January Year 5

Children of the Atom: Mutants alone in a world with no mentors, no resources, and no barriers but prejudice.

Previously: The whole cast tracked down the place where Cynic's nephew is supposedly being held captive. When they finally got there, Power Loss happened. Now they're inside the Oasis, a mutant brotherhood, and the leaders of the apparently pacific place has not-so-benevolent plans...

"See, Jimi, I've been meaning to tell you this for some time now, but keep forgetting." Ted Cleary speaks. He is still a bit jumpy because of the powerloss, but a night of sleep did him well.

"What's that?" Jimi looks at him, a bit distracted. No, he isn't distracted. He wants to look distracted. He is just uncomfortable.

"I think I know what's wrong with your powers."

"Ya know how to give 'em back to us?" Jimi answers, fully aware and attentive to Ted's words.

"No, no. Just yours. You said your powers had something wrong Friday, didn't you? Well, I've been thinking. Your cloud of acid is purple. I asked my Chemistry teacher and she said iodine is purple when mixed up with some specific organic stuff. And it's a pretty strong acid, too."

"You gettin' anywhere?"

"Yeah, you need more stuff with iodine in it. Maybe chlorine, too."

"In normal people language?"

"Salty food. You need more salty food."

"Ah. Ahn. Well, ok. Look, Mark there." Indeed, it is Burn and Cynic that are approaching. They were arguing, but the minute they see Jimi and Ted they stop the discussion.

"Jimi, Cynic here wants to go on searching for his nephew. Could you just tag along and get this over with?"

"Uh... now?"

"No, later, when he's already dead, or worse. Of course I wanna find him now." Cynic responds.

"Ok, ok."

"And where are we going to start?" Ted asks.

"You're not coming, Ted." Mark tells him.

"Quit being so overprotective. I am going with you."

"No, you aren't. Last thing we need is you, kid."

"Do I have to remind you it was I that found a way to defeat that freak outside the Pinhead?" Ted says, referring to his maneuver of distracting the villainous Backbone in the exit from the club.

"Yeah, but..." An excuse, Mark, quickly. You've come up with them before. "You have to stay behind and look out for the girls."

"They can handle themselves."

"Look, kid, just go with the girls. When your powers come back, you'll be useful, but right now you're kinda weak. And that's that."

Ted exits, head down and disappointed, mumbling something like "damnedCynicbastardwishyouneverhadmyjournal", but he's just grumbling.

"Let's go." Cynic says.

Who elected this guy leader, anyway? He just acts bossy because he is older. No, wrong. It's his family in the line here. The two follow him from the Main Hall and into the corridors that lead to it. Chamber doors have numbers on some, and names on others. And they keep searching, looking for something unusual or just wrong.

The ancient, dry rocks form an impenetrable fortress against any sort of inspection. Cynic keeps on inspecting details regular people would never thought of inspecting. Finally, one decides to speak.

"John, man, are ya sure 'bout this? They're treatin' us very nicely. I mean, so what that you still haven't found your nephew. Maybe he just isn't here. Maybe he just up and left this place. Maybe he just wasn't even here, dude. Why da heck bother searchin' this place?" Jimi Powell asks. Beside him, Mark "Burn" Hayes wonders the same thing.

"You just want to get caught, don't you, Jimi? These walls have ears. This place is probably wired." John de Nicola, the Cynic, tells him. He says it but then he remembers that all technology is not functional right now. Reflex, you know. He has gone undercover before. "So shut up, both of you."

"Tech stuff isn't working, man." Burn points out.

"Yeah, but they might be listening."

"Right, right." Jimi says lowering his voice "But think about it. What makes ya so sure your boy Joe is here?" Jimi asks. The three of them stay silent for a second, as Cynic complains mentally about how undisciplined the duo accompanying him is. "So?"

"I found this on the lawn yesterday." He hands them a bent piece of metal. Engraved on it was John's name. "I gave it to him when he turned fifteen. I'm his godfather. And pay attention. Don't you hear anything?"

"Nope."

"Not really."

"There's someone behind this wall." Cynic starts to tap lightly on the wall until he ultimately stops on a certain place. "Here." Cynic pushes a loose rock on the wall and a lever is revealed. "Mechanical apparatus. Still working." He pulls the lever down and then pushes it up again.

"This means nuthin'."

"Means they're hiding something. Go and call the others."

In a bedroom, girltalk...

"I didn't notice before, Amanda, but your hair is so much lighter nowadays than usual."

"Yeah... well..." Noctivagant starts speaking "See... This is my natural hair color. But Bruno... I... well; I like it better when it's darker. But I just hate dying it. So I've been using my powers for quite some time now to make it darker... kinda shallow, right? I mean... Greta, you and Mark and Ted and whatshisname--"

"Jimi."

"Yeah, Jimi. Anyway, you've been using your powers for so much more. Bruno and I, we've just been... well, we're not really heroic and all."

"So? I use my powers for stopping glasses to fall on the ground and break, and stuff like that. We're not heroes. Whatever had you think we were?"

"From the heart?" Amanda looks at Greta right in the eyes. Sincerity like this the two probably never had, and will with so much difficulty have again in their lives. They are powerless, alone, and far away from everyone. Now is the time for every confession possible.

"From the heart."

"You looked so good in costume."

*Giggles* KNOCK-KNOCK

"Who is it?" Still asks.

"J... Purple Haze! Gals, Cynic found something!"

"Well, quit yelling then." Amanda says opening the door. "Where are they?"

"Down the hall to the left and... Well, I'll take you there. Where's Format? And Seeker?"

"Bruno is trying to get the TV to work in his room."

"Any luck?"

"Nope. Call him too?"

"No need. Ted?"

"Probably helping Bruno."

"Then let's go." Purple Haze concludes, and they go their way to their discovery.

The secret passage...

I always thought secret passages were a myth. They are so obvious. Who can't notice there's a vast room missing, no matter how much you search it? The room they're wondering into isn't vast; it's just a cubicle with a spiral stairway leading to the basement. But it's still beyond my comprehension.

"Shush."

"Don't you shush me." Burn says.

"Shush." Cynic repeats. "I think I hear something."

They descend the stairway. They start to hear a low voice that, as they close in, becomes clearer and clearer. He is making a speech... speeches are a super-villain's trait, this doesn't smell good... to someone. Mark and Cynic lean against the wall and two final shushes are uttered, the second after a ridiculous attempt to protest the petulance of the boy.

"This loss of ours powers has been an awful setback, 'tis true, but there shall be no great amount of time before it returns. Sister Moon here will orient you on your mission. I can see that you are not very willing to cooperate, but your future positions as our servants shall be gratifying, I assure you. Tell me, my young free thinker, did you really think you were going to escape? You, our most precious asset? A telepath that isn't an empath is something hard to come by nowadays, and we would never let you go. Same with an empath that isn't a telepath, right, Joseph?"

At the sound of his nephew's name Cynic tightens his fist. He makes a move to attack, but Mark grabs him by the shoulder and pulls him back against the wall. "Shush" Mark utters with pleasure. "Let's wait for the others."

One more minute of ranting and Noctivagant, Still and Purple Haze show up. They lean against the wall also, waiting for a word from Mark. Mark seems to have become a leader of sorts, doesn't him? I think it's because he is stronger, or maybe because he can drive. There is an issue to be investigated there, but it is a matter for another day. Action is starting...

"On the count of three. One... two... three!" And they run from their hideout to see Sister Moon and Brother Sun together in front of six shackled people. Two of them seem to be in worse conditions. Mark gazes into Brother Sun's eyes, while Cynic cannot help but smile at his nephew. From a small window on the back, the dusk's lights illuminates them oddly.

"Let 'em go now!" Purple Haze yells.

"You!" Brother Sun says. "I'll..." He tries to use the communicator by instinct, to call someone, but fails. Angry, cornered, he jumps at Cynic trying to take him down. Sister Moon, likewise, tries to attack Mark, since the duo seems to be the most dangerous ones. A drop kick from Amanda and a blow from Jimi knock the two out fast.

Lying on the floor semi-conscious, they speak some nonsense. Cynic searches Brother Sun's body for a key, and finds twelve. He frees first his nephew, and then the others in no particular order are freed by Burn.

"Now what?" Jimi looks at Cynic and asks.

"Now we get the hell outta here!" He responds.

"How? The car ain't workin'. No car's workin'!"

"Uh... Guys... can you sense this?"

They look at Noctivagant. "Sense what?" They all wonder, but not for long. A sudden adrenaline rush follows a brief dizziness. The room is filled by darkness all of a sudden and then with heat. Jimi retains his haze as much as he can and reaches out, moving in slow motion as do all others.

"Our powers!" Three of them yell together. "They're back!"

"Let's get outta here!" Cynic says, and they all rush out. Two of the captives stay behind to help two of the others, while Cynic helps to carry his nephew. The sixth, too weak holds her head. Purple Haze looks back.

"Jimi, what the hell are you doing?" Mark Hayes asks.

"Goin' back fer her, what the hell do ya think? Help me out!" And as Jimi carries her with Mark, the thought of a hero who once helped him to stand up and carry his weight comes to mind.

[His first full appearance in Hypertron #6 - How shameless self-plugging am I?]

They ascend the staircase, worried sick of what they will find. Lucky them, it is Seeker and Format they find after they exit the corridor.

"Guys..."

"No need to explain, Teddy, just come." Cynic says. Ted curses that nickname and grabs Format's arm, pulling him to the doorway (he was going to go back to the dorm and pick up some food). They are nearing the door when Brother Sun appears, flying two yards from the floor, and yells "Get them!" or something to that effect. Five seconds later and they are all surrounded. They stop, and assume of what you would call "battle mode".

"Remind me why we are here, Burn?" Bruno Woolcot asks between his gritting teeth. He has just been thrown in a situation that calls for a hero. He and his friends aren't heroes.

"He dragged us down here, remember? To try and find his nephew." Mark answers a bit irritated. They are in this situation, and Format is asking the obvious.

"Not what I asked. Why did you let him drag us here?" This time he doesn't answer anything. A blast of water erupts from Brother Neptune's hand and he is hurled away. This is not the beginning of the week he had planned, I can tell you that. He wanted only to be home, using his PC, which is probably working already. Their powers came back with no explanation whatsoever, earlier, with the nightfall.

"Shut up, you two, and fight!" Amanda kicks a lackey that is coming his way. She doesn't know the name of her assailant, all she knows is he is an assailant. "This isn't working, guys."

Cynic looks at the kids. He brought them here; he will not let them die. He has seen comrades in arms die before. Most unpleasant sight it is. He would never let kids so young perish in battle.

"Still, slow that one down!" He points to Sister Moon, coming from the corridor, and Still obeys "Noctivagant, lights out!" and Amanda makes the environment around them darker them Brother Sun's intentions. He wanders through the crowd, half of them scared over the chance they lost their powers -- again -- and the other half extremely confused, afraid to use their powers and hurt a friend. He reached the point where Sun was, and used the line he had been waiting weeks to use:

"Stand away from my Sun a little." And he jumps, reaches the wretched leader hovering over his followers, and brings him down. He kicks him fiercely, the man responsible for his nephew's abductions, until he finally stops as Noctivagant's powers fail her -- stopping the light from so many light bulbs for so long is something she never tried before -- and Cynic stands over Brother Sun.

The Oasis crowd stands stunned for a brief moment, their fallen leader inspiring rage and revolt at the newcomers. They move for the attack, but the voice of Sister Moon through the speakers commands them to:

"Stop!" And they do. "The newcomers discovered our beloved leader had a foul scheme at play!" The murmurs from the mutant audience silence Moon for a few seconds, but she raises her hands and speaks again. "Brother Sun had captured six fellow brothers and sisters to his own gain, and they are here to prove it." The unrest and disbelief in the audience is visible. Sister Gaeia, who was so fiercely trying to dodge Burn's attacks before to strike him, looks at him now with inquisitive eyes.

"Is this true?" She asks. Burn looks at her confused. They are all confused, in fact. Both the kids and Cynic. Sister Moon seemed to be in on it with Brother Sun as they were watching. What could this woman have in store? I wonder...More battle and bloodshed? "Bloodshed"? There was no bloodshed, really, not thus far anyway.

"Yes... but..." Susannah Caparelli stutters. She was the one Jimi was carrying, and she now stood up.

"See?! They are surely innocent... let them be, my fellow brothers and sister, for they have only shown us the true evil within us." The Oasis members slowly move away from Jimi, Mark, Bruno, Ted, Amanda, Greta, Susannah and Cynic. Sister Moon walks from the podium she had been speaking from, reaches the only adult in the group and whispers in his ear "Get out and don't tell about this to anyone. Or else, I still know where the kid with you lives."

"This isn't over, woman." Cynic replies with a low voice. "C'mon, let's go." He tells the others.

"Gimme a ride?" Susannah asks.

"Uh..." Who is this girl? "Where are you going?"

"New Pompeii."

"That's next to Clarksville, man. Let her come." Mark tells Cynic. Is he being just kind? Doubtfully. He heard Sun calling her "Free Thinker", and he also said she is a telepath. She could be... useful. He feels all this in a split second and that is enough to convince himself that she should tag along.

They all leave towards the cars, still parked outside, enter it silently, and speed away from the Oasis Brotherhood, wishing, all of them, never to return. Could have been mutants like them forming a society just like they are... but... well, Jimi's only comment on the way home sums it up best.

"Losers."

A bit before, just after the Power Loss was over...

You didn't think I was going to cut in the middle of the finishing sequence just to give you two interludes, right? No, not me. Please, it would totally ruin the pacing! Nope, let me just flashback now and think of this as an interlude printed in the wrong place. Time. Whatever.

On a New York street, a fat man feels power coming to him and he no longer feels pathetic. In fact, the Walrus decides to heist the jewelry two blocks from where he is. He runs one block, feels thirsty, sees a bar and enters. Later that night he can do it, he thinks. In fact, after tonight, he is going to make a name for himself. This dark period ends with a man born again.

Inside a famous secret headquarters -- well, famous for the usual readers of this title -- twelve men rejoice...

"The machine is working again! Our powers are back! Are the phones back?" The man named Coulomb asks.

"Yes, they are!" His comrade answers, a rapidly wiped tear of happiness falling from his right eye. It's all working again. The lights are back also, he realizes, and blow out a candle. Everything is just back to normal. They all look at their leader, the only one that didn't explode with jubilance.

"If the machine that grants us our powers is working again, then all will proceed as scheduled. In two weeks time we will march, and in three weeks time the few that escaped our cleansing shall be brought to their knees!"

Next issue: Oh, you thought they would relax, didn't you? There's no such a thing in this world of ours. Not for them, anyway. Remember kiddies, someone is waiting for them in Clarksville...

Author's Notes

I will let you in on a little secret: Susannah is going to be the last 'team member' to join. Well, of course, the 'roster' will eventually change, but, officially, she is the last of the 'founders'. Notice I don't call this exactly a team, or what they have as a roster. They are just friends, after all, not super-heroes. Oh, the title comes from a Oasis song -- again, but this is the last time. The only one I found that vaguely fit the theme, actually. Oh, and the line Cynic was just dying to use comes from Diogenes, the Cynic.

Now, let's see if anyone reviewed last issue. Heck, let's see if anyone read it at all...

Francisco,
Children of the Atom is the most different book I've read in a long time. It's a one of a kind! The characters are shaping up nicely. You have the apparently mandatory (for teen titles) love triangle. It seems like more and more of those are involving homosexuals (not that there's anything wrong with that!).
I could go for a little more action, but I don't see this as a title where you want the characters to be fighting that much world-threatening evil. Especially since half the group don't have offensive powers and Purple Haze's have been ineffective two thirds of the time.
I also enjoy your narration style. It's very... refreshing. :)
Adam Di Stefano

Thank you for the mail, Adam. You got the exact spirit of what I was trying to express with the stories. You know, I really thought Jimi was being more effective... Well, perhaps afeter you read issue #9 you will have a different view of him, since said issue will let him on the spotlight.

E-mail your comments, thoughts and constructive criticism to Francisco Araujo da Costa

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