Chapter 28

Okay, this might be a long and rather confusing chapter, but I really hope not. If it is though just let me know and ill try to tweak it a bit so its easier to understand. Anyways, time to proceed with this chapter.

Jo's POV in Third Person

Many months have passed since she last saw the boy she gave her heart to and to try and sit here and say it doesn't hurt would be a lie. She made a promise to him that he would never forget him, Dr. Paige told her that once she 'graduated' from this special program she would be free to live with her friends again and just that small bit of information was what was getting her through all the pain she has experienced.

Right after she said her goodbyes to Minho, Janson and Dr. Paige's men came and got her. Telling her that it was time for her to leave and that she was going to become someone all of her friends could look up to a count on. She can tell you right now that that was a damn lie.

They took her right into an operating room, stripped her down and without explaining what they were doing they put her under. When she came to days later she groggily looked around the room and hanging on the light board by the desk we're what she assumed to be her xrays but something was definitely different about them.

She's seen her xrays before and they looked nothing like how they do now. It almost looked like her bones her protected by a metal plate in most places that covered a lot of bone and some strange metal that protected her joints almost giving her the impression that they were there to prevent hyper-extension. On top of the metal on her bones, her skeletal structure seemed, smaller? She wasn't sure how to put it, her bones looked like they've almost been shaved down to make them lighter.

Looking down at her body she was in shock, no where on her body was there a single scar or stitch, there was no way that those Xrays were hers, they couldn't be. Behind her on the desk sat a computer and on the screen it showed a file with a picture of her face next to her name.

Name: Joan

Subject: A6

Age: 10

Height: 5'5"

Status: Immune, enhanced

Realatives: N/A

She was interrupted from her investigation when the door opened and in walked Ava Paige. For someone that was supposed to be running W.I.C.K.E.D. she sure did see her a lot, "Good morning Joan, how are you feeling?" She sat down at the computer and quickly typed in a few things before she spun around and gave me her full attention.

"I'm okay, just a little stiff. How long have I been in here?" All she could remember was saying good bye to Minho, telling him she loved him then being escorted away from everyone by Mr. Janson.

"It's been at least three days. Your body had much to recover from and if you didn't take to procedures we performed you would either still be asleep or dead. So I'm happy to say your operations were quite the success." She returned to her desk and grabbed a stethoscope and something they use to check her pupil dilation.

"Procedures? Three days? What did you do to me Dr. Paige?" She tried to control the panic she was feeling as Ava listened to her heartbeat and checked her eyes, noting that both her perfect, not to her surprise.

"You were just the beginning Joan, since you have proven to us to be such a success we can only move forward. You see, you and a handful of other young Immunes like you have been hand picked by me to become what we like to call W.I.C.K.E.D.'S own private special ops team. Based on years of tests we've been running on you since you were a toddler made it easier to narrow down who we wanted on this team. You were born for a very specific reason my dear. But I'll get to that in a minute." She took a couple more notes, on paper this time before handing the file to a nurse who took it and immediately left the room.

Dr. Paige cleared her throat and placed her hands clasped together neatly in her lap, "Let me start by explaining to you everything that was done to physically change you so you were prepared to fulfill the role of our special weapons." She sounded so proud of herself, like operating on a ten year old in this way was some kind of miracle, Joan hated her. She took her from her friends and Minho only to change her insides to become a special weapon?

"Weapon?" The child whispered in confusion and Ava nodded.

"Yes dear, now hold your question until after I've explained everything to do, and to put your mind at ease a little, nothing that was performed on you is harmful in anyway. We didn't shorten your lifespan or anything drastic like that, if anything we made you stronger so you could live a longer and healthy life. But for starters we boosted your immune system completely so getting any kind of illness will never happen to you. You never have to suffer from something as minimal as the common cold ever again. Second we increased you rate of repair to that of something somewhat immortal. For instance, if you were to get shot or wounded in anyway as long as you remove the bullet and stop the bleeding you should be completely healed by the next day or by the end of the next day. Incredible huh?" She seemed really pleased with herself and the more she went on, the more nauseous Joan was beginning to feel.

Eventually Joan started to fidget with her fingers and the wires attached to her chest, anything to keep herself occupied as she kept explaining these procedures to her.

"Now I'm sure you've already seen your X-Rays but as you can see here we used the worlds strongest metal to mold it to large parts of your bones. Your entire spin is protected, your ribs, your joints are simple but still protected and finally we placed large sheets across your Ulna and Radius as well as across your Tibia and Fibula. Any large bone that has the chance of easily getting broken we've protected them. And since this particular type of metal is incredibly light we took the time to reduce your bone density so you'll be lighter which in turn will make you fast and strong. Everything we've done to you was to make sure that no matter how much damage your body sustains, as long as your internal organs are intact and they don't decapitate you then the chances of you dying are extremely low. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you can't die because you can but against an opponent that isn't trying to stab or shoot you you could hold your own and then some." She kept listening off all the modifications that where made to her body and it was almost too much to process.

That was almost six months ago. Now she had gotten used to the modifications made to her body, If anything she didn't mind the mods. When it came to the training Ava wanted to put them through the surgeries and shock of being completely remade was nothing. The training she made Joan and the other Immunes go through was brutal and intense, some days Joan would wake up in the infirmary and have no recollected of how she ended up there. As the days turned into weeks and weeks into months the more Joan saw kids come and go, and by come and go she meant come in breathing and leave in a body bag.

The scientists and doctors were in awe of her, out of all the subjects picked for the Weapons program she was their greatest success. It didn't take long for her to fly through each training course.

By the time she was sixteen going on seventeen Dr. Paige had left her in the hands on a doctor she trusted above anyone else, a strange curly headed brunette woman with large round glasses and eyes that could see into your soul, her name was Dr. Greene, Lucinda Greene. Joan did not like this woman, and Dr. Greene knew it. She was ruthless and cold, she only wanted Joan to focus on her mission and that was all. If Lucinda had total control over Joan she would have wiped her personality and made her into a lifeless, killing machine. Thankfully Dr. Paige refused to hand over total control to Lucinda, she wasn't a stupid woman.

Because Joan was the at the top of her team she was set to 'graduate' early as long as she completed this final task. By this point Joan had lost almost all feelings of guilt, by the time she was thirteen she had killed more men and Cranks as they called them, than any grown man in the building. She still had her personality and free will but the act of killing came second nature to her after all the times it was beaten into her and her team mates that it no longer ate her up inside. If Minho could see her now he would be ashamed, he probably wouldn't even recognize her anymore. Every time she thought about Minho now it only brought her sadness and disgust. Disgust in herself for having him see her like this and sadness because she missed him more than anything.

He had seen her take a life. It wasn't some innocent humans life but he saw her kill someone when she was lost in her own thoughts she had almost killed one of the soldiers that was to escort her to her room. He had seen her as the monster they made her into and for that she didn't feel she could ever face him again. She took Minho as her last positive thought into her final exam.

She was not prepared for what was to take place. They placed her in a room with about nine of her team mates and they told them that in order to pass, each one of them would have to fight for their lives. If they didn't show W.I.C.K.E.D. that they were indeed ruthless killer then they would be put down right there and instead of passing they would be killed. She was not ready to die, not today. She had too many things she had to make amends for before she died.

As soon as Lucinda told them to begin the room was filled with about five Cranks that are way past gone. Since this wasn't Joan's first time dealing with Cranks past the point of help she held her composure. She could see the other members of her team freezing up under the panic of never seeing a Crank that bad before and she knew by now that any type of hesitation will cost you your life. She withdrew the two sharp Bowie knives strapped behind her back at waist level and sprang into action. She jumped up and landed on top of the table in the middle of the room and she kicked her leg out and into a Cranks face breaking its neck with a clean snap.

In a flurry of movements almost too quick for the normal human eye she had slid off the table and had flipped it on its side and ran at two Cranks that were munching on one of her old training partners, she pinned them in between the glass and the table as she turned around and used her back to hold the table and the Cranks there as she struck her blade out just fast enough into the side of a Cranks head as it was inches from biting her face off. She quickly yanked her knife from the body and kicked it away, Joan quickly scanned the room and out of the nine originally in the room it was just her and a about her age maybe older. All around them the floor was scattered with blood, body parts and what she assumed as human entrails, besides the two Cranks pinned behind her there was two more and the boy was facing off against them giving her the time to turn back around and get rid of the other two.

After she stopped holding up the table it fell to the ground in a loud thud, she let her guard down for one second and that was all it took. She didn't see the Crank there until it was too late and it sunk its nasty teeth into her flesh right where her shoulder and neck met. She could hear the sound of teeth sinking into her flesh with a sickening squish as she let out a pained howl. Blocking out the pain and using her rage to fuel her she ducked down and she plowed right into the Crank who thought it would be a good idea to have her for a snack. She tackled the creature to the ground and grabbed her knife before plunging the blade deep into the center of it's face.

The putrid almost black-like blood seeped out onto her hands as she sat there with only the raged sound of her pants filling the room. Looking up Joan took in the damage around her, the only reason the Crank got a hold of her was because the only other remaining kid killed his last Crank before he turned his blade on himself and struck right in the heart. He had given up.

"Congratulations Joan, you have now completed all your Special Ops training. You are now W.I.C.K.E.D.'S most valuable weapon." Lucinda's voice played through the speakers in the room and with that confirmation Joan had finally allowed herself to give up and she passed out from pain and exhaustion.

Yeahhh this entire chapter is Jo getting her memories back. I didn't feel like sharing everything but eventually as the story progresses more will be reveled. Until then, I hope you like what I am producing. Thank you guys and please review!