonde in red was Maria, and the brunette in purple was Rhonda. Then Bobby got his turn at the machine and Rick saw the look on his face as he started pulling. “How could we not notice this?” he asked the leader of the ECG. “I mean, you’d think we know, right?”

“Not necessarily,” she said. “It’s entirely possible that your extra strength was there but when it works well, you still have control of how much to use. Have either of you tried to lift or carry anything heavy or gotten into a fight?”

“We usually avoid fights. Neither of us is large, and after getting creamed a few times we made it a point to getting in better shape by running in our spare time so we could leave bullies in our dust. Yesterday though, we did that a little too well, so I agreed to come with Bobby to get tested because running faster than a lumbering hulk with no forebrain is one thing, but passing a courier on a ten-speed is something else again.”

“Definitely. Okay, it looks like your friend is finished. Let’s see what weight he finished with.” She went behind the machine and when she came out she told him he had lifted a full ton at the last. He looked shocked, and she patted him on one sweaty shoulder. “Don’t worry, this why we are doing this, so we can get emerging mutants like you proper training so you don’t injure people accidentally. If you had fought those bullies yesterday, it could have turned out badly for all of you, but fortune smiled on you as well as them.” She looked at the girls, “And possibly on these two ladies. Which one of you is next?”

While they whispered and decided, Rick thought about what that guy’s face would look like if he’d punched him with his full strength. It made him nauseous. Then he imagined the MCO showing up, and how they’d react, and felt worse. ‘Man, I’m glad the Guard had this idea,’ he thought. While Rick was preoccupied, the girls sorted out who was first and Maria was grabbing the bar.

Rick watched Maria lift. She was pretty, and those shorts looked hot on her. Then he heard a giggle; Rhonda had been watching him watch Maria. ‘Oh man!’ he thought. ‘I was totally busted, checking out her friend’s ass!’ Rick blushed and looked away. waiting for her to say something.

“Also one ton!” Dr. Thunder announced and I looked back. Maria was puffing and sweating, but still managing to look hot rather than overheated. She also looked shocked. “But I just came with Rhonda as moral support!” she exclaimed, “I never thought … I mean, I’ve out-wrestled her during sleepovers, but I never … and she said she did say lifted her brother’s barbell in one hand…” Doctor Thunder interrupted, “You are clearly a mutant, my dear, but don’t worry, we’ll get you trained properly, and once you are old enough you’ll have a place here as long as you’ve kept your nose clean and learned what Whateley has to teach you. We are going to need new blood eventually, and we should provide leadership and opportunities to the next generation, especially in the city we are responsible for protecting.”
She continued, “Speaking of responsibilities and protection, if at any time you feel the least bit odd, I want you tell me. If you feel hurt or extra hungry, or anything out of the ordinary let me know, okay?”

Rhonda giggled again, “She’s always hungry.” Maria blushed and nodded, “Lately I have been. My dad said it was just puberty. Is that like a mutant thing?”

“It can be. Energizers always eat a lot, and some other types eat more than normal for Baselines.” Doctor Thunder replied.

“Baseline? Energizer?” Maria asked.

“Baseline is the word we use for those who are not mutants. Much better than ‘Normal,’ because that implies that we aren’t.” She created a forcefield briefly, “I’m an Energizer, and forcefields like this are one of the normal things Energizers can do. Supercharging their bodies to lift more and run faster is another. Once testing is over I’ll go over all the basic power categories for you, along with more in-depth info on whatever category we decide you fit into best.” She smiled, “Now, Rhonda, I believe it is your turn.”

Rhonda started lifting, and shortly the good doctor announced, “Twelve hundred and fifty pounds. All of you are solidly past Baseline, especially for your age.” As she led them over to a treadmill she announced, “You are all hereby accepted as probationary members of the Empire City Guard. If you do well in the school we’ll pay for, you will be granted a place in our ranks.”
“Even if all we can do is manifest sand?” Rick asked.

She smiled kindly at him. “Even if that were true, yes. It isn’t however; you are solidly above Baseline in strength as well. All of you should remember there are no useless powers; even Baselines can be heroes, so no matter what your powers, you too can be heroes. Any power can be used positively if you are creative enough.”

Rick doubted that he could come up with a use for making sand appear in his sneakers, but he didn’t want to say anything out loud. He was feeling more than a little lame as they took turns sprinting as fast as they could on the treadmill.

Being the fastest, if only by a hair boosted his spirits a bit. His top speed was 40.1 mph; a top speed that beat Bobby’s by .1. Rhonda was slowest at 30 mph, and Maria was holding steady at 39 when her stomach started growling audibly. Rhonda giggled and Dr. Thunder insisted they break for lunch right then.

“We get to eat at the same place the heroes do?” Rick asked, excited.

“Yes, and you’ll get to see how much Energizers eat, too.” She smiled at Maria, “We Energizers eat like horses, but if you’re an energizer you’ll never be fat.”

‘She was definitely correct about that.’ Rick thought as he grabbed a tuna sandwich and some milk. ‘Her tray is as piled with food as could be and I think Maria’s matches it.’ Then he heard what was by now a familiar giggle, and turned to look at Rhonda, “Why do you giggle so much?”

“Empathy.” Rhonda replied, and giggled.

“She has a warped sense of humor is why,” Maria replied, “But she is also an Empath. It’s why we decided to come today. She started picking up feelings from people in school, and at first we made a game of it, but as she got better we realized it wasn’t just good guessing, so we started researching carefully and heard about this. She was scared to come alone, so I agreed to get tested too. Watch out for her. She might develop Telepathy next, and know exactly what you’re thinking.”

Rhonda poked both boys, and giggled, “I don’t need telepathy to know what most boys are thinking. That’s why I giggle. If you had to deal with all the horniness pouring off the boys, we know you’d giggle too. It’s either be amused, or start swinging.”

Laughter echoed behind them and a voice with a noticeable New Jersey accent said, “You tell’em girl! That’s the spirit!” She introduced herself as Heavyweight, the heavy hitter of the team. Both Rick and Bobby found her beautiful but intimidating; she was taller than either of them, and looked to be in much better shape.

After lunch they played games against the computer, and tried to solve complex problems with equations that were new to them. “These are only the most basic of mental tests, I’m afraid. I was hoping to learn more, but I can’t say anything for sure. Maria might be an Exemplar/Energizer, instead of just an Energizer, but I can’t be sure yet. Let’s jump straight to testing your physical endurance, then try to see if we can get you to manifest some sand dunes for us.”

“Hey, Dune might not be a bad codename, right?” Rick asked.

“I like it,” Bobby said.

“It’s short, easily pronounced, and related to your power,” Doctor Thunder said. “All good things.”

They could all jog on the treadmill for more than an hour at a steady 25 MPH. Doctor Thunder made notes and documented that none of them had a history of inventing anything. “We don’t any Psychics here, Rhonda, so unfortunately we can’t help with that at all. But on the bright side it will make you all the more valuable as a teammate once you are trained. Can you broadcast as well as receive?”

Rhonda blushed at the idea of broadcasting her emotions to other people, “No, I just receive, fortunately.”

Doctor Thunder noted the fact of Rhonda’s Empathy, then nodded, “Okay, let me set up the cameras, then we’ll have Dune try to produce sand.”

Rick leaned in to Bobby and whispered, “What if I can’t do it?”
Bobby whispered back, “It’s cool, man. You haven’t been trained yet. No reason for you to be able to do it on command, yet.”

From the other side of the room, Rhonda moved towards him, “It’s okay, Rick. I worry about my power too. If you manage to create some sand you’re doing better at control then I am, and if you don’t, then you’re no worse.”

“Thanks, Rhonda.” He was wondering what it must be like to receive emotions from people around you whether you wanted to or not. “I’m sorry if my worry was, uh, you know, bugging you.”

She smiled. “It’s okay. Just do your best at this and then we can move on to the real test. Telling our folks.”

Doctor Thunder said, “We can have some of our staffers call for you. If you think it will be bad news, they are experienced at telling unpleasant truths or talking to mutant fearing people.”

They all smiled at that. Then Rick frowned and spoke up, “My folks are dead. You’ll have to call my Grandpa.” He was pointedly not looking at Rhonda’s face as he said that. He concentrated on creating sand. The area he was in was ringed by various cameras and other sensors. There was a platform with a clear container that he was supposed to aim for. Nothing appeared in the area, so he concentrated harder.

“Hold on a moment! I’m getting error readings from some of these sensors.” Doctor Thunder called. She moved forward and opened a panel on the side of one and sand came trickling out.
Rick blushed, “Sorry, I guess my aim was off.”

“It’s fine. This happens fairly often at the beginning. I can fix them, and at least we now have proof you are manifesting sand. Alright now, it's explanations and answers time. Follow me."

She led them into another room with a whiteboard. There she told them about all the basic powers and went into detail on Exemplars, Manifestors, and Energizers.

"Any questions?”

“None I can think of right now.” Rick answered. The others shook their heads.

“Alright. I’ll get our people to call your parents or grandparents. Come with me.” Doctor Thunder led them from the room.

Rick had no trouble with his grandfather. Once the old man realized he wouldn’t have to pay anything for schooling at Whateley, he was more than happy to let Rick go.

Bobby had even less trouble with his folks. Once Doctor Thunder laid out how it was, they were committed to him learning to use his abilities as best he could and proud that he would have an opportunity to join the ECG.

The ladies unfortunately both had problems, very similar problems. Both their families were prejudiced against mutants, and refused to even let them come home at all, not even long enough to pack a bag.

The boys were shuffled out and a lawyer called in. Rick wasn’t sure exactly what happened, but both girls ended up in the care of the ECG, with Doctor Thunder and Heavyweight as their legal guardians. Rick only heard that in jumbled form from Maria. She came running out of the room crying and he held her somewhat awkwardly as the taller girl cried against him. He found himself agreeing to go with them to Whateley and to let her cry on him anytime.

“Really?” she asked tearfully. Both Rick and Bobby assured her solemnly that they’d go with her and be her moral support. Then they repeated it to Rhonda and Dr. Thunder after she brought them.

“That’s a nice thing for you boys to do.” The head of the Empire City Guard smiled at them and added, “You boys go home and pack. We’ll meet you here tomorrow at 9 A.M. sharp. Then we’ll get you all on a chartered flight.”

She turned to the girls, “In the meantime we’ll be escorting you home to pack, along with some of New York’s Finest. Grab everything you even think you may want. You won’t be back.” She paused briefly then nodded grimly to herself, “And if perchance the MCO is there waiting, let us handle them. We have the authority to do so and the power to insure they follow the laws of this country.”

The next morning the boys were ready. They appeared at the doors with two suitcases each. Bobby's parents were there to see them off, but they were the only ones. Lioness led the boys to the ECG garage and to a heavily modified H1 Humvee.

The girls showed up as they were packing, "Good things boys always pack light,” Rhonda said. She was trying for humor, but her voice was brittle, "We are going to need a lot of room." Each girl had suitcases and boxes piled near them.

"Well I'd be happy to help you put it in the Hummer." Bobby said, and Rick nodded solemnly. “It looks big enough to accommodate all of our stuff.”

“It is.” Lioness agreed, “You can also leave some stuff here. We’ll store stuff you don’t want to take to your dorms.”

The girls quickly conferred, and some of the pile was sent back. The rest was stored in the Humvee shortly after.

"We're going with you and we’re getting allowance money, so we can help," Rick added with a tentative smile, “Just in case you do forget to bring something.”

"That's so sweet!" Lioness smiled at the boys and added, "You all have an account set up at the Whateley bookstore so you can buy uniforms and anything necessary for classes.

“The girls might be a little shy of pocket money, though: at least until the semester officially starts though so I'm sure they'll be glad of a treat or two on you. The nearby town of Dunwich is small, but has surprisingly good sweet shops and restaurants, and the people are used to students like yourselves."

The girls were smiling at them, and Rick felt uncomfortably like a steak being examined by a butcher, but when Bobby spoke up he nodded. "We'd be happy to treat them as our funds allow. Maybe we can get school jobs?"

"It's encouraged from what I hear, but I don't know if they're available during the summer. The Dean of Students should be meeting us at the Berlin airport. I'm sure she'll be able to answer all your questions. Let's get you all loaded up. We're on a schedule."

After they were all seated she continued, "We'll be meeting the plane on its way back from Whateley, after dropping off another student. I won't be flying with you but there will be adults on the plane and I want you four to behave, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." they replied in ragged unison.

When they got to the airport she parked and they walked over to the charter terminal where a plane was already waiting. A woman in a security guard uniform met them. She talked with Lioness in private briefly then Lioness led her over, “This is Wanda Barrett from Whateley security. The school has sent her and a partner, who is still on board the plane, to escort you on your way to the school. Please don’t give her any trouble. Remember you are representing us, so keep your noses clean if you ever want to be full members!” With that, Lioness hugged them all and left, misty-eyed.

Once on the plane Wanda introduced them to her partner. “Kids, this is Matt. Matt, this is Rick, next to him is Maria, and these two are Bobby, and Rhonda." The pilot then spoke, "Fasten your seat-belts everyone, we will be in Berlin before long.”

They took off and for awhile everything was calm. Rick noticed Rhonda was frowning though, "What's wrong?"

"I've just got a bad feeling about this." Rick was about to tell her not to worry when the co-pilot suddenly said, "Oh, shit! We're off course. What are you doing?" The last was directed towards the pilot who merely grinned back at him. The copilot clutched his head then, and slumped forward in his seat. The five point harness kept him somewhat upright, but he was clearly unconscious.

"We're making an unscheduled stop, I'm afraid. You see, my boss has paid me well to deliver four mutants to him, and it's always best to get them before they hit Whateley. The school protects its own quite fiercely, and after they are well trained and dangerous." He smiled a bright white smile at them, "Don't worry though, we're not mutant haters. We just want to test you a little." Then he started laughing maniacally.

The two security guards drew their sidearms. Wanda put her gun to the base of the pilot’s skull while her partner Matt checked on the co-pilot. “Asleep,” Matt said frowning.

“Put us back on course now!” Wanda shouted at the pilot.

He laughed, “Go ahead and shoot! I know Whateley Security use frangible bullets on airplanes to avoid poking holes in them, and my TK field is more than good enough to handle those.”

She shot at him as he turned to concentrate on Matt. By the time her slide locked back Matt was down as well. The four kids were unbuckling as she pulled a radio, kicking herself for not reporting earlier. The cockpit door had been left open, so they knew something was going on even before they heard Wanda's truncated report.

"Help flight is being hijacked. Pilot is a ringer! He is a dangerous mutant and has taken us off course..." That was as far as she got before the pilot sent her to dreamland as well.

As the four teens advanced on the cockpit, the pilot started tossing unconscious bodies out the door. Rhonda stopped to check on them while the rest pushed forward. He grinned at them, "You may be strong mutants, but you have no training at all in psychic defense. I can drop you all at once." He grinned wider and did just that. Then he waited until Rhonda looked at him before continuing, "You might have found me out if you were more practiced at your powers, but then that's why we grab you kids before ..." that was the last thing she heard before falling into a deep, dark sleep.