Project: MI
Chapter 19

Amanda hopped on a bus after Kira left, leaving the remainder of the trip home…uneventful. For as long as she lived in this city bus rides were uneventful. Her life itself was much like the bus ride. Oh, there was always the odd person or event to be had, but Amanda’s life from before the current Age of the World made it so that small oddities were barely a blip on her radar. She had her connection to this district of the CHC to thank for that. She had Burton to thank for that.

Getting off at the next bus stop, she made her way down the streets that led to her home and she pushed open the gate, entering her yard. For what felt like the first time she could remember, she noticed how large the yard was. Much larger than the average home owner in Clark City. The well-manicured lawn, the size of her estate, her wealth—not enough to put her in the elite class, but nothing to sneeze at either; all things that she hadn’t had until she came here. She furrowed her brow, remembering that day.

Pregnant with Ran, about to go into labor, and on the run from an Epsilon Sentinel. There was absolutely everything that could go wrong that day. Burton ‘disappeared’ me after I was picked up… Her frown deepened as she closed the gate behind her, letting her hand linger there for a moment before making her way up the front walk. I was quite the mess emotionally and physically. Ran would have died that day if not for Burton. Instinctively she placed her hand on her belly, remembering the swell that had been there then and the aggravated movements of the child that had once been in her womb; aggravated from the nightmarish stress that piled on endlessly in the long months since she had been forced to ditch her last life—her last ‘identity’.

In the twenty years since then…peace. A love here and there; a career… Stability, in every way that mattered. Until Ran took on an offer of internship from Romana Pax.

Silence greeted her within the house, but she had grown accustomed to that this past year. Taking off her shoes, she dropped her bag and jacket down on the floor in a haphazard manner and padded down the hallway, passing Kira’s doorway along the way. She frowned at it. Even with her daughter somewhere else the quiet felt so foreign. Even a year hadn’t erased that feeling. Once upon a time in a past that felt every bit the fantasy as the line suggested Kira would have been in there and she would have been yelling down the hall for her to turn down her music or thumping around with her dancing. Even when she read, she did so aloud. She could always hear the little whispers from the other side, and on a day when Kira was feeling especially into the story she would make the sounds that fit the action.

Just as she did for Ran when she made her hallucinations. The two were polar opposites like that. Ran had been the quiet one. Now it felt like Kira was filling in for her.

It’s my fault though, she thought, entering the bathroom where she was greeted by the sight of the medicine cabinet sans its mirror. All my fault. An Age ago I wouldn’t have let anything stop me from looking for Ran. And now…here I am, just sitting around and keeping my head down. Waiting.

Pulling her tie out of her hair she brushed it aside and let it cascade down her back. A bath sounded good to her right now; a good way to relax and think about what she should do. A glance at the hall where the washer and drier sat like a pair of white elephants in the room made her sigh though, remembering that she had been after her wayward daughter to do her laundry.

She won’t be happy, but… Amanda scowled. Well, if Ran were here she would have something to say about how she’s already ‘not happy’. Nothing is going to change that right now.

Armed with her motherly prerogative she made her way back over to her daughter’s room and pushed on the door, blinking in surprise when the knob hit against the lock on the other side, refusing to budge.

She locked her door? Is she here? That didn’t make sense, but neither did Kira’s locking the door to her room. “Honey? Are you there?” she asked, gently rapping on the door. No answer, but that didn’t surprise her. It wasn’t a terribly huge problem either since keys to the house were stored in the kitchen. Within short order she went there to fetch them, opening up the drawer and fishing them out. Upon making her way back she began to experiment, fitting each key into the lock and turning. One key after another failed to so much as budge the lock right up to the last. Amanda stared at the key set as though they had betrayed her before narrowing her eyes at the door. Something about this setup picked at her. Coupled with her conversation with Daria, old instincts from her previous life awoke and light flared around her body.

Still have the ultimate key, she thought, gripping the handle and turning, throwing some strength behind it. The lock cracked effortlessly and the door swung open, providing her entry. She regarded the room with suspicion, strewn with clothes, books, and other odds and ends.

Nothing out of the ordinary, she mused, pressing a hand against her forehead. Berating herself for the forceful entry, she wondered how she was going to explain the door damage to her daughter once she got home.

Well… Mother’s prerogative… Not a satisfactory explanation, but she’ll have to live with it. She sighed and shook her head, returning her attention to her original mission.

I swear, she’s more boy than girl… Amanda thought, taking a step forward and beginning to pile up clothes into a large bundle. Dirty, she mused, picking at one of them, a dark-blue, long-sleeved shirt. She frowned at it. She didn’t quite remember Kira owning this particular shirt, but she shrugged it off. She herself didn’t keep track of all the belongings of her children. Undoubtedly this was something she picked up with her allowance.

Still, the more suspicious part of her mind, engrained in her from a bygone lifetime and another identity, thought hard on it. The shirt was well-chosen…if its purpose was for something other than keeping warm.

A purpose such as infiltration, that other part of her mused thoughtfully, remembering her talk with Daria Foster.

As she continued to organize the room, she noted directions to the Grey child’s house that had been printed up, a date and time snug in the corner. She thought back to when Kira brought the Cerberus home with her. Had that been…after these directions were printed?

Feeling uncomfortable with where her thoughts were going she set the clothes down and placed herself on Kira’s bed. Closing her eyes she took a breath to steady herself.

Kira’s not a heroi, she thought. If she were, she would have shown signs of it by now.

The incident with the mirror came to mind. The scene almost seemed to mock her. Kira said she had been lucky…

Her fingers curled around the bed’s blankets. I’ve lived too long to lie to myself like this. It’s right there in front of me and I’m telling myself nothing is wrong. Ran has been gone for so long without a word and Kira blames me for it. Romana Pax was the last place she was seen at, and then there’s that break-in at the company…

But…Kira isn’t a heroi… She shouldn’t be. Ran’s powers, like every heroi out there, always reveal themselves in some way without their control. Kira would have a long time ago, especially if she wasn’t telling the whole truth about the accident with Monique and…

Amanda’s eyes flew wide open as sudden realization dawned on her like a nuclear blast.

“How stupid could I have been?” she whispered, half in horror at the comprehension, half wanting to hit herself for not realizing it sooner. “If she has the same powers as me…”

She shot out of the room like a bullet, her Q-Field flaring around her body. Upon entering the yard she glanced up at the sky. No Guardian Spheres, but at this point she doubted that she would have cared if there was a swarm of them over her house. The intensity of her Q-Field grew as she extended her senses. A million sounds flooded her ears and she staggered, unprepared for the enormity of the noise that assaulted her.

Almost forgot what that was like, she thought, shaking her head, raising one hand to her ear and steadying herself. I’m badly out of practice… Focusing again, she let the Q-Field build up to intensity again and then die back a bit. The swarm of noise thinned out, narrowing down to just what she was looking for.

Adonis Street, she thought as she heard Kira’s voice—angry about something, some person whose identity she was demanding. She briefly questioned why she was there, but the question died as the next word—a name—she heard her daughter say hit her like a ton of bricks.

Ran.

Air exploded as Amanda tore into the sky, Q-Field flashing around her body like a dying star.

Jamie and Justin both looked away from Beth as they heard a loud crash just outside. Alarm crossed their faces and they exchanged worried glances.

“Um… What’s going on?” Jamie asked. He knew the question was pointless since Justin knew about as much as he did, but by voicing what they were both thinking Justin stood up and headed toward the window. Jamie quickly followed suit.

“I don’t see anything…” Justin began, only for the two boys to jerk backward as a garbage can suddenly smashed against the siding mere inches away from the window followed by a loud shout.

“Holy…!” exclaimed Jamie before darting toward the door. “Call the cops!”

“Huh? Jamie! What are you doing?”

Jamie didn’t answer—didn’t trust himself to speak—as he unlocked the door and threw it open. His heart was pounding a mile a minute pace in his chest. If he felt more calm he might have said something in response, but right now all he knew was the single mantra that his mind was shouting over and over, barely keeping his nerves in check.

Don’t be a coward! Don’t be a coward! Don’t be a coward!

Surely there was nothing that he couldn’t really handle or get away from…right? At least that’s what he hoped, but the past couple days have left him a paranoid wreck when it came to sudden incidents of violence. There had to be no question now. He was being targeted, and this, whatever it was, had to be the latest in the current string.

I’ll get to the bottom of this now! he thought firmly, rounding the corner and into the alley. Sure enough, he saw what he feared he would; the woman in the hat and coat. Jamie’s felt his heart plummet into his stomach at the sight. All doubts were erased now.

“Play with me, Kira,” the woman said… Jamie tilted his head to one side in confusion as he took in the woman’s tone. She was speaking in a sing-song voice?

While he mulled that around in his mind, something else clicked. The name she said…Kira. Looking past her he saw the girl from the day before, the one who both returned Monster and first saved him and his friends from the woman’s attack at the school, getting up from off a shattered fence, dusting her shirt off and a furious look on her face.

“What the Hel is going on?!” came an angry shout from directly behind Jamie as Justin’s sister burst out the door. She took only a second to register the situation as the coat woman craned her head in their direction. Jamie’s eyes widened in horror and his blood froze at seeing a pair of pale, milky circles staring out at him from behind the darkness that swallowed her face.

Oh my gods…

“Inside!” Erin exclaimed, grabbing Jamie by the shoulder and pulling him back inside. No sooner did she do so that the coat woman let loose an excited shriek akin to grinding metal.

“You!” the shadowy figure said gleefully, like a child that just discovered a lost toy. “That’s right! I’m supposed to play with you first!”

“Jamie…!” Erin began, trying to shake him back to reality. He couldn’t move. He was paralyzed with fear. Paralyzed with… Erin cried suddenly as serpent-like darkness appeared from his shirt sleeve and snapped at her. Solid blackness was snaking around his body—his throat—tightening. Jamie gagged. Spots dotted his vision as he struggled to move, but the dark coils were strong…too strong for him to so much as even budge! The dark spots clouding his vision multiplied and his eyes rolled up into his head.

“Let him go!!!” he heard Kira’s voice shout, smashing a fist into the shadow-figures face with enough force to rip her free from the coils that surrounded Jamie. The serpents exploded in a shower of sparkling light, leaving Jamie on the ground, gasping and coughing for air. His chest heaved, filling his lungs with the sweet oxygen.

“Wha… What the… What…?” he began, blinking back the dark spots.

“What the Hel?!” shouted Justin at the door as he joined them, finishing his friends question. Kira, scowling as the woman-turned-monster rose to its feet with an eerie, almost dead-like motion, didn’t answer. Instead, as she and Justin’s sister took hold of Jamie’s shoulders to steady him she took note of the fact that its torn limbs were regenerating again.

“Get out of here,” she told him sternly. “I think he’s here for you.”

“Do you know…?” began the boy, but Kira cut him off with a sharp look.

“I said get out of here! Do you need a written order or somethi…?”

Now it was Kira’s turn to be cut off as a blast of darkness struck her full in the face, causing her to stagger. Her eyes flashed angrily as she regained her balance. Shoving Jamie to the side—lightly—she took a step forward. She no longer felt that this was Ran. This…whatever it was went beyond anything she ever experienced. Ran never created things like this; would never attack people.

At least that’s what she told herself to make this easier. This didn’t rule out anything, and the fact that it appeared using her sister’s face could well be a clue she needed.

“That better not be the best you’ve got, creep, because you’ll need a lot more to put me down.”

Her Q-Field flared and she charged forward. The monster raised a hand and a rain of darts shot at her, shattering against her body. Her fist found flesh again and the shadow figure smashed into the side of a car, leaving a good-sized dent in the passenger door. Kira lighted down in front of the creature as it deftly rose back to its feet, seemingly unharmed by the punishment being dealt. Kira ground her teeth angrily.

“Where is she?” she grated. Malcolm told her that this place was where Romana Pax was transmitting…something that was targeting the Jamie kid, and here was someone, a heroi, doing just that.

The Ran-Thing tilted its head to one side, a crescent-moon smile filling its face. “I can’t play with you right now, kiddy-pie,” it said, causing Kira to freeze up in shock. Only Ran ever used that name with her.

“Wha…?” she began, only to be interrupted as doors and windows to the neighborhood opened, revealing civilians investigating the noise outside.

“Are they heroi…?” Kira heard someone ask before she unexpectedly found herself catapulted backward by a tremendous invisible force impacting her stomach. She hadn’t even seen what her opponent did, but it was clear that it was now exercising more power to deal with her. Unable to stop herself, she tore straight across the street and smashed into the corner of Justin’s house, ripping off some siding from the force of the impact. Grunting, but unhurt, she rolled with the blow and started to get back up.

Ran-Thing began to approach, one hand raised, waves of invisible force warping the air around it.

“We’ll play later Kiddy-pie,” it said. In the next moment Kira felt her brain explode with ferocious force and pain.

“Shut her down! Gods damn it all…!” Jones swore a string of curse words in languages that, under normal circumstances, would have caused Beck and Anderson to raise an eyebrow in surprise. Unfortunately, being rather preoccupied at the moment, they missed it entirely. Beck was currently typing commands rapidly into his keyboard in an effort to comply but as he did so the computer screen swam and began to melt.

“She’s manifesting here!” Beck exclaimed. Spinning, he raced up to Ran. “I’m unplugging her directly!”

“No!” shouted Jones. “That’ll kill her!”

A shadow fell over Beck just then and a massive dark hand smashed into him, casually slapping him into the desk he just came from, crashing into the computers and sending them careening over the side in a shower of sparks. Jones and Anderson both looked up to see a grotesque, green-skinned monstrosity with gleaming tusks protruding from its mouth start to rise protectively over Ran. She smiled at them.

“I’m playing with him now. Don’t worry. I’ll do my job.”

“Anderson, see to Beck,” said Jones, taking a careful step toward Ran. Anderson did as he was bid, rounding the corner and taking hold of Beck by the arm as he started to rise.

“I’m fine, I’m fine…” he said, brushing Anderson off as best he could. He struggled to his feet, clearly shaken by the incident. “Jones?”

“Working right now,” she replied before giving her full attention to Ran. “Playing with him? Do you mean…”

“The Grey?” Ran nodded. “Yep. I almost forgot. Sorry.” She lifted her chin as her smile slipped. “Oh my… People are coming out.” Her smile then rose back up again. “More motivation for him, right?”

Jones’ eyes widened in alarm. “Ran! Do not harm anyone! Just…Just take Grey and go somewhere else!”

“But if I do that…how will he become a hero?”

Jones blinked. This is bad… This is very bad…

Ran tilted her head to one side, as though in confusion or surprise.

“Uh oh… A real hero is here.”

Kira was on her feet, blinking back the white spots from her vision. Anger and frustration beat a steady jungle beat in her chest. Twice now…twice she encountered people who were somehow able to bypass her invulnerability. Make her hurt.

How? she wondered. I shouldn’t be able to feel anything like this anymore. She wobbled a little, but steadied herself. Who cares? I’ve got to end this soon. Mal can’t keep the CHC distracted forever! I can’t be stuck here dealing with this when I’m so close to Ran!

Ran-Thing drew closer, hand still extended.

“You still want to play?” it asked. “I’m sorry, but I can’t play with you right now.” Looking around itself at all the people who were now looking out to see what all the commotion was, it extended its remaining. “None of you can’t play either. No one can watch. Go back inside or else I’ll…”

A sudden blast of air struck the Ran-Thing, causing it to stumble backward, its hat flying off and vanishing in a shower of sparkling light. White eyes widened as it zeroed in on Jamie, who stood between Erin and Justin, breathing heavily with a gleam of light surrounding his body.

“Stop…it!” the boy growled like an animal. His eyes were shot with red and a bead of blood traced a trail from his nose and down the tip of his upper lip. He coughed and wiped a hand over his mouth, smearing the blood on his skin. “What…What do you want from me anyway?”

“To wake you up,” the figure announced, aiming directly at him. The air warped again and Jamie’s head whipped around as though he had been pistol whipped. He heard something snap, but couldn’t be sure as pain exploded all across his face.

“Hey!” shouted Justin angrily, jumping directly in front of his friend. “Cut it out! What the Hel…”

Air warped again and shot out at the boy, but he was quickly tackled by his sister, bringing them both to the ground with a heavy crash.

“Let me up!” Justin roared, trying to wrestle her off. “I’ve got to save Ja-!”

“Shut up and get out of here!” Erin interrupted, dragging him to his feet while struggling to keep him from rushing the Ran-Thing. Air was warping once more before shooting at them like a cannonball. this time Kira leapt directly in front of them, catching the blast full force, sending her crashing into the pair.

The figure’s cartoonish face pouted, unhappy. “I told you, I can’t play with you yet. What are you doing?”

Kira groaned, struggling off the siblings. “Get…Get out of here,” she breathed.

“What are you talking about? I can’t leave Jamie and… Hey! You’re bleeding!”

Kira dabbed her nose as she felt a trickle of sticky warmth crawl down her mouth. She looked at the crimson blood on her finger with a mixture of bile, surprise and fascination. It had been a long time since she last bled.

“Please get out of the way, Kiddy-bun,” the figure said, still approaching, snapping Kira out of her stupor. “I’ll play with you later, I promise.”

“Fat chance,” she snapped back, though it took more effort than it should have. She no longer felt as strong as she should have. Something’s wrong… Are my powers disappearing?

“Sorry then,” the figure continued, fingers spreading and air warping.

At that moment, a bright light, blinding in its intensity, flew over the neighborhood. Kira and Justin both raised their hands over their eyes reflexively as a powerful gust of wind blew over them. As the light died back, Kira lowered her hands and her lips parted at the sight before her. The sight of her…

“Mom,” both she and Ran-Thing said at the same time as Amanda Baker drew herself to her full height.

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