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“What are we doing today, Mr. Hartford?” Rose asked as she slid down the pole, the last one to come in.
“I’m glad you asked. Today I figured we could do a training exercise in the woods. Spencer’s set up traps, to protect what you’ll be collecting.”
“A scavenger hunt, then?” Ronny asked, eyes gleaming.
“Something like that. Catch.” Andrew flipped specialty coins he had gotten from a museum in Japan at each Overdrive member.
“What’s this?” Will murmured, having snatched his coin between two fingers and studying it with a raised eyebrow.
“Use your scanners.”
Everyone scanned their coin, grins breaking out as they realized the challenge they had been given.
“This is gonna be fun,” Ronny said.
“Please give us mere mortals a fighting chance,” Dax joked.
“I’ll be there to collect the coins from you. Every time you find one, come give it to me. Don’t collect them and not drop them off, I want to see how long it takes for you to collect them individually.”
“Got it, Dad.”
“Are we allowed to use our powers?” Dax questioned, raising his hand like he was in school.
“I don’t think invisibility is going to be much help for me,” Rose muttered.
“Yes, feel free to do so, but no stealing from others, okay? You find a coin, bring it to me, and then go find the next one.”
Tyzonn looked a little unsure, probably because he was still getting used to the team, but let Mack guide him out all the same.
“Spencer, you’re staying here, right?”
“Of course, sir. I know what lurks in those woods.”
Andrew gave him a look before heading after his team.
“One coin, coming right up,” Will said as he dropped off the coin Andrew had rather thought might not get found at all.
“And one from me,” Ronny added, rushing off once it was in Andrew’s hand.
Rose came not even a minute later, looking rather proud of herself.
Dax took a little longer, but he still got his first one in before Will and Ronny got in their seconds.
Tyzonn dropped off his first one soon after Will dropped off his third.
Mack, Andrew knew, was going to struggle, unfortunately, because otherwise his programming would have given him a massive advantage.
Distracted by the thought of the true nature of his son, he didn’t realize that the team, all of them with coins in their hands, were in sight but staying deathly still.
All of them but Tyzonn, who came up to Andrew without looking down.
Suddenly, in Andrew’s eyes at least, there was major flurry of motion.
He only realized after the skunk sprayed him that it had been Ronny getting the team out of range. He could barely hear their groans of “being knocked down” turn into groans of “crap, a skunk sprayed” over the sound of his blood now roaring in his ears.
“What is that smell?” Tyzonn, whom Ronny was apparently unable to grab, asked before turning into mercury, slithering away as quickly as possible.
“Spencer! We have a situation!” Mack called into his Tracker.
Spencer sighed, raising his eyes to the heavens as the team tried to explain what had happened over gagging noises. He needed a raise.