Chapter 9

A New Era


Joss stared at the bars she was confined in. She'd been in here for months, and separated from the other criminals. At first it was for her own safety, her cousin had helped put many of the criminals in here, but now it was for their protection. She looked at her left arm in curiosity, bits of metal still woven in it from where the suiet had torn and then healed over. Sealing the fragments in with the chemicals. She'd lost feeling in it for the most part, save for the occasional burning that flared every so often. The one time she'd been let out, another inmate had tried to rough her up. That hadn't gone well for them. Her mind flashed back to punching with her left arm, barely feeling the hit save for a burning feeling. She'd readied to fight them, but then... they'd screamed... large blisters forming where she'd punched.

The guards hadn't even wanted to get near her, no one did. Which was fine with Joss, she just wished she knew what it was. She flexed her hand in a punch motion but nothing happened. Her hand had secreted something that had caused a toxic level reaction to her assailant. She knew they'd been in the infirmary for a week after. She thought about the backlash of the blast, it had probably mixed with the chemicals with ease, but the only one who knew what they were was Maxwell. Who was in high security on the other side of the premises. From what she'd heard the wrist guards he'd made with the plasma devices components had fused, so because he had literal built in weapons, he was too dangerous to others.

She saw flashes of his face in her head, the lights under his skin, the way he'd carelessly thrown himself on her to protect her from the full blast. The pain he'd been in as he'd fought Drakken and Kim. How when Jasper's had punched him with a plasma fist, he'd barely been able to move let alone stand. She felt anger again, this was all their fault. Her stomach twisted in rage again, it was her fault. She'd convinced Maxwell to do this, sure it was easy, but that was because she knew his feelings for her. She'd had a plan and needed a brain to pull it off, she hadn't expected it to get so advanced or for it to got that far, but it had. When it had started, she couldn't stop it, didn't want to stop it. It was thrilling, the double life, the excitement, the mental games, and the intimate perks. She looked at her hand and felt the burning again as she concentrated, it looked red not right was the best way to describe it. She focused and punched at the bars. She felt slight pain as the bruise began to form. But she watched with a grin on her face as the bars began to deteriorate.

Paulson sat in his cell looking at his arms again. Glancing up he could see the gouges he had left in the walls as he practiced with his new enhancements. The pain wasn't as bad anymore, and he was certain if her ever got out of here, he could easily fix it with the right adjustments. Hell, he could probably amp it up enough to break out of here if they would just give him a metal spoon instead of plastic. He heard a noise at the door, and looked up at it. He watched as the door lock seemed to melt. He flexed his arms and his plasma lights flickered on, what they had left of his blades moved with them. The door was kicked open and a wash of relief fell over him.

"Hey babe, miss me," smirked Joss.


The Final ENNNNDDD

ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING IS UP (Sequel)