Gavin and Stanford were awoken the next morning by a single, solid knock on the door. Gavin shot up out of bed, startled.
"What was that? Are we under attack?"
"Nah," said Stanford from under a small pile of junk on his bed. "Probably just our new schedules. They slip them under the door."
Gavin relaxed. Of course that was what it was. Rolling out of bed, he tiptoed through the trash to the door and found two folded pieces of paper--one addressed to Stanford, and one addressed to him. He got as close as he dared to Stanford's mountain and laid his schedule on top, then retreated to his own, moderately-cleaner, bed and opened his own note.
His schedule had been squeezed together, with class times shortened in order to fit in a new period right before lunch, numbered 4 1/2, which read simply "Boot Camp." Again he wondered what he was supposed to do with his utterly useless ability to turn it into something he could use to defend himself. Nothing came to mind.
He'd have to wait until period 4 1/2 to find out.
***
The morning classes zoomed by, and not just because they were all shorter. All Gavin could think of was what would happen in Boot Camp. He wasn't alone, as the subject was on everyone's mind. It was all anyone talked about. The first group to attend Boot Camp disappeared during third period while Gavin was in government with Mrs. Ackachack. When they returned for fourth period and the next batch were called to the gym, they were tight-lipped as to what had occurred, saying the other students would find out for themselves soon enough.
Finally, Ms. Chong's French class came to an end and Gavin made his way to the gym. He entered to find it filled with padded walls, padded poles, padded floors, and padded people. The students from the previous period were all taking off mounds of padding that may have once been white but which were now the colors of the rainbow. He was happy to see Jud was there, as well, although there didn't seem to be any sign of Jupiter, who must have had Boot Camp during a different period. Stanford, too, was in Gavin's class, random bits of trash somehow following him into the otherwise sterile room. In all, there were 24 students in period 4 1/2 Boot Camp. The group gathered on the wooden bleachers along the side of the gym and waited for Mr. Hollowind to address them.
"Right!" he said once the period 4 kids had left. "You guys are Delta Squad. Remember that. We've taken pains to separate everyone into useable units in case things get dicey. So if anything goes down, you'll act like a battalion. Everyone got that?"
When nobody said anything, he nodded to himself and continued.
"Like everyone else at this school, each of you has a useless ability." A few kids nodded. "Correction! An ability that is useless ON IT'S OWN. But paired with another ability? Perhaps not so useless. That's what we've been doing today. Pairing up abilities that can compliment each other and become a formidable combination."
This caused an energized murmur to rumble through the bleachers. Was it possible? Could their abilities, by partnering up with someone, become more than a sideshow? Mr. Hollowind crossed his arms across his chest and waited for the excitement to die down. A hand shot up and he called on Colin Suarez, who stood up to ask his question.
"Who am I paired up with?"
Right away, his question brought out a chorus of "Me, too!" and "What about me?" and other similar outbursts. Mr. Hollowind raised a hand to quiet everyone down, then took back control of the conversation.
"The short answer, Colin, is I don't know. The longer answer is, that's what we're here to find out today. You all know each other's abilities. Put your heads together and come up with some workable combinations."
A moment of stunned silence followed, which then burst into everyone talking over each other in their attempt to pair up with their friends.
Gavin chewed on his thumbnail, thinking. Who should he try to pair with? There was Jud, of course, and it might be good to pair up with someone who could totally Hulk out when needed, if only for a couple of seconds. But Jud was understandably suddenly proving quite popular and besides, Gavin didn't see how Jud's ability combined with his own in any meaningful way.
He stood, stepped down to the floor, then turned back to try and take everybody in. Who here was the best fit? There was Magda Helena Fierro and her sonic boom hiccups, but how would that interact with his squishy face? Jeffrey Klugbot could talk to flightless birds, which might prove useful if they visited the penguins in Antarctica (or the zoo), but which otherwise didn't seem helpful. Or maybe Gavin should pair up with Jeffrey's sister Orianly, who was able to bend spoons by whistling.
He sagged, frustrated. He just didn't see how his ability joined up with anyone else's. He had a squishy face, that was it. Maybe he could act as a shield for more important students--just hang back and wait for someone to punch one of his friends, then jump in front of them and catch the punch with his face? That didn't sound practical. But what else was there?
He sat back down, frustrated and noticed a crinkling in his pocket. Curious, he reached in and pulled out a plain white envelope--the one Lincoln had given him right before the school left to play Hide and Seek. He'd completely forgotten about it. Now, wearing the same pants as that day (and realizing he probably needed to do laundry soon) he'd found it again. He stared at it for a moment, unwilling to open it in the gym. For some reason, he didn't want anyone to see him read the note. Even though he didn't know what it was, he just felt like this was personal.
"Mr. Hollowind," he said, stuffing the note back into his pocket. 'I need to use the bathroom."
The teacher waved him away and Gavin hurried out of the gym and into the dark, empty corridor. He walked around the corner until he was sure he was alone and pulled out the note, but it was too dark to read. Frustrated, he realized he needed to either go into a classroom (they were marginally better lit than the hallways) or go outside.
A few twists and turns later and he opened the front door and walked out onto the lawn. He noted Aurelia Limpit, planted firmly on the lawn a few yards away and turned in the other direction, as if even in tree form, the girl could spy on him.
He walked around the edge of the building and then, finally satisfied that he was alone and nobody was watching, he opened the envelope. Inside was a single piece of white paper with a very simple message. It read: "Beware the Maestro. He is after you."
Gavin stared at the note. Was this a joke? He had no idea what it was talking about. Who was the Maestro? Why was he after Gavin? It didn't make any sense. He turned the note over, hoping to find more information or perhaps some way of learning who'd sent this. Lincoln had said it had come from Processing. Did that mean Ambrosia? She had warned him that everyone at the school had a power, was this in connection with that?
He stood on the lawn a while longer, trying to piece the puzzle together, but then gave up and crumpled the note in his fist. He couldn't think of any reason why anyone would be out to get him, he wasn't important, his ability was worse than useless, what would be the point?
Cramming the note back in his pocket, he made his back inside and to the gym. He didn't have time to think about bizarre warnings right now, he was supposed to be figuring out how to use his useless ability to defend himself and others. But what could he do? He was a walking squeeze toy. His face squished up like a sponge and then sprang back into place.
Gavin started, a thought suddenly leaping up and down and waving its arms at him in his mind. His face sprang back into place. He'd never thought about it like that.
An idea came to him. A crazy, silly, wacky idea. But he suddenly needed to know if it would work. But who could he partner with...
Of course.
Excited, Gavin raced back into the gym, up into the bleachers, and straight for the target of his interest.
"Stanford!"
His roommate looked over and waved, first knocking an empty bag of potato chips out of the way. "What?" he asked.
"Are you paired with anyone yet?" asked Gavin.
Stanford laughed. "You kidding? Nobody wants to hang out with trash boy."
Gavin smiled. "I do."
***
"Ready?" asked Gavin.
"This is crazy," answered Stanford.
"Maybe, maybe not," said Mr. Hollowind, who had taken an interest in their experiments. "Go on and give it a try.
"It just feels weird. Punching him."
"I don't feel it," promised Gavin. "Just make sure you aim for my face." A part of him giggled at the absurdity of what they were doing, but the rest of him tingled with excitement. It just might work.
"Go on," urged Mr. Hollowind. "This one time you won't get in trouble for punching a fellow student."
Stanford sighed, then reached down and grabbed an empty soda can rolling around his feet. He crushed the can as best he could, then took a deep breath. "Here goes."
Gavin eyed the target, a padded pillar a few feet away. He could do this, he knew it. This was going to work.
Stanford made a fist with one hand and, holding the crushed can in his other, let loose on Gavin's face. It was a solid blow, and Gavin could sense his face squeezing into itself. It didn't hurt nearly as much as it had the first time, and he suspected that his face was getting used to the experience. Then, Stanford immediately switched hands and placed the crushed soda can in the hollow made by his punch.
Gavin's face sprang back to normal, shooting the can across the room in the process. He didn't come anywhere near the padded pillar, but instead shot it five feet to the left and about six feet too high. The can sailed through the air and struck the back wall with an audible 'clonk.'
The other students paused in their own experiments and looked up to see the can fall to the ground. Mr. Hollowind applauded, as Gavin and Stanford grinned. They'd done it. Gavin's face could be used as a catapult. And as Stanford had already pointed out, he'd never run out of ammunition. It was a match made in Heaven.
"Well done, you two!" Mr. Hollowind addressed the rest of the class in his raspy voice. "We have our first bonafide ability weaponization for Delta Squad!" The other kids cheered. "Who's next?"
Emboldened by the success of Gavin and Stanford, the other students doubled their efforts and began trying all sorts of wild ideas. Meanwhile, Gavin and Stanford worked on bettering their aim. It was a mixture of where Stanford placed the trash, what direction Gavin faced, and a few other intangible elements. They were deeply engrossed in their work when the door to the gym burst open and Mr. Choi ran into the room in a panic.
"There's been another attack!" he announced. "Here! In the Academy!"