Project: MI
Chapter 19

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

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

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

Inthe 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 fromRomana Pax.

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

Justas she did for Ran when she made her hallucinations. The two were polaropposites like that. Ran had been thequiet 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 themedicine cabinet sans its mirror. All myfault. 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.

Pullingher 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 whatshe should do. A glance at the hall where the washer and drier sat like a pairof white elephants in the room made her sigh though, remembering that she hadbeen after her wayward daughter to do her laundry.

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

Armedwith her motherly prerogative she made her way back over to her daughter’s roomand pushed on the door, blinking in surprise when the knob hit against the lockon 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, butthat didn’t surprise her. It wasn’t a terribly huge problem either since keysto the house were stored in the kitchen. Within short order she went there tofetch them, opening up the drawer and fishing them out. Upon making her wayback she began to experiment, fitting each key into the lock and turning. Onekey 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 narrowingher eyes at the door. Something about this setup picked at her. Coupled withher conversation with Daria, old instincts from her previous life awoke andlight 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. Sheregarded the room with suspicion, strewn with clothes, books, and other oddsand ends.

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

Well… Mother’s prerogative… Not asatisfactory 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 thangirl… Amanda thought, taking a step forwardand beginning to pile up clothes into a large bundle. Dirty, she mused, picking at one of them, a dark-blue, long-sleevedshirt. She frowned at it. She didn’t quite remember Kira owning this particularshirt, but she shrugged it off. She herself didn’t keep track of all thebelongings of her children. Undoubtedly this was something she picked up withher allowance.

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

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

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

Feelinguncomfortable with where her thoughts were going she set the clothes down andplaced herself on Kira’s bed. Closing her eyes she took a breath to steadyherself.

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

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

Herfingers curled around the bed’s blankets. I’velived too long to lie to myself like this. It’s right there in front of me andI’m telling myself nothing is wrong. Ran has been gone for so long without aword 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… Sheshouldn’t be. Ran’s powers, like every heroi out there, always revealthemselves 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 withMonique and…

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

“Howstupid 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…”

Sheshot out of the room like a bullet, her Q-Field flaring around her body. Uponentering the yard she glanced up at the sky. No Guardian Spheres, but at thispoint she doubted that she would have cared if there was a swarm of them overher house. The intensity of her Q-Field grew as she extended her senses. Amillion sounds flooded her ears and she staggered, unprepared for the enormityof the noise that assaulted her.

Almost forgot what that was like,she thought, shaking her head, raising one hand to her ear and steadyingherself. I’m badly out of practice… Focusing again, shelet the Q-Field build up to intensity again and then die back a bit. The swarmof 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 whoseidentity she was demanding. She briefly questioned why she was there, but thequestion died as the next word—a name—she heard her daughter say hit her like aton of bricks.

Ran.

Airexploded as Amanda tore into the sky, Q-Field flashing around her body like adying star.

Jamieand 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 Justinknew about as much as he did, but by voicing what they were both thinkingJustin stood up and headed toward the window. Jamie quickly followed suit.

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

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

“Huh?Jamie! What are you doing?”

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

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

Surelythere was nothing that he couldn’t really handle or get away from…right? Atleast that’s what he hoped, but the past couple days have left him a paranoidwreck when it came to sudden incidents of violence. There had to be no questionnow. He was being targeted, and this, whatever it was, had to be the latest inthe current string.

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

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

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

“Whatthe Hel is going on?!” came an angry shout from directly behind Jamie asJustin’s sister burst out the door. She took only a second to register thesituation as the coat woman craned her head in their direction. Jamie’s eyeswidened in horror and his blood froze at seeing a pair of pale, milky circlesstaring 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. Nosooner did she do so that the coat woman let loose an excited shriek akin togrinding metal.

“You!”the shadowy figure said gleefully, like a child that just discovered a losttoy. “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 wasparalyzed with fear. Paralyzed with… Erin cried suddenly as serpent-like darknessappeared from his shirt sleeve and snapped at her. Solid blackness was snakingaround his body—his throat—tightening. Jamie gagged. Spots dotted his vision ashe struggled to move, but the dark coils were strong…too strong for him to so much as even budge! The dark spotsclouding his vision multiplied and his eyes rolled up into his head.

“Lethim go!!!” he heard Kira’s voiceshout, smashing a fist into the shadow-figures face with enough force to ripher free from the coils that surrounded Jamie. The serpents exploded in ashower of sparkling light, leaving Jamie on the ground, gasping and coughingfor air. His chest heaved, filling his lungs with the sweet oxygen.

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

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

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

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

“Isaid get out of here! Do you need awritten order or somethi…?”

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

Atleast that’s what she told herself to make this easier. This didn’t rule outanything, and the fact that it appeared using her sister’s face could well be aclue she needed.

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

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

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

TheRan-Thing tilted its head to oneside, 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 usedthat name with her.

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

“Arethey heroi…?” Kira heard someone ask before she unexpectedly found herselfcatapulted backward by a tremendous invisible force impacting her stomach. Shehadn’t even seen what her opponent did, but it was clear that it was now exercisingmore power to deal with her. Unable to stop herself, she tore straight acrossthe street and smashed into the corner of Justin’s house, ripping off somesiding from the force of the impact. Grunting, but unhurt, she rolled with theblow and started to get back up.

Ran-Thingbegan to approach, one hand raised, waves of invisible force warping the airaround it.

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

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

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

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

Ashadow 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 thecomputers and sending them careening over the side in a shower of sparks. Jonesand Anderson both looked up to see a grotesque, green-skinned monstrosity withgleaming tusks protruding from its mouth start to rise protectively over Ran.She smiled at them.

“I’mplaying 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 hewas bid, rounding the corner and taking hold of Beck by the arm as he startedto rise.

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

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

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

Jones’eyes widened in alarm. “Ran! Do notharm anyone! Just…Just take Grey and go somewhere else!”

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

Jonesblinked. This is bad… This is very bad…

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

“Uhoh… A real hero is here.”

Kirawas on her feet, blinking back the white spots from her vision. Anger andfrustration beat a steady jungle beat in her chest. Twice now…twice she encountered people who weresomehow able to bypass her invulnerability. Make her hurt.

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

Ran-Thingdrew closer, hand still extended.

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

Asudden blast of air struck the Ran-Thing,causing it to stumble backward, its hat flying off and vanishing in a shower ofsparkling light. White eyes widened as it zeroed in on Jamie, who stood betweenErin 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 bloodtraced a trail from his nose and down the tip of his upper lip. He coughed andwiped a hand over his mouth, smearing the blood on his skin. “What…What do youwant from me anyway?”

“Towake you up,” the figure announced, aiming directly at him. The air warpedagain and Jamie’s head whipped around as though he had been pistol whipped. Heheard something snap, but couldn’t be sure as pain exploded all across hisface.

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

Airwarped 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Kiradabbed 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, surpriseand fascination. It had been a long time since she last bled.

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

“Fatchance,” she snapped back, though it took more effort than it should have. Sheno longer felt as strong as she should have. Something’s wrong… Are my powers disappearing?

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

Atthat moment, a bright light, blinding in its intensity, flew over theneighborhood. Kira and Justin both raised their hands over their eyesreflexively 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 sightof her…

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