Ernestine makes a bold move.

Stephen bit his lip. 'I hope no one finds out'

"Nope."/ "No."/ "Mmm mmm." / "Don't hear nothing." They answered in chorus.

"Mister McDevitt, I gotta go." Stephen said.

Principal McDevitt eyed Stephen. "You pronounced my name right. Have you finished your undertaking?"

Stephen gazed at the empty notebook and frowned at the message.

YOU NEVER KNOW UNLESS YOU TRY

"Just as I thought." The principal said cutting into his thoughts.

"But_"

Click*

The door slammed shut and he heard the locks clicking. He gripped the pen in anger. "I was gonna say buttface!"

"Good thing he didn't bite into it that hard."

Felicity shrugged.

"The wifi's down." AJ cried in alarm.

"Oh man. This guy's such a stick-in-the-mud." He dropped the phone. "Ugh! I knew it."

Stephen took advantage of their conversation and filled page after page with his undertaking.

His eyes moved on the words speedily.

[ Host's brain adapting to speed-writing ]

[ Host inadvertently encoding learned information ]

Bonus*

Dexterity [+20] Stat points [ +20 ]

He huffed, grinned and closed the book.

'Done'

Their conversation came into his line of focus. At first he heard them talking in a very dragged, deep voices but now their voices were back to normal.

"...boy, the bars were full."

Stephen looked at the time. "8:56 AM. Ten seconds." He flipped through the pages. "You guys sure do talk a lot." He said to keep them off bay.

Leo, the one with the yellow cap faced backwards faced Stephen. "Uh huh." He said drily.

He read the news, the one he saw on TV during his spree.

'A meteorite with extraordinary mass crashes at the river bank of the Ohio River. The trench stretches along the downslope road to a restaurant called Panabaker's breaking everything in its path. Here are the footages.'

Stephen's heart pulsed at the downslope road parted by a trench, the restaurant was a white stucco building, the centre of the flat roof folded in like a book, with iron reinforcements sticking out and a silver car at the small lot was dented too.

Some onlookers were standing outside videotaping the scene as well and he saw the closest feed of a chunk of rock and a group of men in suits rolling in from a SUV.

The video switched to the reporter.

'Uh unfortunately, I have we have stopped receiving coverage, the cameraman reports that the feds are securing the destroyed area for further furtive investigations. Fortunately, it happened in the late hours of the night and there were no...injured civilians. Stacy Xavier. 9 o'clock. Clancy News'

Stephen huffed.

...

Ernestine took courage and tied up her blonde hair, she wore a blue hooded shirt and jeans and boots. She saw Stephen's dad Jason Curry throw a stick from the front lawn and his St Bernard dog, Bear, bolted off.

She waited until he boarded his blue truck and snuck to the front porch. Her legs dented the pavement.

Hiss*

She exhaled.

She read the scribble at the back of Stephen's comic book. Which she was certain by the way that he had stolen. He already had them dog-eared with grease stains on them.

'People who hate their superpowers' He wrote.

"I hate you." She mumbled under her breath and walked slowly.

The dents around the broken streetlight shivered.

HUM*

She held her breath at the forces and then the stones stopped shaking. She huffed and then scuttled to his backyard then moved to the lawn.

She felt at the cracks on the trees and knelt to feel for the pieces.

"Where are you?" She whispered. She wished she had not closed her eyes trying to get rid of the rocks.

A black car parked at the front of the house and she gasped running inbetween the trees. In the midst of the leaves. She saw two men in black suits hopping down.

"Gee Luther. You sure this is where the other one stopped?" One said. She noted his features, caucasian redhead.

'The other one?' She thought with round eyes. Thinking hard. "Panabaker's at Ohio River. The meteorite might be broken in several places."

She went deeper behind the trees and the rocks started to line up stirring. She screeched.

Hiss*

"Shh! Shh!" She flapped her hands at them and gasped when the rocks flew in motion across the garden.

Thump* Thump*

They slammed on the backdoor.

"You think the owner's home?" The second named Frank asked after a series of knocks.

Thump* Thump*

The black one with a low cut cornered the house.

"Maybe not." He examined the broken pots and the trail of black sand. "Hmm."

"Hey Luther...This fellow has to be the unluckiest gardener in history." He swung a broken clay pot hanging and spat at the spray of sand.

The black one named Luther rolled his eyes but remained serious. "Get the equipment." He said through clenched teeth.

Ernestine gasped. "Oh no."

"We've been keeping close watch on the meteor. It landed in close proximity to this neighbourhood. There has been two explosions recorded, one has to be the meteor."

"This is gonna cause a land owner controversy. We don't want to_"

"Finders keepers." Luther said firmly and Frank paled when he grabbed the metal detector from his hand adjusting it.

Buzz*

It made a whistling sound too.

"Luther, don't you think_"

Ernestine huffed and the rocks floated.

The force around them kept the remnants close. Sweat broke out from her temples as she dragged the heap along. Her senses detected the leftover pieces of rocks and she forced them into her hands.

HUM* CRACK*

"Please be a bracelet."

She moulded and withered at the lackluster piece of rock in her hand but it was small enough to fit into her pocket.

She pocketed it and the two men saw her in the woods.

"What are you doing here?" She asked them poker-faced.

"What are YOU doing here?"

Luther shook his head at Frank's comeback.

"I was taking a hike." Ernestine said waving her comic book. "Who are you two?"

"We are...a group of feds from NASA, I'm sure you've heard of us and we would like to ask more questions about the meteorite."

"Feds?...but this is private property. Even if there was a meteorite as you claimed. This should cause a lot of scandal for you government agents. You are scouring around private property. I suggest that you gentlemen back off."

Frank whispered 'I told you so'.

Luther eyed her from the rim of his glasses. "So you're saying that... there is a meteorite?"

"No, I'm saying even if there was one, the owner of this house will be willing to sue you both to court for unwarranted research!"

Frank stiffened.

"I see." Luther's shades flashed.