CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK Read Online Free PDF

Doctor,
calm down.”
    Clearing his throat, adjusting his
glasses, Dr. Tober reminded them, “Mr. Merlin has come to the
Institute so we can conduct some tests.”
    With teenage boy exuberance, Gordy
asked, “I’d like to see the pyrotechnic demonstration again, sir.
I’ll gather more paper.”
    “ No need Doctor;” I assured
him, “I can burn the ashes for you.” The trashcan burst into a ball
of yellow flames.
    The Doctors stared transfixed at the
smokeless fire, as I sat with a satisfied smile.
    Gordy asked suspiciously, “Hypnosis?”
He held his hand toward the fire. “I can feel the heat!” he said
with surprise. Suddenly the flames intensified, the fire doubling
in size. Too close, Gordy’s jacket caught fire, flames rising
quickly. “Ahhh!” he screamed, staring in shock at his flaming
arm.
    Thumping my foot to the floor, I jerked
upright, mentally shutting down the fire with a WHOMP! Gordy’s skin
was badly burned, the pain beginning to register. I focused on his
pain receptors, blocking his pain and ordered Tober, “Better get
him to the hospital; he sustained a second-degree burn.”
    Tober was already on the phone and
seconds later two men in lab-coats rushed through the door and over
to Dr. Gordon.
    I told the two men, “He’ll feel no pain
for several hours, which should give you time to get him treated.”
Helping support Gordy, trying not to cause more harm to his injured
arm, they slowly guided the frightened man out of the
office.
    I was stunned. I rubbed my forehead,
trying to figure out what just happened. I didn’t mean to hurt Dr.
Gordon. Maybe I had been showing off, but the fire shouldn’t have
leapt up like that. Once I mastered my abilities, I had had no
trouble controlling them. So why had I lost control now?
    In the doorway appeared two men in
uniforms, wearing guns. They were guards or more likely soldiers.
The uniforms marched over to Tober’s desk and stood at
attention.
    Stiffly rising to his feet, Tober
stared down at me, declaring, “I’m sorry Arthur, but I’m afraid
we’ll have to detain you.” With military precision and steely eyes,
the guards drew their weapons, pointing them at me. One guard held
a pair of handcuffs. Tober confidently continued, “We are primarily
funded by our government, and I’m sure they will want to question
you at length. You seem to be the man we have been searching
for.”
    Staring down the business end of the
guards’ weapons, with a wolfish smile, I slowly rose from that
non-lollygagging chair and mentally focused on the guards. Their
at-attention stances melted to loose-limbed stances. With idiotic
smiles on their faces, the two guards ambled over, handing me their
guns, and the cuffs. I holstered their guns back on their belts,
ordering them “Nice of you to stop by men. Now, please go take a
break.”
    “ Yes, sir.” They saluted and
did an about-face, marching out the door. As they were leaving,
Tober yelled at them to return, to no avail.
    With that deer-in-the-headlight look
again, Dr. Burns shakily asked, “Was that a form of
hypnosis?”
    Being a bit peeved, I gave her a curt
nod along with an icy, grey-eyed glare. Realization dawned on Tober
and Ruth that I could as easily have had the guards turn their
weapons on themselves, or even the Doctors. Tober paled and plopped
boneless on his plush office chair.
    Trying to gather his wits, defending
his actions, Tober stammered, “You must realize Arthur, I meant you
no harm, but you are a very valuable speci-, er, I mean asset to us
in our research.”
    With self-righteous anger I glared down
at him from my six-two height, “Doctor, I came to your Institute
for several reasons. First, I thought your team would treat me
differently and take my abilities seriously. You can’t detain me,
or hold me one second longer than I want to be.” Shaking my head at
his stupidity, I continued, “Don’t you realize how I arrived in
your office? I teleported into your office, after