Tobi and Medusa started to do their task the following weekend. Since Mrs. Inoue has her wheel chair situation, she doesn't have a lot of places that she considered as her favorite to visit aside from their local church. Rafael, on the other hand, has a lot of places that he often goes to so Tobi and Medusa will do a lot of traveling to do that day. Before they went off, both of them made sure that they wear masks to avoid being noticed by others. Medusa wore some extra disguises to be more unrecognizable.
"Do you think it's necessary for you to wear a coat in a sunny day?" Tobi asked as he saw Medusa overclothing herself.
"Don't ridicule my fashion sense. I'm just being extra careful." Medusa responded. "I'm quite a known individual before, you know."
"Fine. But, do you really need to wear a wig to cover your natural blonde hair?"
"Yes. Don't ask too many questions and just help me find my brown contact lenses so I can hide my natural eye color."
"What's wrong with having blue eyes?"
"Shut it and find it."
"Okay, okay. Here it is."
"You should add at least one more disguise aside from your face mask."
"I'm fine just wearing this mask. I was not some kind of a celebrity like you were."
"Suit yourself. Just in case we come across someone that probably knows us, we walk the other way. We should have a minimal contact with the non-Anomalies. The worst thing we want to happen is to alert the military."
"Can we just do this tonight so there will be less chances for us to be recognized or anything?"
"Day time is the best time our mentors will not realize that we're missing given their work schedule. That means, the professor won't be alerted about the situation. If we do this at night, it's likely for us to get busted."
"Fine. Let's get going then."
They initially went to the local church to see if they can find anything that has something to do with Mrs. Inoue's whereabouts. They observed the surroundings, looked for possible hints and they even resorted to talking to a few people for answers but they weren't that lucky. Tobi is instructing Medusa to avoid people who may probably recognize him to lessen the fact they may be pushed to a bad situation. They're not certain if the information about the Anomalies were already spread particular to all the information the mysterious woman has. If those information were made public and they were discovered, it will not be best for them. Worst case scenario is that the military will intervene and they will all be taken custody.
"Negative. We didn't find anything here." Tobi said.
"Any other places Mrs. Inoue has connections with." Medusa asked.
"Nothing's coming to mind. We should drop by to places where Raf might be."
"Good thinking. Let's go."
"We should drop by to the tattoo parlor downtown. That's where we usually visit if we get bored."
"Tattoo parlor? You don't seem to have any ink on you."
"We don't actually go there to ink ourselves. The owner of the tattoo parlor runs a café just above it. That's where we usually kill our time."
"Oh, I see. Come on. We don't have all the time in the world." Both of them grabbed a cab and went straight downtown. Along the way, their cab passed by a huge house which is covered in silver accents and has an expensive feel to it. The house is not that lively as the only thing that's being seen moving is the enchanting fountain with its dancing waters few meters away from the house' wide gates. Medusa seemed to be mesmerized of the scene as she can't take her eyes off of it.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Tobi asked Medusa as he noticed that she's stunned of what they're seeing.
"Yeah, pretty cool." She responded with a slight glum with her tone.
"What's the matter?" Tobi was quick to notice.
"What's the matter with what?"
"With you. You seem a little off all of a sudden."
"No, I'm not. I'm fine, you're fine, we're all fine."
Tobi is certain that something's up with Medusa at this point but he disregarded it as they both continued to head to the tattoo parlor downtown. Tobi was hooked in the fact that he's been seeing the landmarks along the downtown area since he hasn't been there around due to what their situation currently is. He even got the time to act as a tour guide as he inform Medusa of some of the buildings, parks, road etc. that they pass by. They arrived at their destination shortly after.
"We're here. So, what now?" Medusa asked.
"We go in, of course. Come on." Tobi responded.
Surprisingly, Tobi was right that he didn't wear much of a disguise since no one is recognizing him even the owner of the business. Both of them headed upstairs for the café, find some seats and ordered something to blend in and not be suspected by anyone. They noticed that there's not much customers today. Tobi asked for the café's best sellers even though he knows them already and that's what they ordered. Medusa, on the other hand, asked where the comfort room is and the waitress was quick to respond so she got up and leave making Tobi alone momentarily.
"Your girlfriend's beautiful, sir." The waitress commented.
"Uh, thanks." Tobi went along with the thought to keep the discussion short.
"Will that be all, sir?" The waitress asked after writing down their order on her notepad. "You might want to try our dessert as well. Your girlfriend will sure to love it." She added.
"Yeah, we'll have one of those please." Tobi agreed.
"We'll have your food served in a moment." The waitress said and left. Medusa went back from the bathroom seemingly in a hurry.
"What happened?" Tobi asked.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just tired with all the traveling we did." Medusa responded.
Little did Tobi know, Medusa felt something strange in the comfort room. As she went inside, she saw no one aside from herself but moments after, she felt something watching her from somewhere. To her curiosity, she opened the cubicles inside the comfort room but she saw no one. She convinced herself that it's all in her head and slightly rushed back to their table.
"They arrived!" Tobi exclaimed as their order is being served.
"Thank you." Medusa acknowledged the server and they were both left alone.
"Hey, don't look back." Tobi whispered. "There's a lady glaring at us."
"What!?" Medusa exclaimed quietly. "Do you know her?"
"No. I haven't seen her before. She looks classy though."
"Classy? Tell me when she's not looking at us so I can take a quick glance."
"There. She's talking to the waitress now."
Medusa looked back and was shocked of who she saw. She immediately faced Tobi as she tries to hold back her tears. Tobi's in shock of what's happening but he couldn't bring herself to ask he just gave her a napkin just in case she breaks down. Medusa was quick to compose herself and not a single tear was shed. She then started eating as if there's no tomorrow. This made Tobi more confused.
"Are you okay?" Tobi asked as he gets concerned.
"Eat. Don't be suspicious. Eat." Medusa said and Tobi followed.
"Do you know her?"
"She's my uncle's secretary slash mistress. She knows me so she might be thinking that I am who she thinks I am."
"Your uncle's mistress?"
"Tone down! She might hear you."
"What happened? She looks angered whenever she looks back at us."
"I'll tell you only after we're alone. Someone might be onto us aside from her."
Even though they've agreed to gather even the slightest information about Raf, their priority has seem to shift to avoiding the suspecting eye of the lady who might know Medusa. Other customers are leaving the café as they finish their meals. Other customers that are coming are getting less and less so Tobi and Medusa is not concerned of someone else knowing who they are. Finally, the lady stood up walked towards the exit but she made sure to walk beside Tobi and Medusa's table for some reason. She didn't hesitate to scan Medusa from head to toe as she left casually from the café.
"Did you see that?" Tobi asked to confirm if Medusa saw what the lady did.
"Yeah, she looked at me from head to toe. So what?" Medusa responded irritably.
"She left now so we're probably safe."
"For now, yes. We should go too. We're not getting anything from here."
"Fine. I know a good place to investigate next."
"No. We should do this some other time. I don't feel so well."
"Okay. I'll just have our leftovers for take outs."
They took their take outs and left the café. They headed to a bus stop since they've decided to not take a cab on their way back to the mansion. Medusa mentioned that they might pass by the house from earlier if they take a cab. Tobi agreed without any disputes. She suddenly changed her mind after seeing a small park on the other side of the road.
"On second thought, I think we should sit down for awhile. I don't feel like going home yet." Medusa announced.
"Okay. Whatever you say but we should go home before night. Our mentors might notice that we're gone." Tobi said.
"Don't mind them. Pandora and the others can and will cover for us you know but yeah sure we'll go back before sundown." Medusa said and they both went to the park then find a bench to sit on.
"So, do you want to talk about something?" Tobi asked as soon as they sat down.
"You're part of the family now and that means, we'll be around each other every so often from now on so I want to share to you my story." Medusa said. "You should let me finish first before you give any comments though. I don't want to be interrupted."
"I appreciate that you're trusting me with your story and I swear I won't interrupt you while you're talking."
"Good. Here it goes." Medusa looked around to see if someone's onto them and as soon as she confirmed that not even a single soul is around, she started to share her story to Tobi.
"I'm listening."
"My real name is Dorothea Grace MacMillan."
"MacMillan? As in the MacMillan Conglomerates!?"
"Yes and I told you to not comment until the end of the story."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just carried away. Please continue." He apologizes. "Oh my god. MacMillan Conglomerates." He murmured to himself.
"As I was saying, I am Dorothea Grace MacMillan. The only child of Phillip Theodore MacMillan, the eldest son among his two other brothers namely, Peter Hanz and Paul Benedict. It is said that my father would inherit most of the shares and ultimately become the CEO of the company from my grandfather. That makes me an heiress when the time comes."
She continued her story making Tobi even more excited to every detail that he'll hear. It turned out that before the Anomaly happened to Medusa's life, she's been one of the youngest billionaires in the nation. It seemed that she has everything already like having luxurious clothes, personal bodyguards, loyal followers etc. Nothing less to expect from an heiress to a multibillion dollar company.
One day, Medusa's grandfather who was the CEO at the time, had pass due to health complications. As what's indicated in the former CEO's will, most of the shares will be passed onto his eldest son which is Medusa's father. Her father ultimately became the CEO and it appeared that it wasn't a bad decision since the eldest MacMillan son led the entire company to different heights which means, increased profit.
Everything seemed to be going really smoothly across the MacMillan's kingdom until one day, the news of the second eldest son's death spread. The reports say that Peter Hanz perished as well as his entire family in a horrific car accident while taking a vacation somewhere in New America. The third son, Paul Benedict, was also in that vacation and got into the same road coalition but he just got minor bruises. The MacMillans were yet again devastated with the tragedy but all they must do was to keep a strong heart and move on so that's what they did.
An unexpected tragedy yet again happened to the MacMillans. Medusa's father was targeted of an assassination but he luckily survived. A bullet just scraped a portion of his neck but other than that, he didn't receive any other injuries. The family was heightened with the event that they hired several bodyguards to each of the members from the eldest son's family to the youngest. It seemed outrageous but it was necessary.
"How are you feeling, Ben?" Medusa's father, Phillip Theodore, asked his youngest and only brother left as they both take their meal in their luxurious dining area. Medusa's father invited his brother for a dinner one night to catch up. They seem to enjoy themselves even though it's only the two of them eating.
"I'm doing perfectly fine. You?" His brother, Paul Benedict, responded.
"I'm feeling stressed out lately with all these workload." Phillip Theodore responded while lighting up the soothing candles on the candelabra place on the dining table. This usually calms him down.
"I told you, I can help manage the company more. I'm willing to learn from you so I don't mind if you teach me a thing or two."
"I really appreciate your eagerness to help me out but I don't want to take most of your time from you and your wife. Besides, you're already building your own company so it would be too much for you. I'll handle this."
"My company's doing fine with my wife as the supervisor. She can handle it."
"She sure can. Undoubtedly."
"Also, you have your daughter to raise too so you should make time for her as well."
"My Dorothea is young but she is smart. My wife Esmeralda taught her very well. May my love rest in peace."
"But brother? All I'm offering is a helping hand. I'm not planning take over the entire company if that's what you're concerned about."
"I know your good intentions brother and I never had that thought of you. You wouldn't defile our father's wishes."
"I understand but if you need anything, just reach out to me."
"I will. I'm very glad we have this conversation."
"So am I. I hope this won't be the last."
Paul Benedict, the youngest, ordered the cook to serve the cake he bought on the way there. It was a common chocolate cake which is Phillip Theodore's favorite flavor. Even though Medusa's father was already full from their dinner, he was able to make room for dessert. It took awhile before Phillip Theodore could take a bite from the cake due to him being too stuffed but he was able go eventually.
"Hello, Uncle Paul!" Medusa suddenly came into the dining area.
"Lady Dorothea! You mustn't go in here. Your father and your uncle are having an important meal." Paul Benedict's secretary told Medusa as she rushed in after her.
"Let her be, my dear. Let her witness the end of their reign." Paul Benedict told his secretary.
"What do you mean!?" Medusa's father got a bad feeling about what his younger brother said." Ben, what did you do!?"
"You'll know soon enough my beloved brother."
"Butler! Butl-" Medusa's father called out for help but got interrupted by him having severe coughs. He suddenly started to bleed from his eyes, nose, ears and his mouth. This made him fall to the ground as he struggles to breathe.
"Father!" Medusa rushed to her father.
"I didn't imagine killing your brother could be this messy my dear." The secretary commented as she clings to Medusa's uncle.
"I myself didn't imagine that this could be much more satisfying seeing Philip die in front of me."
"My little Dorothea, take care of yourself. I love you. I'll be seeing your mom real soon." Philip Theodore's last words as he was left lying into Medusa's arms bleeding out.
"Father!? No!" Medusa shrieked as she watch her father take his last breath.
"Lady Dorothea, you can't bring your father back to life even if you cry blood." The secretary commented sarcastically.
"Lily my love, let her be. We'll come for her next. Would you like to reunite with your parents in hell now, Dorothea? Once that is done, I will officially be the sole successor of everything my Father built!" Medusa's uncle said as he and his secretary watch her be eaten by despair.
"It's pretty tedious when you ended Peter Hanz and his family's lives. I thought I would lose you back there too. I'm so glad killing your oldest brother and his pathetic daughter is the easiest. We didn't break a sweat." Lily commented.
Paul Benedict grabbed the candelabra from the dining table and walked towards Medusa planning to use it to kill her. As he comes closer and closer, he noticed something off happening and specifically on Medusa's long blond hair. For some reason, they're started to move on their own appearing like wild snakes. At this moment, no one realizes that Medusa already awakened her Anomaly even Medusa is not noticing it as she continues to cry over her father's death.
Suddenly, she just stopped sobbing as if nothing happened. She slowly stood up and her hair's wild movements intensifies. Paul Benedict and Lily is not certain if the Dorothea they know is the Dorothea standing in front of them. They sense an intense hatred from her. Medusa slowly turned and faced the two murderers with wrath on her eyes.
"DIE!" Medusa said angrily then her hair instantaneously lashed out and grabbed Paul Benedict's wrists, ankles and his neck making him dropped the weapon he planned to use to hit her. He attempted to run back but he couldn't as he was forced down and got pinned to the ground.
"What is happening!? You WITCH!" Lily screamed then she tried to escape but Medusa whipped her using her long blond hair. The whip was strong enough to throw her to a wall making her unconscious.
"What are you!? DOROTHEA!" Paul Benedict screamed as well as he tries to process what's happening.
"DIE!" Medusa responded. She's clearly in a frenzy that no one can stop her until she's done with whatever it is she wants to do. At this scenario, Medusa clearly wants her uncle dead.
Medusa slowly broke the bones of his uncle from his ankles to his wrist but that's not enough for her. She created a blade like object from her hair and aimed it to her uncle's head. Paul Benedict can only scream in pain and despair as the blade slowly comes and ultimately aiming to pierce its way through his head. Little did Medusa know, her father is still alive somehow.
"Do-Doro-Dorothea." Medusa's father called her out faintly.
"Brother? Brother, stop your monster of a daughter!" Paul Benedict pleaded.
Phillip Theodore reached out and grabbed Medusa's foot. He called her again by name and it seemed that Medusa reacted as she took off her grip from her uncles limbs and her hair toned down a bit. Medusa then realized that her father used his very last breath to stop her rampage. She started crying once again as she saw her father's smile. Her father lose his grip to her foot indicating he had surely died this time. Medusa checked if her father is still breathing but no air is coming in or going out from his nose or mouth.
"You monster!" Paul Benedict shrieked as he was left lying on the ground with multiple broken bones.
Medusa looked back at him as she's unsure of what caused it. She then saw a wrecked part of the dining room with slash marks on the walls, floors and even the ceiling. She also saw an unconscious Lily lying about the ground together with her uncle who is in pain of what she did to him. She suddenly remembered what happened as flashes of her memories pops into her head. Devastated of what she had done, she ran away crying her heart out.
"Dorothea, come back here! I'll kill you with my own two hands!" Paul Benedict said as his niece runs out of the mansion.
Medusa ended the story by telling Tobi that she spent the following days and nights in the forest grounds. Luckily, no strangers had made any contact with her during those times because she's having a hard time controlling her hair. One day, the professor, Anastasia and Thandiwe hiked to the forest and found her. Anastasia was able to subdue Medusa's hair going on berserk mode by tapping into her mind. Eventually she was able to tame her Anomaly thanks to those three. She then joined them and lived in the mansion.
"Sorry about your dad." Tobi initially commented. "Sorry to say too but, your uncle is so messed up. He had the gut to kill his brothers and their entire family."
"I know. Part of me wants to avenge my father but there's this thought that I might go berserk again and avenging my father is not the only thing I'll do. I might hurt other people too." Medusa explained.
"Do you really need to though? Do you think your father wants you to avenge him by killing his brother? Why not take this matter to the law enforcements?"
"Don't be foolish. Do you think the police will let me go off the hook if they knew that my Anomaly went berserk at that time? I most likely be sent to military custodies and who knows what they'll do to me there."
"You got a point. There's one other thing I'm bothered about. It's clear to me that your uncle knew that your still alive so did he ever try to find you himself?"
"After that incident, I heard that he and his conspirators made it look like someone barge into the mansion killed my father and broke his bones not to keep my name clean but to avoid being involved with someone who has an Anomaly such as myself. They made it look that I was kidnapped too so whatever story they come up with, it will be favorable to them."
"He is really messed up."
"He is literally. After what I did to him, he can only move around with him sitting on a wheelchair and he can't use his hands too much because he's still recovering from the damages I did."
They continued to chat and they went over to Tobi's stories as well. From what he's doing before his Anomaly manifested until the day he joined them at the mansion. Medusa even gave some tips to Tobi on how to somehow manage his Anomaly just like how she manage hers now. If she's not using her Anomaly, anyone who doesn't know her might think that she's a normal lady with a rich long blond hair.
During the midst of their chat, Medusa noticed that a large tree branch is falling from a nearby tree and it's falling directly to where they are sitting. Medusa was quick to react by barely deflecting it using her hair making her wig fall off in the process. Both of them then saw a dark figure emerged behind the same tree where the huge branch came off of. Both of them knew that it's bad news as the dark figure charge instantaneously to Tobi.
"What in the world is that thing!?" Medusa shrieked.
"I don't know either but I know it's one of those enemies you're all talking about." Tobi responded. "Look out!" He warned as the dark figure tried to punch him.
Tobi took a quick defensive stance and he readied himself to combat. He hopes that whatever training he did with their mentors will payoff. Even though there's only one dark figure as the attacker, it doesn't seem to faze its thoughts a bit as it immediately followed up its initial attack with the next still aiming for Tobi. Medusa was quick to react in that situation as she used her strong hair to push away the enemy which worked as the dark figure was thrown violently to the ground.
"Thanks!" Tobi acknowledged.
"Don't thank me yet. It's not yet over."
The dark figure appeared to not be damaged with that attack as it quickly stood up on its feet. Medusa instinctively restrained the enemy with her hair having it wrapped the dark figures wrists feet body and neck but even though it seemed very successful, the calm didn't last long as another dark figure came out of the first one. The spawning was so quick that Medusa wasn't able to react on time and restrain the second one as well. The second dark figure charges towards Medusa to probably free its comrade but even before it reached Medusa, Tobi charged towards it as well and he was able to pin the dark figure on the ground.
"I guess we're even now." Medusa said then she finished the restrained dark figure by piercing multiple spear-like shaped hair trough its body. However, Tobi is having a hard time to restrain the second dark figure to ground but his struggle didn't last with what happened.
"What the heck!?" Tobi explained. As he's pinning down the enemy to ground and attempts to smash its head with his fist, the dark figure seemed to fade away.
"What? What is it?" Medusa removed her hair from the first enemy to check with Tobi.
"It just vanished." Tobi said.
"Do you think it's because your Anomaly?"
"Probably. So it means, these dark figures are someone else' Anomaly?"
"It sure it is. But who and why though?" Medusa asked. Little did they know, the first dark figures hasn't been ended yet. It appeared to healed himself somehow and sneaked to Medusa's back to attack her.
"Watch out!" Tobi reacted on time. He pushed Medusa away but he was hit instead. The force was so great he was about to pass out but before that happened, he build up his thoughts focused his movement in touching the enemy and ultimately make it disappear using his Anomaly. Luckily, he was able to take the enemy out but he was knocked off right after.
Just before Tobi was knocked unconscious he was able to use his Anomaly to the dark figure making it vanish without any trace. This left Medusa flustered. She is uncertain of what to do next. They were able to defeat their enemies thanks to their Anomalies but she has an unconscious Tobi with him. She initially thought to take him to the nearest hospital but she suddenly thought the danger of them being caught by someone they know or even worse, the military.
She came into the conclusion to take a cab. She acted as if Tobi was so drunk that he can't even wake himself up. The cab driver didn't mind their business much as he helped Medusa lift Tobi and put them inside the cab. Medusa quickly gave the Mansion's address and they took off right away. The cab driver kept on looking at them but trying very best to not look suspicious.
"Is there something wrong, mister?" Medusa asked as she and Tobi are seating at the back.
"No, nothing at all. I'm sorry." He responded. The trip goes on until they reach the streets that leads to the mansion but the peaceful drive was interrupted by someone familiar.
"M! Reaper! Where are you two?" Anastasia asked with a worried tone. It appeared that her Anomaly reaches not just inside the mansion but to until certain areas surrounding the area.
"P, I'm so sorry." Medusa responded.
"I couldn't sense your thoughts for so long. I thought something happened to you two."
"We're fine. I mean, I'm fine."
"What do you mean? Where's Reaper?"
"He's with me. Just unconscious."
"What? Get here quickly. I'm picking up one more trail of thought just very close to you two? Are you in a public vehicle?"
"Yes we are."
"Be careful. He's thinking that you're an Anomaly, M. He's convincing himself that he just didn't see your hair move in an abnormal way."
"Say what? I probably used my hair earlier to move Reaper's unconscious body."
"Have him drop you off at the mansion. I'll handle him."
"Copy that."
Medusa surely asked the cab driver to drop them of exactly in front of the mansion where Anastasia(Pandora) asked them to. As the cab driver pulled over, they saw Anastasia standing in front of the gates with Shin(Blast), Connor(Glass) and Thandiwe(Beast). Medusa was shocked that Thandiwe is in his gorilla arms form even though there's a civilian seeing them.
"What are you doing, Beast? The cab driver might see you." Medusa stated.
The cab driver got off the car to assist Medusa to carry Tobi out of the cab but even before he opens the backseat door, he saw a guy who has arms of a gorilla. This made him so frightened that he immediately tried to run away as fast as he could but Glass was quick to use his Anomaly to block the cab driver's way. Boom sent few small explosions on his hand to get the cab driver's attention.
"What are you people!?" The cab driver hysterically asked.
"We are no one. You didn't meet us. You didn't drop off here. You didn't saw any of these." Anastasia mentioned as she walked in front of the cab driver but the cab driver went more confused as he noticed that he hears a woman talking but the one in front of him isn't even opening her mouth.
Anastasia then put her hands on the cab driver's head then concentrated as if she's about to do something to him. While Anastasia does her thing to the cab driver, Thandiwe picked up the unconscious Tobi from the inside of the car. Just before Anastasia came to their senses, Thandiwe went back to his original form while still carrying Tobi. Anastasia almost fall to the ground due to exhaustion but Medusa quickly caught her friend. Glass approached the cab driver with a radiant smile on his face.
"Mister, continue heading east and you'll see the Academy along the way." Glass said out of nowhere.
"Wait what?" The cab driver asked in confusion. "Are they fine? Do you want a lift to the hospital? He asked the group as he saw the weakened Anastasia and the unconscious Tobi.
"No, mister. We can take care of it. You were just asking the direction to the Academy. You may get a move on now." Glass responded still having the cheerful but authoritative tone.
"Fine. Thanks for your help. I'll get going now." The cab driver stated and went off even though it's obvious that he's still processing his thoughts about what's happening.
"Can someone tell what just happened?" Medusa commented.
"Pandora erased some of that cab driver's memory to avoid any complications." Thandiwe answered as he still carries Tobi.
"She can do that? That's so fabulous!" Medusa shrieked.
"Yes she can but it's taking too much toll to her energy. Hence, this. She's weakened." Glass explained.
"Enough with the chatter. Let's get inside already." Thandiwe said and the rest agreed.
"Tell us what you've discovered out if there's any, Medusa." Glass added.
"I sure will." Medusa acknowledged.