Chapter 11: Chapter 11

"Now I know my day is cursed." Collins sarcastically toned as he slipped his hands into the pockets. Uninterestingly reviewing the vast area of sandy grounds.

"Where have you brought us to, Doctor Roberts?"

Doctor Roberts rewarded him with a smile.

"This is the training ground." He muttered in a grand gesture but Collins frowned. He found it absurd to train in a vast space surrounded with shrubs and grasses.

"When I signed this contract, I didn't think we were going to undergo training." Michael replied with a sigh touring out alongside.

The Trainer smirked, Doctor Roberts giggled for a second.

"What do you think we would be doing for six months?" The Doctor remarked rhetorically.

"You better get your sleeves ready." The Trainer added but it only managed to irk Collins. He easily loathed The Trainer's ego and his sternness he usually carried about. Only when he was with Lola would one see him smile.

"Don't you think it's absurd training in such an open space." He asked while Lola nodded in agreement.

Doctor Roberts smiled mischievously.

"I never said this is the real training ground." The Doctor voiced with faint excitement hinting.

"So where's the 'REAL' Training ground then?" Marcus queried. The Doctor slipped his right hand into his lab coat pocket before revealing a tiny spherical remote donning a shade of black. He pressed the round red button and suddenly the ground quaked. Shaking their stance so they staggered.

Collins watched in horrific awe as the grounds lowered gradually. Sands streamed by sidelines as they continued to lower deep into the ground. The upper panel slowly slid shut with every metres downwards causing darkness to dawn.

"Uhm, Doctor Roberts..." Collins mumbled in the darkness while the others grumbled. Lights suddenly illuminated the area, revealing a vast room with seamless metal walls extending upwards to the upper panels. The room was basically empty but Collins found it intriguing. It was like in the Sci-fi movies he watched and he wouldn't deny the excitement that coursed through his veins as he reviewed the place.

"We're thirty feet underground and this," Doctor Roberts interrupted their enchantment. "Is the Containment room." He finished with an excited smile.

"What are you containing?" Lola asked cautiously.

"Your powers." The Trainer answered coldly.

Collins scorned at him but as expected, The Trainer shrugged him off.

"Some of you have powers that are quite explosive!" Doctor Roberts uttered. Collins glared at the others who peered suspiciously at themselves. He especially focused on Ariel. She was the innocent and quiet one amongst them but deep down, He knew there was more to her. Something powerful hiding beneath her facade. His eyes then darted to Theodore, the 'OVERLY' mature one. With certainty, Collins knew his powers could be impressive.

"Alright, let us begin with your powers. You guys would briefly demonstrate them."

"You literally have every details about us so why should we demonstrate our powers?" Collins questioned. Doctor Roberts grinned briefly as he slipped his hands into his coat pockets.

"Of course I know each of you powers but the rest doesn't know." The Doctor responded calmly. "If we want to work as a team, then I believe we should all be versatile with each other's powers." He explained before darting his eyes to Marcus.

"Marcus, you go first."

All attention diverted to him while he heaved a sigh.

"I have Super strength." He muttered in a lowly tone.

"So this frame of yours carries super strength?!" Collins mocked while the rest rewarded him with an icy glare. He honestly had expected Marcus's powers to be less intriguing. Looking closely at his biceps and average stature in his baggy top and pants, his physique didn't seem to be inclined with his words.

"Well then!" Doctor Roberts pitched. "Show us."

"Now?!" Marcus grumbled. Hesitation purely inscribed on his face.

"Are you shy?!" Michael sarcastically toned after several minutes lingered.

"Or perhaps he's lying." Collins added with a chuckle receiving another round of hostility on him.

"You have a problem." Lola scorned. He frowned.

"It's your pianist that has a problem not me." He pitched against her voice but before any of them could react. Marcus's antics had stolen their arguments. They watched in surprise awe as his muscles expanded, tearing his shirt while every vein in his body glowed a shiny shade of orange.

"What the lethal hell?!"

Collins gasped as Marcus's body morphed into a perfectly built huge  stature.

Marcus marched towards him with a fierce look. He opted to retreat few steps but Marcus had already handled him by the collar. Raising him with ease above the ground.

"I would have smashed your head to the wall but I don't want you to die." Marcus growled in an overly hoarse and thickened tone. "Yet." He added in a threatening whisper.

"Alright Marcus, drop him." Doctor Roberts chuckled while the rest joined in the laughter. Marcus dropped him roughly to the ground and toured away.

"I'll arrange for Rita to bring you some clothes in the coming minutes."

Collins staggered for some seconds before maintaining a firm stance. He wanted to retort with the harshest words he could find but fear gripped him. He didn't want to be smashed into a metal wall by an hulk.

"You're next, Michael." Doctor Roberts chattered.

"I have phasing and invisibility." Michael chirped excitedly before activating his Phasing abilities. Collins scrutinized his body well and all he could notice was his friend's entire body vibrating at an unimaginable speed.

"Wow! So how does this phasing thing work?" Lola queried amusingly. Michael grinned.

"Like this!" Michael yelled before passing through Collins. He crashed to the ground once again.

"Dude! Haven't I asked you not to use your God forsaken powers on me." Collins cried as he rolled to the cold floor. The others laughed once again but it infuriated him. They found his predicament funny but he didn't. He loathed being the test subject.

"This is invasion of privacy." He groaned as he staggered to his feet but they shrugged him off.

"And this is my invisibility!" Michael's voice dominated over his. They only heard his voice but didn't see anyone.

"Impressive!" Doctor Roberts remarked.

"Wait, how do you switch on your invisibility?" Lola asked while Michael returned to his normal status.

Michael giggled. "By holding my breaths."

Her mouth formed into an O as she nodded.

"Lola, you're up!" Doctor Roberts pronounced. Collins glared at her sharply.

"Don't even think of using me as a test subject!" He warned whilst she smiled sweetly.

"Electricity." She started on a solemn note before her palms sparked with electric charges. Collins noticed the smile on their faces. Precisely The Trainer whose smile irritated him.

"Your powers are impressive!" Theodore referenced.

"Thank you." She answered softly with a deepened smile. He scoffed.

"Okay okay we know you have Christmas lights powers so please can we get on with the rest?!"

Lola frowned and then struck him with electrical charges. His body danced from electrocution till he thudded to the ground once again.

"Merry Christmas!" She sarcastically replied with a sinister smile.

"Is there anyway you can increase the dosage? Perhaps to shut his parroting mouth." Marcus mocked.

"Shut up big guy!" Collins yelled as he staggered to his stance.

"Theodore!" Doctor Roberts uttered with a smile. Collins peered at the blonde cautiously.

"Hybrid." Theodore muttered. "Part man, part Wolf. I can connect with every animal under the cat and dog family. I also have advanced strength, senses, speed and healing."

"So in other words, you have cat powers."

Michael mumbled in a mocking gesture. Collins nodded in agreement but secretly admired Theodore's complexity of powers. He had thought most of his teams as useless but after having knowledge of their powers, his orientation changed.

"Hybrid." Theodore stated icily.

"Cat powers." Michael mocked.

"Hybrid." Theodore pressurized in an infuriated tone this time.

"Cat powers." Michael persisted.

"Say it one more time and I'll hit you so hard." Theodore growled, his eyes lit with pure anger and resolve. Collins smirked, enjoying the scenery but he needed more. More drama.

"Cat powers!" Collins blared. Theodore trotted towards him but he narrowly escaped by teleporting through a shady orange portal. He appeared behind Doctor Roberts studying their awe stricken faces.

"Collins here, has teleporting powers as you can see." Doctor Roberts gestured with a proud smile.

"I'd like to call it Telewarping." Collins interjected.

"Technically, that's not a real word." Doctor Roberts clarified.

"It's my power and I choose to call it whatever I want." He declared. "Look at Cat boy calling his powers Hybrid, for example."

"Your love for trouble never ceases to amaze me, Collins." Doctor Roberts chuckled while he rolled his eyes.

"Now that we're all know each other's powers, let's get on to the main objective for the day." The Doctor sauntered towards the right side of the wall and an elevator door pinged open.

"Wait!" Collins shrieked causing them to halt abruptly. "There's one more person, Ariel." They all glanced at the little one amongst them who simply shrugged them off.

Doctor Roberts only smiled.

"Ariel is in no position to explain her powers but trust me, in the coming weeks, you all would know." Was all the Doctor had to say. But Collins found it even surprising the others trusted Doctor Roberts words easily.

#############

"A gym?" Marcus groaned as they stepped out of the elevator. Collins smirked at the statement before reveling in the beauty of the gym perfectly modeled. He gawked at the Training Benches, Dumbbell sets, Treadmills, Balance trainers and resistance bands, Rowing machines, Stationary bicycles, Barbell sets and other fancy equipments he had no knowledge about.

"Yes Marcus." Doctor Roberts chattered with extreme pleasure hinting in his tone.

"The source of each of you powers comes from the negative matter or should I say, energy that bonded with your DNA."

"And how is the gym related to our powers?" Marcus asked again.

"It helps build up your energy, makes your cells versatile with your negative matter." The Doctor said simply as they walked past various equipments. "Like a starter for increasing your powers limit."

"Powers limit?" Collins queried with arched eyebrows.

"Yes!" Doctor Roberts muttered as he stopped in front of another elevator that refused to open.

"All of you wouldn't deny that you have weaknesses or so to say adverse effects when you use your powers too much."

Collins frowned as he glimpsed at the others who nodded in agreement.

"Am I the odd one out? Cos I don't think I have any adverse effects."

"Surety you must have." Doctor Roberts clarified with his accustomed smile. "Marcus for example, can't use his powers for more than ten minutes per hour unless he'll get temporary paralysis for hours." Doctor Roberts gestured as he explained lucidly.

"Theodore loses his sanity and acts animalistic if he exceeds thirty minutes per day. Lola gets convulsion or fever if she overloads her charges. Michael can't hold his breath for more than five minutes, making his invisibility time shortened. As for you," Doctor Roberts paused with a knowing gaze. "You'll find out sooner or later."

"Wait how do you know all these?" Michael interjected with a confused expression.

"I know you all beyond levels you can probably imagine." Doctor Roberts grinned.

"Wow, Doctor Roberts. You've really taken your time studying us." Lola remarked dryly.

"Actually, the question should be," Marcus added. "How long have you been studying us?"

"Several months after the explosion. Any more questions?"

"How about Ariel," Theodore sounded. "Doesn't she have any weaknesses?"

"Like I said before, Ariel will let you know with time." Doctor Roberts calmly stated.

"You're keeping us in the dark, Doctor Roberts. I'm certain none of us here have heard this girl talk neither are you giving even the slightest information about her." Collins protested. "Is she deaf and dumb or you're simply hiding something dangerous from us?" He gestured towards her that had already begun running on the treadmill with her accustomed headset in place.

"I hate to agree with Collins but he's right." Theodore affirmed. "For all we know, she might be another of your invention. An Android, perhaps."

Doctor Roberts grinned.

"With time." He assured again but it infuriated him. He wondered why Doctor Roberts hid so much about her. She was a total mystery.

"Now let's get to training, take note that this gym is totally controlled by Service and you can visit anytime you wish."

Collins stared into the man's eyes unable to decipher anything. Two things were scaling his mind.

If Ariel was the one with unexplained explosive powers and what was behind the elevator that refused to open.