She was different too. Alisha no longer craved sex the way she had since she turned 13. Which was sort of a bad because Alisha had never looked better in her life. A year ago she had been a little chubby and wore dark make-up and dark clothes. Those days were gone too. A year made a big difference. She had grown more than an inch and her daily workouts had given her the body she never thought she would have. Her confidence was better than ever, but she wished she had done a little research on where she was going before she dressed this morning though. She was on her way to meet Dr. Peng, the man Miss Clara had sent her to see about her aura. She had talked to Dr. Peng on the phone a couple of times, but now he wanted to meet her in person. She hoped she would make it to his office.

Alisha walked up the Morehouse College campus, her long dark hair blowing behind her in the wind. Gone were the days when Alisha dressed in dark layered clothing. She wore a short white pleated tennis skirt that came to her mid-thigh if she flattened it out, showing off her lean tanned shapely legs. She wore thong sandals to show off her newly pedicured toes. She loved the way her quads and calves firmed up when she did something as simple as take a step. She showed off every inch of her legs that she dared in that skirt. Her confidence was evident in every step. She had on pale green sleeveless top that matched her sandals. It didn't cover her navel even though on someone else it might have. After a year of constant work, Alisha's stomach was not only flat, but toned. That top showed off just how hard Alisha had worked. The top was just a little short because Alisha retained the main attribute from her former look, her breast. She had grown to them a little, but they proudly sat on her chest daring people not to look. They were so round and perky to be as large as they were. Alisha was proud of them and didn't even try to show them off. She didn't have to, they showed themselves off.

Alisha had her sunglasses on and tried to keep her head straight, but it was hard. Alisha hadn't known that Morehouse College was an all male school. Not only was it all male, but a lot of the guys at the school were handsome as hell. Every head turned as she walked by. Some of those guys got her attention too. She saw one man in a purple shirt stop and lift his own sunglasses to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "That is a fine ass white girl", she heard someone say.

"Back down rover", his friend said. "That's for the big dogs, and you ain't one."

Alisha smiled and kept walking. She found the building she was looking for and went up to the third floor. Dr. Peng's office was off a very narrow hallway. The door was partially open. She knocked and stuck her head in. "Hello, Dr. Peng."

"Yes"

"I'm Alisha von Edder, we spoke on the phone."

"Come in, come in!. You're right on time, that's rare."

Dr. Evan Peng was second generation American. He was taller than both his parents but still stood only about 5'8". He looked to be in his late 30's with reading glasses hanging from a chain around his neck. His face lit up into a bright grin with Alisha came in. He extended his hand. "Nice to meet you Miss von Edder."

"Nice to meet you too, Doctor."

"Have a seat."

Alisha sat down and crossed her legs, and put her small purse on her lap. "I hope you found out what's going on with me."

"I have, or at least I think I have. First let me say that there is nothing wrong with you. This is really a great discovery for you. Let me start by making sure I have the facts right. You said over the phone that the most significant thing about your past was that you craved sex."

Alisha's face blushed a little.

"I don't mean to embarrass you, but that fact is what unlocked the rest of the mystery. Not only is sex physically pleasurable, it also releases more human energy than any other act, except maybe giving birth. The same energy that gives us our aura is released in vast amounts during sex. Your body craved that energy like a drug addict."

"But I don't crave it anymore. I told you that on the phone."

"I know. I talked to Clara about your friends. You said that you roomed with one of them. I bet your cravings for sex stopped not long after she became your roommate."

Alisha frowned and thought back. It was true. "Yeah, they did."

Dr. Peng smiled. "Clara told me that your friends' auras were so powerful that she had to basically cut off her perception in order to be around them. Well that amount of power would be more than any normal person could produce even during sex. You were like a battery being charged by all that energy. Your body was able to absorb that energy every moment you were around them. To most people all that power wouldn't even be noticeable. They would think of your friend as strong, confident, sure of herself, nothing deeper than that."

So far he was right, but Alisha still had some questions. "I was away from my friends for almost three months and I didn't get that same feeling like I used to have."

"That stumped me too. I spoke to a good friend of mine from Georgetown. I didn't tell him much but hypothetical stuff. He had a profound idea though. You no longer need your friends' power, or sex to charge your battery. Your power is fully switched on."

"What power?" Alisha leaned forward in her chair.

"I don't really know how to put this, but you have a power an ability that allows you to manipulate very way one thing interacts with another, the way we perceive the world around us."

"What? I don't understand."

Dr. Peng shook his hands in excitement. "I see you sitting in front of me and you see me. I know you are sitting here for several reasons. Light bounces off of you to my eyes. I can hear you. My soul, my consciousness feels yours. That is how one person knows another. In many ways, that is how your dog knows you. Anyway, you can manipulate how those interactions happen. You can control that. You're also an artist. I looked at all the pictures of your work that you e-mailed to me. Did you ever wonder why people have such a reaction to your work? You can get to the very essence of a person or a thing. You can paint the very way we perceive the world around us."

"Doc, I don't understand a thing you're saying."

"I know I'm talking quickly, but this is remarkable. That is why your aura was in flux. Unlike anyone I have ever met, you have the power to control even your aura. You can change how people see you. You can change how people see others. You can..." He stopped and picked up a camera. "Stand up, please." She did so and the doctor took a picture on his digital camera. He plugged it into the computer and brought the image up. Alisha looked as cute in the outfit as she thought she did, but that was far from her mind.

"Ok, Miss von Edder, I want you to close your eyes and think hard about someone you know well. I want you to think about what makes you know that person. All sorts of things will flood into your mind, but focus on the core of that person. The thing that lets you know who that person is."

Alisha closed her eyes. The first person to pop in her head was Jan. She smiled as she thought about her. She squeezed her eyes closed tighter and thought hard about to Jan. She focused on the very essence of Jan. After nearly a minute, she heard the shutter click on the doctor's camera. She finally exhaled and opened her eyes.

The doctor was loading another picture on the screen next to her picture.

"How the hell did you get a picture of Jan?", Alisha demanded.

Dr. Peng smiled. "I've never seen Jan. That is not Jan. That is you. Unless she's got an outfit just like yours."

Alisha's eyes went wide. That image on the screen looked just like Jan with her eyes closed tight. The outfit was the exact same. It fit the same. There was no way.

"That has to be a trick these clothes wouldn't even fit her. Jan's really..."

"Tall", Dr. Peng cut her off. "And she smelled nice too. Some sort of fruit fragrance. My wife likes something like that."

Alisha took a step back before sitting down again. "I don't believe it.", Alisha said suddenly.

"I should be the one saying that. Do it again."

Alisha stood up and took a breath. She closed her eyes and thought about her computer science professor. He wasn't bad looking and she had his class this afternoon. Dr. Peng watched a soft glow surround Alisha's entire body. Everything in the glow became fuzzy for a moment before it cleared up. Dr. Peng had to stifle a laugh while he snapped another picture. Alisha opened her eyes.

"Oh my God!", she laughed as she looked at the screen.

"I'm sure this guy is nice, but I don't know what you did to get him to wear that skirt." Dr. Peng laughed loudly.

"Let me try that again." Alisha closed her eyes and concentrated harder on the image she wanted. She opened her eyes after hearing the shutter click again. She nearly lost balance. Dr. Peng took her arm.

"Are you ok?"

"Got tired all of the sudden." Alisha looked over at the screen and saw that this time the image of the professor had on khaki pants and a polo shirt. "Clothes are harder. They don't have an essence or whatever." Alisha sat down in the chair suddenly very tired. This whole thing hit her. She didn't know what to think. "How does that fool the camera?"

"For all intents and purposes you become that person from the inside out. And this is just the beginning. I believe that you have the power to do more. You'll have to explore those things yourself as you grow in your power."

"Power", Alisha repeated shaking her head. "You don't understand. I'm the normal one. I'm the one of my friends that is like everyone else in the world. I'm the one who gets to tell them just how freaky they are."

"Not anymore. Now you have an ability of your own that you must harness and master as they no doubt had to do."

Alisha went straight back to her dorm. Her roommate wasn't there which was good. Alisha changed several times in the mirror, but each time she looked in the mirror she saw herself staring back. Finally she set up her camera. Sure enough she was changing. After a few hours of working on her new found power she sat on her bed. She didn't really know what to do. She was sort of numb. All sorts of emotions ran threw her head. She wanted to tell her friends, but she didn't know how they would take it. She almost wanted to forget it, but she couldn't. She took pictures of herself at various times just to make sure she wasn't changing when she didn't want to. She wasn't, but it took hours for her to be able to tell when she did change.

Jan had spent the last couple of days at the apartment where she and Lisa Sanchez had fought. Jan had agreed to pay for the railing to be fixed on the landing. The steel had been torn in two. It turned out that the apartment was actually Lisa's in the first place. It had been her mothers, but her mother and cousin had moved to a house, but the lease ran to the end of the year. She was letting Ian use it for the week while he was in town giving the lecture and at a conference at the CDC.

Jan really enjoyed Lisa's company. She was smart and funny. She and Ian told stories about how they met and how scared Lisa had been when she discovered her power. Jan understood, but she thought it would suck to find out that you had power after your life was already on track. Jan told Lisa some about what she had done in her life since she had known about her abilities as a young child.

"Nope", Jan replied quickly. "It hurt a lot, but my parents didn't even notice. I bet the hotel manager wondered how his concrete cracked like that though. Made a big noise too."

"You mean you cracked the concrete!?!"

Jan nodded. "Yep. Pretty big crack. Went out in all directions." Jan took a long drink from her Sprite.

"There was no need in me even fighting you. Its pretty useless." Lisa said before standing up to refill her water cup.

"That's not true", Ian began. "Not to be morbid, but theoretically you're strong enough to break Jan's bones. You might be able to break her neck."

Jan looked horrified.

Lisa laughed from the kitchen. "What good would that do? Assuming I did break her neck, it would just heal back. She'd jump up and try to break mine."

Ian frowned. "Good point."

"I wouldn't want to fight you again anyway, to let you know. This all turned out ok. I still feel really dumb, but I was getting my ass kicked. I shrugged it off a little, but those elbows really hurt."

"I work on those. I wish they had worked better", Lisa began. She frowned and looked at Jan closer. "I think I know your father, big guy goes by the name Jack?"

Jan smiled. "Yeah"

Lisa smiled back. "I did some work for his company last year. Ask him if he remembers Lisa Sanchez."

"My parents are happily married, but believe me, my father would remember you."

Lisa laughed and leaned back on the couch.

There was a knock at the door. Ian jumped up and went to the door. "I was wondering when you would show your face again. Get on in here."

Moira Kelly walked in slowly. Lisa waved, but Jan didn't know what to do. Moira looked at her almost like she had hoped she wouldn't be there. Moira looked embarrassed still. Jan wasn't going to let that keep going. She had been hoping her professor would show up.

"Professor Kelly, Moira, would you please get over it. You and Ian are an item. I think its kinda cute. Just 'cause you're a professor doesn't mean you have to be celibate."

"I shouldn't have been in that position."

"I walked up on yall. Yall? I've been in the South too long already. Anyway, I came here. Its not like I saw you on a park bench. I won't tell anybody. No body! Obviously I'm good at keeping secrets."

"We get a lot of practice at that", Lisa said.

Moira sighed. "There's more to it than that. I didn't know about you. I didn't know that you were the reason he left last year for a couple of weeks. I put two and two together. You were the project he left for."

Jan nodded. "Yeah, he basically tortured me in the name of science. I don't generally let this information get out. I actually have a number to call if someone I don't want to know finds out something they shouldn't know." Jan stood up. "I trust you. I trust Lisa. I trust Ian. I have to trust him, he knows how to kill me."

"That's right!", he yelled from the kitchen.

Moira smiled even though she didn't want to.

"There is no reason to be embarrassed about you and Ian. And I don't understand how you could be uncomfortable around me, when you and Lisa seem to get along just fine."

"We didn't always get along. That's part of it. I don't know how to explain."

Lisa looked over at Moira and had an idea. She jumped up from the couch. "Let's show her how we met."

"I'm not doing that!", Moira exclaimed.

"Aww come on", Lisa begged. "This will explain a lot."

Moira shook her head, but agreed. They tried to get the smiles off their faces. Lisa walked up to Moira with her hands behind her back and her head high. Moira tried to look mad, but the smile messed up the effect. She took Lisa under the jaw with her left hand and smoothly lifted her into the air. Lisa playfully clutched at her throat, but most of the weight was bearing down on her jaw. Moira looked up at Lisa and growled, "Who are you? I don't know you!" Moira raised Lisa up higher before letting her drop to the ground. Both women laughed.

Jan sat wide eyed. "You too, Professor Kelly!"

"Well, sort of. I'm not like you or Lisa. I'm a bit on the artificial side."

"Its real enough now", Ian said as he came back in the room. "I'm not letting you show Jan how we met."

"How did you meet?"

Moira shook her head before Ian answered. "She kidnapped me", he answered anyway.

"She did what?"

Ian laughed. "Yeah, she knocked me out, beat the hell out of me..."

"I did not!"

"What would you call it?"

"You punched me and stepped on my toes!"

"Only after you attacked me. Anyway, she attacked me, beat the hell out of me, three or four guards, and took me back to her commune and kept me against my will."

Jan frowned. "And you two are like... like.. lovers now?"

Ian looked at Moira who's face turned a bright shade of red. "She was desperate. I saw past some things to the person who was still inside of her. It took a long time and a lot of work, but after Lisa here gave Moira a proper ass whoopin, you deserved it, I took her back and tried to reverse some of the things that she had done to herself."

Jan looked confused.

"Its my story. I'll tell it", Moira sat down across from Jan and started talking.

Jan sat there and listen, amazed at what she heard.

Jan walked in the door of her dorm room later in the afternoon. Lisa had thought it was a good idea to give Moira and Ian some more alone time to sort things out. Jan had work to do anyway. She wanted Alisha and Sara to meet Lisa. She had promised Moira that she would keep her situation a secret. She would probably tell Sara and Alisha, but not until she explained a few more things to Moira. Jan sat down at her desk, turned on her laptop, put on some music, and started writing her English paper.

Sara walked in about an hour later. She looked tired and she was frowning. "You're actually here", she said.

Jan frowned. "Yeah, good to see you too."

"You've been gone for the past two days almost."

Jan looked up from her screen. "Well, I found out a few things that I wanted to discuss."

She was going to tell Sara about what had happened, but looking at Sara's face told her that she wasn't in the mood.

"I'm worried about Alisha", Sara said after being quiet for a while.

"Really. She seemed ok the last time I talked to her."

"When's the last time you talked to her?", Sara asked already knowing the answer.

Jan thought about it. "At least a day."

"Exactly! When's the last time that happened? She hasn't even called. I can feel that there's something going on in her head, but I won't try and see what. All I know is that something has her unsettled."

"I've got an idea", Jan nearly shouted. "I've wanted to tell you all this, but I haven't really had the chance. I've been hanging out at that apartment because I met this lady, her name is Lisa. We got in a fight by accident. She's strong, very strong. Strong enough to kick my ass."

"What?", Sara asked in disbelieve.

Jan nodded. "Yep. I attacked her by mistake. Long story, but it turns out that she and Ian are best friends and she's so strong that... I don't know. I mean I'm strong, but she's ridiculous!"

Sara frowned now. "Is she really huge?"

"No, that's the thing. When she exerts herself, her muscles get really really hard and defined. Then they start to get bigger, but an thirty minutes or so after she got so huge and burst out of her clothes, she looked perfectly normal."

"So she's a freak like us, then?"

Jan laughed. "I guess so. That's why I want you two to meet her. We can have dinner at Miss Clara's."

Sara didn't look so sure. "I don't know if that would be the best thing for Alisha. I was thinking that maybe she's getting distant because of the powers. Here we are with all these abilities and she doesn't have any. I never thought that was a problem, but its the only thing I can think of."

"That's silly! She's part of the team, she's part of our team! I can't believe after all this time she'd be feeling like that. I don't know what I could tell her."

"Nothing right now. Maybe she can work it out in her head. I think we just act like nothing is happening."

Jan nodded and tried to go back to her paper, but couldn't.

Jason Mallster smiled as he looked down at a report on his desk. He was so happy he could hardly contain himself. He rubbed his hands together in excitement. Finally he pushed the intercom and brought in two of his most trusted people. Jean and Michel walked in right away.

"Gentlemen we need you two to go Atlanta to the Federal Pen there. There's a young man being transferred there from Illinois. He's a bona fide computer genius. He's got a few issues, but it is worth the risk. I want you to make sure he doesn't make it to the Pen. I want him here by tomorrow afternoon.

The two men looked at each other and nodded. "We'll take care of it, boss. What's this fella's name?"

Mallster slid the folder across his desk. "His name is Bernard Wilson, but everyone calls him Benny."

Jan, Sara, and Alisha had to go to Ft. McPherson together this time to check in. Alisha was in the car and she talked about all the normal things. She talked about classes, about some boy she met, about how much she hated checking in, and about how much she hated the Dodge Neon the government had issued them to get around town. None of the three could park a car on campus yet, so for at least the next 4 months this was their car. Sara could tell that there was still something not right. There was something not being said. Jan could sense it too, but she tried to ignore it. The meeting lasted less than an hour. Jan decided to take the street way back downtown. She hoped the three friends could have dinner and talk over what was disturbing Alisha. They would have to skip dinner this day.

Lisa drove down to her mother's new house in Clayton County. She didn't want to take the interstate and decided to take the regular road. She would have to pass Atlanta Federal Pen, but she always thought it was an impressive looking building anyway. Even if she never wanted to see the inside.

"Make sure you keep control over these damn Series 3's. We don't want them turning on us", Michel told Jean as they waited for the federal convoy to get close.

Jean held what looked like a small suitcase in his lap. It actually controlled the electronic devices planted in the 3's brains. Those devices controlled them. They had been programmed to attack the guards when the explosion happened. Michel and Jean would sneak in during the confusion and snatch Benny and get out of the area before flying back to Oklahoma. The plan was sound. They had ten Series 3's, that was like having 30 or 40 regular men. The 3's were several times stronger than a regular man. The 3's didn't feel pain or remorse. They didn't have doubts or needs or wants. They only knew what that box told them. The main thing was keeping that box safe. Without that they would be like animals with just the enough human like thought to be extremely dangerous.

The prison bus came into sight. It had cars in the front and in the back. The men in that bus were not nice people. There were drug kingpins, mobsters, killers, and rapist on that bus. Benny fell into the last two categories. He had done more than 10 years in prison for his first rape. He learned after that never to leave a witness no matter how pretty they were. The feds had gotten him because Benny had taken some of his women across state lines. That was all the federal prosecutor needed to sink his teeth in. Benny hated prison. He had already killed a man since he went back. Benny was not a big man, nor was he a strong man, but he was nobody's bitch. Benny refused to be a toy for some ugly brute. The other inmates thought Benny was crazy, and they were right; he was. But he was the smartest person to ever come out of his community. Sometimes Benny wondered how much good he could have done for the world if he didn't have this particular problem. He smirked as he rode on the bus because he would never know.

The explosion was sudden and violent. The entire bus was lifted off the ground before crashing back down. The front and rear axles were both broken. Fire burned all around the bus. The inmates had been tossed around. The guards too were stunned. Their minds tried to grasp what had happened. Before they could, a smoke trail came from the side of the road. The rocket at the head of that tail slammed into one of the escort cars. Two men had already gotten out, but a third died where he sat. The chase car was completely empty when the rocket hit it. One man got hit with some flying glass, but all the men pulled out their submachine guns and tried to find a target.

"Stop the car!", Alisha yelled as they came around the corner. Smoke and fire were all around. Cars screeched to a stop while others made U turns and went in the other direction. Alisha threw open the door and pulled out her Glock. Sara was not far behind. Jan tried to call back to them, but the sound of automatic fire drowned her out. She took her foot off the brake and floored it. She drove as fast as she could to the two guards from the first car. They were pinned down and men with machine guns were bearing down on them. Bullets started hitting the Neon as soon as she got close, but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. The men weren't even firing anymore. Both thought that they were going to die as they crouched as low as they could. Jan drove the Neon between the gunmen and the guards. She leaned over and threw the front passenger door open. The guards hurried to get in. Jan didn't wait for them to close the door before she hit he gas.

Alisha and Sara had worked their way to the right flank of the line of gunmen.

"What's your plan?", Sara asked Alisha with a thought.

"Stay right and I'll work to the rear", Alisha thought back. "You try to get a couple and then I'll open fire."

"Got it."

Sara let her mind loose to feel the location of everybody close. She wanted to know where the good guys and bad guys were. She should have made her search a little wider.

Michel and Jean looked at the whole scene from the backside of hill. Michel stood next to the car with binoculars looking. He scanned the area and saw that the Series 3's were doing exactly what they were supposed to do. Then he turned to his right and saw a young girl with a pistol holding it tactically and working her way to the back of the 3's. "Give me the rifle", Michel called down to Jean. Jean took his eyes off the control box just long enough to hand up the M-4 carbine. Michel readied to take a shot. There was a little wind, but the girl was only a hundred yards away and she couldn't see him, but he could see her.

Lisa slammed on her brakes. She saw the bus rise in the air and she saw the gunmen open fire. Lisa's mind didn't know how to process what she saw. She had never seen anything like this before. She saw guard try to get out of the smoke filled bus, but he was shot so many times before he died. Lisa put her hand over her mouth in horror. She looked around trying to see what she could do. Then she looked across the field. Two young girls with guns were trying to make their way behind and beside the men firing machine guns. Lisa took off her seat belt and opened the door before she realized what she was doing. She saw a car back there then. There were two men in the car one of them had binoculars. Lisa didn't know how she knew, but those men were in on this and those girls couldn't see them. Lisa started running. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she was going to do something. Lisa could feel her muscles reacting to immediate danger. Usually it would have taken time for Lisa to power up her muscles, but they were itching for action.

Michel smiled as he was about to squeeze the trigger. Then he felt the car shake. He looked around, but he looked the wrong way. He stated to look back to his left when the rifle was snatched from his hand. He was too shocked to react for a moment.

Lisa took the rifle in her both hands and squeezed hard on the barrel. She frowned and quickly bent the hardened steel barrel back on itself. She reached out and took Michel by the throat and snatched him up and over the car door. Jean couldn't believe what he was seeing. He pulled out his pistol and got out of the car. Lisa threw Michel twenty feet in the air and before ducking out of sight. Jean looked around, and jumped back into the car and started the engine. He would have to move. Michel would either be along later or he wouldn't. The mission was more important.

Sara went to a knee before she took careful aim and pulled the trigger twice. Her first shot missed, but the second hit. She fired several more shots. All of the struck home. The man she hit turned and leveled his rifle at her. Sara's eyes went wide. She could see blood stains on his clothes from his wounds, but he moved normally. Sara dropped her shoulder and rolled to her right as he squeezed off several rounds. She rolled back upright and fired again this time emptying her entire magazine into the man's chest. He staggered backwards then methodically begin changing magazines on his rifle.

Alisha turned and fired rapid fire on another one of the 3's. Alisha had spent hours and hours working on her shooting. She aimed and fired. The bullets slammed into the 3's upper torso. He turned slowly and started firing. He started firing before he was aimed. Bullets threw up dirt and grass to Alisha's right. She dove to the right and tried to stay out of the line of fire, but one of the others turned and fired at her too.

Sara only had two magazines with her and she had already emptied all fifteen shots into one man and he wouldn't die. Sara loaded another clip into her pistol, but she wasn't sure if it would work. Sara stayed calm as bullets flew by. This wasn't the first time she had been shot at. She took careful aim at his head and double tapped. Both bullets slammed into his skull. He dropped immediately. Sara turned to her left and fired two more shots. Another one fell.

Jan worked her way through the flames to the back of the bus. She took handle and snatched hard. The hot steel still singed her hand. The door flew open. Smoke poured from the bus. Two of the Series 3's had worked their way onto the bus. They were programmed to look for Benny and him alone. They had already shot the driver and killed two inmates. Jan saw a guard on the floor with a 3 on top of him. She raised her 45 and shot twice. The bullets hit the 3 in the back. He dropped the guard and went to the greater threat. He rushed at Jan. She jumped on the bus to meet him. His rifle was out of bullets he pulled out a k-bar knife. He brought he knife up to stab down. Jan was ready. She waited until he 3 got close and stabbed. She jumped back and let the stab pass. She caught the three with her left hand below her waist and stuck the barrel of her pistol to his neck and pulled the trigger. The big .45 slug sprayed blood everywhere. The 3 dropped. Jan continued.

The inmates had been in cages along both sides of the bus, but most of the doors were open. Jan saw a 3 attacking an inmate. He took the man in both hands and before Jan could do anything spun his head all the way round. Jan brought her pistol up and fired. The shot slammed into his shoulder. She pulled the trigger again, but the slide had locked open. She was empty. She dropped the mag, but that was her last. She slid the pistol back in the holster and attacked.

The 3 saw her slide lock open and had reduced her threat level from high to low, and targeted the last living guard in the bus. That was a mistake. Jan ran up and snatched the 3 back and threw him down to the floor hard enough to buckle the floor of the bus. The 3 bucked and pushed Jan off. He turned and threw a hard punch. It caught Jan on the chin. It dazed her. He shot both arms up and put them around Jan's neck. The 3 twisted her head as hard as he could. Jan's neck turned violently, but nothing else happened. The 3 then pushed her back. She flew all the way to the ceiling of the bus and back down. It stomped on her back harder and harder each time. The bus rocked with the blows.

Sara and Alisha had figured out how to kill the 3's. They had killed 4 and were working on some more, but they were focused on them now. The 3's had set up their own attack. They had spread out in the small park to hide their numbers. Alisha and Sara were close enough to give each other support, but not close enough to see the same thing the other saw. They were being stalked and didn't even know it.

Lisa had lost Michel who had run off, but she had to help those girls. They seemed to be doing well, but they couldn't see the men in the forest. Jan started up the hill towards them. Then she saw a man in the woods going towards the shorter blond girl. He had stood next to a tree and started to take aim. Lisa called out, but there was too much noise. Then the dark haired girl turned. She saw Lisa running. She spun with her pistol, then looked where she was looking, and saw the man in the trees. She didn't have a shot. She looked back over at the blond girl, and yelled. Then something strange happened. The dark haired girl's eyes squinted. Lisa could see the man and the blond girl both, but the blond girl's shape became fuzzy for an instant. When it cleared, she looked like one of the men who were attacking the bus. Her pistol had changed into a rifle and her clothes looked like theirs. The man in the woods hesitated and took his eyes out of the sights of his rifle. He didn't know what to do. He didn't have time to make up his little mind. Lisa was on him.

She snatched the rifle from his hand and threw it. The 3 attacked her with his bare hands. He put his hands around the back of Lisa's neck and tried to bend her forward to meet his rising knee, but Lisa had trained for that move. She reached up with her right hand and grabbed the 3's fingers and pried them off her neck. She slid to her right and the knee missed her. The man raised his arms and Lisa took them. They locked in a test of strength for leverage. The man was taller, but that wouldn't matter.

The 3 pressed down with his scientifically enhanced strength. It was enough strength to squash a normal man, but Lisa just smiled. Her forearms flexed harder and became more and more defined as she squeezed the man's hands. Blood came from his hands, but his facial expression didn't change. He just tried harder. Lisa's decided to put the man away. Her normally shapely arms began to flex in earnest. Her triceps were razor sharp and shredded beyond belief as she relentlessly press the 3's arms back down. His head shook from straining so hard. Sweat rolled down his forehead. Lisa's super muscles flexed harder and harder. Veins snaked across her bronze skin and throbbed with the beating of her heart. Her shoulders were perfect caps of female muscle. She seemed to be breaking this super strong man down easily. Finally she had her hands on top of his. Her back flexed into a proud relief as she started pressing him down. Her lats flared like a set of dense muscular wings as the man finally went to a knee. Lisa pressed him all the way down. His back was on the grass, bus still he would not give up. He tried with everything he had. His fingers were misshapen and crushed, but he would not stop. His head turned as Sara approached. Lisa saw the look of murdering lust on his face and knew that she was going to finish this. Lisa's eyes squinted in concentration for the first time. All the muscles in her upper body swelled with inhumanly hard and ripped muscle. With a burst of power she twisted her arm down quickly. The sound of the 3's left arm breaking echoed loudly through the trees. Lisa did the same thing with her left arm and the sound of his scientifically enhanced bone breaking was just as loud. The 3 still tried to fight. With Lisa sitting on his chest and his arms dangling at angles, he looked like a broken toy. Lisa crept forward and put both her hands around the man's jaw. He tried to bite her. She dug her fingers into the bottom of his face. His jawbone dislocated and broke under her super powerful fingers.

"Don't kill him!", blond girl yelled. Lisa looked up, the anger of the fight still on her face, but the blond girl's eyes were closed. The man beneath Lisa looked in the blond girl's direction and after a few seconds his face went blank and he fell asleep.

"Can you do them all like that?", Alisha asked still scanning the area with her gun ready.

"I think so", Sara began. "They're controlled by some computer, but I can get between the signals and make them turn off. I'm going to try to do the rest now." She closed her eyes again.

Blood dripped from Jan's lips as the 3 stomped on her back. There was no room to maneuver. Finally he stopped and bent down to finish her, but that gave her the opportunity. She jumped up and rolled on to her back bringing her knees close to her chest. When she got on her back, she kicked out with both legs. She sent the 3 up into the ceiling. The back of his head went through the top of the bus. That gave Jan time to stand up and get her head clear. When the 3 came back down Jan was on him. He grabbed her arms, but Jan was stronger. Her muscles flexed. Her muscles seemed to have a life of their own. She twisted her right arm free and sent a lightning fast punch to the 3's head. Her big fist exploded against the side of his skull. She sent another and another. The 3 staggered back. Jan snatch the 3 and put both hands around his head. Her super hard muscles flexed hard as she twisted his neck. She spun it all the way around. The crack of his spine filled the bus and left Jan's ears ringing.

"How do you like it?"

Most of the guards and inmates had run off the bus by now. Only the dead and wounded remained. Benny was not one of them. He slid out the door coughing and wheezing, but unhurt. He looked around.

Michel had found Jean and was back in their car at their fall back location. Michel's head hurt, but he was still focused on the mission. Then Jean cursed.

"What?", Michel demanded.

"The damn Series 3's are turning off! Something is overriding the computer!" Jean started changing settings and reconfiguring the machine.

"Some sort of interference?"

"No!", Jean yelled. He paused, and sweat suddenly appeared on his forehead. "No", he said again this time softer. He closed his eyes before he spoke. "A telepath, a powerful telepath is bypassing the signal converter and giving them instructions directly."

"Can you stop it?", Michel yelled.

Jean opened his eyes and looked at Michel. "Not a chance. I have never felt anything like this. The power is enormous." Jean's voice was tinged with fear. Michel couldn't feel what Jean felt, but he knew enough to be a little afraid too. He turned back towards the street. He saw the target. Benny stood next to the bus. He pointed him out to Jean who slammed on the gas. The car sped towards Benny and before he could even stop coughing Michel had thrown him in the back seat. No one even noticed the plain car speed off down the street and out of sight.

By now it seemed like every cop in greater Atlanta was in the area. Military Police from the fort were there with tasks forces from the Prison itself, along with agents from every Federal agency in Atlanta. Jan saw Alisha and Sara as they walked past the battle scene towards the street. She saw Lisa with them. Everyone looked ok. A cop with an assault rifle stopped Sara, Alisha, and Lisa as they came towards the street. They were trying to make a perimeter.

Sara reached into the pocket of her capri pants and pulled out her own tan wallet. "I'm Agent Sara Hewitt. This is Agent Alisha von Edder. The other lady is with us too. We all happened onto this by accident and tried to render assistance to the guards. The police officer nodded and moved out of their way. They made their way to Jan.

"I'm glad you're all ok.", Jan said at once.

"Yeah you too." All three were dirty and covered with soot from the fires, but other than that they were perfectly fine.

"I see you met Lisa." Jan introduced her friends to Lisa Sanchez. They stood around until a group of men from the agency Jan, Sara, and Alisha worked for came and started working. They recovered the rifle with the bent barrel and ended up taking the 5 living Series 3's into custody and taking them to a secret facility. After everyone gave statements they were almost ready to leave. Lisa had been thanked for her help although they didn't know about her strength. She was cleared to leave. She went to Jan before she did. She had her back turned while filling out some paperwork. Finally she turned.

"What was this all about, Jan?"

Jan signed the paperwork and handed it to a sergeant with the police. "Looks like a damn prison break. A really fancy one."

"Did any get away?"

Jan looked down at a list. "Just one prisoner unaccounted for. A man named Bernard Wilson."

Lisa's face went pale and her eyes filled with a look of horror. "Did you say Bernard Wilson?", she asked with a suddenly dry mouth.

Jan frowned. "Yeah, Bernard Wilson, white male aged 33."

"Benny", Lisa muttered under her breath. "I have to go!" She turned and ran as fast as she could to her car. Her phone was in the car, and she had people to warn.

to be continued...

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If you want to know more about the world of The Super Secret Agent, and more about the characters, check out my first story Coping with Power!         Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4   Part 5
                                                                                                                                                      Part 6   Part 7   Part 8   Part 9   Part 10