Issue #11

Jack, Emma, and the girls sat around a table in a 2 Michelin Star restaurant as they waited for the latecomers to arrive. Jack poured himself and Emma glasses of wine while taunting the woman.

"I heard that your squad has had a few incidents with Dani's. I even heard that you are losing a bit when it comes to these confrontations."

Emma glared at Jack and didn't want to comment. She was already pissed off that Scott and Jack's team were able to match hers. Now that Dani, the youngest of all of them was able to compete with her group annoyed her to no end.

"That is simply an untrue rumor. Our teams have gotten along so well that we have decided to swap a member on each squad."

Jack laughed but didn't expose her. It was better to let Emma keep some of her pride since he still wanted to have sex that night.

"That's good to hear. And how's your team doing, ladies?" Jack turned his attention to his daughters.

Stella was placed in command of her own team that was composed of the Cuckoos and a girl hat went with the codename Armor.

"Fine," the five answered at the same time as they picked at the appetizers on their plates. "When is Uncle Chris getting here?"

"Any moment now," Emma said as she took another sip of wine while tapping her foot on the ground. This was the first time Christian would be introducing his boyfriend to her and she knew how big of a step this was. She did not want to mess anything up.

Jack saw how nervous she was so he reached over and grabbed Emma's hand under the table. Emma froze for a moment before looking at Jack who showed her a warm smile. Seeing how calm he was, calmed Emma.

The woman took a deep breath and relaxed. She had been planning this dinner for a week and it was finally here. Nothing would go wrong.

"Our team is great but I am worried about our balance. While we have an absolute psionic advantage over the other teams, we only have a single physical fighter besides them. If we are unable to trap all the others at once, we will definitely lose in a couple of weeks."

"How about a camping trip this weekend then? We can have all our squads bond a bit while the rest of us watch them from afar. Independence and all that," Jack suggested. Emma and Stella were quick to agree. Wilderness training was one of the best forms of training to promote bonding.

The trio was going to discuss the logistics of the training but they saw that the waited was approaching with Christian and his boyfriend in tow. They quickly agreed to put that conversation on hold as they stood up to greet him.

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Laura carried her bag as well as Martha's as they climbed up the mountain trail. Even with the extra luggage, she was still leading the pack of mutants. Behind Laura was the large Rockslide who had lost his rock form and looked just like an average high school jock. The rest of the students were following behind, the telepaths being dead last.

The group's goal was to make it to the top of the mountain before nightfall without being allowed to use their powers. And Jack made sure that they didn't cheat by shutting down the mutations of each of the kids.

"Why are we following her again?" Brian Cruz, aka Tag, of the Hellions asked

"Cause she is in better shape than all of us and knows what she is doing," Julian, aka Hellion, leader of the Hellions replied

Laura was able to do better than all of them due to the rigorous training that she had always gone through. Even without her healing factor, Laura could probably kill all of the other students with her bare hands.

"That's right. No point in fighting amongst ourselves when it is our advisors we should be pissed at," Hisako, aka Armor, leader of the Paladins added on before turning to the Cuckoos. "No offense!"

"None taken," they replied also annoyed they had to do this outdoor training. The girls had the hardest time since not only were they physically weak but the telepathic bond they shared with each other had been cut off. This was the most isolated they had ever been.

Although the 3 squads had a rough relationship with each other but shared a deep dislike for the Frost Family at the moment.

Taking away their free time on the weekend was one thing. Taking it away for survival training was another. And taking away their free time for survival training and also taking their powers was something none of them could imagine would happen.

Laura got annoyed and stood in place, almost causing Santo to bump into her. She turned around and glared at the others.

"Stop complaining. You are wasting your energy. If you continue doing that, we won't make it to the top on time. If we don't make it to the top on time, Mr. Frost said he would punish us. And he always keeps his word," Laura said before turning around and continuing her march

The others looked at her then each other before they followed her in silence. They did not want to see what type of punishment Jack would give them.

Jack was carrying Emma bridal-style while Stella and Rachel flew next to them. The group fo 4 watched the students struggle up the mountain.

"So... how long do you think it will take them to make it to the top?" Rachel asked as she looked down in pity at the students

"Definitely not by sundown. The real question is: what punishment is daddy dearest going to hand out?" Stella said to Rachel while turning her attention to her father

Jack smiled in return and didn't respond. He wanted to keep everyone on their toes