Two weeks later

"It's good to hear from you," Breanna smiled as she listened to chatter on the other end, "we'll have to do a group thing soon."

Closing her phone, she smiled. It was always good to hear from Jesse. He had stayed in touch, but today was the first day they had chatted about anything else but what was happening with Darcia.

Valencia would be home soon, hopefully with some Mexican take-out, a bottle of wine and the game Cluedo. Surprisingly they both enjoyed it. Moving into the kitchen, Breanna suddenly stopped eased slowly to the left of the doorway.

A sudden inner calm came over her. The air around her stilled. Silence pushed the energy vibrations against her skin, raising them to stand at attention. Closing her eyes, she felt herself follow the surge of energy that seemed to be seeking her. On a reflex, she gripped the door frame. She knew the owner of this ability. Their gladiator type battle had drawn a tie. The source of energy seemed to be at the front of the house. Breanna knew she had precious moments before it either moved to the beachside of the house or it started to "suck" her toward it. Her mind raced for the answer to what had finally defeated this offensive tactic. Grasping on to the vibration, Breanna narrowed her eyes and began to absorb the energy.

Slowly she moved to the sink. She felt rising panic as she deliberately absorbed more of the energy. Grasping the wooden cutting board to her, she turned on the tap, letting the water run. Breathing in, she thrust her hand into the stream of water, connecting the energy stream to the water as she exhaled. She heard a blood-curdling scream from the small patch of grass in the front of the house, and the energy stream released her, leaving her energised. Breanna grinned like a recharge of a battery. The sensation was new. Last time she had felt drained. Another advantage of not wearing a necklace.

"Breanna," the chilling voice of Dr Maden called in a sing-song fashion from the patio, "you may have taken out my man, but I have a friend of yours."

Breanna felt a chill to her core, but the eery calm remained. Walking to the patio door, Breanna took in the heart-stopping vision on the edge of the patio.

Valencia.

He held Valencia from behind, his hulking, hairy pale hand grasping her throat.

"You come out and surrender yourself," he chuckled, "or I snap her neck like a twig."

Breanna reached for the alarm panel while keeping eye contact with the insanity filled gaze, daring her to comply. Punching in a two-digit code before continuing with the door deactivation code, she waited until the buzzing ceased before opening the door and stepping onto the patio.

Humming resumed as the door closed. Now for the final confrontation. Breathing out, Breanna took two slow and steady steps forward, her gaze never leaving the gloating Doctor.

"Darcia warned you what would happen if you didn't return," Madden sneered, "she gave you a choice. You didn't listen."

"Nothing, my sister, says or does concerns the matter of choice," Breanna said.

"Will you be coming home?" Madden asked.

"I have no home with my sister," Breanna said.

"Then your friend dies," Madden said.

"Val," Breanna said, "don't you think it's about time you sing?"

"I'm about to snap her neck, and you want her to sing," the Doctor laughed manically, reminding Breanna of the evil villains in the movies and cartoons. She could see him listening to them, practising the various versions and then picking one. Shaking her head, she slid her gaze to Valencia.

"Yes," Breanna said evenly, "I want her to S.I.N.G" Valencia's slight nod went unnoticed, "she can begin whenever she wishes."

"Which song will she sing," the nauseating laugh continued, "a ballad ..."

Breanna noticed the hand around Valencia's neck slacking as the joke was enjoyed. Giving the nod, Breanna watched with pride as Valencia pulled her fist up to her chin before slamming her elbow into the solar flex of the surprised man. In quick succession, the instep was impaled by a metal stiletto heel. Valencia fisted her hand, meeting the downward journey of the nose with an upcoming fist. This succeeded in releasing Valencia's throat from the beefy paw as it moved to hold a now bleeding nose. Valencia spun, stepped back and delivered a crippling kick to the groin area.

"Move," Breanna yelled as the crunch could be heard, "to the left."

Valencia spun out of Breanna's way, moving beyond the point of the invisible protection grid. She watched a determined, calculated Breanna fly past her, raising dust in her wake. Since when did Breanna become so fast? Mesmerised, Valencia watched Breanna grip the groaning man from his crumpled position, slamming him into the broad trunk of a nearby fern.

"You dared touch a civilian," she snarled, grasping his throat with her right hand, "you dared use Valencia as a bargaining chip to get to me."

Valencia stared wide-eyed as a red-black haze formed across Breanna's skin.

"Oh damn," she whispered, stepping back until she could not feel the heat rolling off of Breanna, "he is in so much trouble."

The buzzing in her bag had her quickly pulling out her mobile and answering the call from Jesse.

"Val," Jesse said urgently, "where is Breanna? I cannot raise her on her phone."

"If she has her phone on her right now," whispered Valencia, "it's probably fried."

"Where is she?" Jesse snapped.

"Ah, pinning Doc Chemical to a tree," Valencia said quietly, "I'll send you a recording."

Slowly she cancelled the call and activated her video function she began to record. If the others didn't see this, there was no way they would believe her.

Breanna felt her anger rising, anger at what had been done to her, anger that she was not being left alone … all-consuming rage.

"Let it own you, Breanna," gasped the evil, twisted man in front of her, "then you will truly be ours."

"That is something neither Darcia nor yourself would understand," Breanna ground out, "I was never owned. Not by you, you twisted little man and certainly not by my insane sister. I am my own person and will remain that way."

Right behind the anger rose an icy tentacle racing down Breanna's arm into Madden. She watched to total calmness as his eye widened, his mouth opened as if on a silent scream. Breanna could feel the man's pain through the tentacle. She could feel it being twisted, jabbed, and cut at. She felt no satisfaction in this ability she knew nothing of; in the moment of intense agony and paralysing fear, Breanna knew what she had to do.

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Leaning forward until she was close enough to smell the fetid breath, Breanna snarled out her ultimatum.

"Tell Darcia the following. She stops sending people to do her dirty work and leave me and whomever I may know or have under my protection alone, or she will run out of errand boys. I never want to see you near this area again. If I do, I shall not stop at this point," she watched the beady black eyes widen as he took in the meaning behind the words, "make sure she adheres to this or the next person I deal with …" Breanna snarled, "... will be her."

Pulling the squirming man from the tree, she threw him over the bordering shrubs and plants, tossing him like the vile, evil thing he was onto the beach. She stood staring as he staggered to his feet, wiping the spittle from his chin and moving away toward a distant jetty.

When Breanna could no longer see him, she turned toward the patio. Valencia held her phone up.

"What are you doing?" Breanna asked, confusion rising in place of the eerie, weird sensations.

"Just recording something you may want to see. Jesse will only believe this if I send it to him," Valencia turned her attention to her phone.

"Let me see," Breanna started forward.

"Wait. Let me turn off the grid first," Valencia called, punching in a code, "okay, come onto the patio."

Breanna stood near the table before the grid reactivated.

"You know you are terrifying when getting angry and losing your temper."

"What are you talking about?" Breanna said, her voice sounding rough to her ears, "I didn't lose my temper. I gave him an ultimatum."

"Really?" Valencia planted her hands on her hips, "if that was giving an ultimatum, I wouldn't have been against the house wall avoiding the heat rippling off your fire."

"What are you talking about?" Breanna frowned, "I was not on fire."

Valencia fiddled with her phone once again, "Look at this," she extended her arm carefully toward Breanna.

Breanna watched herself erupt in a red-black haze while speaking to the panting, writhing man against the tree.

"I don't know what you were doing to him, but he looked like his liver was being pulled through his throat," Valencia said.

"That's me?" Breanna stared in amazement, "Was the last time anything like this?"

"No," Valencia shook her head, dropping her arm with the phone still in her hand, "last time, it was like an aura … a white aura. Last time you were still on the charts, this time ..." Valencia shook her head, "you weren't even on the planet."

"I guess I have to keep my temper under control," Breanna said. "I do know we won't be revisited by Darcia's House of Madness."

"That is good news," Valencia nodded, "you need to have a shower and change clothes." Valencia turned to the edge of the patio, retrieving a takeaway package from the Mexican Restaurant, "I'll prepare the food and pour the wine."

"Sounds like a plan," Breanna nodded, waiting for Valencia to deactivate and open the door before moving through, "Wow! I don't smell good at all. See you in a few."

Six months later

"Fiona Masters?" Breanna murmured, stopping next to a scared-looking woman wearing a rectangular necklace, nursing a drink, "if you're coming with me, drop the necklace into this glass of water."

Pushing a clear glass of water toward the woman. Breanna sipped her soda while she waited. The woman rolled her neck on her shoulders, raised a slightly trembling hand and pulled the necklace. Snapping the chain with a slight twang. Casually she reached over and dropped the oriental designed trinket into the clear liquid. Immediately is bubbled, working through a spectrum of colours before clearing. Breanna noted each one but took a video of the event for the record.

"Do you know your level?" Breanna asked, not looking at the woman.

"I remember seeing my chart with a five to six," the woman reached for her drink "how do we get out of here?"

"Carefully," Breanna said, putting money on the counter for both drinks. Picking up the glass holding the necklace, she pushed it into a secure carry pouch, "Moving to the back door. We may meet with resistance," Breanna met the woman's gaze for the first time, "are your fighting skills good?"

A light green, haunted gaze met hers steadily, "Excellent. Show the way and let me have my revenge," the woman pushed away from the bar and followed Breanna from the bar.

Outside the ground in front of them sprayed with gunfire, Breanna felt the gun pushed into the back of her jeans, leaving its space.

"One experiment," the soft voice of the woman behind her whispered, as the gun came over Breanna's shoulder at an angle and the shot met its mark, "shall we go?"

"How did you know?" Breanna asked.

"I hear frequencies," she murmured, "and sometimes the conversations."

"That could be handy," Breanna nodded, checking the area outside the door, "we are moving to the left," Breanna said in hushed tones, "nice shot, by the way."

"Thanks," Fiona murmured, "I've wanted to do that for a long time."

Pulling her phone from her pocket Breanna pressed a speed dial, "It's me," she put her hand out, flattening Fiona against the wall, as two black-clad men rounded the corner. Fiona raised the gun and fired, the bodies dropped, lying motionless in front of them, "we're a block away."

Making the second block without any more surprises, Breanna pushed Fiona into the back of Jesse's decked out van before closing the door and taking the gun.

"Clio?" Fiona frowned, "is that you?"

"Glad we could help you, Fiona," Clio extended her hand, helping Fiona to sit. "The encounters are increasing. Darcia must be wanting her merchandise back, Breanna."

"Maybe," Breanna sank into a seat, "but I don't think the merchandise will want to go back."

"Hell no," Fiona shook her head before rubbing at her temples.

"Did you know Fiona is a crack shot?" Breanna asked, looking at Clio.

"I knew she could shoot," Clio said, "but I had no idea she was that accurate."

The van came to a stop, Breanna phone buzzed.

Looking at the text, she smiled at the two women, "This is my stop. Welcome to freedom, Fiona. Clio, keep me informed of developments." Breanna smiled then, "Enjoy the evening and should you need any entertainment in the early hours, Clio has a wonderful range of books."

Pulling the van's side door open, Breanna stepped out and into the shadows. The door slid closed behind her. The engine hummed as the vehicle moved off, leaving her walking onto the beach before heading for the patio.

Entering the house, Breanna noticed the doorway to the basement was open. Slowly descending, she watched as Valencia typed quickly at the keyboard.

"Thanks for opening," Breanna said softly, "the extraction was a relatively quiet one."

"Was it actually Fiona Masters?" Valencia asked.

"It is," Breanna smiled, "if you can open her profile. Clio has her work cut out for her with this one. She shot three experiments as easily as swatting a fly."

Valencia grinned, "Another asset Darcia will be fuming about." Turning toward the monitor again, her fingers furiously working, "We move forward, one step at a time."

Breanna smiled as she watched Valencia enter information gleaned about the latest extraction.

Yes, they would all move forward … one step at a time. Breanna frowned slightly; she couldn't help feeling the fanatics weren't there for the extracted experiment but for herself. What was her sister planning now?

The body flew across the chamber, slamming into the opposite walls with a bone-crunching thud.

"Another experiment has turned traitor," Darcia bellowed, "that is the fourth one in six months. More agents have been taken out." Darcia punched into the metal desk, leaving a noticeable dent, "if Breanna keeps interfering, we will never achieve our dream."

"Darcia, darling," Doctor Madden murmured from behind her as he ran his hands along her arms and held her hands, "we will have to achieve our dreams another way. There are more ways to skin a cat."

"Hmmm," Darcia leant back against her precious Doctor Maden, "what would you propose?"

"Infiltration," he whispered, "seldom does anyone believe it could be someone they saved."

"Very clever," Darcia giggled coldly, "I love the way you think. She will never see it coming."

Hand in hand, they left the room.

Watchful grey eyes silently took in everything happening, heard everything being said, and noted everything planned. These new developments would need to be watched. There may be something that could be revealed or left for someone to find. Darcia never thought of him any longer, not unless there is a diabolical gadget to be made. She thought he had been crushed and controlled. Darcia knew nothing of a phoenix.

That is what he is …. A Phoenix biding his time to rise from the ashes.