Summer Camp, Part I

Sunday 8 July 2018

The Whinnybago RV turned off the main road on to what appeared to be a narrow dead-end spur somewhere in the Piedmont region of southern Virginia. The young rabbit doe frowned from the jump seat between the driver and the right-hand passenger positions. “Are you sure this is the right road, Dad? It looks like a dead end.” 

Patrick rolled his eyes. Michael, the more vocal of the twins, snorted. “Of course it -looks- like a dead end, Brij. Gotta keep it hidden, don’t they?”   

“Just because it looks like a dead end doesn’t mean it’s the -right- dead end.”

Their father chuckled from the driver’s seat. “It’s the right one. I’ve been here before, you know.”

“You -have-? When?” Patrick actually deigned to ask a question himself for once.

“When I met with Indigo before becoming her accountant, of course.” The older rabbit smiled to himself. Ever since the twins had found out that their older siblings had powers, they’d been trying to catch him out as well. He’d occasionally had to do some fancy footwork to keep them from confirming that he was Teragauss. It had become a game of sorts. They never directly asked, and he never told an actual lie.

“Oh.” Michael considered this, trading glances with Patrick as they thought. “How many BoS secrets do you -know-?”

“Quite a few. Chief Accountants have to know where -all- the money goes, after all.”

“You make it sound like you’re a secret agent or something, Dad.”

“Nope. Just have some interesting friends and clients. Ah, here we are.” The narrow road had curved around and suddenly opened up into a broad open field dotted with buildings and practice fields, with the land sloping down to a river.

Brigid perked up when she saw that. “Great! Swimming!” She was always, given her powers, happiest near water, and looked eagerly at the river while her father parked their rig in front of the administration building and stretched. “And we’re here. Pat, Mike? We’re invited to lunch, but Brigid and Sean will be meeting with their fellow campers, and you’re not allowed to sit with them. You know -their- identities, but do not try to learn anyone else’s. Maybe someday, but not today. Can I count on you to behave, or do I have to lock you in here?”

“We’ll be good!” The twins were eager to meet some of the retired superheroes who staffed this branch of the Academy, and the threat of missing it had had them on their best behavior for the first three days of the trip down from Boston. Their parents were actually more worried about what would happen once they pulled out in the afternoon and that threat was no longer valid.

“I’ll hold you to that.” He smiled to his wife as they started unloading the older kit’s luggage. “Would you mind watching them while I go check Junior and Brigid in? The Museum ought to hold their interest for a while. A lot of it is stuff that isn’t let out in public.”         

*   * *   * *

The Museum was part of the administration building, and housed a number of exhibits related to supers from the pre-Bureau days. Pride of place was given to the relics of America’s first heroine, the Revolutionary War’s Indigo. The current (some rumors said she was the original) Indigo was there when they came in, placing the old musket and pistol back in the exhibit case. She turned, smiling at the rabbits. “Ah, Mrs. O’Leary?”

“Aye, ma’am. Call me Terry.”

“Only if you call me Indigo, not ma’am. And these are your youngest?”

“Michael and Patrick, yes. No powers, at least not yet. And they’re terribly jealous of Sean and Brigid.”

“We’re not jealous! We’ll get powers someday. We’re just impatient, is all.”

Terry grinned. “That one’s Michael. The quiet one is Patrick.” The pair were physically hard to tell apart, both with their mother’s white fur (although somehow with black ears), but her husband’s red hair and emerald eyes in contrast to her blonde and blue. “He makes enough noise for both of them.”

“Nuh-uh! When we want to be noisy, we -both- talk.” He smiled up at the caracal. “What were you doing with the old guns, Miss Indigo?”

“Making sure they still work, Michael. I fire them every fourth of July, then clean them and put them back in the case. Had to do a little work on the musket flint this year, so it took a little longer to get them back in place.”

Both the youngsters looked disappointed at that. “We -missed- it? Awww...”

She smiled at that. “Well, I don’t want to disappoint two young history buffs. You’ll be back in a month to pick up your brother and sister, right? If your parents tell me you’ve been good, I’ll show you how it works then.” Her smile grew into a big grin at their eager reaction. “Feel free to look around. I’ve got to go welcome the incoming campers and I’ll send someone to fetch you when it’s time for brunch.”

*   * *   * *

Four of the faculty were waiting when the other three rabbits dropped off their baggage in the quadrangle behind the Museum. Sean waved and grinned at one of them. “It’s good to see you again, MV. How’s the teaching assignment treating you?”

“Pretty well, Sean. Pretty well. And these are your budding superheroes?”

“That they are. My eldest, Sean Junior, who’s going to be going by Pooka, and my daughter Brigid, aka Merrow. Kids, this is Minutevixen from Philadelphia. The wolverine in the fatigues is Sergeant Smash, and..." He looked expectantly at the vixen.

“Artemis and Buck Rocket.” Artemis was a youthful hound with mostly black fur but tan face and paws, wearing a modernized version of ancient Greek hunting leathers. Pointed ears jutted up from an unruly mass of curly auburn hair. Buck was an aging but still fit white-tail, dressed in fifty’s-style protective pilot gear, his headfur short-cropped and gray. 

Sean shook hands with both of them. Buck smiled. “Teragauss, right? Glad to see someone else is helping to raise the next generation of superheroes.”

The rabbit grinned. “Someone has to. So where are the rest?”

Minutevixen took up the conversation again. “They’re being collected, most of them are in California. Vortex is supposed to be sending them through at noon our time. Breakfast for them, lunch for us, though I’m sure Ferric will have already eaten at least one meal by then.” She turned to the youngsters. “You have your masks?”

Brigid just nodded, suddenly shy in front of five Agents of the Bureau. Sean Junior said, “Yes, ma’am. Wear them now?”

She nodded. “Get into the habit. Your younger sibs will be eating with us, so we all need to be in that much of a uniform. Most of the time you won’t be in full costume..." She glared at Sergeant Smash as he started to make a comment. “Later, Sarge.” She shook her head. “But you should be wearing your mask when you’re outside. We try to keep the curious away, but we don’t want to take chances.”

Both the kits pulled out their masks, aquamarine for Brigid and city-camo for Sean, and slipped them on. “What about you, Dad?”

“I’m here in my civilian identity, Merrow. Even if it’s just the twins who don’t know that officially. So I will stay -out- of uniform.” The adults all chuckled at the young doe’s reaction to her father’s automatic name shift. “Not that the Sergeant will use it, I assume?” 

The wolverine’s voice was gravelly. “Course not. You have to -earn- your official name. This isn’t even the full course, but maybe at the end of it if you do well.” He looked them over. “Only temporary, though. You’ll go back to your nicknames when you come back to do the real course when you’re old enough. Let’s see...” He regarded the buck-teen carefully. “Ghost powers, they told me?”

“Yes, Sergeant. Invisibility and intangibility. There may be something else, but I haven’t worked it out yet.”

“You’re Harvey.” He went from thoughtful scowl to ferocious at the boy’s grin. “You find that amusing?”

Pooka half-faded before recovering his composure. “No, Sergeant! But I’ve seen the movie. Sorry, sir. Won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t.” He dialed his scowl back to ‘thoughtful’ and turned to the doe. “You I’m not sure of just yet. We’ll see. Water powers, eh...?"

Her voice squeaked before she managed to answer. “Yes, Sergeant.”

“What can you do with them?”

“Sarge!” The vixen was clearly annoyed. “We’re saving that for the meet-and-greet when the rest get here. And stop intimidating the campers. This isn’t boot camp for legal-age cadets.”   

The wolverine subsided, grumbling, as Indigo approached from the administration building. “And it is almost time.” She smiled at the rabbits. “Sean, good to see you again. And these are your older kids?”

“Well, I can neither confirm nor deny that Pooka and Merrow here are my kids.”

She chuckled. “Fair enough. And it is good to stay in practice. But just between us?” 

“Just between us supers, yes. And I’m proud of them. You heard about the kidnapping attempt last winter?”

“Of course. They acquitted themselves well, and protected their identities at the same time.” She nodded to the kits. “My compliments.”

They both straightened up. “Thank you, ma’am!” 

“You earned it.” Her cell phone rang at that point, playing the Liberty Song. “Indigo here.” She listened for a few moments. “Yes, we are all ready, Vortex. You may send them through at your convenience.” She switched the phone off as the gate began to form in the center of the parking lot.

The young rabbits watched in amazement as swirling energy opened a hole in mid-air. It rapidly expanded, wobbled up and down a bit, and then stabilized touching the ground. The other side was a lab area somewhere, likely underground to judge by the lack of windows. A small group of furs were present, and the groundhog who appeared to be controlling the gate nodded. “Go ahead.”

The first to step through were two girls, one a petite Pomeranian even shorter than Brigid and the other a mouse with the fur color of a sealpoint Siamese cat. They blinked in the bright sunlight for a moment, then moved out of the way of the gate and headed over to where the two rabbit kits stood. The canine started the conversation. “Hi! I’m Phenomenon! This is Wireless Mouse. And you must be... Pukka and Merrow?” 

“Pooka, actually. We got our names from Irish mythology, since... well, y’know. Irish.”

“So what’s a Pooka, then?”

He grinned. “A mischief-maker. Sneaky and capable of turning invisible. I can do that and be intangible as well. And Merrow is the Irish version of a mermaid.”

“That explains the water powers vibe I’m getting from her.   And... hmm. Something you’re not telling me?”

Sean... no, Pooka, he corrected himself... frowned. “Not that I know of. What makes you think so?”

“My power is to duplicate powers. And I’m getting a teleport vibe off you along with the other stuff.”

“Really? I haven’t had ‘em that long. I -thought- there was something else, but I hadn’t tried that. You sure?” 

“Let me give it a shot..." She focused on him, taking his hand to get a better feel for his abilities, then vanished with a pop and a puff of mist before reappearing a few yards away. “Yep, thought so. Short ranged, and I’m weaker with it than you would be. But now you can work on it while you’re here.”

“Awesome!”

Behind them, Vortex’s Gate continued to disgorge cross-country travellers. The next pair to emerge were a young chipmunk with blond headfur and a black-haired rat, both dressed as the girls were, in blue-and-gray cadet fatigues. The chipmunk looked around and snarked back into the Gate. “Vortex? I think you put us down at a military reenactor’s convention!” 

The rat hissed at him. “Chromatic! Be polite, these are some of the Bureau’s senior members.”

“Oh, c’mon, Techrat. You have to admit it’s funny! We’ve got a cat and a vixen in Revolutionary uniforms, a drill instructor, and that World War Two pilot there.”

“That’s Buck Rocket, and he was -in- the Second World War. He’s no re-enactor, he’s the real thing. So’s Indigo.”

“She was in the Revolution? Now you’re just pulling my leg.” The chipmunk jumped as the canine in hunter’s garb spoke from directly behind him. 

“She was indeed part of your Revolution, young one. And I fought against the Persians with Athena at Marathon. We are not all as young as we appear.”

The rat grinned. “Hi, Artemis! Scylla said to say hi for her, too.”
“Greetings, Techrat. Scylla and her sisters are well?”

“Yep. They still argue over who gets the arms, though. Mindwalker said I should make prosthetics for each of them.”

The last pair through the gate was taking a little longer, as the young goat was being timid and the big raccoon was trying to talk him through it. “What if they don’t like me?”

“Adrian, you’ve already met most of them. The only new people will be the rabbit kids, Buck Rocket, Indigo, and Sergeant Smash.”

“He sounds -scary-.”

“Adrian, you hang out with NIbble, and he makes exploding watermelons. Nobody’s gonna be scarier than -that-.” She knelt down beside him with a smile. “It’ll be fun. You’ve never been to a summer camp before. We’ll learn stuff, there’ll be fun things to do, you can go swimming, and we’ll do some hiking and camping, and toast marshmallows, and stargaze, and Techrat will do bird-watching if you want to try that. Now, c’mon. Hop on my shoulder, I’ll give you a ride. Nobody’s gonna bother you if you’re up there.”

“Well... okay, Ferric. What about my stuff?”

“I can carry yours and mine too.” She set the young goat on her shoulder, grabbed both duffels with her other hand, and stood up to her full two and a quarter meters of height. Adrian clung to her as she straightened, and ducked as she stepped through the gateway. She turned back to Vortex when she was clear and waved. “Thanks for the shortcut! Talk to you later!”

The groundhog grinned and waved back. “Always a pleasure, Ferric. Have fun!”

“Planning on it!” She patted Adrian gently as they turned to the rest of the crowd as the gate vanished behind them. “Now let’s go talk to the Boston kids, ‘kay? We’re supposed to have brunch and meet everyone.”       
*   * *   * *

The campers gathered at one table for brunch, while the adults - and the twins - sat at another.

“Your kids seem to be hitting it off well with the Colmaton gang, Sean.”

“Didn’t expect any problems, to be honest, Minutevixen. They’re all good kids, at least the ones I’ve met. Reminds me, I have to warn mine not to mention the c-word when Adrian’s around.”

“C-word?” 

“Chocolate. Every time he gets some, I end up with miscellaneous repair line items in the budget. Usually with large numbers attached. You did check his file, didn’t you?”

“I did, but I didn’t realize it was -that- bad. It just told us not to give him any.”

“Don’t give him any, don’t let him know there’s any around, don’t let him -smell- it if you can help it. Unless you want a live re-enactment of those old Cocoa Puffs commercials. Apparently someone was, if you’ll forgive the expression, sugar-coating the problem.”

Minutevixen glared at him for the pun. “I’ll go tell Antonia. We’ve got two birthdays coming up, and she usually makes chocolate cakes. And no s’mores, either.” She sighed. “Something always falls through the cracks on these things…”

“Part of the reason I mentioned it to you...”

Farther down the table, Mike and Pat were listening to Buck Rocket tell war stories. “Seriously. The rocket was a fake back then, just had some Hollywood pyrotechnics to make it look like something was actually happening. Just to cover up the fact that -I- could fly on my own, y’know. We had a whole assembly line faked up, along with secret plans and everything. Nacht and Nebel wasted months trying to get those plans before we let them get hold of them. Distracted them from the Norden bombsight -and- the Manhattan Project. Though even I didn’t know about Manhattan back then.”

The twins were laughing fit to bust a gut. “But why didn’t they notice when they got into the factory and it was fake?”

“Oh, the factory wasn’t fake, not completely. They made torpedo casings as well as the fake rockets, so there’d be materials going in and out, and the proper grease and dust and smells. Wish I could’ve seen their faces when they finally built something from those plans and lit it off.”

Mike grinned. “What did it do?”

“The way it was set up, the pyrotechnics were supposed to light off, burn for about thirty seconds, just enough to lift a furr off the ground, and then the whole thing would explode. Come to think of it, Britannia - Five, not Six - Britannia told me that Nazi Germania looked a bit scorched one time they met, a few months after that. I suspect she may have been the test pilot...” This set the pair off again.

“So, where are you all from?” Merrow was sitting opposite her brother in the center of the table, between the dog and the mouse. 

“California, mostly.” Phenomenon was still doing most of the talking. “I’m from Michigan originally, though. Wireless here is --” She stopped, looking a bit annoyed as the big raccoon overrode her. 

“Why don’t you let people introduce themselves, Phenomenon? Besides, I’d like to hear what the new kids can do.” She grinned. “You’re up, Merrow. And then we can go around the table.” She shoved another honey-soaked pancake in her mouth, chewed and swallowed, giving the short Pomeranian a raised eyebrow. “Versteh’?” 

“Fine, fine... Go ahead, Merrow."

The rabbit was obviously her mother’s daughter, with the same white fur, blonde hair and blue eyes, but already showing her father’s height. “Well, Pooka and I are from Boston, and yes, we’re sibs. Paul Revere says I’m a water elemental. I can move it telekinetically, I can breathe it, I can deal with hypothermia issues, no problem.” She turned to the mouse on her other side. “So, you’re next.”

“Wireless Mouse. I’m from San Diego, more or less. Mom is a cat - I got her colors, obviously. Dad met her when the Navy stationed him in Yokohama. Military brat, so I bounced around for a bit, but we settled there when he retired. My powers came in unexpectedly, in public, and while it wasn’t -obviously- me, some gangster figured it out. We’re in witness protection now.”

“You and me both, sister.” Ferric nodded to her when she looked up. “Why don’t you show ‘em what can you do?”

“Okay.” She grinned across the table at Pooka. “Got a favorite band?”

“Dozens. Today, I think it’s the Beatles.”

She grinned again, and focused past the end of the tables. There was a swirl, and then the Fab Four were there, John, Paul, George, and Ringo, the dormouse, corgi, fox, and hedgehog themselves, complete with instruments and the iconic haircuts and suits from their 1964 tour. “Just one song, guys, please?”

“Sure thing, luv!” They launched into She Loves You and bowed to the applause from both teachers and cadets at the end before dissolving back into the Net.

“So, that’s it, really. I can summon things from the Net, including furrs, video game weapons, anything that’s documented online. I can’t go in myself, or travel through it like Computer Mouse can, but I -can- be my own wi-fi.”

Merrow giggled. “You’re lucky he didn’t say Mozart. You would’ve had to call in a whole orchestra for the performance.”

“Wouldn’t have been able to, actually. Five furrs seems to be my limit.”

Phenomenon took back control of the conversation, and nodded to the chipmunk at the end of the table.. “You’re up next, Chromatic.”

“Right. I’m from Los Angeles. I can do a lot of things, but only one at a time. They’re color-coded. Red for strength, orange for fire, yellow for speed and flight, green for healing, blue for defense, indigo for empathic perception, and violet for precog. That last one is tricky, though. It tends to be cryptic enough to be mostly useless more than a few hours ahead.”

Pooka chuckled at that. “You just -know- the Sarge is gonna nickname you Rainbow or something.”

The blond chipmunk sighed. “Wouldn’t surprise me a bit.”

The black-haired rat was the next in line. “Techrat, from Colmaton. No actual powers, unless being an engineering genius counts, but I have a battlesuit I built myself.”

The other rabbit, brown-furred, but blond and blue-eyed like his sister, smiled. “Sounds like Ironsides. I’m Pooka, also from Boston of course. I call mine ‘ghost powers’, since they’re similar to Revere’s, and he -does- get his from a ghost. I can go invisible and intangible, and Phenomenon tells me I should be able to do short range teleports.” He passed the conversation to the goat sitting on his right. “Your turn.”

The gray-furred goat appeared to be the youngest of the group by far, and looked half-panicked when everyone turned toward him. “I...“ He scooted around the corner of the table and burrowed into Ferric’s lap. The iron cuff and a few links of shackle chain on his left wrist jangled and glowed faintly as he moved.

Ferric’s eyes widened as she saw the glow. “Hey, hey, it’s all right. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Muffled muttering came from the youngster as he buried his face in her clothing. “All right, I’ll tell them for you. Just calm down, okay? Nothing to be worried about.” She sighed. “This is Adrian Tolki, code name Cursed. He looks six, but we think he’s a -lot- older. And he can transform into a big bruiser with claws. Bigger than me, even. He does stay in control for the most part, but it’s best not to trigger him into an involuntary transformation. Anything else I should tell them?” More muffled voice, this time sounding hopeful. “No, I will most certainly not tell them that. You know what happens when someone gives you chocolate. And I just told them not to let you trigger when you’re not in control. We’ll have toasted marshmallows at the campfire.”

He looked up at her, pouting. “I’ll tell Nibble you were mean!”

She chuckled. “Nibble only gives you candy when he wants to cause trouble. He won’t want to have missed it, so he won’t complain. Now go finish your breakfast.” She got the little fellow settled back in his chair, and picked up where she’d left off. “And I’m Ferric. Big, made of organo-metallic steel, weighed just over a metric ton the last time I checked, and strong enough to lift an Abrams tank if I strain a little bit. Originally from Pennsylvania, now from Colmaton.”

Phenomenon frowned. “And there’s something wonky about her, fer sure. When I borrow her powers, I get superspeed, not big and rusty. I’m Phenomenon, and I’m a copier. I can borrow someone’s powers, at up to half strength if I’m close enough, and I can store them at lower strength for a while.”

Ferric shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a freak even among freaks. Just don’t ask me to go swimming.” She went back to shoving pancakes, eggs, and sausage into what appeared to be a bottomless pit. 

Merrow asked the obvious question. “Because you’d sink?”

Ferric paused, and deadpanned back, “Nope. Because It’s never been an hour since I last ate.”

*   * *   * *

The faculty joined the campers for orientation after brunch. Indigo opened the session, the caracal resplendent in a colonial-era officer’s dress uniform. “Welcome to Halifax Academy, ladies and gentlemen. We have a program set up that we hope you’ll enjoy. Some parts are mandatory for everyone, but most of it will be electives. As future Bureau agents, you may find yourselves in situations of almost any description, and we’ve chosen training activities accordingly. The mandatory ones are an introduction to police procedures and superhero ethics, camping and wilderness survival skills, and powered teamwork. Techrat, you did bring your suit, correct?”

Techrat nodded. “Never leave home without it.”

“Good. We’d also like everyone to qualify for basic water safety and swimming skills, but..." she nodded as the raccoon raised her hand. “Yes, Ferric, we know you can’t. Those of you who are already qualified in an area may be asked to assist with instruction. Merrow, we’re hoping you’ll agree to do some lifeguard duty for those who want to do recreational swimming or practice for advanced qualifications?”

The rabbit grinned. “Yes, ma’am!”

“We’ll also have sessions on martial arts, firearms, archery, first aid, strategy and tactics, and Artemis has agreed to do a seminar on history and mythology from a super’s perspective. There will be plenty of free time for you most days, and we hope that you’ll feel free to ask any of us about any subject you’d like to know more about.” She looked around at the gathered youngsters. “So, if you’ll grab your gear, I’ll take the girls to their dorm suite to get set up, and Buck, if you’ll take the boys to theirs? And after you get moved in, you get free time until dinner. We’ll be available for questions about elective activities. Dinner’s at six, we’ll have a campfire gathering at eight, and the cafeteria is open 24/7 with sandwiches if you want something in between scheduled meals.” She grinned. “We’re superheroes, we keep weird hours.”

Ferric chuckled. “Or have weird needs. I appreciate the consideration.”

“Any questions for now?” The kids glanced at each other and exchanged shrugs. “Then let’s get to it.”

*   * *   * *

The dormitory suite consisted of four bedrooms around a common room and bathroom. Ferric’s room had been set up ahead of time - her bed and ‘mattress’ consisted of a stack of heavy-duty gym mats with neo-kevlar sheets - and the other three settled on rooms without much trouble. Merrow had, predictably, decided on swimming in her free time and was trying to persuade the others to come along with her. 

Phenomenon was considering it. “Might be fun. Anyway, now that we’re away from your younger brothers, my real name is Sarah, and Wireless here is Stephanie. Chromatic is Jeremy, Techrat is Jacob, and your brother is...?”

“Sean. Or Junior when our Dad’s around.”

Ferric chimed in. “And I’m Sally. I’m still not going swimming, though. Especially not in a river. I tend to sink into the muck, and my fur gets rusty.”

Merrow nodded. “Brigid. My friends call me ‘Brij’.” She grinned at Ferric, who was changing out of her usual jumpsuit into a simple crop-top and shorts. “And I wasn’t expecting you to join us. But you’re welcome to sit on the bank and chat.”

“Fair enough. I want to talk to the Sergeant first, though, see who is qualified to take over instruction from Combat while I’m here. And we should all probably check in and see what sounds interesting.”

The Pomeranian grinned. “Probably, but first we need to talk about the -important- stuff.” She sprawled on the couch next to the rabbit. “So tell us about your brother. What’s he like? Does he have a girlfriend?”

Brigid shrugged. “He’s my brother. He likes most music, he hates rap, he plays baseball, history’s his favorite subject in school, and no, I don’t think he has a steady girlfriend. Probably because he has powers, but even before he found out, I think he avoided it because he figured he would someday. Dad let him in on the family secret when he was my age.”

“Ah-hah! So your dad -is- Teragauss?”

“Yep. And he’s the Bureau’s chief accountant, at least in North America.”

Ferric chimed in. “Yep. He’s nice, met him back when I first joined up. We still don’t know who tried to kidnap my family to force me to cooperate with ‘em, but he was part of the group that pulled us out.” She chuckled. “He’s got this way of being perfectly calm and quiet-voiced in the middle of a super-fight that freaks out the bad guys. Especially when he’s turning a panel truck into confetti around them.”

Brigid chuckled. “Yeah... it works when he’s caught you doing something stupid, too. Even when you -don’t- know he can do that.” She went back to the subject at hand. “But enough about my brother. What about the other boys? Adrian’s obviously just a little kid, but what about Jeremy and Jacob?”

Stephanie shook her head. “Sorry. Jacob’s got a steady girlfriend already, and Jeremy’s more likely to be competition for us. Your brother likes girls, I hope?”

Brigid snorted. “Drat. I thought he was kinda cute. Yeah, he’s not gonna be into Jeremy. He just doesn’t have a -steady- girlfriend yet.”

Ferric nodded. “And I’m waiting for someone I can hug without worrying about squishing before I get romantic. So it looks like it’s the two of you competing for Sean’s attention this month. I am declaring myself the referee. Keep it clean, ladies. Verstehe?”

Sarah frowned. “That’s the second time you’ve used that word. What does ‘fairshtay’ mean?”

“Means ‘do you understand’. In both Deutsch and Gemynse, actually..."

“What’s that second one? I know Deutsch is German, but..."

Ferric shook her head. “It’s... let’s say an exotic language. Long story, and parts of it are classified. I’ll have to okay things with Morningstar before I say anything else. Prolly shouldn’t have said that much. But I’m still gonna referee any squabbles you have over the only available boy. Now let’s go chat with the instructors and maybe grab a sandwich.”

Brigid stared at the raccoon in disbelief. “You -just- had -brunch-. Four plates full!” 

Sara and Stephanie both laughed. The mouse recovered first. “You haven’t seen her -really- go at the food yet. Four normal helpings? That’s a light snack for Miss Bottomless Pit here.”

Ferric nodded with a rueful grin. “Sad but true. Takes a -lot- of fuel to keep this body running.” She got up from the floor and headed out the door. “Meetcha at the cafeteria.”

*   * *   * * 

Buck Rocket led the way to the male dormitory with the four boys tagging along. Adrian stuck close to Jacob, but was looking wistfully back at the girls. “Why can’t I stay with Ferric? She’s nice to me.”

The white-tail buck smiled at the youngster. “You can spend time with her, Adrian. But she’s rooming with the other girls, and you’re not a girl.”

“You’ll be fine with us, Adrian. Nobody’s going to be mean to you.” Jacob shook his head fondly. “Nibble’s always ordering you around, and you don’t seem to mind that.”

“Well... Nibble needs my help sometimes. He won’t be mad at me, will he?”

Jeremy snorted. “What, for coming to camp? He could have, too. He decided he’d rather stay home and turn hot peppers into tear gas grenades or something.”

Sean looked back and forth between them. “This Nibble sounds like quite a character.”

Jacob nodded. “We’re not sure if he’s going to end up as a hero or a villain when he grows up.” He sighed, suddenly serious. “Depends on whether or not he recovers from what was done to him. He’s got trust issues, and a lot of mental trauma to get over.”

Sean nodded. “Ah. One of those things. What about you guys? I just kinda grew into my powers, they triggered during that kidnapping attempt last winter.”

Jacob shrugged. “I’m a construct, they think. My parents found me as a baby in the same lab that constructed Gila Monster. Always been smart, always had a good family as long as I can remember.”

“Lucky. I had to run away from home when my parents figured out I was gay.” Jeremy shook his head. “Dad wanted to beat it out of me. I was working the streets when I got picked up by a John who was actually hunting for experimental subjects. When I developed powers, they were all set to dissect me to see what they’d done right, but I broke out first. Caused enough trouble back on the street to attract the Bureau’s attention, and... here I am.” He looked at Buck, wondering if he should have said anything in front of him. 

Buck caught the look, and shook his head. "Son, I know you're worried that I'm one of those old fogies who still carries prejudices from the turn of the last century. Trust me, I'm not. Once upon a time, I fought in the war against the Nazis. They're famous for hating Jews. But they also hated Romani, and Slavs, and Africans, and political dissenters, and the physically handicapped... and gays. And I decided long ago that anyone the Nazis hated was someone I could like." He shrugged. “Can’t promise we’ll get along. But if we can’t, it won’t be for -that- kind of reason.” He held out his hand. “You’re part of the Bureau now, and that’s all that matters.”

Jeremy hesitated for a moment, then accepted the offered hand and shook it. “Thank you, sir.”

“No problem. You learn what you can do, you conduct yourself honorably, you fight for good, and I couldn’t care less what kind of fur you are, who you like, or what you do with your spare time.” He grinned in Sean’s direction. “Heck, Teragauss is a Patriots fan, and I don’t hold that against him.”

“Hah. That’s just because Philadelphia beat ‘em last time. Next time it’ll be different. That reminds me... do we have a television set here? The Red Sox are looking good so far this year.”

Buck chuckled. “Yes, we do. I thought your Dad likes the Orioles, though?”

“”Yeah, -he- does. Doesn’t mean -I- have to. He’s just still annoyed at something the Sox did before I was born. Fursonally? I like to see a good game, and I don’t worry too much about which teams are playing - or what their ancestors did a decade or three back.”

Jacob chuckled. “So an aficionado, rather than a fanatic.”

The rabbit grinned and nodded. “Yeah. I like that. Mind if I borrow it?”

“Go right ahead.”

Adrian tilted his head, curious. “What’s ‘baseball’?”

Sean just stared, thunderstruck. “You don’t know?” Adrian shook his head. “It’s only the best game in the world! Mr. Rocket, please tell me you’ve got equipment here! We’ve got to fix this!”

“Buck’s fine, Sean. And... we used to. Teaches physical hand-eye coordination, teamwork, aimed and ranged throwing, all kinds of useful things. If we don’t still have it, I’ll get some basic stuff myself.” 

“Thanks!” He ruffled Adrian’s hair. “Little buddy, we’ll get you up to speed in no time.” 

*   * *   * *

The campfire crackled and popped, occasionally sending bursts of embers into the clear night sky.   “...and Herakles took ship and returned to his abode in Thebes, over the wine-dark sea.” Artemis struck a dramatic pose at the end of the tale, and then smiled at the young supers and sat down. “It is better in the original Ellenika, of course. Translation of poetic works is always tricky.” 

“Was he one of us? A super?” Chromatic had been more interested in the tale than he wanted to admit. 

The canid nodded. “Nai. Zeus was the son of Chronos, and among his powers was longevity. He passed that on to some of his immediate descendants, myself included. Herakles had powers of strength and invulnerability, but he aged and died normally. Some of the tales are true, some are exaggerated, and some are complete fabrication. But generally, the gods and demigods of old are what we call supers today.”

Ferric nodded. “So which one was that story?”

Artemis started to answer, then frowned. “In truth, I am not sure any more.”

Techrat chuckled. “Hephaestus was like me, wasn’t he?”

Artemis considered this. “He did have some physical powers, though. Perhaps Daedalus would be a better match. He did build wings, after all. But the fire is burning nicely now. Where are the marshmallows?”

*   * *   * * 

In another worldline entirely, a much different discussion was taking place. “I apologize, Master, but my assistants and I have still not been able to relocate the Orb. They may have left it with the one they called Disruptor, or they may even have learned to make an anti-magic field with their mechanic arts.” The vixen was a bit nervous, but not seriously worried - she was his best sorceress, and the Master of the Northlands was not prone to wasting talent even if he was displeased about something.

The white mouse nodded. “I am not surprised, my dear Vanya. I have been unable to find it either, and I am attuned to it now that it is awake. You are probably correct about the reason. But then why did you request this meeting?”

“In addition to the Orb, I have been looking for the three who were brought here and caused us so much trouble. They are hard to find when in their own sanctums; they are hidden by both camouflage and magic there. But the iron one? She has recently moved away from her lair and is currently in an isolated region with only a few of her compatriots nearby. It appears to be some sort of meditative retreat. If you wish to attempt vengeance or to have her captured to use in a Working, this is the time to strike.” 

“An interesting proposition. How much power would we need? How big a raiding party?”

“Probably at least a dozen warriors, and as many priests and mages to accompany them. If you think this is worthwhile, I will work up a proper battle plan.”

“Do it, then. She has touched the Orb, after all. Perhaps we can use her as a focus.”