mutated

chapter twenty two: too much testosterone, i'm leaving

the song is just something that's mentioned in this chapter from one of my favorite musical sequels.

"Are you scared?"

That's what I first heard when I walked into the lounge area that interconnected all three levels of apartments. I had just exited my room after blow-drying my hair, shaking off the tingling cold chlorine-filled pool water from my skin. Elliot and Alpha were standing down to each other, the taller boy obviously towering over the other, eyes steely with determination.

"You are going to lose," Alpha replied, cracking his knuckles, and sat on to a chair. Elliot did the same, and they both faced each other across the table. Hefting their elbows onto the glass top, they interlinked their opponent's hand and clenched tightly.

"Do you guys need a referee?" I asked, skipping over as I ran a hand through my damp hair. Alpha blushed a crimson red when he saw me, probably remembering what had happened previously, and looked away. Elliot glanced at me and nodded.

"Hai, sensei."

"As you wish Elliot-kun," I replied, playing along with his obsession with, what was it? Japanese terms? Whatever. I plopped myself onto an armchair, and using my telekinesis, I made sure their arms were level. "Three, two, one... begin."

Around us, others started to arm wrestle as well, from matches like Ryan against Ryan, to unlikely matches with Karyn against Anson. Others crowded around, some even lining up to 'battle it out' with their chosen person, but I simply just continued to watch the two boys wrestle.

At the beginning, Alpha seemed to be in control, dominating the... how do I put this nicely? Bigger boy. Slowly but steadily, Alpha pushed Elliot's arms towards the table, until it halted at a sudden stop.

Elliot's face was pinched in concentration, as their arms were once more perpendicular to the table top, and I could see the veins in both of their muscular arms popping out (not checking them out, just stating what I see). They both strained, pushing against each other with all their might, until I could literally see both of their arms shaking.

If we hadn't been training for about two months, I might have considered trying to go against one of them after they were done. But now, after seeing their bulging biceps, I knew I probably didn't want to go against them in brute strength. While they had obviously worked on their strength more vigorously, I had trained myself in speed and agility, learning how to do proper somersaults and flip over obstacles and those things.

Strength didn't matter for me when I could move you with my mind, but I did need my speed if I didn't want to get hit by a train or something like that. Elliot and Alpha were different. They didn't need speed. Alpha could just phase through the train, or even just change the density of the train itself so it would harmlessly go past him.

Elliot could just turn to his whatever metal he was and let the train hit him. He was indestructible. They were basically indestructible. Why learn to dodge when you didn't need to dodge?

By now, Adrian had perched himself on the back of my armchair, hovering there like an overgrown bat. "What are they doing?"

"Baking cookies," I replied sarcastically, before looking up at my annoying but still best friend. "Think about it, Adrian, what do they look like they're doing?"

"What's the prize for winning?" He asked again, and as I looked at him again, I realized he was wearing that annoying grey jacket.

"There's no prize. Just the acknowledgment that one is stronger."

"I bet they're thinking their prize is you." He added, and I glared at him, hand curling around the karambit I had been clutching onto. My other hand crept towards my boot, where the knife I got from Chase was kept.