POV: Paige McAbee (Canary)
Location: Salt Lake City
Date: Sep 19 2010
"Is she okay?" I asked, gripping Minato's hand and looking at a pale Jess.
We moved her into the room that I relentlessly cleaned for who knew how long. The heavy antiseptic smell was lingering in the air, strongly reminding me about my visit to the morgue to see if those bodies were my parents or not.
They were, too, motionless and pale, almost merging with covering them white, pristine sheets in harsh white light. Back then, I hoped that they would find them alive, that the body I would see in the morgue would be someone else, that they were still somewhere there, surviving after Leviathan sunk the Newfoundland.
They were not.
I had to remind myself over and over that she was alive, that she was not dead, but all I saw were the dead bodies of my parents.
The Minato clone was calmly and methodically doing something with medical machines they brought from somewhere, giving me hope that everything would turn fine, that she would survive.
But no matter what I told myself, the vivid memories of her covered in blood, naked body on our coffee table were not going anywhere, making me feel powerless and useless.
I hated it. I hated it so much.
"Yes," I heard Minato reply through my dazed state.
This simple word, his calm tone, finally made me believe that, maybe, she was going to be alright, that she wouldn't abandon me too.
"That's great," I whispered, finally relaxing and only now realising how hard I was gripping Minato's hand.
It was like a veil fell from my eyes, letting me see details I had missed before. The room lost all similarities with the morgue I envisioned the moment before, and the yellow hue, pulsing in a heartbeat rhythm, created a much warmer picture, making me hope even more.
"Come, we need to talk," said Minato, gently pulling me out of the room by the elbow, and I followed with rising worry again.
The walk didn't take long, barely ten steps, until we arrived at Minato's office. I was there only once when I curiously explored the bungalow and was really surprised by the setting in this room.
It was mostly empty, with a big window across the further wall and a wide wooden table in the middle covered with different opened books, tablets, and other items whose meaning I had a hard time guessing.
Gesturing to a single chair in the room, Minato went to the window, barely bright with early morning but still grey lights, and, turning his back to me, looked at the mountain view not yet touched by sunlight.
Instead of sitting in a chair, I leaned on the table, not so far from him, and looked outside as well. There was not much to see; only rising mountains were looming over the horizon, creating a dark shadow on most of the view this early in the morning.
Now that I could think clearly again, I found myself trying to puzzle out the events that happened over less than twelve hours. I went from happily dating Minato and introducing him to Jess to her dying on our coffee table.
Something was missing. Something had happened in those hours, and I hoped Minato knew more. Was that why he called me to talk?
Absently pulling out my phone and scrolling through our chats with Jess, I was thinking about the reasons someone had to shoot her. Could it be connected with her work? Why was Minato clone there? What actually had happened and where?
"It was an assassination attempt," said Minato, as if responding to my unsaid questions, halting my train of thought for a moment.
And then the realisation hit me. Someone tried to kill Jess, the only female friend I had since forever. A friend who, even busy with her own demanding and secretive work, found time to support me during my recent breakdown. A friend who didn't believe that I was a crazy Master needed to be locked up where the sun didn't shine. A friend that I thought I would be able to share my truth with and, perhaps, feel normal again.
With each moment, I felt dark rage rising from the deepest part of my soul, making me shake and making me clench my hands hard.
My forgotten phone exploded in my hand, scattering shards around. Like in slow motion, Minato calmly caught one shard flying towards his face, but I didn't care. I saw everything in red, and all I wanted was to make them bleed.
"Who," I found my own, deep in tone, voice saying, coloured with my desire to kill them all.
"I can't say much," he calmly replied, putting the piece of the phone screen on the windowsill.
"Only that I suspect Precog Thinker involvement," he continued in a measured voice, keeping eye contact with me.
'Capes' rang in my mind, and at that moment, I knew. If I see that cape now, I would make them wish they never thought about harming mine.
I never understood why capes fought so much, why they needed to go out in fancy costumes and do all those things. But now I was getting it. If the government, the PRT, couldn't protect us, if they preferred to focus on harmless instead of locking up dangerous, I would too choose to fight back.
"And from now on, I need you to do as I say if we want to help Jess," he said, but I didn't really listen, struggling with my desire just to kill them all.
But what could I do? It wasn't as if I could just run out to pursue this unknown cape—I didn't even know whom I needed to fight. Struggling to regain control over my emotions, I looked at the still-calm Minato, who patiently waited for my response.
Finally catching on to what he said—or more like not said—I found that he was onto something, and his calm, collected form made it clear that he had a plan to go with.
"Okay," I agreed. I could do that, but I found my mouth continuing talking, "But we make them pay," and I found no objective to that from sharply smiling Minato.
⚡
Underneath the underneath
AN: One reader asked me to use the English equivalent for Jutsu names, but for me, Japanese terms are part of the charm in the story.
To compromise, I am starting to put a note at the beginning of each chapter with a glossary.
Sakki - killing intend.
Shōsen Jutsu - Mystical Palm Technique.
Shunshin - Body Flicker Technique.
Hiraishin - Flying Thunder God Technique.
Hiraishin kunai - shinobi knife for the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Kibaku Fuda - Explosive tags
Kage Bunshin - Shadow Clone Technique
Kanashibari no Jutsu - Temporary paralisys technique
Location: Salt Lake City
Date: Sep 19 2010, 10:15 am
Walking through the bungalow and doing the last-minute check-ups, I was crossing out items from my favourite NASA notebook.
Any signs of previously used fuins were removed and replaced with more mundane technology. Check.
It was a rush job, and wires with light bulbs were hanging on the walls, but it was all we needed to keep the ruse of a temporary hideout.
Protective and hiding this place fuins were replaced with temporary ones, not based on senjutsu. Still stable but would fail in a few hours or so. Check.
The office, our best replica of my Hokage ones, was missing the handmade table, the fancy chair and the bonsai tree. It looked lifeless with the replacement we bought in HomeGoods, but that was not my concern. It looked like it was used, so it was good enough. Check.
The kitchen had a "new" fridge, bought in a store selling used items, replacing my fuin-based stasis cabinet. The same applied to the stove and kettle, making this place look different from what we had before. Everything worked and was in order. The fridge also had enough fresh food inside. Check.
In the background, there was a new sound that we hadn't had before. Unfortunately, the sound-cancelling fuin in the generator room had failed again, and I didn't feel like replacing it. Again.
Anyway, it was time for Jess to wake up from her anaesthesia-induced slumber, and the generator's "grum grum" would only add to the atmosphere we aimed for.
Walking into her room, filled with morning sunlight through the window, I gave a nod to the me-Minato, leaning on the wall next to the window. He watched Jess all this time while I was running around and doing all those preparations—the lucky bastard.
Noting the absence of the fuins placed here before, I checked everything else, looking for forgotten things out of place. I even checked a connected bathroom, finding nothing amiss. So it was another Check.
Finally done with it, I loudly closed my notebook and passed it to me-Minato. He rolled his eyes but obediently stored it in his storage seal. Whatever.
Moving to the single chair in the room, with quick hand seals, I applied Aby Henge, dispersing all chakra-made clothing. For the next part of the plan, it was important to dress in real clothes that were waiting on the chair for me. It was the set that Aby often wore at gigs with her band, and Jess had seen her before.
Even after all these months spent in Paige form, I found it really daunting to put a bra on every time, and the added weight on my chest always made me want to make my boobs just a bit smaller.
If nothing was said about Paige's preferred underwear or whatever this small piece of fabric pretended to be, I would be happy to ignore it as well.
At least I liked her other clothes—jeans with a T-shirt and a leather jacket—making me feel better about the upcoming tasks I had to perform from now on.
Finally dressed up, I turned to me-Minato with a raised, silver now, eyebrow, silently asking for his approval and assuming Paige's mannerisms.
He gave me a thumbs up, followed by a small nod, a fox hand sign, and a sharp, foxy smile to wish me luck.
Waving my hand over my shoulder in response, I sit in the chair, mentally preparing to play a disturbed Aby role.
The board was set, and it was time to see who plays time-space Shogi better—me or this local precognition thinker.
Time passed in waiting for the anaesthesia to wear off after that. Jess was slowly getting colour in her cheeks, making me feel good about the well-done job. It was great how well her body accepted chakra healing. If not for the blood loss, she would have been in her peak form by now—healed and probably healthier than before.
We needed her in her best form for the next phase of the plan, and it seemed like we got what we wanted after all.
Right on cue, Jess stirred and opened her eyes. She first saw me, Minato, and with a frown, began to look around. Noticing me sitting beside her bed, she mumbled something and tried to sit up, but lost her balance and fell to the side.
"Don't try to move just yet," said me-Minato, moving closer.
Instead, mumbling something unintelligible, she started to move chaotically, trying to sit up again, causing the sheet covering her modesty to fall to her waist, exposing her naked body.
"Jess, it's fine," I said, with a fake worry and leaned forward, "You are fine. It's me—Aby."
Hearing my Aby's voice, Jess stopped struggling and, with unnatural movements, turned in my direction, staring at me with confusion.
"Aby?" She asked.
"Yes, Aby. Do you remember me?" I asked, closely watching her reactions.
Instead of answering, she furrowed her eyebrows even more, glancing down at her exposed chest in clear confusion.
"Water?" proposed me-Minato, passing a glass of water he picked up from the nightstand.
She looked up at him, at the glass, and, with a nod, tried to take it, but her hands were not moving properly. In the end, only with me-Minato's help was she able to start drinking it, with shaking hands.
When she finished, she smoothly pushed me-Minato hand with the glass away and shifted to the edge of the bed. Planting her feet on the floor, she wiggled her toes while holding onto the edge of the bed. It seemed like she was finally regaining control over the body.
"They tried to kill me," she said eventually, after a long pause.
"Who are you talking about?" I asked, projecting confusion while watching her every move.
She was still looking down, but now she was touching her exposed solar plexus, with noticeably brighter skin in place of the wound.
"The PRT," she said and looked up.
"Do you know exactly who?" I asked, wondering where she was going with this.
"You know, I posted your story about your ex," she said instead, ignoring my question and looking at me with unexpected sharpness.
"It went viral," she continued, "and then they deleted it, you know, for spreading misinformation, they said."
She abruptly stopped talking and, looking around the room, asked, "Where am I?"
"It's a safe place. You are safe here," I replied in a gentler voice this time.
"They sent me a private message—a warning–you know?" she continued, "They said I better focus on my work unless I want to die."
She looked down again and placed her hand over the spot where she had been shot.
"I didn't listen. And so they shot me," she concluded.
"Khm," coughed me-Minato, attracting our attention.
"I am going to grab clothes for you," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head and moving out of the room.
"Do you have a washroom here?" Jess asked when he was out of the door.
"Sure, this way," I replied, gesturing to the washroom door and standing up.
⚡
"Jess, are you alright there?" I asked through the door, trying to catch any sounds from inside.
"One moment," she replied, and I heard the toilet flushing.
Hearing bare feet slapping on the floor, I took a few steps away, giving her space to come out. When she opened the washroom door, she looked more coherent, but she still didn't seem bothered by her lack of clothes.
"Here, I have a T-shirt and pants," I offered, giving her clothes that me-Minato had brought just a moment ago.
She flipped the T-shirt around a few times before putting it on. Giving a strange look at the pants, she started to pull them on while leaning against the wall. At that moment, her stomach loudly complained.
"I'm starving. Is there anything to eat?" Jess asked, straightening up.
"Of course, this way," I replied with a gesture, already turning around. The hunger was a usual post-effect of chakra healing, and me-Minato was already in the kitchen cooking simple but rich food.
"I don't feel myself. Can I hold your hand?" she said, already trying to grab my arm.
"Sure," I replied, letting it happen and starting to guide her out of the room.
All the way to the dining room, Jess clung to my hand and overfocused on her steps. She even bumped into the wall a few times, making us slow down. Only when the intense smell of bacon and eggs reached us did she speed up, gulping involuntarily.
The dining room was done in an old traditional style, with a low table and floor seating—just like how Kushina decorated our home, complete with a whirlpool drawing on the north wall. Well, the whirlpool drawing had now been replaced with a picture from HomeGoods, slightly affecting the style.
When we entered, the table was already set, with a mountain of bacon and eggs in the middle and a juice pitcher on the side. Me-Minato, with a steaming kettle and spare cups for tea, came in simultaneously and joined us at the table.
At first, Jess was hesitant to let go of my arm and sit on the other side of the table, but she forgot all about it as soon as the first piece of food passed her lips.
With each bite, she became increasingly more energetic and coordinated, and even the colour was slowly returning to her pale skin.
Me-Minato and I were slowly drinking tea, silently observing her, and waiting. Once again, I noted how chakra healing, in the absence of resident foreign chakra in wounds, could be a miracle in this world, especially with a speed of recovery.
With a satisfied sigh, Jess put down her fork and, after glancing at me-Minato, focused on me with a speculative gaze.
"Feel better?" I asked, setting down the teacup and meeting her gaze.
"You are Paige," she replied instead, leaning forward.
"I figured it out, you know," she continued with clear satisfaction in her voice and posture, "It all makes sense now—especially after they shot me."
"What are you talking about?" I replied, conveying confusion but nervously spinning the teacup.
"Oh, come on! Who else could you be?" she rolled her eyes.
"But I don't look like her!" I said, tugging a lock of silver hair. "See? It's not fake!"
"Of course it is!" she exclaimed passionately. "You second triggered! Now you're making me believe I see silver hair when it's really all yellow!"
I said nothing, silently studying her as I recalculated my plans.
"That's how you escaped, right? You made them believe you weren't there anymore!" Jess continued with awe in her voice and dreamy eyes.
Deciding on the course of action, I dropped the Aby Henge, revealing the original Paige form with distinct yellow eyes and hair adorned with sparse feathers that were sticking out.
"And what would you do with this knowledge?" I asked, watching her closely.
"No need to do anything or go anywhere. I am already where I need to be," she replied ambiguously and mirthfully laughed.
Enemy. Inbound. E, me-Minato, and I both felt an incoming chakra signal. Me-Minato lazily stood up while taking out the Hirashin kunai. I tried to do the same, but my body failed me. It failed to react to my commands when I tried again, leaving me locked in place. Most likely a touch-based Master, I noted absently.
"You feel it now, right?" Jess continued, leaning forward with a strange, joyful expression that looked alien on her face. "Too bad it takes time for your powers to start working, right? I always like the moment when my targets realise that they couldn't escape me, that I have full control, that I could do anything…"
"Who are you?" Me-Minato interrupted her speech, appearing behind her with a Shunshin and a kunai at her throat.
"Go ahead, slice her throat. Her fear feels so nice…" the imposter laughed out sadistically, clearly planning to say something else, only to be interrupted.
With a loud crack and falling debris, Alexandria made an entrance right through the roof, landing on three points just five steps away from the table.
Surprisingly, she didn't go all the way through the wooden floor, only cracking it slightly upon landing.
Slowly rising in a swirling dust cloud, almost as if asking everyone to admire her, she brushed her black cape back, letting it flutter dramatically and exposing her sleek black costume.
Me-Minato sharply turned to face her, still holding the imposter firmly by the back of her T-shirt, with kunai to the throat. I had to silently observe everything without even the ability to move my lips.
I was completely locked in my body by now, and numbness started to spread through my muscles at a rapid pace.
"Tether, you failed to follow the plan. Again," Alexandria said with a voice slightly muffled by her full-face helmet.
"Sorry, not sorry! Count it as a payback for shooting me in the chest!" replied Tether cheerfully.
Alexandria ignored him, me-Minato and turned in my direction, silently observing my frozen sitting form for a few moments.
"Paige McAbee, also known as Bad Canary," she started, barely changing her posture or voice tone, "you are under arrest for the criminal misuse of your abilities, including causing harm and manipulating others for personal gain. You have been convicted under the Enhanced Persons Act, and your escape has only further compounded the charges."
I watched her closely, noting every detail, from the almost invisible plates on her costume to every slight twitch. She continued to deliver her speech, still not changing tone in the slightest: "As determined by the court of law, you are sentenced to immediate and permanent detention in the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center. There will be no trial, no further appeals, and no delays. You will be transferred immediately."
"Catch," Me-Minato exclaimed.
Hiraishin kunai blinked in the air with a loud crack, embedding itself into the left side of Alexandria's helmet, right where her eye should be, causing her to jerk involuntarily.
Me-Minato was on top of her already, wrapping her flapping cloak around her head and pressing kunai deeper with a loud scratching glass sound. She tried to grab him, but he flickered out and behind her, pulling at her cloak again. Unexpectedly, Alexandria took off backwards toward him, only to blink across the room and disappear through the wall with a loud clash. Hot on his pursuit, Me-Minato followed her outside, leaving me alone with Tether.
"The fuck?!" Tether blurted out, staring wide-eyed at the hole in the wall. There were recognisable Boom-Bdaaash of the Kibaku Fudas outside, making the windows shatter.
"I think I overstayed my welcome here," Tether mumbled while hurriedly standing up and running into the hall, disappearing from my view.
I was left alone, frozen in place in a falling-apart bungalow, patiently listening to the telltale sounds of the battle and waiting.
Soon, with a whining sound, part of the wall was ripped away by a clawed metallic arm, and I saw vividly glowing blue eyes looking at me from the dragon-like head.
There was a lull in the action, and we just stared at each other, frozen in the moment. But then, with a fizzing sound, I found myself encapsulated in quickly expanding containment foam, leaving me motionless and blind in a seiza position.
The whining sound became louder, and with jerks and acceleration, my improvised cocoon started moving, and moving fast, it seemed.
Ka-Boom, Ka-Boom. Boom-Bdaaash.
Everything around me shook violently, and I felt an even greater acceleration with rapidly changing directions. The whining sound increased in intensity once more, making me fight for each breath.
My head spun, and noting the sleeping agent's effect, I felt my consciousness slipping away…
⚡
When I regained consciousness, the first thing I noticed was the cold floor. The second thing was the harsh, bright light piercing through my closed eyelids.
"Miss McAbee, I know you are conscious already," the unknown voice said.
Slowly, I opened my eyes, blinking and trying to uncurl from my uncomfortable position on the cold metal floor.
"My name is Dragon, and I oversee Birdcage operations." Dragon introduced herself.
I was missing most of my clothes, leaving me only in wet undergarments that had a strong chemical scent.
"I am really sorry for what happened to you. I tried to argue your case, but there was nothing I could do to help once you were convinced."
After stretching out, I looked around to find myself confined in the metal box. It was bare, with bright lights at the ceiling and a heavy-duty door on one side. Also, it was moving. Some sort of elevator?
"It's not fair, and you don't deserve to be here, and I am sorry for my part in it," Dragon continued in a sympathetic voice. Curious.
"Why?" I asked.
"I had no options. It was bound by the officially signed order for my participation in your capture and transfer to the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center," she replied in a subdued tone, with some hidden meaning that I noted for later and focusing on my attire.
Next to me, right on the floor, I found orange, one-piece robes with a black number on the left chest–E-09627. They were bulky, rough to the touch, and clearly not designed for comfort but for long-term use.
The metal box vibrated slightly, and I felt a change in speed. They really didn't wait to drop me into the Birdcage, did they?
"We still have a few minutes until we arrive. Let me give you an overview of the current population and leadership structure. I am placing you in cell block E..."
Oh, she slowed down the elevator, or whatever it was, to give me a heads-up about what awaited me inside the Birdcage.
I will not forget that, Dragon.
⚡
"Prisoner E-09627, please step out and move away from the elevator," announced Dragon in an official tone and continued with a whisper, "Good luck, Miss McAbee."
With a slight nod, I stepped out and looked around to see the famous Birdcage. Maybe once upon a time, it was in a pristine state, but that was long ago. Now, though, I saw a human-made cave littered with collapsed walls and concrete blocks painted in fading colours. Lighting was sparse and mainly highlighted the area around the elevator or big-sized door frames leading to different Blocks with alphabet markings, leaving everything else in deep shadows.
A faded red line marked the boundary around the elevator area, and a greeting committee stood beyond it, as Dragon said they would.
A visibly recognisable leader, E-13482, waited patiently for me to approach, her arms crossed over her well-developed chest. She silently assessed me with the cold, calculating gaze of someone accustomed to leadership, viewing everyone as a resource to be utilised effectively.
"I don't care who you are and what your name is," the leader stated as soon as I came closer. She had short-cut blond hair and piercings in her eyebrows over blue eyes.
"Dragon assigned you to our block, but now we'll see if you're worth it," she continued her speech, looking straight into my eyes.
"You do what we say, you learn our rules, and we let you stay in our block. Failing to comply would see you kicked out faster than you could say 'cape'. Am I clear?" she finished with a stern and challenging gaze.
"Clear," I replied calmly, mirroring her posture.
She stared back suspiciously, giving me once over before finally saying, "Fine. Let's move. Stay in the middle."
Her support group spread around us, and we moved deeper into the prison, crossing from one hall to another, often followed by muted whistles or catcalls.
"You will find that it's not a place for a single woman here, no matter what kind of powers you have." Said an Afro-American woman on my left side. She, too, had a piercing in the left brow and short hair.
"There is always someone who has the upper hand on you," the caucasian girl on the right continued. She looked barely twenty years old but was built like a man who spent all his time in the gym. She, too, had a piercing and short hair, this time brown.
"Our power in unity," finished the one behind me, with firm conviction in her voice.
Interesting.
⚡
"This is your cell," E-13482 said, pointing to the doorframe without the door.
It was mostly empty except for an old metal bed frame and a worn mattress. The walls were painted orange, now worn-out paint, and covered with unreadable scratches. Turning, I questionably looked at the E-13482, raising an eyebrow.
"Prove yourself, and you'll get a better deal. Josephine," she pointed to the bulky blond one," will show you around later. Don't leave your cell until then. Clear?" She asked, boring her eyes into mine.
"Clear," I replied, looking at a girl named Josephine.
She gave me a small smile and subtly waved her right-hand fingers.
Without another word, the still unnamed E-13482 turned on her heel and marched off with her escort, subordinates or bodyguards—not clear yet.
Finally, I was alone.
Stepping inside my new apartments, I moved to the far corner and, crouching down, applied the Hiraishin marker to the floor. It was a rush job, and I didn't expect it to hold for long, but it was all I needed for now.
Checking if anyone was by the door—there was no one—I applied a genjutsu-based fuin, successfully making the corner look unimportant, hiding my presence.
I exhaled—so far, so good—and finally made another shadow clone, which dispersed immediately, sending my memories back to the Boss.
My job was done. I had successfully infiltrated the Birdcage.
⚡
Location: Salt Lake City
Date: Sep 19 2010, 7:15 am
"Okay. But we make them pay." Paige said, and I smiled sharply at that. Let's see what was hiding under the under.
"Is there anything you would miss from your apartment?" I asked her, already holding one hand seal for Kage Bunshin, making two clones to prepare the bungalow for eventual departure.
"Nothing really?" She shrugged, "Why?"
"No questions, please," I said, shaking my head as I watched two of my clones play Stone-Paper-Scissors to decide who would be doing infiltration into the Birdcage. They always made the winner take the worst job, making the game more strategic than usual.
"I want to help," Paige said, reminding me that I needed to assign her tasks to keep her mind busy.
"Well, how do you feel about inventorying?" I said with a slight grin.
For the next few hours, one or another clone entered with storage seals full of things that I was not leaving behind. Paige dutifully filled up an inventory file on my laptop, sitting on my single chair in the office while I was deep in planning, spawning one or another clone to run errands.
One such clone just returned with clothes from Paige's apartment, making her give me a suspicious glaze, but she kept silent otherwise.
"I need an outfit that people have seen you in at least a few times. Undergarments included, please," I asked Paige, internally betting on whether she would ask a question now or not.
She silently picked out one after unsealing her belongings, giving me more suspicious glances.
"I don't want to know, do I?" She asked while passing it over with a deeper frown.
"Probably not," I replied with a smile while thinking about the necessity of wearing them, even if only as a clone.
By now, I was sure that events starting from Jess's shooting (or even before that) were a trap made by a high-level Precog Thinker with one primary goal—to put "Bad Canary" into Birdcage. And I was planning to hijack this plan for my own gain. I was planning to infiltrate the richest capes per square foot place in the world—The Bridcage.
One cornerstone of this plan was the fair assumption that my deception with clones could not and would not be predicted. Otherwise, they would have already found a much simpler way to target me directly.
No direct attack on this place only highlighted the effectiveness of the barriers concealing our location. Something on, or maybe even inside, Jess's body should lead them here. Perhaps a device, maybe even Tinkertech, needed to be activated to bring them here, giving me full control over when it would happen by simply keeping Jess unconscious.
They had chosen the wrong target to play underneath the underneath game this time.
⚡
We were on a nearby peak, hidden in a natural ravine and protected by one of the strongest concealing fuinjutsu, with a clear view of the bungalow below us. We had left about an hour ago, and I had left two clones behind to play our roles.
Both of us were dressed in standardised PRT uniforms, hiding any distinct features and making us faceless bystanders.
"I see movement! North North East," announced Paige. I gave her binoculars to observe any unexpected movement and trained her to do a proper lookout job since then.
Looking in the same direction, I saw a heavy-duty PRT track convoy with at least ten cars moving on the road up the mountains.
"ETA 15 minutes," I commented after silently observing their speed.
It was about time for Jess to regain consciousness. Events finally started to unfold, but the PRT movement told me that fuinjutsu only prevented them from locating us precisely while still getting a general location.
The next fifteen minutes crawled by slowly, with only the convoy to watch.
"In a case like this, you need to pay extra attention to other angles," I continued to train Paige. "This could be a decoy, and if you focus only on it, you will miss an enemy that would sneak right behind you."
"Got it," she replied, biting her lip. Since the PRT showed up, she had become increasingly nervous, reminding me about our first "real" mission when Obito and Rin joined team seven. Shaking off unwelcome right now memories, I looked around as well.
"Check, South South West. What do you see?" I asked Paige while already calculating changes to the situation with Alexandria on the horizon. It would be Plan E, then.
"That black spot on the horizon? Plane, military jet, maybe? It's moving too fast." she replied after watching it for a moment.
Giving chakra pulse Enemy. Inbound. E, I turned to Paige and smiled sharply, "No, but it might as well be."
With a supersonic boom, we saw her crushing right through the bungalow roof, making Paige involuntarily gasp and exclaim, "Jess!"
"She should be fine. Keep eyes on surroundings," I calmly replied, focusing on Alexandria crashing out of the house, which made me grin.
Boom-Bdaaash. Boom-Bdaaash. Ka Boom!
"Inbound East East South," Paige urgently said, and I had to drag my focus away from my clone antics, who threw kibaku after kibaku at the already smoking Alexandria.
"Dragon," I confirmed.
Dragon landed beside the bungalow, tore away the wall, and, after taking bait from the already smoking building, quickly took off with my decoy clone wrapped in containment foam.
My me-Minato clone spotted it in time to give them a farewell salute by throwing high-speed kibaku kunai at them, making them explode right ahead of the Dragon.
"I see Jess!" exclaimed Paige, "Oh, sorry, North North West, Jess is moving on the trail, Marker 4!"
"Hai, keep tracking her for now," I replied while watching my clone giving his all against Alexandria. We still had a few more objectives to complete here—checking the chakra effect on invincible capes like Alexandria and measuring the experience of top-ranking capes. So far, it confirmed my expectations that while she was experienced, she struggled against a highly mobile opponent. Her uniform was already damaged, leaving her body partially exposed. This allowed my clone to conduct tests with different jutsu to observe the effects on her body directly.
And if he erased any evidence left in the bungalow in a process, it was just a coincidence, of course.
"Jess passed Marked 6," announced Paige with urgency in her voice.
"Do you have a visual?" I asked.
"Negative," she replied, turning to me and biting her lips again.
"Good, now get down," I said while sending a chakra pulse with the message - Phase Two.
Me-Minato clone decided to disengage with dramatics by pulling out a vividly red seal with a sinister smile - oh-nine-oh-ten - "Get Down!" I tackled down, confused Paige, who ignored my previous command.
KAAABOOM
I doubted anything was left standing after that, completely erasing everything below us where the bungalow had stood before. The small stone shower reached us from a mile away, more vertically than horizontally, making it more nuanced than a real danger here.
"What was that?" screamed Paige when everything calmed down. I was already looking over the Zero point and around, trying to see the damage to Alexandria. I found her another mile away by the raised dust cloud from her crashing spot into the mountain.
Her costume was completely ruined, and she was slightly swaying on her feet. Not long after, a white portal opened next to her, and she wobbled through it, disappearing from the scene.
Interesting.
"Minato? Did you just blow up Alexandria?" Paige asked, half amazed and half incredulous, as she looked over the crater where the bungalow used to be.
"She survived," I calmly replied, giving once over the place. It was time for us to leave this place as well, and I found myself already missing my quiet bungalow in the mountains.
⚡
Location: Salt Lake City
Date: Sep 19 2010, 10:45 am
We appeared in a cave I'd accidentally found one day, exploring a mountain cave system. It was my second safe house, reserved for emergencies, and it was time to use it.
"What is this place?" Paige asked, looking around with interest, taking the PRT helmet off.
The platform in the middle, made with Doton jutsu, was raised above the cave floor, creating the illusion of it floating in the middle of the cave. Fuinjutsu lightning only added to this illusion, casting a soft blue hue from above the platform.
"Safehouse," I replied, walking over to the working area and dropping my helmet on the table.
I didn't have much here—just one platform, not even separated by walls—but I had designated areas for sleeping, eating, and working. The working area included shelves with storage scrolls, a table with a large screen (I blame my clone for that), and a fancy computer chair.
Grabbing the scroll and the tea set, I walked to the small eating area. We would be here for some time, waiting for updates from the clone tracking down Jess and the one infiltrating the Birdcage.
"More like the Batcave to me," she joked, making me smile.
Paige loved the Batman movies imported from Aleph Earth, and I watched them all back in the days when I was still stuck inside her. It would've been a lie to say those movies hadn't somewhat inspired the setup here.
Unsealing the teapot, I put it on the fuin to boil the water. Five minutes and tea would be ready.
"What is it?" I heard Paige curiously asking and looked up.
She was next to the medical carts, each one carrying a black body bag, and was already unzipping one. The carts were put aside, almost at the platform's edge, looking out of place. It was no surprise that she became curious.
"Dead bodies," I calmly replied, focusing back on the steaming teapot.
Hearing Paige gasp, I looked up again. I expected her to react, of course, but I thought she would react more strongly. After all, she saw her own dead body.
She slowly zipped the bag back, her fingers trembling, and walked around to the second cart, checking on Jess's fake body now.
"It's not real, right?" She asked with a trembling voice.
"No comments yet," I replied, taking a teapot of the fuin and starting to make tea.
It was other people's corpses modified to look like Jess and Paige. They were prepared for the worst-case scenario: if PRT decided to bomb the bungalow, one of the clones would teleport with Jess here while sending these two bodies back to the bungalow, leaving enough evidence of a successful mission for PRT.
Paige sank heavily into the opposite chair, burying her face in her hands. This was her first real mission, and I expected her to break down emotionally at any moment. At least she didn't have to fight herself, but the sight of dead bodies finally made it real for her.
"What do we do now?" She asked through the sobs.
"We wait," I replied, putting a tea with a calming mix in front of her.
"You did great," I added, gently smiling while watching her pick through her fingers, "but now you need to drink this. Trust me on that."
⚡
"Any news?" Paige asked what felt like a hundred times, stopping her anxious pacing beside me.
Two hours later, as lunchtime approached, Paige was becoming increasingly agitated. She didn't know what had happened inside the bungalow. She also didn't know that Jess had been compromised.
From her perspective, my clone had to find Jess and bring her here. Then, we could go on with our lives with Jess out of PRT's clutches or whatever way she justified everything right now.
Unfortunately, before saying anything, I needed to wait until my clone got inside Birdcage. The less anyone knew about my plan, the better. The fact that I hadn't known what was transparent inside the bungalow since we left didn't help matters either, but that needed to be the case for now.
"Soon," I replied patiently and flipped a page in the book with the orange cover I was reading. It wasn't written by Jiraya, of course, but nevertheless, it helped to pass the time in waiting.
"What are you reading?" She asked, picking over my shoulder.
I silently unsealed the first book in the series and passed it to her, continuing to read—the scene in the book was just getting to the interesting part.
"Minato, is that…" Paige started to ask, but just then, my clone appeared with Jess in his hands, clearly in pain and twisting all the wrong way. What happened to her now?
After putting convulsing Jess on the coffee table, the clone stood up and looked back at me with a sombre expression and intense gaze, evoking a strong deja vu. What had happened to Jess was important enough for him to return with her ahead of time, possibly jeopardising the plan.
I had to make a decision: wait until we received news from the clone in the Birdcage or risk the plan to know too much too early. While it was logical to let my own clone make that decision, he would have done so already if necessary.
"Jess?!?" Paige exclaimed, coming out of her stupor.
"Do it," I said, making a decision in Jess's favour and watching the clone disperse.
⚡
Enemy. Inbound. E.
Plan E, then. The high-level cape was inbound, and my role was to show enough resistance but let them take "Paige" away.
Reaching for the Hiraishin kunai, I slowly stood up and cleared my mind. The planning and preparation time was over, and the first layers were beginning to fall away.
Me-Paige clone failed to move, and Jess, or whoever was in control of the body, started their I-am-the-smartest-here monologue, giving me a clue as to what happened to Jess and what their powers were. Touch-based Master then, I concluded—fine by me, I could do no-touch.
With quick Shunshin, I was in perfect position behind the imposter before they could react. With kunai to their throat and hand between shoulder blades, I was in complete control over their movements without even touching the skin, leaving no opening to strike at me.
"Who are you?" I distracted them with a question while putting Hiraishin marker on the T-shirt. Here, I would find them anywhere now, for the next hour or so.
Unfortunately, the monologue was interrupted by none other than Alexandria. Adjusting my position and putting the imposter between us, I evaluated her, categorising each detail for the fight ahead: confident posture, right-handed, reinforced black uniform, flapping cape?
She was a strong opponent, and I was looking forward to fighting her. It had been a while since I had to go against a formidable opponent, and I was itching to do so now.
I waited for her to finish her speech and empty her lungs before throwing wind chakra-enforced kunai in her left eye with a loud "Catch!"
With Shunshin, I was on top of her in time to push kunai deeper, testing her resistance. I also wrapped the cape around her helmet–maybe she will learn to leave it at home–and felt something crushed inside. Fake eye, really?
She attempted to grab me—a smart move. Evading, I jumped behind her and pulled by the ends of her cape. As expected, she tried to ram me, allowing me to teleport her across the room—to the market on the wall—successfully sending her through the wall.
I jumped through the new exit outside, throwing Kibaku fuda made out of hex nuts at her.
Boom-Bdaash-Boom-Boom-Bdaaash
She tried to evade, to take off, using the smoke and rising dust as cover, but I felt her location through the Hiraishin marker I left on her helmet.
Jumping up, I teleported her right under me with her momentum facing down, making her crash right into the ground with a sonic boom. Dropping a few more hexes into a new hole, I Shunshin out of the blast area, watching for her next move.
This time, she slowly rose into the air, floating out of the crater while turning to face me. Staring at me, she tore off her smoking cape and ripped her helmet apart, exposing a charred socket in her left eye. Still, her lower face was covered by a black mask, hiding her facial features.
"Surrender now, or face the consequences of your actions," Alexandria said authoritatively. "I am not in the mood for games today."
I just started to throw Kibaku fuda's at her and Shunshin around. What a great target practice.
Left leg, Right leg, One arm, another arm–bit by bit, I was shredding with hexes her fancy uniform and exposing her skin–I needed to see when I actually draw blood. I needed to find her limit.
She started to zip around, trying to ram me with her fist. Sometimes, I let her get close enough almost to touch me right before I Shunshin or teleport, leaving another explosion behind.
Pretending to be occupied with a fight, I let Dragon land and grab the fake Paige, only reacting when it was "too late" to save her.
I carefully targeted space ahead of the Dragon's flying path, making explosions close enough to make them believe they had succeeded.
"She is out of your reach now. Surrender, and I'll make sure you see her again," I heard Alexandria's voice from behind in the same self-assured tone as before.
Phase two
"My name is Namikaze Minato," I said, slowly turning to face her. But you can call me Yellow Flash."
With a foxy smile, I released Sakki, pulling out a specially prepared 09010 seal on the bright red-painted piece of wood.
She took off immediately, and I let her go—just for a moment—before triggering the seal.
In the next moment, I was on a nearby peak, marker 2, watching the rising mushroom cloud in the place where the bungalow had been. I'd known that there would come a time to leave this place behind, but I'd hoped to leave it in one piece, to return one day.
It wasn't Konoha, but it was my first home on this planet, and someone would pay for that.
Just before the shockwave reached me, I jumped again, in the direction where I still felt a slowly moving marker on the Jess T-shirt.
Tether I am coming.
⚡
It didn't take much time to catch up on Jess. She was loud, didn't really try to hide, and her running was all strange. Whoever was controlling the body now didn't care about all the damage they were doing to it, making me worry if she would collapse before we saw Tether.
Fortunately, she made it to some shady mountain trail before that, but instead of moving further, she hid in bushes and practically froze in place, reminding me about how the "Paige" clone was immobilised.
For the next hour, I had to watch her sitting in one place, not moving and not really reacting, while all this time discouraging wild animals from approaching her.
When I saw a black PRT SUV approaching uphill the trail, I knew that waiting time was over. I just had to be sure that whoever met her was actually a Tether and not another proxy in his place.
I saw him stopping and making Jess move again, making her walk to the SUV and sit inside, delivering marker inside with her.
When I jumped inside, I was met with an unexpected picture. The driver and Jess were both unconscious.
The driver, a chubby male in a tweed suit, started to regain consciousness first, and I paralysed him with Kanashibari no Jutsu. Just in case, I turned to Jess and did the same.
"What did you do to her, Tether," I asked, leaking strong enough Sakki to make him pee.
Leaning forward, I positioned kunai, so he could see my eyes in the blade, I whispered in his right ear, "Talk now, or I take your eye out, as I took one from Alexandria," making him whimper in fear. Good.
"She… she ttr-trr-tre ged!" He replied, baffling me completely.
"I swear! I didn't touch her! She just sat down and, and, and. I swear, I swear. I swear," by the end of his rumbling, he was crying, starting to mumble unrecognisably.
She triggered? Did she just become cape herself? Kuso.
"Release her," I sharply commanded, adding more Sakki.
He trembled and started to shake his head negatively, saying, "I don't… don't… don't. I swear, I don't k-k-k-control her."
Just then, Jess screamed and started to convulse. Kuso.
"No, No, No, we need to go, go. Yes, go. It's bad, it's bad!" Tether started to rumble, even shaking through the binds itself.
Then I felt it. It was like a small star lit up inside her body. The star I only felt from my clones, from Paige only, until now.
Chakra.
Jess gave away a long, chilling scream, bending and breaking the bind I placed on her. Kuso.
"Please, just please, let me go, please, please," Tether begged and whimpered.
"What do you know?" I cut him. I needed more information, and now.
"Nothing, I swear, nothin'!" He replied, panicking.
"Talk, and I'll let you go," I tried a different approach while putting one hand on Jess, trying to understand what was going on with her.
Thether shook his head first but then started to giggle.
"If I say a word, she will come," Tether said, shaking his head. "She will come, and I die."
There was a growing chakra system in her body, but it was all wrong, and her body… her body was a boiling cauldron. One more push and it would spill out. Kuso.
"Cauldron," I said, making lines between dots. The vials with strange cauldron-like symbols, the monster capes with similar tattoos on them, and the powers.
"Don't say! Don't say! They'll know, they kill us!" Tether panicked even more.
"She might turn into a monster cape, that's what you know," I stated, looking at Jess again. Whatever was happening to her was not that. No other cape, except Paige, ever blinked on my radar as a chakra carrier.
"Shut up, just shut up," cried out with whimpers Tether.
Did the same happen to Paige when she drank a vial? Was there another soul from my home slowly merging with Jess now? But then, why was it all wrong?
Something changed. Looking around, I saw a white glimpse between the tree line on my right, but it was gone immediately.
"Fine," I slowly said, teleporting Jess next to me, " I let you go, just do me a favour."
"Anything! I swear, I'll do anything!" Tether exclaimed with a voice full of hope, unaware of his approaching fate.
"Take this body with you," I said, teleporting on a front-sit corpse modified after Jess's body, "whoever asks, you found her like this already."
"Yes, yes, I found her dead already. Don't know anything!" He enthusiastically agreed.
"Drive now," I commanded, releasing him from the bind.
He eagerly did so, turning the engine on and starting to turn the car around, bringing the Woman In Fedora into view with a rocket launcher on her shoulder.
"No, noooo," Tether started to say in a panicked voice, and in slow motion, I saw the rocket fire up and begin approaching us, leaving a smoking trail behind.
Taking Jess in my hands, I was watching her—the Woman In Fedora—until the last moment, paying attention to each detail, every movement, categorising and memorising.
I was sure we would meet again, but for now, I had something more important in my hands.
⚡