Part 4

Cameron Snow wasn’t a master of stealth.  She was more into charging in and taking all her enemies out with one shot.  So of course Sophie was making her sneak into Jordon’s house, find a very specific sheet of paper, steal it, and sneak back out without him noticing. “Why do you always make everyone do the opposite of what they’re comfortable with?” she complained.

“Because real life isn’t comfortable.  If we let the stupid government push us around just because we’re different, we’ll get nowhere,” Sophie told her, levitating her coffee cup a few inches off the table. “And anyway, I’m trying to figure the report stuff out, Space Cat is doing an investigation at the power plant, and Bradley’s off doing who knows what.  So that leaves you.”

Cameron grumbled.  Sometimes Sophie was too good at arguing. “Fine, I’ll go.  Just give me his address.”

She didn’t bother waiting for night to fall, not caring if she had to fight Jordon.  I could use the practice, actually, she mused.  His house was in a peaceful neighborhood lined with trees, and the building itself was simple and uninteresting.  It did have a nice garden, she noted.  Cameron looked around, trying to figure out how best to get in.  She could go through the back door, or break the windows, or… She had an idea.  Sophie would hate it, but it just might work, Cameron thought.

 She raised her fist and knocked loudly on the door.  The sound echoed through the silent street, but there was no answer.  She waited but no one responded, so she guessed he wasn’t home, even though a car was parked in the driveway.  Cameron tried the door handle and stifled a laugh when she realized it had been unlocked the whole time.  The door swung with a soft creak, opening up into a carpeted foyer.  She listened intently and heard the sounds of rustling paper and computer keys clacking.  Someone was home after all.  Cameron quietly followed the noise to an office room, where a young man with short brown hair sat with his back to her.  He had earbuds in and was typing on a laptop, with an open folder next to him.  She grinned.  It was almost too easy.

Jordon turned around and his large blue eyes met hers.  He looked startled and frightened, but she wasn’t going to fall for that.  Cameron gathered the moisture in the air and froze it, creating a sharp icicle she held in her hand. “You can either give me the folder willingly, keep quiet, and then I’ll leave,” she told him, running her finger against the icicle’s pointed edge.  She loved being a supervillain. “Or we can do this the hard way.”

Jordon backed away from her. “What do you want with it?” he shouted, his voice cracking. “It’s encoded!  I have no idea what half of it means!”

Cameron smiled coldly. “Oh?  Does that mean I’ll also have to take you with me?”

“N-no!  I just meant that-” He grabbed the file off of the desk, and before she could react, ripped it in half. “If you need it that badly, well, you’re out of luck.”

“YOU-” She yelled.  Cuffs of ice materialized on his wrists and slammed him into the wall, pinning him there.  The room’s temperature dropped rapidly as she lunged at him, stopping her icicle spear centimeters from his heart.  “You have it saved on your laptop, don’t you,” she said, glaring.

Cameron stalked back to the desk, but she suddenly felt a wave of guilt.  Why was she doing this?  Was it really worth it?  She didn’t want to be a thief and murderer.  After all, Jordon didn’t know how important this document was.  He was just decoding it for a friend.  But this wasn’t natural.  She never thought twice about anything.  And Jordon was an empath. “Quit messing with me!” she yelled.  His tricks wouldn’t work on her.  But there was a small part of her that questioned what she was doing.  Cameron hesitated and pushed it away.

She grabbed the laptop and glanced at Jordon.  He was watching her with an unreadable expression, his arms now entirely encased in ice.  It was almost as if he knew something she didn’t, and that made her uncomfortable.  She headed for the door, but it slammed open in her face.  Standing there was a tall, intimidating girl with black braided hair and stern brown eyes.  This time Cameron didn’t hesitate and froze the ground underneath the girl’s feet.  Cameron expected her to lose her balance and fall, but the girl stayed perfectly poised.  The girl took one look at the situation and slammed her elbow into Cameron’s gut.  She recoiled in pain, and the girl dashed past her.

By the time Marina found him, Jordon had almost passed out from the freezing cold.  His whole body was numb, and he was struggling to breathe.  She smashed the ice holding him to the wall and he collapsed, shivering.  “What happened?” she asked calmly, throwing a blanket around him.

Jordon drew in a few deep breaths, then answered. “She broke in.  Wanted the file Dawn and Fiya gave me.  I destroyed it.  She… attacked me, and took my laptop.  That’s where I was decoding it.” He took a long pause. “Thanks for helping me out.”  

“Of course.  And I dealt with her,” Marina told him, helping him to his feet. “What did she want with it?  Must’ve been pretty important.”

“I have no idea,” he told her.  They walked into the foyer, where the floor was still covered in a thin sheet of ice.  The front door was wide open, and Cameron was gone.  Marina cursed under her breath and ran outside.  Jordon sighed.  This, plus what he’d read from the file… this couldn’t be good.

TOPTOPTOP!!!

Part 5

“So, are you actually gonna tell us what you’re doing with that, or are you gonna make me take it from you?” Bradley questioned.

Sophie didn’t answer.  She was too busy fiddling with the laptop Cameron had stolen from Jordon, her brow creasing with frustration.  “For some lame Neutral, that guy has a strong security system on this thing,” she muttered to herself.

“I wouldn’t underestimate him,” Cameron told her.  “He almost made me change my mind about everything.”

Space Cat laughed, her catlike ears twitching. “Having second thoughts about choosing the delinquent life?  I thought you were the perfect villain.”

Cameron’s face turned red. “What?  Like you can talk, Miss ‘I-can’t stand-being normal-so-I-have-a-different-costume-and-catchphrase-every-day.-and-they’re-all-really-weird.” She waved a hand, indicating Space Cat’s current outfit- A pink camouflage jumpsuit, tall purple boots, kitten-shaped earrings, and pink streaks in her blue hair.

“And that’s a problem?” Space Cat asked, shrugging.  She honestly didn’t care what others thought of her.  At least not of her sense of style.  She glanced over at the other side of the room, where Bradley had shapeshifted into a wolf and was fighting Sophie for the laptop. “Maybe we should go help them.”

“Nah.  They’ll figure it out.” They watched as Sophie shoved cheetah-Bradley out of the way and held Jordon’s computer out of his reach with telekinesis.  

“No fair,” Bradley grumbled as he stalked back to his post by the window.  He spotted movement outside and tried to get a closer look.  A tall, thin man with short, fiery auburn hair and wearing a black suit stood on the corner.  Bradley recognized him as Cliff Charles, one of the military officers staying in Silvertoe, supposedly to “protect” the town.  Bradley frowned.  That guy had always given him the creeps.  The way Cliff talked to people with powers… it was unnerving, to say the least.

As Bradley stared at him, the man’s gaze slowly rose to meet the eyes of the young man watching him.  Cliff’s dark eyes narrowed and he smirked.  Bradley yelped and hurriedly closed the blinds. “What’s up?” Space Cat asked, looking at him with a curious smile.”

“N-nothing!  Mind your own business!” he snapped.  What the heck did that guy want? He wondered, shuddering.

“Well, anyway, good news!” Sophie interjected, surprisingly cheerful. “I know our next scheme.”

Everyone suddenly sat up straighter, now paying attention. “Finally!” Space Cat exclaimed.  “We haven’t had a good one in so long.”

“What’s your genius plan, Sophie?” Cameron asked.

Sophie’s mouth curved into a devious smile.  “We’re gonna take down the security outposts that prevent us from leaving.  Then, ultimately, we’re gonna escape this town.”

Bradley did a double take. “Sophie, are you okay?  That’s a pretty… ambitious goal.”

She grinned. “It’ll take some work, but I’m confident we can do it.  Jax’s mom works there, so she can get us in, and we’ll take it from there.”

“Wait, what?” He felt like he was going crazy.  That couldn’t have been what she said. Of all people to trust, Jax?  Uber-confident, cocky Jax, who always gave him a reason to be suspicious of her? 

“Yeah, I dunno,” Space Cat said. “This town has kinda grown on me.”

“Oh, thanks for all your support, friends,” Sophie growled.  She glanced at the laptop next to her.  Why did those three never listen?  She didn’t want to share this with them, but what she’d read had given her every reason to leave Silvertoe.  As fast as she could.  She couldn’t let it happen to her, or her teammates.