Chapter 16-Dark Mirror
Dr. Allyn Prosper sat in the back of his car with a scowl no his old face. His personal (among other things) assistant, Professor Elisabeth Miranda was at the wheel driving his unassuming black Mustang down the street at full speed. In contrast to his calm demeanor, Miranda's beautiful features were stressed, her usually meticulously made up face sweaty and scowling.
He wished he could comfort her, tell her it was going to be alright. But they both knew that his chances of surviving past tonight were very slim. She kept glancing at the rear view mirror to see if they lost their pursuers, who were probably blood smears on the street after that act of rather stunning automobile acrobatics a mile back.
"Eyes on the road, my dear. And don't mind the red lights. Nobody's usually out this late at night." Prospero said.
"Doctor," Miranda's beautiful hazel eyes shown with visible worry as her voice remained calm. "I doubt we can shake them as easily as that."
"I know. I'm surprised they gave up so quickly." Prospero sighed. "Something isn't right."
Dr. Bergen had warned him of this. You don't just say no to these people unless you have the means to make them back off. A series of major setbacks had made them more brutal than usual and right now Prospero was wondering if he made a very huge mistake.
An explosion of blue energy abruptly ended his thought process. Miranda cursed and swerved a bit to avoid hitting a lamp post and slid to a stop.
"Are they firing RPGs at us?" She asked.
"No, something far worse." He replied grimly.
From the smoke, a figure emerged. It was a girl, though, her face was concealed by a helmet with a green tinted visor and she wore a dark green bodysuit. A ring of energy surrounded her body as she slowly walked towards the fleeing scientists and energy bolts crackled around her like thunderbolts.
"What…is that a child?" Miranda whispered.
"A child trained to kill, it seems." Prospero said. "Miranda…"
"Yes, doctor."
Miranda quickly spun the car around and drove down the street at full speed. The mysterious girl also gave pursuit, sprinting down the street at superhuman speed. The halo around her body emitted a chain of energy spheres that tore apart everything they touched.
Prospero was warned about this too. Inhumans with great destructive power and superhuman physiology. His chances of escape were rapidly increasing by the second, though the thought didn't bring him much sadness. For Miranda, however…
'They don't know her involvement in this, not yet at least.' He thought, reaching for the case in his lap. 'I'm a dead man, but if I let Miranda escape, then I can die in peace.'
The girl continued running after the car, and Miranda was unable to completely shake her. She pushed off the ground in a tremendous leap and lunged at the car. Though it seemed she would catch it, Prospero was read with a weapon of his own.
"You will not have me!" He roared. On his shoulder was a rocket launcher, already loaded and ready to fire.
He shot the rocket at her the same time she came at them and two things happened at once. First, the girl's energy halo destroyed the rear axel of the car and it sent it crashing onto the sidewalk. Second, the rocket managed to hit the girl's helmet, engulfing her body in flames.
"Come on, come on!" Miranda's voice grew increasingly more panicked as she tried to start the car.
"Miranda," Prospero put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "I'm not getting away."
"No, I refuse to accept that!" Miranda cried, but he tightened his grip on her.
"Miranda, that rocket only slowed her down. She will still come for me, but not for you." He said. "My death will come tonight, but I will not let you suffer as well."
He looked out of his damaged car and saw that same girl walking out of the flames. Aside from the top half of her bodysuit nearly being burned away, she was mostly unharmed.
"She's only here for me. She doesn't know who you are. Get out and run." He urged, but she refused.
"No, doctor! We can still make it!" She cried. "The Autobots, they can—"
"I'm afraid even the Autobots won't make it in time. I know it hurts, Miranda, but I refuse to drag you down anymore into this than I already have. One of us has to live to continue our work and it's you."
Miranda looked away, tears streaming down her face. "Doctor…Allyn, I—"
"I know." Prospero smiled. "I do too."
He patted her hand once before leaving the damaged car and bravely walking down the street to face his executioner. As he got closer to the girl, he saw that she was no older than a pre-teen, and that the rocket only did serious damage to her outfit. Any burns on her skin were mostly healed.
"They must have been serious when they sent you. I don't know what I did to anger your masters, but I refuse to run any longer!" Prospero said.
The girl said nothing, though he did notice her eyes briefly flicker towards the car before returning to him.
"Were you waiting for me?" He asked.
She said nothing, but he knew he was right."
"Very well," He said. "Make it quick."
"…I will." Said Gina Harkins, her eyes glowing with power. In a flash, Dr. Prospero was engulfed in a halo of light and was vaporized on the spot.
"NO!"
Gina shot up in her bed with a scream, panting and sweating. She smelled something burning and looked up to see two holes burned into her roof in her panic.
She barely heard Sureshock's concerned questions as she looked at her hands. Her vision swam and they were coated in blood for a split second before returning to normal. Gina gave a soft whimper and began to cry.
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The next morning was absolutely terrible for Gina. She felt tired, which was odd considering she rarely got exhausted unless she really pushed herself. It didn't stop her from feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted, though. The nightmares really got to her, and her friends noticed the changes in her behavior.
"You still having those nightmares?" Penny asked at lunch. "I thought you were good last week."
"I thought so too. Apparently not." Gina sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose under her glasses. Darren rubbed her back and gave her a kiss on the forehead that made her feel a little better.
"Was it the same dream?" He asked.
"It's always the same dream. I'm ruthlessly hunting down some person before brutally murdering them. And I remember every single detail." Gina said.
"But that's all these are, Gina. Nightmares. Dreams." Kevin said. "Maybe it's caused by all the fighting you've been doing last year. Darren and Annie have nightmares too."
"Except the people I kill in my dreams are actually dead in real life. I've checked." She said.
"But it's obvious that you didn't kill these people. You were in bed the whole night, Sara can attest to that." Annie said.
"So something else might be happening here." Darren said.
"But what? What can we do about a bunch of realistic nightmares?" Gina asked helplessly. "I doubt the Cons dabble in dream trolling."
"Maybe, maybe not." Penny shrugged. "Maybe we're dealing with a telepath instead."
"A telepath?" Gina rubbed her chin in thought. That might be a possible cause, but no proof to back it up.
Before she could think any further on it, Brianna walked up to their table. "Howdy guys! Got any room for a wayward traveler?"
"Yes!"
"No."
Darren and Gina spoke at the same time and looked at each other with differing expressions. Unperturbed, Brianna sat at their table, wordlessly pushing Annie aside to sit next to Darren.
"So how's everybody doing today?" She asked.
"Meh." Annie shrugged. "Same as we'll ever be. I just can't wait for school break to get here…oh yeah, Gina's having nightmares."
"Sure, Annie, just blurt it out to the whole freaking world!" Gina growled. She didn't want to show weakness in front of this floozy!
"Nightmares?" A strange look fell across Brianna's face before she covered it up with a smile. "No wonder you look so haggard. I honestly thought you were getting crow's feet or something. That'd be bad for a girl your age."
Penny sucked in a breath and groaned. Gina looked dangerously close to punching a hole in Brianna's face, but Darren cut in to avoid any more tension rising.
"So how's life treating you, Brianna? You enjoy it here in Tranquility?" Darren asked.
"Oh, I love it here! The atmosphere is nice, the town's not too small to feel like you're in the middle of nowhere and I had no idea that there were so many sweet sights here." Brianna smiled sweetly at Darren. "And having friends is a plus too."
"Happy to make you feel at home." Darren smiled.
Annie tried hard not to grin at Gina's demonic expression.
"If it makes you feel any better, Gina, I'm having dreams of my own too." Brianna said. "Nothing as serious as nightmares, but they do keep me up at night."
"I'm sure they do." Gina said and stood up. "If you'll excuse me, Brianna, I need to get going. Don't want to be late for class."
Gina walked away from the table, dumping her untouched lunch into the trash along the way. Brianna frowned and turned to Darren.
"I don't think your girlfriend likes me very much, Darren." She said.
"Gina's been having it rough lately. Sorry if she's a bit testy." Darren said.
Brianna nodded and glanced at Gina's back. Something told her that these weren't normal nightmares, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
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After school, Gina and Sara decided to visit Doctor Stephanie Bergen, the woman who used to work with Theo and was one of the lead researchers behind OZ's Inhuman Project. After the whole Inhuman debacle, she essentially erased who she was, taking on a new identity and job while also dying her hair. Oddly enough, OZ still had yet to make any attempts at kidnapping or killing her.
"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice, Doctor Bergen." Gina said.
"Call me Stephanie. I'm a professor now, so the whole doctor thing is useless to me now." Stephanie said, taking a puff from her cigarette.
'Should she be smoking inside a college?' Gina wondered.
"So what can I do for you, Gina?"
"When you were experimenting with the inhumans, did they display any powers aside from the distortion halo effect?" Gina asked hesitantly. She knew that Stephanie was still a bit sensitive about her role in the Inhuman project, even though the woman didn't show it.
Stephanie gave Gina an unreadable look as she took another puff before answering. "I've spent weeks monitoring the tests done on the inhumans. Testing their physical capabilities, their resilience to weapons and chemical agents, the destructive capabilities of the distortion halo effect, all of it. I know their powers inside and out, though you've seem to have learned a couple of new things yourself."
"Okay, but has there ever been an inhuman with telepathic powers?" She inquired further.
"Telepathy? Not that I know of." Stephanie said. "But then again…you are something of a special case, so there might be something similar going on."
She looked at Gina critically. To date, Gina was the only child to have become an inhuman, and the differences in her activation sequence were very evident. Because Gina wasn't an adult, the catalyst, the crystalline agent that changes a human into an inhuman, merged quicker with her still developing body, growing and maturing within her at a steady rate. Aside from looking slightly older, Gina was no different from a regular human in terms of appearance.
"There's still a lot about inhumans that we don't know about. Your abilities are a lot more refined and controlled than the average inhuman. And I have no idea if Pisces is still refining the process himself." Stephanie said. "I'm no psychologist, but these dreams you're having is probably nothing that's your fault. You're just on the receiving end. There might be someone else out there you're dreaming about instead.
"So you're saying that I'm mentally connected with another inhuman." Gina whispered, wringing her hands nervously. Stephanie nodded. "How?"
"You may have torched his ability to produce the catalyst, but Pisces can still create more inhumans. If you're having another reaction to another inhuman like this, then I can only theorize that this person might have been made in a manner similar to yours."
Gina paled. It didn't take her long to realize that maybe the inhuman she was connected with was that the inhuman was possibly like her. Pisces was experimenting on children.
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"Hey, Gina, you get any answers?"
Bumblebee's sickeningly upbeat tone was met with a tired groan from Gina as she and Sara plopped into his seats.
"I'll take that as a no."
"The only thing that visit did for me was raise more questions. Stephanie said that it might be m powers because of how I was enhanced." Gina said.
"Maybe that's it. We know next to nothing about inhuman children, especially how they grow. This whole thing might just be a result of you gaining more powers."
"You don't understand, Bee. Those dreams aren't just dreams. I'm looking through someone else's eyes, seeing what they see, hearing what they hear. I remember every single detail as if I was there myself." Gina said, rubbing her forehead. She remembered everything, even the brutal deaths of all those people. "I'm losing sleep at night and I'm getting really sick of having a new pair of holes in my ceiling."
"We will find the answers, Gina. It will just take time." Sara said, grasping Gina's hand. Gina gave her a little smile and held her hand tighter.
"So where do we go now?" Bumblebee asked.
"I only recognize one place from my dream, Ravenswoode." Gina said. "I might get some answers there."
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Some inkling of Gina's psyche wished that she was wrong about Ravenswoode. After replaying the events of last night over and over, she just wanted it to be some bad dream and just label the whole mess as her powers evolving. The universe was rarely that merciful.
"My god." Gina whispered.
Seconds after leaving the ground bridge and entering the lone town, the trio could already see signs of a fierce battle…or massacre. Police and ERD vans were posted everywhere and various sections of the town were totally destroyed, showing blast craters, destroyed cars, etc. Gina recognized the signs of a distortion halo effect—concrete and metal were warped as if superheated under high temperatures.
"This is where it all takes place." Gina said. "Down this street, I, or whoever it was, had chased them down and murdered a man."
"Who was killed?" Bumblebee asked softly.
"Dr. Allyn Prospero, a member of the Osean military's weapons development program. He's very high up the board and armor was in the process of creating long range anti-armor weapons like the railgun and chemical laser cannon." Sara said.
"A high-tech weapons development official…sounds like someone OZ could be interested in." Bumblebee said.
"Knowing them, they probably already gave him their phone number." Gina said bitterly. "Too bad he got knocked off."
"Not entirely. Prospero's assistant, Professor Elisabeth Miranda was also with him the night he died, but she survived." Sara said. "After the incident, she withdrew from the public eye and retreated to the manor she and Prospero lived in after police inquiry."
"They lived together?"
Sara looked a bit sheepish at that. "Rumor has it that Prospero and Miranda's relationship was less professional in their off hours."
"Well, looks like we know where to go." Gina said and the girls got back into Bumblebee. "Step on it, Bee, I think we finally have something."
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Prospero's manor resided on land he owned on the other side of town. According to the few who he allowed entry onto his property, Prospero also continued his work in solitude away from the lab as well. Miranda also had a room within and many people believed they were lovers (age differences aside). This was proven credible with Miranda's hysterical reaction to his death.
There was only one dirt road leading to the residence from town. Bumblebee took the girls out of town and up the road. It didn't take very long for them to be deep in the forest.
"So what's your plan?" Bumblebee asked. "I'm pretty sure Miranda won't leave her house to speak to one girl."
"I'm hoping she'll speak to an Autobot. I'm sure she'll give you some time if you mention that you're here on official Autobot business." Gina said.
"I'm not sure Prowl's going to like that."
"Prowl's not here. And I'm sick of running around blind. Something's going on here and I'm going to find out why I'm being dragged into it." She replied.
As they drove up the road, a black car came down the opposite direction. Bumblebee and the girls paid it no mind, which was a big mistake, for if they had, they would've noticed that the car had no driver.
It was only by chance that Sara caught wind of this, and by then it was too late. "Bumblebee!"
Her cry came seconds before the car exploded right next to them. Bumblebee grunted and was sent tumbling off the road, rolling over twice before ejecting Gina and Sara from his seats and changing into bipedal mode. His back hit a tree as he held the girls protectively in his arms.
"Slag," Bumblebee hissed. He showed no visible damage but the explosion still hurt. "Girls, are you okay?"
He asked that not because he thought they were hurt (they could definitely handle being inside a falling Autobot) but because they looked a bit shaken from the surprise attack.
"We're fine, Bee." Gina said and adjusted her glasses. "What was that?"
"I think that was a car bomb." Sara said. She hopped down from Bumblebee's arm and looked around. "Be on your guard. There might be more surprises."
Bumblebee looked up and pointed at something. "Like that one?"
The girls looked to the sky and saw a large shape hovering above the trees. When it began to descend, the trio jumped apart as its large form crashed to the ground. Bumblebee deployed his stingers and stood in front of the girls.
The object was a humanoid robot with a hunched frame with heavy armor on its arms and legs. Two machine guns were mounted on both sides of its head, which consisted of a single ruby red sensory eye.
"What is that?" Sara asked.
"It's not a talos. I'd recognize a model like that." Gina said. "I think it's a drone."
"In that case, I don't have to hold back!" Bumblebee charged forward at the drone, which opened fire on him with its shoulder cannons. Bumblebee was faster than the drone, but the robot was stronger. Though Bumblebee blasted chunks of its armor off, it barely paid him any attention, instead focusing on Gina.
"Why is that thing looking at me?" Gina asked nervously. Suddenly the drone sprinted at her and Sara. "Jinkies!"
It fired its machine guns at her, but she and Sureshock jumped apart. It made to follow Gina, but Bumblebee jumped on its back and blasted its machine guns apart with his stingers. The drone thrashed its body to throw him off, but the scout continued firing away, blasting off an arm this time. It grabbed the scout and threw him into a tree before charging at Gina.
At this point, Gina had enough of all of this and let her frustration take over. "What do you want from me?" She shouted.
Her eyes glowed and a distortion halo erupted around the drone, blasting its body apart. Gina barely held back from taking off its head, wanting to know who the hell sent this thing to kill her.
The inoperable drone crashed to the ground, little more than a smoking pile of metal and circuits.
"Sara, trace its signal back to the operator." Gina commanded, he voice colder than a glacier. "If this is OZ's handiwork, I'm going to paint this town red!"
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It was OZ.
Despite the operator's best attempts to block Sara's backhacking, the Minicon managed to trace the signal to one place—Prospero's manor.
It was a nice little abode, surprisingly homey for a man workers often described as "prickly." Bumblebee and Sara tracked the signal to a modified bomb shelter just a few feet away from the manor. After dealing with automated defenses consisting of missile launchers and artillery guns of all things, Gina blasted a hole in the bunker all the way down to its interior, where they found Elisabeth Miranda, shaken and terrified, pointing a gun right at her.
"Come to finish the job, you monster?" Miranda growled.
"What are you talking about? You're the one who sent a drone to kill us!" Gina shouted.
Miranda shook her head. "No, not the Autobot or your friend…only you. You'd think I'd forget the face of the bitch who killed Allyn?"
'Face? What is she ranting about?' Gina wondered and took a step forward, but the woman jerked her gun.
"Don't move, monster! Allyn told me about your kind, the inhumans. Your skin may be able to withstand small caliber bullets, but even your skin isn't strong enough to withstand diamond tipped AP rounds!"
Gina scowled; one new fact learned about inhumans is that their skin, which is capable of taking the full force of small arms fire, was vulnerable to sharp and durable objects like diamond and adamantium, which could do some damage to their flesh.
Sara stepped in front of Gina with a hard gaze, her hand lashing out to ensnare Miranda's wrist in a tight grip that threatened to break her wrist. Miranda screamed, dropping the gun and was forced to her knees by the android.
"No one points a gun at Gina in front of me." Sara said, her voice practically a hiss.
"You're one of them, aren't you? Those bastards who keep hounding us for weapons!" Miranda screams, almost hysterical now. "You won't get me!"
"Shut up!" Gina roared, shocking everyone into silence. "Sara, let her go please."
Sara reluctantly did so and Gina knelt down in front of her.
"Ms. Miranda, please, we don't mean you any harm. I don't know who these people you spoke of are, but if they are who I think they are, then there's a good chance we both have the same enemy." Gina said softly. "I'm as much of a victim here as you are. Please, let us help you."
Miranda glared at Gina weakly before her shoulders sagged and all the fight left her. Gina smiled and helped the woman to her feet.
"It's time we had a talk."
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Back outside, Miranda agreed to tell them her story. Realizing the girl she tried to kill wasn't Prospero's murderer, all the anger in her heart was burnt out, leaving only a tired, scared and grieving woman behind.
"Last year Dr. Prospero and I were contacted by two men. They would tell who they worked for, but they did say they were interested in funding out work on autonomous robots."
"Drones." Bumblebee said. Miranda nodded.
"Yes, you see, despite being one of the country's top weapons designers, Dr. Prospero hated war. And he hated the idea of sending brave men and women off to fight and die in wars that had nothing to do with them at the behest of politicians who had no stake in it." She said. "He began furthering Osea's drone research to limit soldiers' time in the field and lessen casualties."
"That's impossible. War is always going to have a human element no matter what we do." Gina said.
"Was that drone you sent after us the result of his work?" Sara asked.
"Yes, those men invested a lot into our project, even coming up with design specs. But the more involved we got with them, the more we realized these people might not have our best interests at heart."
"So you and Prospero broke it off with these men." Bumblebee deduced.
"After someone on the inside warned us away, we broke off contact and threatened to go to the government if they tried anything. They didn't look too happy, but they didn't seem too concerned about our defection either." Miranda sighed and rubbed her aching forehead. "I thought we were free, but they were just biding their time for the right moment to take us out."
"And that girl they sent after you was their grim reaper." Gina bit her lip nervously as she gave her question. "Ms. Miranda, what did you mean when you said that she came back for you? Why did you attack me?"
"It's because…you two looked so alike. The hair, the eyes, your build…that power." Miranda said shakily. "I only caught a glimpse of her face, but she looked a lot like you."
Gina didn't know what to say. A girl that looked like her? What did that mean? Sara saw her distress and placed an arm around her shoulders. She sent a look at Bumblebee, who decided to wrap this up.
"The two men you spoke to, did you know where they came from? Any company that might be in on this?" He asked.
"Maybe one." Miranda answered. "I think they had some connections to Epsilon Holdings"
Gina's body tense up like a snake about to strike. She almost scowled, but reined her temper in and took a deep breath. She smiled politely at Miranda and stood up.
"Thank you for your help, Ms. Miranda. You've been a great help to us."
"That's it?" Miranda asked confused. "Don't you want to hear more?"
"Unfortunately, we're already familiar with the people you've ran into. We can handle things from here." Gina said. "Please be careful and watch yourself."
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"That bastard!"
Gina's enraged roar was followed by a tree trunk exploding. Bumblebee stepped back nervously as the tree collapsed next to him.
"I should have known those bastards had a hand in this. it seems like everything wrong with the world is because of OZ!" Gina yelled.
"Gina, calm down—"
"Don't tell me to be calm. I'm sick and tired of those monsters dragging me into their mess!" Gina screamed. She huffed a bit before leaning back against a tree and sliding down to the ground. "I still don't know what these dreams are, and now OZ is deploying some freaking living weapon that looks like me. What else?"
"Gina, we do not know everything." Sara said. "Perhaps this is unrelated."
"No, they're connected somehow." Gina growled. "God, what if those monsters cloned me somehow?"
"Is that possible?" Bumblebee asked.
"OZ has Thornment sponsoring them. After that mess with the headmasters, anything's possible."
Bumblebee frowned and walked over to Gina, tapping her shoulder with a finger. "Gina, we've not lost yet. We still have a lead."
"He is right." Sara nodded. "But it is getting late. Perhaps we should head back home."
Gina nodded sadly as Bumblebee transformed to vehicle mode and she got in with Sara. Maybe getting some rest will clear her mind for what's to come.
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Miranda gave a weary sigh as she went back into her house. She almost came close to killing that girl…and an Autobot too! The last thing she wanted was to piss off the Autobots because of a case of mistaken identity.
'Still, it's curious at how alike those two girls look. I know I wasn't imagining it. They looked similar enough to be sisters!' Miranda thought.
Filing that thought away, Miranda went back to work on her security systems. Prospero had left her everything he owned, a final gift for her in case anything happened to him. She knew he rewired his home with every anti-intruder system he pilfered from the Army's R&D department and hoped it would be enough to stop anyone who wished to do them harm.
Miranda was about to prepare some tea when she heard a knock on the door. "Who is it this time? I thought they were done."
Thinking it was the girl and her robot friends, Miranda got up to answer the door. But when she opened it, she was met with an emerald green faceplate and cold blue eyes staring at her.
Before she could even scream, the girl's hand shot forward and punched through her chest, impaling her on her arm. The woman coughed up blood and slowly died on the assassin's arm, slumping forward and going still.
The girl pulled her arm out and let Miranda's body drop to the floor. Her expression was hidden behind her blank visor as she stared at the corpse.
The tea kettle began to hiss and whistle, unattended.
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"I'm telling you, Armorhide, she was really spooked. Like, 'I haven't slept in seven days' spooked." Bumblebee said.
"You mean like Red Alert during a fire drill?" Armorhide said.
"Yeah…well, maybe a little below that." Bumblebee sighed. "It's really unnerving to see a strong girl like Gina fall to pieces like that. If she wasn't an inhuman, she'd have passed out from the stress."
"Bee, I'm no expert when it comes to these things, but honestly, I think the answers you're looking for will come find you instead." Armorhide said. "At least that's how it usually works in these situations."
Bumblebee scoffed. "Please, Armorhide, we're not that lucky."
He went to go refill his drink and that's when he noticed Gina standing in the doorway to the rec room. She was in her pajamas and looked haunted as if waking up from a nightmare. Or something worse.
"Miranda's dead." She said softly. Bumblebee's eyes widened.
"What?" He said. "Wha-how? Are you sure?"
The look Gina sent him made him clamp up immediately and even made Armorhide shiver. "I just know."
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After hearing about Miranda's death, Gina finally had enough. The following day, when night came, Gina gathered up Sara, Sureshock, Jolt and Bumblebee for a mission of her own.
Their only lead was the Epsilon Holdings facility that Prospero and Miranda had been in contact with. Gina knew that Epsilon Holdings was a public cover for Pisces, who ran the company under the alias of Laguna Harvey.
They took a ground bridge to the facility, which was a building made for field testing military talos in combat situations. It was a convenient cover for a convenient location.
"Here it is." Bumblebee said, letting Gina and the Minicons out before shifting to robot mode. Looking to the sky, he called up to Jolt. "How's it looking up there, Jolt?"
"Everything's clear! No sign of any security guards or drones." Jolt said.
"That's odd." Sureshock said. "You think this place would be heavily guarded, even at night."
"Unless they wanted someone to get in." Gina said. She checked over her bodysuit, which she wore not for its physical enhancements, but because it was her go-to outfit for missions like these. If she needed to hide her identity, she could wear her light-reflective helmet for a disguise. "They're expecting visitors."
"Then it's a trap." Sureshock said.
"Yup." Gina nodded. Sureshock gaped at her nonchalant attitude.
"Then you shouldn't go in! Just tell the Autobots, Gina, they'll—"
"They'll what?" Gina snapped. "They can't do a thing about my dreams and it's only a matter of time before someone sends a hitman for me. OZ is behind this, Sureshock, and I'm not waiting for them to hunt me down. I'm finishing what they started."
Sureshock stared at Gina like she didn't even recognize her. "Gina…"
"I'm ending this on my terms, Sureshock." Gina said and put on her helmet. "Bee, you hang out here with Jolt and Sureshock. Sara, you're with me."
Sara nodded and followed Gina into the building. The Autobot and two Minicons watched Gina force the door open with a hard yank and entered the facility, destroying the alarm as well.
"I'd say I'd hope Gina doesn't go overboard trying to find that assassin, but that'd be wasting my time." Jolt said.
"Gina will be alright." Bumblebee said. "Sara won't let anyone touch her."
Sureshock nodded, but she wasn't completely sure about that. She was more worried about what Gina will do when she does find her answers.
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Inside the facility, it was completely dark and empty. Sara and Gina switched on their night vision as they walked through the empty halls, passing by rooms made to test the very limits of talos in natural and often combat conditions. Gina looked around, keeping her eyes open for any kind of sound.
"See anything, Sara?" She asked.
"No, I'm not detecting any heat signatures." Sara said, narrowing her eyes. "I don't like this, Gina."
"Neither do I, Sara."
This was where Gina realized the flaw in her plan-she had no idea where to look. She didn't do much prep work for this mission besides looking up its location and work times to avoid running into any late night workers. They had no idea if this place was even connected to OZ at all!
"Jinkies, this is so infuriating!" Gina growled.
She almost felt like giving up when she saw a dark figure run past them in the hall up ahead. Almost immediately Gina called out to them. "Hey, stop!"
The figure turned to look at her, but it was too dark to see any facial features before the figure ran down the hall. Gina and Sara chased after them, pursuing the figure down a couple of halls until the chase led them to the hangar area where talos were deployed into the courtyard outside.
"I lost sight of them." Sara said.
"You can't track their heat signatures?" Gina asked.
"That person has a body temperature that was lower than a human's." Sara explained. "I don't know why, but that's what I saw."
Gina looked at the hangar doors. "The guy ran outside to the testing field. Are you ready, Sara?"
Sara nodded. "I'm always ready, Gina."
The two girls pushed open the doors and ran out into the testing range where military talos would undergo intense simulations to test their combat abilities for any flaws. Though some areas were cleared away, the majority of the field was covered in a large forest with a river cutting through it.
Gina and Sara looked around for their mystery man, and after a few minutes Gina realized something.
"I recognize this place." she whispered. "I, or whoever I was looking through, used this place as some kind of training area." She looked around. "There were tons of automated weapons and talos that were used against this person. All of them were destroyed."
Sara narrowed her eyes. "Were we led here?"
"Definitely, but by who?"
"Me!"
A green blur descended from the sky and slammed into Gina's back, propelling into a wooden target used for target practice. Gina smashed through it and rolled across the ground before jumping to her feet.
"Ow, I felt that." Gina groaned and stood up, rubbing her stinging back. She glared at her attacker, who stood across from her.
It was a girl, who was clad in dark green and black body armor that fit her toned frame and a helmet with a faceplate molded in the shape of a woman's face that obscured her features, but Gina could tell from one look that this girl was about the same age as her.
"You." Gina hissed. "You're the girl behind those murders."
"I am." The girl confirmed. Her voice was modulated so that neither Gina nor Sara could identify it, but the vocal tone was definitely feminine. "And you are the girl making me lose sleep."
Gina scowled and pushed off the ground with her feet, leaping into the air before landing right before the girl. "That's my line, you bitch. Who are you?"
"My codename is Pandora."
"Pandora?"
"My father's alias that he chose for me. He said it described me as a perfect being that will bring ruin upon the world, or something stupid like that." She said. "More powerful and beautiful than any other human, esper or inhuman on Terra. More powerful than you."
Gina saw Sara take her position behind Pandora. "And I'm guessing your father is with OZ."
"Yes, but that's off topic. I'm not here to talk with you. I'm here to kill you."
"Kill me? What for…" Gina's eyes widened. "My god. Our connection…I can see into your mind, and you…"
"Can see into yours. It's very annoying and I'm losing sleep watching you get all lovey dovey with your boyfriend." Pandora sneered.
"And I bet it makes your secret assassination trips not so secret, huh?" Gina growled.
"Correct. My father says that there cannot be two roses in the same pot. One must die for the other to live to the fullest. The obvious choice is the rose with the redder petals."
"And what exactly are you, then? Another one of Pisces's experiments? Some freaking clone made with Thornment's help?"
"I am no clone!" Pandora roared, the eyes of her mask glowing blue. "I am better than you in every way. I am your replacement!"
Sara boosted forward to impale Pandora from behind, but Pandora sidestepped her attack and kicked her in the stomach, throwing her several feet back.
Gina sprinted forward and generated her distortion halo, just as Pandora did the same. The two halo effects collided with each other and caused a huge explosion that rattled the area and lit up the night with a dazzling azure display of destruction.
Both young inhumans were blasted apart by the explosion, but Gina recovered first. Her halo effect transmuted the ground and summoned an earthen pillar to erupt from under her, shooting her forward. She threw a punch at Pandora, who easily blocked her first and backhanded her in the face before punching her into the ground. Gina hit the ground like a rock and Pandora came down on her with an elbow to her cranium that completely shattered her helmet and sent her deeper into the ground.
Pandora pulled her up by her hair and punched her hard enough to send her smashing through several trees. Gina crashing into the last tree and slid to the ground with a bleeding nose and several cuts on her face. She spat out blood and glared at Pandora, who was already charging at her.
"I'm not letting you get that close again!" Gina summoned another distortion halo that peppered the area around her in energy spheres that leveled the path in front of her and crashed against Pandora's halo field, creating another brilliant explosion.
XXXXXX
When the fighting began, the tremors could be felt all over the complex, and it was felt by Bumblebee and the Minicons.
"What's going on?" Sureshock said as she felt another tremor ripple through the ground.
"Earthquake?" Bumblebee said.
"Guys, I'm seeing a lot of fireworks going on behind the building." Jolt said, spotting the bright flashes of fire and sparks coming from the testing field. "I think the girls are in trouble!"
"Then let's help them!" Bumblebee said. "Jolt, come down and—"
"Bee, lookout!" Sureshock yelled.
Bumblebee saw a boulder fly straight at them and he snatched up Sureshock before rolling away. The boulder crashed to the ground and shattered, sending pieces of stone flying everywhere.
"Oh slag." Bumblebee heard Jolt's groan. "Bee, you've got company."
Bumblebee and Sureshock looked up and saw a large white armored giant stomping out of the forest and into the parking lot, its eyes focused intently on them.
"Pisces!" Sureshock exclaimed.
XXXXXX
The battle of the inhumans was getting more brutal every minute. What was once a lush forest had been reduced into a scorched wasteland as opposing distortion halo fields clashed against one another.
Gina and Pandora fought furiously with all their might, but the prolonged battle was sapping their strength. Even their body armor had been torn away over the course of the fight; Gina's suit had several tears and holes and was missing a glove, while the entire left side of Pandora's bodysuit was burned away, revealing her slender arm. Still, the two girls fought with little restraint.
Pandora was clearly the better fighter, but Gina had a better grasp of her powers, and their different in skill was becoming increasingly evident.
"Ha!" Pandora summoned more energy bombs around Gina, who simply blew them away with her own stronger ones.
'She can't match my strength.' Gina thought, running forward. 'She's a better fighter, but I've got more skill with my distortion halo.'
One glance toward the ground and Gina formed a distortion halo construct to elevate her off the ground, avoiding halo blasts that barely left a scratch in the oddly formed pillar. Summoning all the power she could muster, Gina gave a thunderous roar and the entire area around her was engulfed in a field of fire.
Sara was forced to hang back from the battle, as the constant halo explosions was creating enough static electricity in the air to kill a normal human, and severely damage her. Which meant that she was unable to help Gina, something she wasn't pleased about.
When Gina ended her barrage, she immediately felt dizzy from expending so much energy and fell off her pillar, landing face first into the ground. She coughed and smoke rose off her skin. She was reaching her limit.
Gina slowly pushed herself up and saw Pandora leaping at her—as in actually leaping dozens of feet into the air like Superman. Gina groaned and placed her hand against the ground, using a small halo effect to transmute the earth into something longer…and harder.
Pandora was flying straight for her and Gina waited long enough to see her glowing eyes before swinging her newly formed crystalline staff right into Pandora's stomach as hard as she could. Pandora went flying back and Gina used every muscle in her legs to jump after her.
Pandora barely got her breath back when Gina threw a punch that she barely dodged. She kicked her in the back and grabbed her foot to pull Gina back in for a headbutt to the nose. Pandora landed a knee to her stomach and an elbow to the face before Gina pulled her close to slam her fist into her cheek as jard as she could. The punch smashed right into her helmet and sent Pandora flying the entire length of the testing field before she crashed into the building.
Gina hit the ground hard and coughed up more blood as Sara ran to her aid.
"Gina…" Sara breathed, shocked at how much damage the strong girl had taken. Bruises marred her skin and burns from the constant distortion halos marred her arms.
"I'm okay…still alive." Gina groaned. Her entire body was sore and her head felt like it was going to split open, but she was still in one piece. Being a superpowered girl for so long made her forget how much pain sucks. "But you should see the other girl."
The girls suddenly heard a rumble and looked at the rubble to see Pandora bursting from the pile of debris with a roar. Half of her bodysuit was burned away and the left side of her helmet was completely shattered, exposing a very angry blue eye that was starting to swell up.
Pandora gave a howl and unleashed a tremendous wave of energy at Gina and Sara. Gina pulled Sara close and used the rest of her power to defend them both. Once more, two opposing distortion halo fields clashed and the energy surge that resulted from the clashing energy fields completely destroyed half of the building they were standing near.
XXXXXX
Bumblebee knew fighting Pisces was impossible. The Zodiac's armored titan form was heavily resistant to the scout's stingers and even his solar accelerator only did moderate damage. Forget punching the guy.
Pisces gave a loud roar and swung a large fist at Bumblebee's head. Bumblebee dodged it and grabbed his arm, leaping onto Pisces's chest and stabbing his blade into his right shoulder. Pisces threw him off, but Bumblebee jumped up and shot a bolt into his face.
'I don't have time for this!' Bumblebee thought. He had Jolt and Sureshock powerlinked to him, enhancing his physical power beyond normal capabilities, but he was still outmatched by Pisces's abilities. He needed to break off and get to the girls now!
Pisces roared and charged straight at Bumblebee, who jumped aside to avoid his shoulder tackle. But then Pisces spun around and swung his leg in a tight arc, kicking Bumblebee hard in the chest and sent him smashing through a tree. Steam spewed from Pisces's armor plates and he leaned forward for another powerful sprint.
Just as he got into a running start, a bright blue explosion came from the building behind him. Pisces stood up and looked back to see the blue light dying out behind the building.
It didn't take Pisces long to realize that Pandora was possible in danger following her battle with her…counterpart. Not surprising, honestly, considering Gina's abnormal abilities.
Looking over at the dazed Autobot, Pisces growled and dissolved his titan body in a thick cloud of steam. His body emerged from the nape of its neck and dropped to the ground, his clothes not the least bit ruffled.
"Looks like we'll have to cut our visit short." Pisces said and signaled the MASS device to transport him back to headquarters.
As Bumblebee got to his feet, he saw Pisces vanish in a column of light, gone as if he were never there in the first place. He sighed and sagged against the tree, relieved that he didn't have to fight that goliath anymore.
"I'll take that as a win for me." Bumblebee panted. "Yay me."
XXXXXX
"Gina…Gina!"
Sara's voice was slightly muffled in Gina's ears as she slowly woke up. It took a moment for her to properly awaken, but she managed to open her eyes to see a worried Sara leaning over her.
"S-Sara?" She rasped.
"Gina," Sara's relieved sigh was strange to Gina. It wasn't often the android got scared for her. "It's good to see you're okay."
"What…" Gina's mouth felt dry and it hurt to talk. "What happened?"
"You passed out after protecting us from that blast. You overused your powers and your body is having an adverse reaction to using so much energy. You are currently suffering from dehydration and exhaustion on top of having an abnormal body temperature." Sara said.
'That explains why I'm having the sweats.' Gina thought, and asked, "What about Pandora?"
"Gone. She was taken away in a column of light. I can only presume that OZ recovered her." Sara ran her fingers along Gina's sweaty brow. "But she looked no better than you did after that assault."
"She'll be back." Gina said. "She won't stop until one of us is dead…and neither will I."
"Gina…"
"OZ, no, Pisces crosses the line over and over and I'm getting sick of it." Gina growled, ignoring the pain in her head. "The next time I see him, I'm killing him! I swear it, Sara, I'll kill that man with my bare hands!"
XXXXXX
The study smelled like smoke as Stephanie exhaled another cloud of smoke into the air. It was almost two in the morning but she couldn't sleep…not yet, anyway. Not until the girl sleeping on the couch was well rested and recovering.
'That girl did a number on you, did she?' Stephanie thought. 'Pisces, you fucking fool!'
Stephanie heard a groan and snuffed out her cigarette on her forearm. She walked over to the weakened girl lying on the couch hovering in and out of consciousness.
"I'm here, little Pandora." Stephanie softly said. She held back a grimace at the girl's swelling left eye.
"Mother…?" Pandora wheezed.
"Go back to sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up." She said.
The girl, known by OZ as the child inhuman Pandora, gave a weak groan and fell back asleep, comforting by the soft touch of her adoptive mother. Stephanie sighed and lightly touched Pandora's golden hair before standing back up and looking out the window.
"Pandora…what a stupid fucking name." She growled. "At least I got to name her first."
Another chapter that I enjoyed writing. Pandora herself won't make a lot of appearances until later in the story, but the implications of her birth will come to light later on. And in case you're wondering about Gina's skill with her distortion halo, its similar to how Alchemists transmutate objects in Fullmetal Alchemist. Gina can use her distortion halo field to transmutate objects within her line of sight, a technique she perfect over the past six months since her ill-fated fight with Pisces's Uber inhuman, Katrina. Next chapter will focus on the final chapter in Arcee and Flamewar's story as both femmes battle to the death! Be sure to check out the official Transformers Titan website on Wordpress, directions to the site are on my profile. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.