A Very Unusual Yule - Chapter One

“I asked you here so we can talk strategy as a team,” Rick said.

“You have a plan for our Combat Finals?” Rhonda said. “I hope so because I’m worried. They keep saying it’s completely random who you get matched with and with our luck I’ll be up against that brick girl who is a psychic null. I’ll get pounded into paste and fail on top of it.”

“No that won’t happen Rhonda,” Rick replied confidently. He held up one finger, “First she’s a senior so even if it was completely random you’d have no chance of facing her. First two years only fight each other remember?” Then he held up a second finger, “Second from what I’ve been able to find out I seriously doubt it really is random. Sort of random maybe but they have to be fudging a little or they have no common sense and more luck then an Odds Mangler.” He grinned, “Sensei Ito is involved in the process along with Gunnery Sergeant Bardue. You’ve been taught by both of them, do you think that description fits either of them?”

“Well no, of course not,” Rhonda had to admit.

Rick continued before she could think of what else to say, “So the match-ups are rigged at least well enough to prevent anyone from getting killed outright or there being a danger to the people watching. I hear that if your power is too lethal you fight in the sim where you can get to go all out without worrying.” He held up a third finger, “Third the matches are ‘graded on a curve’ so to speak. The difficulty of the opponent is taken into account. Failing to achieve the objective doesn’t mean you get an F, although if you just assume you can’t win and do nothing then that would be one.” He raised his pinky finger, “Fourth, you have come a long way since we all met. You’ve learned Basic Martial Arts and the basics of pistol shooting so you can do more than mind attacks. Not to mention that one of your oldest tricks still works. To wit, using your tk to bolster your strength like you did on the day we met. Even if you didn’t realize you were doing it then.” He reached over and squeezed her shoulder, “You’ll do fine Rhonda. I’m sure we all will! We’ve been working on butts off on getting better and we have experience that most students don’t. In fact I’m so confident you’ll do well that it isn’t what I called you here about. Although I’d be willing to discuss it with you later if you really want.”

“So why did you call us together Rick?” Maria asked. She thought she knew but wanted to be sure.

“I called you all here because it’s almost Winter Break and they still haven’t caught that perverted bastard!”

Bobby looked surprised, “I thought we were going to let the pros handle it?”

“I was willing to do that but the only time they even got close they let both Dr. Incubator’s Chief Minion get away. They are no closer to capturing him then they were when we got here! I think we should take a stab at it ourselves but I wanted to be sure you all feel the same. If not I’ll wait another semester at least and see if they’ve caught them by Spring Break.”

“So is this a secret ballot?” Rhonda asked.

“Sure, why not?” Rick emptied the candy bowl and put it in the middle of them as they sat in a circle on the floor. Then handed out pieces of paper ripped from a notebook, “Write yes if you agree we should go look ourselves and no if you’d rather have a quiet Christmas.”

Bobby grinned, “But not too quiet. My folks are going to Aspen for Christmas and I invited Rhonda to come along. That is if we are going to be trying to be normal. I can always tell them I have a project to finish if we decide to do this.” He wrote on his slip and after folding it, tossed it in the bowl.

Rick asked Maria to read the votes. She pulled them one at a time from the bowl and read them silently then said, “That’s three nos and one yes so it looks like you’re going skiing. Rick is coming back to Death Valley National Park with me for Christmas with my grandma, my family wants to meet him.”

“Yeah, my grandpa is still trying to decide if he’s coming or not but I’ll be there.”

Bobby smiled at Rhonda, “You’ll look great on the slopes.”

She smiled back but it was a little forced. She had a bad feeling suddenly and hoped it was just indigestion. “I’m glad you think so but remember your parents will be there and it will be cold so I’ll be wearing lots of layers. You’ll be lucky if you see any skin at all.” Then she telepathically added, *If you’re good enough you might get extra snuggles for Christmas* with a mental picture of the two them snuggling under a blanket.

Maria pretended to ignore Bobby’s reaction to what had to be silent teasing from Rhonda and said, “The detentions for purposely finding them just to get our revenge would be epic but if I thought we could do it I would have voted yes.”

Rick replied, “We’ve all taken a semester of Martial Arts and range safety classes. We don’t know everything but we know more than we did when we beat the Royal Flush Gang. I think we’d have a chance.”

Rhonda shook her head, “I’d be the one trying to protect us from that mental whammy and I’m still not sure exactly what he used so I can’t say whether or not I could protect myself much less all four of us. I hope we have a very uneventful holiday.”

“Getting our asses kicked by him again would really suck even if we did manage to escape again and I suppose we have to consider that we might not,” Rick frowned then sighed. “You’re right, I guess I’m letting my frustration get the better of me.” He took a deep breath, “Okay so who wants to discuss possible tactics for combat finals?”

“I do,” Maria said, “if afterward we discuss what Rhonda’s going to wear on her skiing trip. Neither of us have ever been skiing.” They talked for awhile then went back to their respective dorms.

Two weeks later after both combat finals and academic finals Rick and Bobby were packing and chatting, “I kinda wish I was going with you Bobby, is skiing hard?”

“Not really,” Bobby replied. “As long as you don't want to get fancy like skiing through a forest or doing jumps you can learn to go down a gentle slope in a few hours at most.” Bobby smiled, “Probably less since you're an exemplar as well. I'm looking forward to seeing if I got any better now that I am one too.”

“Since you're one of the 'Mighty fives' and you could ski well before, I bet now you do all the James Bond stuff now,” Rick said. “Too bad they ban mutants from the Olympics, imagine how badass the games would be if they let exemplars in?”

“I just hope I don't have to do any of that,” Bobby said frowning. “It's one thing to be attacked when it's just us but my folks will be there this time man.”

“I'm sure it'll be a normal holiday Bobby,” Rick reassured him. “There's no reason for anyone to attack us in either place. Our one enemy loose doesn't know our last names or have any way to track us down. It should be completely safe.” Rick grinned, “That's why you picked it right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Bobby replied.

Over in Dickinson Dormitory the girls were also packing. “Are you sure about an all white ski suit Rhonda? I think you should some color so people can see you on the slopes,” Maria looked at her friend, “You might get run over by a skier who doesn’t see you or something.”

“Am I that pale?” Rhonda replied. Then she pulled some of her butter colored hair forward and noticed her hair was still darker than the hand that held it. “Well maybe I am. I’d offered to switch for your skin tone but I don’t think you fit in my skin and yours would be too baggy on top.” Rhonda cupped her hands in front of her to show exactly where it would be baggy, then grinned.

Maria rolled her eyes, but said nothing. She was too used to her friend to do more, “Since the suit will be covering you it doesn’t matter how pale or dark you are; it’s a snow white suit. You should have listened to me in the mall, but I think I might have the solution.” She fished in her dresser and came up with a bright red scarf, “Here! Where this with it and at least any skiers behind you will know there is somebody in front of them.”

“Thanks Maria!” Rhonda hugged her and packed the scarf. “Hey, did you ever in your life imagine either of us would be going skiing in Aspen?”

Maria grinned, “Nope! I never imagined any of the stuff that happened in the last six months but I’m happy that things seem to be going well now. I could use a few weeks of nothing but rest and recreation.”

“Yeah and it was nice of the boys to chip in on our shopping spree,” Rhonda added. “Although I think my telling them that we needed the extra to buy bikinis helped.”

Maria giggled, “You have such a suspicious mind Rhonda. I think they would have helped anyway; they are nice boys.”

Rhonda nodded, “Yeah, did you know Bobby gave me to permission to use his mind for telepathy practice? I was worried that he’d get stolen by one of female exemplars and he did it to reassure me. He didn’t say that but I’m sure that’s why he did it.”

“Well there are some amazingly good looking students here but I doubt he’d dump you after everything we’ve been through so far,” Maria said as she finished packing.

“Maybe I shouldn’t worry but I’m the only non exemplar of the four of us. We all thought I was at first but that was just my TK field boosting my strength.” She frowned, “I worry sometimes that I won’t be able to keep up with all of you. That Bobby will go find a girl who never gets zits or has baby fat.”

“You kept up with us so far! How many of those girls you mention have helped friends escape a supervillain’s lair or walked naked across a desert? Most teams would love to have a psychic of your abilities on staff! You are a PDP with telepathy, empathy and tactile tk as well as occasional bursts of precognition; you’re an asset to the team and Bobby is lucky to have you as a girlfriend!” She smiled. “I think he knows it too, that’s why he’s allowed you to practice telepathy on him. So you won’t get too close to any of those pretty boys in your class with whom you already have common ground.”

“Really?” Rhonda asked.

“Really!” Maria agreed. “In fact I bet some of the other teams try to recruit you next semester once your abilities become better known and your performance in your combat final will only enhance that. I’m the one who got a C remember? You got a B+.” Maria reaches over and pokes Rhonda’s belly encountering firm muscle under slight padding, “See? After a semester of Basic Martial Arts and coming on jogs with me you are great shape. You can’t compare to Bobby but then most vehicles aren’t as tough as Bobby so why should you be?”

Rhonda blushed a little, “Okay you convinced me. I’m the best thing since sliced bread. Happy now?”

“Yep! Now let’s schlep all this down to the gate. Bobby’s folks are coming to give us all a ride and we don’t want to be late.”

Bobby’s parents were waiting at the gates next to their minivan. The two of them had a strong resemble to Bobby of course with dark hair and eyes and light brown skin. “I’m Roberto Gonzalez senior and this is my lovely wife Inez,” Mr. Gonzalez said as he held out his hand. They all shook it as Bobby loaded their luggage.

“I’m very pleased to meet you at last,” Rhonda said, “You look exactly as I pictured you from our phone calls.”

“Well time waits for no man so let’s get aboard and get going,” Roberto Sr. said after shaking everyone’s hand. “Is all the luggage packed Bobby?”

“Yes dad,” Bobby replied.

“Good! Let’s roll.”

Soon they were on their way to Berlin airport and Inez turned around in her seat to say, “Oh we were so scared when we learned you were taken Bobby! And so happy when we learned you escaped! I don’t know how the mothers of superheroes do it.”

“It’s done and over with Querida. He is safe and with us for the holidays. We should be concentrating on the fun we are going to have and on keeping the kids from having too much fun. He grinned at them in the rearview mirror, “I’ve made sure that our room is between Rhonda’s room and Bobby’s room just in case.”

“Roberto!” his wife protested. “He’s a nice boy, he wouldn’t do anything like that!’

He laughed heartily, “Oh of course not Querida! Good boys never would want anything like that. Still I think I’ll leave it that way just in case.” He looked briefly over his shoulder, “Are you all excited about skiing?”
“I am,” Rhonda answered, “but I’ve never done it before so I hope they have good instructors.”

“Well I’m not sure how good they are but they are definitely prettyboys,” Roberto Sr. replied. He nudged his wife, “Si, mi amor?”

She answered, “You should stick to English dear and I would say the instructors are competent because of how few accidents they have there. I can’t say I noticed their looks.”

“Really? Then I guess you don’t mind that your favorite instructor, the guy who was that exemplar who was kicked off the Olympic team, has quit.”

“Oh, I barely remember him. How did you find this out anyway?” She asked.

“They told me when I made the reservations. Apparently he said he was being groped too much by female clients.” He paused and asked slyly, “He was your instructor once wasn’t he?”

She blushed and slapped his shoulder, “Stop being bad Roberto! You should set an example for the boys.”

They drove to the Berlin airport where their two separate flights were waiting for them. The teens had to show their MIDs at the gate but it went fairly quickly.

Code Name:
Roughhouse
Ratings::
Exemplar 5, Regen 3
Martial Arts: Basic, Introductory Firearms Pistol course
NOTE: Skin even tougher than normal for his Exemplar level
Techniques:
Hand to hand
Weak vs.:
Magic and Psi
Backup/Team affiliation:
Sponsored by Empire City Guard, member of training team “Junior Guard”

Code Name:
Dune
Ratings::
Exemplar 3, Manifestor 1c (sand), Regen 1, Warper 1e (Disassociates water into Hydrogen and Oxygen)
Martial Arts: Basic, Introductory Firearms Pistol course
Techniques:
Clogging mechanisms with sand, Hand to hand, pistol
Weak vs.:
Magic and Psi
Backup/Team affiliation:
Sponsored by Empire City Guard, member of training team “Junior Guard”

Code Name:
Path
Ratings:
PDP 3/2/3 (Empathy, Telepathy, non-ranged TK)
ESP -1 Occasional Precognitive episodes(Both start and end are uncontrolled and near in space and time)
Martial Arts: Basic, Introductory Firearms Pistol course
Note: TK is non-ranged but not a shell or forcefield, no protection provided
Techniques:
TK assisted Hand to hand, Telepathy, Empathy
Weak vs.:
Magic, Normal human weaknesses
Backup/Team affiliation:
Sponsored by Empire City Guard, member of training team “Junior Guard”

Code Name:
Shockflash
Ratings::
Exemplar - 3, Regen - 1, Energizer 3(mixed), Martial Arts - Basic, Introductory Firearms Pistol course

Note:   Able to energize strength up to EX-5 levels
Note: Can absorb and project Solar and IR energy as well as Electricity
Techniques:
Hand to hand, Taser shot, Lightning Bolt, Blinding Flash, Heat Beam
Weak vs.:
Magic and Psi
Backup/Team affiliation:
Sponsored by Empire City Guard, member of training team “Junior Guard”

They were a little nervous because of the last flight they’d taken but this flight was uneventful and soon they were at their respective destinations.