Cherry Blossom Girls International

by Harmon Cooper

  “You really don’t think so?” I asked, remembering Alabama and the little ‘Summer Christmas’ we had had right after the tornado after Michelle and Ingrid watched a holiday movie. But that was a story for another day…

  “No, I don’t. That’s not Damon Lord’s style. Consider him chaotic evil, if that means anything to you. His form of anarchy is more calculated, but it is still chaotic, random, and built upon scorched earth tactics. Regarding the book release party, he was probably planning to attack it anyway. If he had wanted to kill all of you then, he would have.”

  “We would have…”

  “No, you wouldn’t have won, at least not without an even more pyrrhic victory than it has already turned out to be.” Father grimaced. “Anyway, he had the element of surprise. Read a damn book on violence or something, Gideon. The element of surprise is how you successfully take down even the most trained combatants. You can be the best in your field, but if someone snipes when you’re out for a stroll in the park, you go down just as easily as the next guy. Get it?”

  “Yes. What about going to Tokyo? If you think he will beat us…”

  “I didn’t say that,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I said that I thought he would have beat you and the ladies then. Going to Tokyo is stepping out of your comfort zone, but from what I can tell, and trust me, I’ve looked into it,” he said, his eyes flashing orange, “this is likely the best way for you to take the fight to him, which is how you’ll win.”

  “Do you think everyone should come on the trip?”

  Father considered this for a moment. “You’ll likely need the whole team to take him down, but I am somewhat unclear as to how this will work, so that team could consist of less members, or be divided somehow, sure.”

  “And you’re not going to come?”

  He raised an eyebrow at me, and for a moment, I got the sense that he was interested in going. Of course, once he opened his lips, that thought was put to rest.

  “No, my work is here.”

  “What are you working on anyway?” I asked as I glanced around the room, noticing he had several boxes of equipment and other gear that was still wrapped in plastic.

  “Let me work on it some more before I tell you. Go to your team, Gideon, they’re waiting for you.”

  “Missionaries?” Stella asked.

  Everyone was in the basement aside from Father, who was still toiling away in his little guesthouse, and Clarence, who was in the kitchen cooking up dinner.

  Damn, did I like Clarence.

  And damn, did I like having someone around who could use guns, take care of the place and make delicious food.

  “Yes, we will be dressed as missionaries,” I told her. “And before you give me a skeptical look, understand that any authorities we encounter will be taken care of by Grace, with me in place for mind-washing if need be. That said, we’ll be around huge crowds, so we won’t be able to get everyone. Therefore, we’ll need to dress in a way that makes us blend in.”

  “What do missionaries dress like again?” Ingrid asked. The beast morpher had a Lonely Planet Tokyo guide and a little notebook with her, which I appreciated, but she wasn’t actually taking any notes about what I was saying, which made me suspicious.

  “I’ll get the shirts designed after this, we’ll have EBAYmazon print them on demand, ship to a neighbor, and have them here by ten in the morning. Our flight from Denver to Narita leaves at three.”

  “That doesn’t really answer my question.”

  “It’ll make sense when you see what I design,” I told her.

  “So you’re a clothing designer now?” Dorian asked with an amused grin on her face.

  “If I can design book covers, I can design anything. Seriously. Not trying to be cocky here. Do you know how much detail goes into a book cover for it to convey what the book is about, its genre, for it to be visible at both the thumbnail level and when you hold it in your hand?”

  “We get it,” Veronique said, sipping from a cup of coffee.

  There were pastries on the table too, and I’d already started on a cherry turnover that was yummy and gooey on the inside.

  “So that’s our angle. We go as missionaries. Trust me, this will work.”

  “You’re the priest?” Grace asked, her eyes white.

  “Pastor, and you’ll be my wife. We can be in our forties or fifties. So not old man Gideon this time.”

  “But Grandpa Gideon is funny…” Michelle said.

  I saw a pastry disappear and a smudge of cherry paint across the young speedster’s face. She didn’t always eat that quickly, and we’d told her several times not to eat her food that fast, but it was always weird when she did.

  “We have to make this look as convincing as possible. So Grace and I are Edward and Jill King, Michelle and Ingrid will be Mary and Isabelle King, our daughters; Dorian will be Doris, a troubled youth who is now a born-again Christian; Stella and Veronique are Sarah and Victoria, college-aged sisters taking a break from their studies to spread the Gospel; and Chloe is Clarissa, our youth pastor.”

  “Do I have to sing any Christian songs?” Chloe asked. “I can learn some.”

  “No, but learn some anyway, just in case someone puts us on the spot.”

  “Why am I the troubled youth?” Dorian asked, shooting me a pouty face.

  “Because you have tattoos. Trust me, I’ve thought this all out; I want all our bases covered.”

  “When did you have time to think this out?” Veronique asked.

  “Well, I’m still thinking it out, but I’ve got a pretty clear idea in my mind of how this is going to look, and how it’s going to work. So that’s how we get on the plane, and it’s how we stay together in the airport because we’ll have matching clothing.”

  “Do we have our tickets?” Michelle asked.

  “No, we won’t be getting tickets,” I explained. “Grace is going to get us on the flight by putting us on the waitlist and then having those seats come available all of a sudden, if you get what I’m saying here. Or something like that. She will also be getting us through immigration.”

  Grace playfully flexed her muscles. She was in her base form for once, her hair up in a bun, and as she flexed, her muscles started to grow in a way that reminded me of something out of a Popeye cartoon.

  Weird.

  “And what about when we get to Tokyo?” Chloe asked.

  Of the CBGs sitting in front of me, only Chloe, Michelle and Grace weren’t looking at me with suspicion in their eyes. Ingrid wasn’t looking at me at all. She was now focused on her Tokyo guidebook.

  “I’m still working that part out. We’ll need to get a place to stay. But we have a long flight to get it all figured out, so don’t worry.”

  “I’m not,” she said, her lips parting into a smile.

  “Me neither!” Michelle chimed in.

  I clapped my hands together. “Hell yeah, team, okay, so let’s get to training. That’s next. And while you guys train, I’ll whip up a quick shirt design.”

  “Wait,” Michelle asked, looking around nervously. “What about our uniforms?”

  “Carry-on luggage. Also, bring something to do on the plane. It’s going to be a long flight, so it could get boring. But they should have TV, so that will help pass the time.”

  Mile-high club? Grace thought to me, nearly causing me to stumble backward.

  Dammit, not now.

  Come on…

  Let’s just get securely on the plane first.

  “Where was I?” I asked, smiling at the group, blinking a few times to get my bearings.

  “Training,” Michelle said, then vanished, her chair still vibrating after she’d left.

  “Yep! Training, I’ll design the shirts, we’ll double-check everyone’s stats, and we’ll get a good night’s sleep.”

  Chapter Eight: I May Have a Future in Fashion Design

  The CBGs started up their training while I sat on a picnic table near them, whipping up a quick shirt design. Ther
e was a slight breeze rustling through the trees, and enough cloud coverage to keep the sun from making me adjust the brightness on my laptop screen.

  As they trained, I did what I did best.

  “And… just adjust the cross…” I said under my breath. “Okay… add a little sun glare… good… done!”

  I didn’t normally go around patting myself on the back, at least not intentionally, but once I finished up our t-shirt design for Manchester Ministries, I was pretty proud of myself:

  I wanted the design to be instantly recognizable, hence the cross and prayer hands. I also wanted the pic to have a random quote from the Bible on it, like most missionaries’ shirts I’d seen before. So I GoogleFaced “worst Psalm” and came up with this little number about sorceresses.

  “Do not allow a sorceress to live.” -- Exodus 22:18.

  Beautimous.

  The troll in me was delighted.

  I heard a sonic boom and looked up to see Chloe forming a shield of sound and running forward with it, Michelle running alongside her as she did, laughing. The young speedster kept vanishing and reappearing on Chloe’s other side, which I recognized as Michelle moving through Chloe’s charged soundwave.

  I returned to my t-shirt design and started setting it up for instant printing.

  We had set up a system with our neighbor to use their EBAYmazon account for orders. It was something we had to do, mostly because of the tech gear that Father needed, but also because I was a child of the 21st century, literally, and had no idea how to shop without having the Internet around.

  Kidding. I wasn’t that dependent on the Internet to live, but it was helpful being able to take advantage of EBAYmazon’s drone delivery and their plethora of items for sale, especially considering the fact that our base was out in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains near Evergreen, Colorado.

  It didn’t take long to get the shirt designs uploaded, and once I did, I chose a cherry blossom pink color for the ladies, and a darker maroon color for Yours Truly. I ordered a couple of extras as well, just so we’d have something to remember our trip by.

  With that finished, and the shirts guaranteed to arrive by ten in the morning, I closed my laptop and got out my phone.

  From one screen to the next, I thought as I tapped my finger against the cherry blossom app that Father had designed.

  About two weeks ago, I had received another random message from Dr. Kim, the scientist who had helped Grace escape the facility, sparking this entire journey. The message contained a code, and once I put it in each of the CBGs’ systems, I was given three extra points to work with on their stats.

  There hadn’t been any messages since, and I was starting to wonder if Dr. Kim had run out of codes to send off. I hoped this wasn’t the case, because Father didn’t seem to have any codes either.

  Everyone’s stats came up, and I began scrolling through them, starting with Grace, whose original name was Sabine:

  Sabine, Subject S

  Build: 008

  Base height: 181 centimeters

  Base weight: 54 kilos

  Strength: 1

  Intelligence: 9

  Constitution: 4

  Wisdom: 8

  Dexterity: 3

  Charisma: 6

  Main: Psychic

  Main: Psychic

  Omnikinesis: 10

  Second Sight: 5

  Psychometry: 5

  Telepathy: 7

  Clairsentience: 5

  Psychokinesis: 8

  Hypnosis: 6

  Nightmare Sight: 6

  Telepathic Radius: 5

  With Grace, I had increased her Hypnosis ability, figuring we’d need that in Tokyo as well as her overall power through Omnikinesis. We had played around with her Nightmare Sight over the last month too, which was indeed horrifying. No need for upgrading there.

  Veronique, Subject V

  Build: 2.7341

  Base height: 171 centimeters

  Base weight: 50 kilos

  Strength: 4

  Intelligence: 6

  Constitution: 7

  Wisdom: 5

  Dexterity: 6

  Charisma: 2

  Main: Metal Absorption and Modification

  Wielding Capacity: 7

  Adaption Speed: 6

  Alloy Integrity: 6

  Blood Metal Conversion: 7

  For the metal vampire, I’d upped her Blood Metal Conversion, her Adaption Speed and Alloy integrity, all in an effort to keep her well-rounded. Unfortunately, and maybe even mysteriously, none of the points I got worked on her basic stats, like her charisma. She was destined to remain at a two.

  Dorian Gray, Subject DG

  Build: 7.543

  Base height: 170 centimeters

  Base weight: 49 kilos

  Strength: 2

  Intelligence: 6

  Constitution: 7

  Wisdom: 3

  Dexterity: 6

  Charisma: 8

  Main: Ergokinesis

  Overcharge: 2

  Charge Capacity: 5

  Charge Integrity: 5

  Main Second: Teleportation

  Tele-Sphere Radius: 6

  Conscious Spatial Awareness: 10

  Recharge Speed: 6

  Restoration Speed: 7

  Teleportation Rapidity: 7

  Teleportation Distance: 10

  Empathetic Teleportation: 6

  Banishment: 3

  Overcharge: 1

  With Dorian, I had kept Father’s configurations and increased her Restoration Speed and Tele-Sphere Radius. This didn’t seem to affect her Overcharge in any way, so I stuck with it. Having her with a larger area available to teleport and also not stressing her at the same time? Check, please.

  Michelle, Subject M

  Build: 012

  Base height: 153 centimeters

  Base weight: 35 kilos

  Strength: 1

  Intelligence: 4

  Constitution: 6

  Wisdom: 4

  Dexterity: 8

  Charisma: 8

  Main: Enhanced Speed

  Focused Time Perception: 6

  Manic Warping: 4

  Acceleration Resistance: 7

  Molecular Oscillation: 8

  Deceleration: 8

  Aim Dodging: 7

  Hyper-Accelerated Metabolism: 7

  For the energetic young speedster, I’d increased her Aim Dodging, her Manic Warping and Focused Time Perception. While these things were useful, her continued fascination happened to be on her knives and getting better at using them.

  Ingrid, Subject I

  Build: 3.2

  Base height: 150 centimeters

  Base weight: 40 kilos

  Strength: 1

  Intelligence: 3

  Constitution: 5

  Wisdom: 4

  Dexterity: 7

  Charisma: 5

  Main: Beast Morphing

  Beast Soul: 7

  Morph Speed: 8

  Beast Armor: 8

  Ingrid had requested that I pump up her Beast Armor mode, which I gladly did as well as increasing her Morph Speed. She could morph pretty quickly now, and her armor seemed both stronger and a bit more flexible than it was before.

  Stella, Subject St

  Build: 002

  Base height: 172 centimeters

  Base weight: 48 kilos

  Strength: 5

  Intelligence: 5

  Constitution: 4

  Wisdom: 4

  Dexterity: 6

  Charisma: 4

  Main: Vector Manipulation

  Kinetic Energy Manipulation: 8

  Quantum Manipulation: 1

  Vibration Emission: 7

  Inertia Negation: 3

  Telekinetic Regeneration: 5

  Tactile Telekinesis: 5

  Deflection: 6

  Velocity Manipulation: 4

  Aversion Field Creation: 7

  Overcharge: 3

  I still hadn’t played with Stella’
s Quantum Manipulation. Maybe I would one day, possibly after reading Stephen Hawking’s Black Holes and Baby Universes, but not until then. Instead, I increased her Aversion Field Creation and her Vibration Emission, which had improved her flying capabilities, among other things.

  Chloe, Subject C

  Build: 17.169

  Base height: 185 centimeters

  Base weight: 56 kilos

  Strength: 4

  Intelligence: 7

  Constitution: 7

  Wisdom: 5

  Dexterity: 7

  Charisma: 4

  Main: Acoustokinesis

  Sound Sculpting: 5

  Acoustic Acceleration: 6

  Sonoluminescence: 5

  Rhythm Manipulation: 6

  Sonokinetic Combat: 6

  Sound Detection: 5

  Sonic Stimulation: 6

  Overcharge: 3

  Echolocation: 5

  The newest member of the CBGs wanted to increase her combat capabilities, so we upped her Sonokinetic Combat skill, as well as her Acoustic Acceleration capabilities. We were about to test this soon…

  Gideon Caldwell, DBA Manchester

  **No Base Stats Avail**

  Main: Superpower Manipulation and Modification

  Power Learning: 5

  Storage Capacity: 4

  Energy Channeling: 4

  Ability Imprinting: 4

  Borrowed Power Propensity: 5

  You bet your stepsister’s ass I had tried Dr. Kim’s code on myself, and even though my stats didn’t look like the others’, I was still given three points. Unfortunately, it didn’t allow me to take an additional power.

  Believe me, I tried.

  There seemed to be a cap on how high I could go, but that didn’t stop me from upping my Power Learning, Ability Imprinting, and Borrowed Power Propensity by one point.

  The CBGs and I still had the same system Father had set up a month ago.