-July 9th. Saturday. Ishida House-

Jake held up the Dummy Doll and watched it hover above his hands. He watched as it scanned him. After it finished, it glowed brightly as mana enveloped. It enlarged itself to create a complete copy of Jake. Jake snorted at his copy, and it shrugged at him.

"Thanks again, bye." He stepped into the closet.

"Bye." It replied, then left the room.

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-Two hours later-

"Everyone." Luka stood before the Radiant and Pilot. "I have checked on the patients that night and the day after. In conclusion... there are no side effects."

"None at all?" asked Christina.

"Compared to the others who were fully exposed one by one. The man Jake encountered on June 13 had no side effects after spending a day with her. The 'gym rats', as you called them, have no side effects. The juggler at the mental institute is being medicated along with the other two, who were with Mistress M for a long period. Now, the group who were exposed to her by an enchanted vehicle. It appeared to have sucked in their rage to become that monster. After regaining consciousness, they don't show traces of being mentally unstable, but they lost their memory of that night."

"None at all?" Sam sounded slightly relieved. "They don't remember us being there?"

"I thought it was weird he never called dad to boast about me being at a Street Racing event."

"What did they think happened?" asked the fire warrior.

"What do you get when there are drugs and alcohol?" inquired the bird woman.

"The usual, I see." The ice warrior spoke up. "The good thing is their behavior has not radically changed, right?"

"I am keeping track of many of them." She gestured to the monitor of the dots on the screen of Parkerville. "By the end of the month, I should know what is permanent."

"And..." Jake gazed at the blinking dots. "This is kind of awkward. Keeping an eye on their movements."

"I know, but to know the long-term effects is important."

"Yeah, I get it."

"Forget about tracking people. Umbrella lady is going to use things to draw in energy." said Ryu with a determined look. "She better not touch the skate park or video games. Gamers can rage over losing a battle or someone messing with their content."

"Damn." muttered the wind warrior. "Now I imagine a whole group getting worked up over something, then Miss Crazy Eyes turning a game console into a monster, then they praise her like she is some goddess. It's going to be insane."

"So we're putting gamers and video games on the list?" questioned the light warrior. "Let's add figurines and board games. I know Rei and Lance get weirdly passionate about them."

The water warrior gave a sinister smile. "The Bow Bow Buddies incident."

Then Amy paled at the mention of the name and pounced on the girl. "YOU PROMISED NEVER TO BRING IT UP!" She whined.

The braided-haired raven stared blankly at the outburst. "You had an addiction to those things."

"THINGS!" The long-haired brunette turned to her with an angry look, freaking out everyone in the room. "My collection could have been complete if it weren't for... him."

Jake turned to Ryu, who snorted. "All I know is she couldn't complete the collection, went weirdly crazed, then they had a Viking funeral without inviting me. I could've shot the arrow."

"We did not have a Viking funeral." sighed the short-haired raven girl. "Me, Rei, and Diana had to physically restrain her while Andrew burned them over a fire pit."

"And that's when I learned not to let material things ruin me." sighed the long-haired brunette.

"Or at least not freak out over stuff anim- I mean over... uh, engineered crafts made by wonderful craftsmen." Sam changed his wording after getting a glare from the girl.

The ice warrior made a mental note to hide her three Bow Bow Buddies or be on the receiving end of an episode.

"At this point." The red-headed canokian said, thinking how these kids were all too energetic, "Anything can give rise to anger. She upped her abilities to turn things into monsters instead of using people as incubators. The side effects will remain under investigation, right, Luka?"

"Correct, that is the end of my report." The physician shut down the monitor. "Thank you for your time."

"No, thank you." The spiky-haired raven responded. "This gives us a new insight... right?"

"Of course." The water warrior crossed her arms. "Meddlesome woman thinks she can try and manipulate people."

"She kind of is." Amy said solemnly. "If we know where to find her."

"If she wants to be found." Pilot glanced at her. "She may have learned from her previous encounter and set up defenses to keep from being spotted until she gets what she wants."

"The waiting game is not fun." The box-faded cut teen snorted.

"In the meantime, we'll enjoy the summer as much as we can." spoke the light user.

"Anywhere exciting?" inquired the ice user.

The spiky redhead blinked. "Huh? You want to do something with us?"

"Yes." The ice warrior said. "I want to... if you don't, that's fine. I have been avoiding going out with you."

"Of course!" The bright girl perked up. "We're a team, and we need team bonding. We have to do it out there! We can't always stay here watching movies and messing up the kitchen."

"On!" Luka smiled. "The seven pies you all made were delicious."

"Really? We were experimenting. You can't possibly think they were all good." said the water warrior.

"Jake made bacon and tomato pie, Ryu made apple and beans pie, Chrissy made Oregano and lemon pie, I made coconut and artichoke pie, Tina made gouda and pecan pie, Tanya made Caramel and Melon pie, and Sam made Strawberry and meat sauce pie."

"Oh, those were not normal?" spoke the bird woman.

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"They said it was experimental." Pilot walked out of the room. "They failed."

"Gang, we failed." Jake chuckled. "Better luck next time."

"Ya know." Sam stared at the door. "One minute he's helpful, and the next he can be an ass."

"He is more genuine than the usual people." Tanya spoke. "That is his charm."

"Even if there is a stick in his rear." Ryu chuckled. "He might have a secret past that made him like that... right?"

Luka smiled. "Sure, but whether or not he will tell you is up to him."

"In the meantime," The light warrior stood up. "I know a place we can go."

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-Control Room-

"You can use this to teleport people from here as well?" Tina asked Reinstar. The two of them were in a room that looked like a fancier version of NASA's Mission Control Center.

"Yes." said the shinobi.

"Here, the monitor room, and the teleporter... any other."

"There is one in the kitchen and the med room."

The young girl was confused. "So why keep this room?"

"In case of serious situations like war or, let's say, an enemy overtakes a city, we will use this to monitor the situation and communicate on multiple fronts to those out on the battle zone."

"I see..." Tina spoke silently. "In case of something serious, but you can use this to communicate with them right?"

"Yes." The ninja smiled. "You can also watch their fights too."

Tina blinked. "Huh, can you teach me how to work this?"

"Hmm... I will have to get Pilot's permission, but I won't mind."

"I know I can't perform the moves they can." The teenager gave a stern glare. "But I want to be useful in some way."

"Alright," I let Pilot know and teach you how to work the controls."

"Thank you."

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-Three hours later-

The group was across the city, watching an outdoor situational stage show. Amy, Christina, and Tanya had a blanket laid out while the others went to look for snacks.

"What do you all think?" inquired the water warrior.

"I am slightly intrigued by them trying to do a modern take on one of Shakespeare's plays." the ice warrior said. "But do they really have to try to have modern lingo, and why does Hamlet sound like a wet blanket?"

"Ah, so it's not just me." Christina smiled sadly. "I thought something was wrong."

"But we paid for this." Amy glanced at them. "It's bad in a certain way."

"Do they know that?" Christina spoke. "I will blog about this when I get home." She took out a notepad and jotted down notes. "This and that."

"Or write a brutal review." Tanya grimaced at one of the actors. "Honestly, 8-year-olds can do a better reenactment."

"Depends on if they can do it." The short-haired raven grimaced as she turned to the long-haired chestnut. "Remember when our school tried to do a musical of Annie?"

"She could not sing."

"Was it that bad?" inquired the braided raven.

"Let me put it this way." the water girl sighed. "Wrong people in wrong roles, and someone got sick during their lines."

"I guess it was." hummed the snowwoman.

"Oh, so it is her!"

The warning bells went off in Tanya's head. She hoped it was not her mind playing tricks on her, but she needed to know. When she turned around, her heart dropped at the sight of Rita Gonzales and three of her ex-friends. Christina and Amy noticed Tanya's fearful expression, shifting their gaze to the girl that caught Tanya's attention.

"So it is you." Rita smirked briefly before frowning. "Now my day is ruined." She scowled. "What are you going to do?"

Tanya blinked before realizing what she meant. She sighed. "It is a big park."

"But knowing you are here is a mood-inducing migraine." She chuckled. "Fine, you can stay, but only for the next 30 minutes. Then you leave."

"Excuse me!?" Christina shot up. "Who the hell do you think you are? Tell someone to leave when they aren't bothering you!?"

"Hey." One of the girls growled. "Watch what you say around Ms. Rita Gonzales."

"Do I care?" The water warrior crossed her arms, glancing at Tanya. "Are you serious? Are you letting this idiot tell you to move?"

The black girl closed her eyes tightly. "Christina, please don't."

The water user seemed taken aback at the girl's change in demeanor. All that confidence melted down to fear. She turned to Rita, who looked conceited. It clicked in her head, realizing why the girl set her social page to private and rarely posted. "Something happened. You did something."

"Are you accusing me of something?" Rita scoffed. "She's a weirdo."

"Her behavior explains it all."

Amy stood up and stared at Rita. "She does not have to leave, but we were here first. There is no reason to continue to treat her this way. Whatever happened, could you ignore her, please?"

Rita glared at Amy. "Where would the fun in that be?"

"It's wrong." Amy stood before her defiantly. "Please stop terrorizing my friend."

"Friend, huh?" Rita giggled. "We were close too. This girl was not thinking about who was in charge."

"Whatever she did, I think you need to forgive her or stop messing with her."

"Hmph." Rita glared into her. "What would you know?"

"I don't like it when people pick on others." The chestnut-haired girl stared on, gaze unwavering."

"What's going on?"

The voice belonged to Jake as he, Ryu, and Sam walked up with snacks.

Rita sighed and brushed aside her hair. "More friends, Winfield?" She looked up and down the boys. "Which one is your boyfriend?"

"Dude, this is some mean girl vibes." The redhead remarked before noticing Tanya looking down at the ground. "Tanya, you okay?"

The wind warrior crossed his arms, watching the ice warrior's posture. "Sis, is this little girl bothering you?"

Rita scowled. "Little girl, do you know who I am?"

"Yeeaah," Sam stressed his word sarcastically. "Don't have time for that."

"I don't know what's going on." Jake said while staring at her with narrowed eyes. "Let's not have a bad situation here."

"Hey, you don-." One of the girls was interrupted by Rita, who held her hand up.

"He's right. We are here to enjoy ourselves." She gazed at the play. "By sighing at the pitiful performance." She smiled at Jake. "Bye."

The group walked away while flipping their hair in a manner of disrespect. Once further away, Amy looked at Tanya, who had covered her face while shaking slightly. "Tanya... are you okay?"

"Damn." She responded. "Damn."

"Who was that witch?" Christina sat next to the girl. "And why are you intimidated by her?"

"I..." She stood up. "I need to go."

"Tanya." Jake spoke up. "This girl, do you want to tell us?"

"She sounds like a really good prank could set her straight." said the redhead.

"Unless you can get away with it." The wind warrior snorted.

"I just need to head home, see daddy, and..." The ice user started panicking.

"What did she do?" The water warrior started worrying.

"Just..."

"Tanya." The light warrior walked up and grabbed the girl's hand. "It's okay, don't run."

"Amy."

"You can trust us. It does not have to be today. You can tell us when you are ready."

The ice warrior gazed at the girl for a bit, then nodded. "Alright... I will tell you tomorrow. Promise."

"Tanya." the redhead spoke up. "The code is 'Rad Red Royal Rampage'." He spoke seriously.

"Tanya." The water woman stared at her nonchalantly. "Never invoke that, or else you want a headache."

The wind warrior glanced at Ryu. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," He smirked deviously.

"You're a goofy bro, red."

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-Ishida household, 5:40 pm-

Jake went to Tina's room and found papers and books scattered around the room. He looked at the board and was a bit intrigued by pictures and documents with strings pointing to different documents with a drawing of Mistress M at the center. He snorted at the crude drawing.

"What conspiracy are you into this year?" He joked.

"Jake, this is serious." The sister stood up with papers in hand. "As soon as that umbrella woman showed herself to Christina and Sam, I started thinking... who is she?"

"Uh..." He scratched his head. "She is from the Salem Witch Trials era."

She scoffed. "Come on! Think less like a guy on fire and more like her." She showed him a thick book with a teenage girl on the cover. The girl held a magnifying glass in one hand and an Escrima stick in the other. "Ellen O'Mallon, the Nosey Ace Sleuther and Myth Hunter."

"That came out a year ago." He looked at it curiously. "You like it that much?"

"It's a bestseller." She opened the book and revealed the author. A girl who appeared to be a year or two younger with thick black hair and pigtails while donning brown thick-framed glasses. Her smile looked like she was plotting something. "Erica Lang is on the road to being a great author and infamous when she is older."

"Don't you mean famous?"

"Look at that smile and tell she isn't plotting world domination."

The spiky raven stared at the picture and felt slightly intimidated by the girl's smile. It was not menacing, but it felt like she was plotting something.

"You showed me this to solve the mystery?"

"Yes!" She tossed the book behind her. "Ellen O'Mallon would go out hunting for the truth with a smirk on her face. That is what I am doing. Is Mistress M someone of importance or just a name among the victims? I did some research, and you know what I found?"

"What?"

"There are too many people named Mary. Back then, there were many people named Mary who were either victims or making tall tales."

He raised a brow. "Are you implying Mistress M's real name is Mary?"

"Could be?"

"That is... making a stretch, but good on you for taking initiative."

She sighed. "Summer is all about fun, not about learning. You guys were training, having fun, and dealing with issues. Sam and Christina are good with their relatives right?"

"Uh... Sam is done with him, and Christina's uncle left town. So... no."

"Okay, but someone has to at least know a little about her. This was all I found. You met her personally, look through the pictures."

He nodded. "Alright." He picked up a picture. "I'll share this with others later. Thank sis."

"You are welcome."