Tossing Balls

Posted on Mon Aug 3rd, 2026 @ 7:09pm by Lucas Mercer & Josiah Martin

3,103 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 8: Shadows Over Avalon
Location: Baseball Diamond
Timeline: March 24, 1992

"Go deep!" Lucas called out, and sent the football arching through the air with a throw as smooth as silk.

There was something a little sacriligeous -- Lucas was pretty sure that was the right word, he'd heard it like twice before -- about throwing a football around on a baseball field, but it worked for now since no one else was out here playing around. Better than the basketball court.

It looked like it might rain in a bit, so he'd been eager to get out here and toss the rock some before forced back indoors. New York rain wasn't anything like a California shower, it was so much colder up here.

This was nice. He hadn't felt this happy in such a long time, a big part of it were his new friends, like Joey.

"So, like, is there some rule or something about talking about the mutant stuff?" he shouted as the football reached the apex of his throw and began to come back down. "Gotta be here ten days and prank Mrs. Grey-Summers or something, before swapping war stories?" Lucas was curious about everything going on here, and everyone, still excited just by being around people like him.

Joey twisted to catch the ball, forced into his old school gym gear for the second time in as many days. Although, he supposed at least Lucas wouldn't shoot a ball with superhuman strength into any crotches. Small miracle. He managed to grab the ball out of the air, probably more a testament to the other mutant knowing what he was doing than any particular skill from Joey. He decided to return the ball with a light punt before answering the question. "Naw, not really. You just gotta work up the nerve to ask what you wanna know mostly. Why, you dyin' to know somethin' specific?"

"Well yeah, like, everything, right?" Lucas dashed forward to dive and catch the ball, heedless of the grass stains he earned on his sweatpants. Maybe that had been a little flashy, he really didn't need to dive and roll with it, maybe he was showing off some, but he liked the attention if anyone noticed. Made him feel like some kind of action hero.

Maybe he would be one in real life now too. How crazy was that?

As Lucas popped back up to his feet, he tossed the ball between his hands. Nerve and talking to people wasn't ever really an issue. "So okay, tell me to back off if you want, Joey. How'd you find out you're a mutant? Something bad happen?"

Did any of them have a happy story to tell around that? Lucas lofted the ball again, putting an intense spin on it and a low arc, sending it speeding much faster at the younger mutant than the last pass. Not super strength, no, but he had a hell of an arm, he'd been told.

Joey gave a small snort at Lucas’s antics. “All right, show-off. You ain’t gotta try to top the demon prince,” he called out.

Then the ball came, harder than last time. He got his hands around it, but it slammed into his palms and drove them back into his chest. That stung a bit.

“Lord,” he muttered, staring at the ball. “Remind me not to make you mad when you’re holdin’ one of these.”

He tucked the ball against his hip for a minute as he considered the question.

“Nothin’ bad like you’re prob’ly thinkin’,” he said. “Truth is, I probably knew for a long time ’fore it became an issue. We just didn’t call ’em powers.”

The younger mutant rolled the ball between his hands before flicking it back.

“I always knew which trail was easiest, where the deer were beddin’ down, and which pool folk could swim in without gettin’ swept halfway to Vegas. Water and animals seemed to show up about where I expected ’em to.”

He chuckled a bit.

“Mama’s family has always been a little ‘gifted,’ so to speak. Nana has a bit of the sight, and Mama reads folk a bit too well. No one really thought too hard about it. I was just the one who was good with nature. That don’t tend to cause no public disturbances.”

He shrugged.

“Turnin’ into eight feet of rat-man? That’s a bit harder on the willful-ignorance front.”

He stopped for a minute, making sure he wasn’t about to be assaulted with the pigskin again before he kept going. The joke came easily, and in retrospect—from the outside, at least—he supposed the memory was actually pretty funny too.

“I got upset with Jacob, my older brother, one day. He was givin’ me shit for not datin’. Kept rilin’ me up until things sorta went all the way. Fur, tail, claws—the full Master Splinter experience, just a lot less wise and a lot more panicked.”

He laughed.

“It’s funny now, but it scared the hell outta me, and Jacob pissed himself. Served him right.”

His smile faded.

“Nothin’ really bad happened. No disownin’ or conversion therapy or ‘have you tried not bein’ a monster’ nonsense. Dad started askin’ what set it off. Mama started figuring out how many clothes I’d shredded, and Nana was cackling her geriatric ass off at all of us.”

His mouth twitched again despite himself.

“Once everyone calmed down, she did the practical thing and suggested I oughta learn how not to become a giant rodent every time my brother was an asshole.”

He looked toward the mansion.

“So here I am.”

Lucas could only smirk when Joey was kind enough to point out his showing off. Topping Alaric he was probably never going to pull off -- how could one compete with a flying demon after all? -- but it still felt good to be out here, doing something physical, and having someone cracking jokes with him.

At the 'don't make you mad' comment, he just bobbed his eyebrows. But he listened too, hands on his hips, as the other boy shared.

It seemed incredible, the way Joey had been raised, and a gift too maybe. To be able to step into his powers as an inheritance like that. He caught the return pass and spun the ball in his hands as Joey told his story.

Master Splinter got him laughing, imagining himself in the other's shoes and how much his younger brother's eyes would have bulged. Ethan was about Joey's age, maybe a little behind him. Lucas had called home when he arrived, had a long talk with both Ethan and his sister Claire, apologizing for leaving so quickly, making sure they understood.

Looking at Joey, Lucas didn't see like a replacement for his brother, the river guide was so much more experienced and worldly. But he was sure Ethan would have gotten along great with him too. "Your family sounds cool," he said softly during a pause, not wanting to interrupt much. "Accepting it like that, understanding."

Another pass of the ball, a little slower this time, but dead-on accurate right to Joey's hands. "Does it hurt to change into Splinter? I bet that's totally wicked either way though, getting to become something so different and strong and having a tail and everything."

Joey blinked and almost missed catching the ball. That was a new question. No one had ever asked him what turning into the rat felt like before. He paused again. "It don't hurt, as such. Not really. But it don't feel really good neither. Like have you ever had to wear somethin' a bit too small and then that feelin' when you take it off? A bit like that, but I can also feel things rearrangin' inside. It's weird," he said. "I'd show you if you wanted, but I ain't strippin' in the middle of the diamond, and the football wouldn't survive it anyway." He tossed the ball back again, trying to imitate the spin Lucas had been using, but not quite getting it. "What about you? Jean, Mrs. Summers that is, doesn't usually tell us much about new folk, aside from sayin' they're coming."

"Okay, yeah, that sounds weird. Didn't think of that. Organs and bones and... gotcha. I'm sure I'll see soon enough! And if you don't like 'Splinter', maybe I'll call you 'Ratigan?' 'Templeton'?" That had been a fun movie, and book! Yes, coming up with nickname ideas already.

"Still cool though." Lucas wasn't just saying it to be nice, either. Part of this whole embracing the strange new reality of being a mutant had him looking on the bright side, seeing things in a positive light. "That had to be a bother, carrying extra clothes and stuff."

Lucas snagged the ball out of the air as it came back to him with a slap sound from his palms, half-jogging to close some distance between them across the field. "I got another football in the stuff I brought," he said, both as reassurance and in preparation for what he was about to try. "So uh, I think I can get this to work. Most of the time now."

As he approached, slowing to a measured pace, Lucas' expression became one of concentration. For a few seconds nothing happened except his steady, long-legged stride. Then he began to glow. It wasn't very bright, and harder to see for today's rare bit of sun too, but the blue of his eyes was replaced by golden light, and whisps of it seemed to stream off him, almost like steam. Lucas hefted the ball, paused standing next to Joey, got a good grip on it, drew his arm back, and threw it about as straight up into the air as he could.

Launched it might have been more appropriate. The glow intensified for that split second moment as his fingers left the football in his followthrough, it tore through the air so fast that they could hear it whistle, and it vanished out of sight up above in the next second. "You know Superman in the comics right, and the yellow sun stuff? Just not nearly as cool. I don't think I can fly. But I glow in the dark so I guess I don't need a flashlight when I go camping now!" He kept his gaze turned skyward, waiting to see when the ball would come back down.

Joey looked up. "Well, at least you launched it up instead of destroying an innocent tree," he muttered. "I ain't catching it when it comes back down. I like my hands in one piece," he added wryly. He paused for a few moments, reaching out his powers and calling out a line of rats on top of the near dugout. He waited to see if the other boy would notice.

"Huh," Lucas sounded a little confused at how high that got. The clouds were building overhead, heading towards another afternoon rain. Sunlight still streaked through in places though, making dramatic ray effects. He couldn't see the ball against all that. "Maybe I shouldn't have thrown it that hard." He looked down, then back up, down again. "Hmm."

A glance over at Joey and he wondered what the other mutant was up to. "What are you-"

THUMP!

The football returned and slammed into the ground nearby before Lucas could react. It was too light to reach crazy speeds on the way back down, but it did flatten grass, and compressed noticeably before spinning back up into the air. Lucas ran after the bouncing ball with an eager grin he flashed Joey's way, chasing it down as it bounded in unpredictable directions given it's shape, making him dodge left and right in an attempt to catch it. The glow around him faded as he ran.

When he finally caught up and managed to snag the football into his grip, Lucas had skidded to a stop just a few feet away from the dugout. "Looks okay-" Lucas cut off when he saw he was being watched. A dozen or more beady little eyes all in a row, staring at him from behind whiskers. His eyes went wide and he froze mid-stride, staring back.

Joey resisted the urge to laugh watching Lucas chase down the ball. His inner monologue supplied 'Good boy, fetch' to him, but fortunately, he did have enough verbal filter to not say that out loud. Instead he walked over to the boy who was now staring at the assembled rodents. Joey waved his hand causing the rats to rearrange themselves to spell out the word "hi".

He gave an amused smirk. "The other part of my powers. I can command the legions of rodents. And despite any jokes to the contrary, I swear I have never asked them to invade any bedrooms. I actually tell 'em to stay out of the mansion usually," he said. He waved his hand at them again, sending them scurrying back off, "Now go on, shoo, all of you. And I ain't translatin' that," he added at the end with a murmur when one of the rats sent him a picture of Lucas' eyes and a pleasant feeling.

The taller mutant blinked in surprise a couple of times. The rats were cute, but wild too. Not a good idea to try to pet them no matter how friendly that might appear right now. Then he lit up again at the 'hi'.

"Duuuude!"

He turned to Joey as the rats scattered, dazzling smile and all making his eyes squint, "Totally awesome. And you can actually talk to them? What do they say? Do they, like, ask for cheese and stuff? Oh that's gotta be useful too, right, like if they can tell you what they hear and see."

Joey smirked. "That's actually a myth," he said. "They do, however, beg for peanut butter. Apparently cheese actually smells really bad." He shook his head. "But, talk ain't quite accurate. They're still rats. No words. More images and feelings. But I'm workin' on understanding what they want. They certainly have opinions."

Lucas had totally missed anything about what Joey wasn't going to translate, the other mutant was safe for now. "Okay, see, I wouldn't have guessed about the cheese. You gotta tell me more. You got some totally rad powers for sure and-"

He went cross-eyed for a second as the first rain drop hit him on the nose. Soon it was followed by another, and more, the sky opening up quickly above them.

"Who knew rain could be so cold!?"

Joey laughed as he looked up at the sky. He hesitated for a moment. He'd been in New York long enough that rain wasn't entirely strange or mesmerising anymore, but he still felt a small bit of discomfort every time it truly opened up. He shook his head. "Water is not supposed to fall outta the sky," he said. "We should probably get inside 'fore we catch pneumonia or some shit." He paused. "If it's gonna rain, avoid the rec room unless you wanna finger paint or make toilet paper mummies."

The first few drops were swiftly followed by a downpour, and Lucas let out a yell. He'd hurry, but he'd try to get Joey in ahead of him, not quite pushing at him roughly but attempting to steer the shorter mutant first. Freezing as the water was, he was still the kind of guy who would take his own comfort after others. One hand held the football tucked against his side, the other urging Joey forward as they ran before getting completely soaked through.

"New York doesn't do anything halfway does it?!" the Californian called out. "Back home it'd rain for 5 minutes and people acted like the whole world was ending. It's rained almost every day since I got here!"

The younger boy might have been dragging his feet just a little, solely out of amusement, but he would certainly deny. "A'ight a'ight Sunshine. I'm goin'. Keep your highlights in." He stopped just inside the door and peeled his shirt off. "I didn't think to bring any towels, but I don't wanna clean up drippin' all over half the hallway," he said by way of explanation as he used the cotton to pat himself off. "You ain't wrong though. Rains too damn much here. Pretty sure it's rained more this week than it has in the last 3 years back home."

Lucas tossed the football ahead, gently, into the mansion, and used two hands on Joey's shoulders to crowd him in a little further so he could get out of the rain too. "Not cool dude, blocking the door!" Lucas laughed though as he let the other boy go and pulled his jacket off.

He looked once, only a glance really, no more than a second or two, then averted his eyes and fell silent. The red on Lucas' cheeks was just from the cold. Had nothing to do with anything else. He stood there in his wet t-shirt, dripping jacket in one hand and dripping hair down in his face, a puddle forming under their feet.

After a few seconds he cleared his throat, but didn't move further, "I should probably get some towels to clean this up."

Joey finished mopping himself as he looked at Lucas. "Dude, it ain't that cold," he said. "Why you turnin' red. C'mon the kitchen's first door on the left. Let's get you dry enough that you don't get us into trouble. Dish towels aren't ideal but there ain't no showers down here, an' I need to do laundry anyway."

Yeah, Lucas, it wasn't that cold. No need to be any more awkward or draw attention to things. "Ah, f- it," he didn't actually say the curse word out loud. A moment later he forced himself to peel off the clinging white t-shirt that was soaked through anyway, and then tried to shake some of the water out of his hair, wipe himself down too, so he wouldn't track water around anymore than necessary.

"Just uh, caught me off guard, is all," Lucas suggested, cheeks still hot, and his eyes firmly directed towards the door to the kitchen. "Not used to this yet. It's cold up here."

"Right, so let's get cleaned up!" His smile came back, bright and wide. "You can tell me some more about rats. Like, I always figured, their tails, right? Do they..." The two walked off together to dry up and clean the pool they'd made inside.

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