by Sybil Nelson
When we ended up on the jet, I still hoped deep down that we were going shopping. Maybe she was taking me to New York or to that big mall in Minnesota. Unfortunately, she didn’t go into any details of where we were headed. I put my feet up on the dashboard as my mother told me more about herself.
“I was conceived in a test tube. My DNA was spliced with the genetic make-up of different animals and then enhanced electronically.”
“Whoa. Wait. What animals?” I said, taking my feet down and bolting upright.
“Well, many different ones. For example, a cheetah for agility and speed.”
“A cheetah? Are you saying I’m part cat?”
“I guess you can say that.”
“Great, as if I wasn’t strange enough. Instead of pimples, I’m gonna get fleas.” I put my feet up again and leaned back in the copilot’s seat, hoping to catch a few more minutes of sleep. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help listening to her story. It was pretty interesting.
“Anyway, a volunteer soldier served as a surrogate mother and gave birth to me. I never knew who she was. I don’t even know her name.”
Wow, my mother never had a mother figure. That really helped me understand why she had no idea how to form a true mother-daughter bond. I guess it was something we’d have to figure out together.
My mother cleared her throat, obviously trying to swallow her emotions, and continued. “After I was born, a computer chip was implanted in my brain to further the mutation as I grew. I’ve had my capabilities since birth, but I’m guessing that since you’re second generation, your abilities are manifesting differently. Your dad and I have studied your blood work. Your mutations come from the X chromosome that you inherited from me and were initiated by a spike in your estrogen and pheromone levels.”
“Like I understand anything you just said.”
“For the life of me, I can’t figure out whether you’re more powerful than me or not. Logically, since you’re only half … mutant, for lack of a better word, you should be weaker. But for God’s sake, you can shoot fire out of your fingers. I can’t do anything like that. I’m starting to think your genes have mutated further than mine. Maybe my progeny have even more potential than I do. If that’s the case, God help us all when the twins go through puberty.”
I shuddered at the thought. I didn’t want to imagine a super-powered version of Snot Wars.
“So where are we going?” I asked, giving up on getting any sleep.
“Today, we’re going on your first mission.”
“Whoa. Wait. What? Mission? What do you mean mission?”
“Let me explain—”
“Oh, yes, please explain. I’d love an explanation. And it better involve a mall and a MasterCard.”
“Specimen Xi has orders to kill a high-ranking official in Canada.” I searched my brain for that name. Should I know this person? Then I remembered what my mother told me about the names of the fighting machines produced by the Selliwood Institute. Specimen Xi must have been one of the more recent ones since Xi was a letter of the Greek alphabet. “I was able to intercept a direct communication from Colonel Selliwood to her,” she continued.
“So, why does she want to kill this dude and what does it have to do with me losing my Saturday morning?” I had to admit I was a little more than bitter. I mean, I thought we were supposed to be bonding while shopping or something. Instead she was taking me to work.
“Canada owns the North Pole—”
“Really? Santa is Canadian? Who knew?”
“Apparently,” she said, ignoring my little joke, “Colonel Selliwood was doing some illegal research up there and Pierre Marchaud—”
“Who?”
“The high-ranking Canadian official.”
“Right.”
“Pierre Marchaud found out about it. He ordered the activity to stop, pending further investigation.”
I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. I still didn’t quite understand what this had to do with me. Mom apparently read my mind and said, “Xi is only eleven years old. If this comes to hand-to-hand combat, which is highly plausible knowing Xi, things will be much easier if you fight her instead of me. How will a thirty-six-year-old woman look fighting a child? Bystanders might attack me thinking I’m abusing her.”
I stared at her in disbelief. How could she not tell me this? Well, I knew why. If I had known her plan before we left Pennsylvania, I never would have gone.
“Sounds like a normal mother-daughter day to me.” I closed my eyes again and tried to pretend this was not happening.
We found Pierre Marchaud on an outing with his family at an art museum in Montreal. Completely unaware that he had a pre-teen assassin looking to take him out, he walked from exhibit to exhibit, pointing out boring paintings to his seven-year-old son and five-year-old daughter. Mr. Marchaud wasn’t a high enough official to have a large police backing. He only had two bodyguards, who lagged behind him and chatted with his wife. He was an easy target. Sure there were museum guards at various exits, but their average age was about 112. This guy definitely needed us.
“What’s probably going to happen,” my mother said as we snacked on ham sandwiches across the room from where the Marchauds enjoyed their lunch, “is that Xi will pose as a lost child or something. When a security guard comes to her assistance, she’ll grab his weapon, shoot Mr. Marchaud, and then escape without a trace. At least that’s how it was done in my day. It might be a little different now, but the main idea is the same. No one will suspect a child.”
“I don’t think I can do this,” I said, placing my barely eaten sandwich back on the plate. My stomach felt worse than when I accidently drank Chester’s patented macaroni and paste milkshake.
“Priss, trust me. It’s the easiest way. Look at Mr. Marchaud with his children. Do you really want those kids to lose a father? How would you feel if someone threatened me or your father?”
I looked over at the Marchaud family again. The little boy was laughing so hard at something his father said that milk flew out of his nose. My mother was right. I couldn’t let Xi break up this family all because Selliwood wasn’t getting something he wanted. It just wasn’t right.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
“That’s my girl. Now a couple of things you need to know about Xi,” she said, leaning in as if about to tell me a girlie secret. “She has no pain receptors, which means she doesn’t feel … well … anything. She can also regenerate her flesh and body parts.”
“Which means what?”
“It means that if she loses an arm or something, she can just grow it back.”
“Great. And I suppose she’s had martial arts training since the time she started walking, just like you.”
“Well, yes.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes, she’s a sadistic psychopath who enjoys watching other people’s pain since she can’t feel any of her own—and she just arrived.”
I whipped my head around and saw a stylish little Chinese girl with long, curly black hair and fluorescent blue highlights enter the museum café. She must have spent hours getting her hair to curl like that. And highlights? Who let an eleven-year-old get highlights? I was so jealous.
Xi stopped for a second, pulled a lipstick out of her purse, and then made her lips cherry red. Makeup too? I was totally jealous. Dad said I couldn’t wear makeup or dye my hair until I was sixteen!
One thing was for sure. This girl was completely vain. Maybe I could use that to my advantage.
Her red two-inch heels clicking all the way, she strode right up to the Marchauds’ table and then stopped and stared at them with a cold, blank expression. A really awkward moment followed in which the Marchauds looked back and forth between each other, trying to figure out who knew the creepy yet stylish little Chinese girl standing at the end of their table.
“Are you lost, little girl?” I heard Mrs. Marchaud ask. This caught the attention of one of the bodyguards, who stood and put his hand on Xi’s sh
oulder. A sinister smile crawled across her face as if this was the cue she was waiting for. She grabbed the guard’s arm and flipped him over her shoulder, completely destroying the table. I ran over just as Xi reached for his gun. As she aimed at Mr. Marchaud’s head, I sent a blast of fire that melted the gun right there in her hand. Xi just stared at the burning metal. It had no effect on her.
Screams erupted in the café. The Marchaud family rushed out with their bodyguards as others ran for cover.
“You should not have done that, Priscilla Sumner,” she said slowly with a strong British accent. “No one gets in my way.” How did she know my name? I didn’t have too much time to think about that as she picked up a round table and tossed it at my head as if she was flicking a playing card. I ducked out of the way then did a round-off into a back flip toward her. When close enough, I went to sweep her legs out, but she’d already done a flip out of the way.
“Oh this should be fun. I’ll get to kill two people in one day. Splendid.” She whipped off her purse and twirled the metal chain in the air while doing a flip over my head. The next thing I knew, her purse chain was around my neck.
“I think I’ll kill you slowly. Make you gasp and beg for air. Are you ready to beg, Priss?” she said, stretching the cord tight from behind me.
She was choking the life out of me. I grabbed her forearms and burned her, but she didn’t feel a thing. Her skin actually grew back before my eyes. She was indestructible.
Xi pulled the chain tighter and tighter. I started to see spots. Mom, where are you?
I’m here, Priss, she answered
I need your help. I can’t beat her alone.
Yes, you can. Get creative. You can do this. I’ll be here if you need me. I won’t let anything happen to you.
My mind drifted as I stared down at Xi’s awesome red shoes. I wondered if they were Jimmy Choos. I’d heard those were really expensive. No matter what they were, they matched her stylish black miniskirt and red and black silk shirt perfectly. She looked like she’d just stepped off the cover of Teen Tramp magazine. That’s when I got an idea. I reached behind me and put one hand on her shirt and one on her skirt. She might not be able to feel pain, but she could certainly feel the embarrassment of standing buck naked in the middle of a museum café. I mean, take away the assassin, and she was just a preteen girl like any other.
Her expensive silk clothes burned quickly. Xi screamed and tried to cover with her hands what her clothes once had. “I’ll get you for this, Priss!” she yelled as she ran away.
I fell to my knees, gasping for air. Once I could breathe again, I thought about what just happened. Did I just defeat a genetically enhanced super human? I was about to pump my fists and do a celebratory dance when I noticed people were still hiding behind chairs and staring at me like they were terrified. I started to assure them that everything was okay when suddenly I felt like I was flying. Everything blurred as if I was traveling at light speed or something.
By the time I figured out what was going on, Mom and I were back at the jet.
“God, that hurt!” I said, clutching my head.
“Sorry, about that. I had to get us out of there before the police showed up.” She bounded the steps of the jet, leaving me wobbling behind her. No wonder Dad lost consciousness whenever she did the superfast running thing with him. I mean, I had half her genes and I still felt like I could pass out from it.
“That was excellent work for your first mission, Priss,” she said, sitting down in the pilot’s seat. “I’m extremely proud of you. You kept your cool. You got creative and thought outside the box. But let’s consider what you could have done differently.”
“What do you mean?” I said, making myself comfy in the copilot’s seat and closing my eyes. I had just saved a man’s life. Was she really going to critique me? “I won, Mom. What does it matter?”
“Oh it definitely matters, Priss. Just because you won doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. Don’t succumb to overconfidence. No matter how good you think you are, there’s always someone better.”
“Way to suck the joy out of my mood, Mom.”
“I just want you to be prepared. Xi has about eleven more years of training than you. You got lucky today and you had me there for backup. The next time you fight her—”
“Whoa, wait, what do you mean next time?”
“You think this is over? No, way. Xi will be back for revenge. You can count on it.”
Chapter 24: First Kiss?
On the way back from Canada, I decided to pick my mom’s brain about what to do with Kyle. I mean, my first kiss was only a few hours away, and I was still in danger of frying him.
“So, about that whole sex video thing.”
“Uh huh,” my mother said, not taking her eyes off the sky.
“Well, I totally don’t need it.” She stole a glance at me and then returned her attention back to flying. “But if I did, what kind of things would it teach me?”
She took a deep breath and then said, “Hold out your left hand.” When I did it, she added, “Show me a flame.”
I concentrated on that little part in my brain that brought the heat. The flames appeared above each of my finger tips.
“Now shut off all your fingers except your index finger.”
I had to think about this one for a little bit. I’d never tried to control each finger individually. After a few seconds, I’d done it. One single flame hovered above my index finger.
“Now shut that off and turn on your ring finger.”
That was even harder to do. My ring finger flame was probably the weakest. But, once again, with a little focus and concentration, I got it to work. I even made the flame grow so it was as strong as the others were.
“What are you doing each time to turn on the flame?” my mother asked.
I explained to her about the little key in my brain and how I turn it in order to bring the heat.
“These exercises will help you develop your ability to control your powers and your skill at using them. You are obviously mentally capable of shutting your powers on and off, which is why you thought they went away with your period. I think you’re a little young, but if you plan on kissing Kyle, I suggest you make sure your flame is off. You also might want to keep your hands in your pockets the first couple of times.”
I thought about this. It didn’t sound too hard. I’ll just put my hands behind my back or something while Kyle kisses me tonight. Tonight. Oh my God, it is happening tonight.
Suddenly, I felt something strange going on in my head. I glared at my mother. She stared out into the sky, pretending she had no idea she was entering my mind. I started humming the first Christina Aguilera song I could think of. My mother rolled her eyes and retreated. I just hoped she hadn’t learned anything about my plans for the night.
***
“I can’t believe you’re doing this for me,” I said as Tai climbed through my window that night. Well, she tried to climb. Poor girl had zero upper body strength. I ended up picking her up and placing her in my room. “I mean, you should be going to the dance with Spencer.”
“What are friends for? You have a guaranteed kiss coming from Kyle. I’m not even that into Spencer. His sloppy hair annoys me. Plus, a black person square dancing is just wrong on so many levels.”
Given my dad’s history of overprotectiveness (is that a word?), we decided that the only guaranteed way for me to get out of the house to see Kyle was to sneak out. Tai was going to be my body double, putting on a red wig and hiding under the covers. I’d laid the groundwork all day by talking about how tired I was and how badly I just wanted to go to bed early. It was a perfectly believable story given that I’d flown to Canada and back and defeated a genetically enhanced assassin.
At about six o’clock, I faked some back pain and headed to bed. Josh gave me a skeptical look. He knew I was lying, but thankfully, he didn’t blow my cover. He was probably too afraid I’d tell Mom about his powers.
“So, you sure you’re ready for this? You’re not gonna kill Kyle or anything,” Tai said, adjusting the wig on her head. She looked absolutely ridiculous with red hair.
“I think I’m good. My mom gave me some tips. Plus, you should have seen what I did to that Xi girl today. It was such an adrenaline rush. I feel like I can do anything.”
“You’re starting to like this superhero thing, aren’t you?”
“I think it’s what I’m meant to do.”
“And you thought you and your mom had nothing in common,” she said with a smile. I guess she was right about that. After spending the day with my mom, I felt like I had a purpose in life. I kind of understood why my mother spent so much time away from us. Lives were at stake. I couldn’t imagine how devastated those two kids would have been to see their father get his brains blown out. “So how did you and your mom get out of there without making the six o’clock news or something?”
