Brave New World: Black Lightning

Chapter 9

"So, what exactly are we doing today?" Anissa asked as she and her mom met in the kitchen of her dad's house the next morning.

"Well, I know how down you are about everything you lost when this new world was created, so I thought I'd give you something back." Lynn said with a smile as she handed Anissa a brochure.

"This is a brochure for my loft." Anissa said, looking at her mother.

"I did some research and it turns out that it still exists and it is currently unoccupied and with your very high salary, you can easily afford it, even without money that you stole from mobs like you did last time." Lynn said and Anissa sighed.

"Yeah, that's another reason why I was drowning my sorrows last night." Anissa said.

"What do you mean?" Lynn asked.

"A few days ago, I asked Uncle Gambi to see if he could create a suit that could replicate my powers using tech, but he refused and reminded me about the way I'd acted in the old world. It was harsh, but needed, especially adding on to what you and dad already told me. You guys were right. I got carried away and began using my powers in ways I always told myself I wouldn't. I guess that without dad around to keep me in check, I lost myself." Anissa said.

"Anissa, you were fighting a war. It's common for soldiers to lose themselves in battle." Lynn said.

"Except for the fact that I'm not a soldier. I never was and never wanted to be. I just became one because of the circumstances and in the process, I lost myself. I hate the person I became." Anissa said.

"What's important now is finding your way back to being who you were before. And besides, from what I hear, there was still a small piece of the real you buried underneath the soldier you became." Lynn said.

"How do you know that?" Anissa asked.

"Because I remember how you took care of Grace. When she came back into your life, you did everything you could for her and she knew it. She knew how much you loved her and you did everything you could help her control her powers. That is the same girl I raised. You just need to let her out." Lynn said.

"That would be easier if I still had Grace." Anissa said.

"I know. But who knows, maybe you'll find her again, though honestly, I'd kind of prefer it if it wasn't until after we dealt with the ASA." Lynn said.

"Yeah, I can understand that, since I'd rather not have to worry about sending her away to keep her safe. On the off chance that we do find her though, I want to give her the same treatment you gave me." Anissa said.

"You want to force her feelings for you back onto her?" Lynn asked.

"You did it to me. And besides, I'd just be reminding her and it's not just for that." Anissa said.

"Then what else is it?" Lynn asked.

"Because then she'll trust me enough to meet with Perenna. She helped Jen when her powers first emerged, I'm sure she can help Grace too." Anissa said and Lynn nodded, since she could see the positives in that, since she did agree that Perenna could help Grace with her issues just like she'd helped Jen.

"We'll find her Anissa." Lynn said, right as Gambi entered the house.

"I already have. You are talking about Grace right?" Gambi asked.

"That was uncanny. What do you know?" Anissa asked him.

"I've already been given access to the ASA's database, which while it was limited, I've already managed to hack in and covertly give myself full access to the entire system." Gambi said.

"Okay, but what does that have to do with Grace?" Anissa asked, honestly dreading the answer.

"It turns out that in this universe, Jen isn't the only one who's loved one was nabbed and mind controlled by the ASA." Gambi said.

"What what?" Lynn asked.

"It would appear that in this reality, instead of being sold into a prostitution ring, Grace was sold to the ASA, which honestly is even worse." Gambi said.

"Agreed. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd have rather her have been sold into a prostitution ring than being forced to have to work for those monsters. Odell would've groomed her to be a soldier just like they did Khalil, except they wouldn't need to have her crippled to do it. I don't even want to think about the things they're doing to her to make her comply." Anissa said.

"Do you know where they're holding her?" Lynn asked.

"It looks like unlike Khalil, she's still in their custody and it looks like she's being held in the Pit." Gambi said.

"Then as much as I'd like to, we have to wait to rescue her." Anissa said.

"Anissa." Lynn said.

"There's too much we don't know about the Pit to risk everything. I'm not going to put you, dad, Jen or anyone else in danger just to save her. We need more time." Anissa said.

"Actually, I think I may know a way we can kill two birds with one stone." Gambi said.

"Go on." Anissa said.

"We can use Grace to lead us to Khalil." Gambi said.

"What do you mean?" Lynn asked.

"Anissa, you said that when Grace shapeshifts into a leopard, she can take on the senses of a leopard, including smell. I think that I can convince Odell to use her to track Khalil down to wherever he is using that and then we can rescue them both." Gambi said and Anissa nodded, since that was the best option they had.

"We'll tell Jeff and Jen tonight, I'm sure they'll both agree to this plan too." Lynn said and Anissa and Gambi nodded in agreement and Anissa actually smiled, since despite what she'd just learned, she actually felt hopeful that maybe she'd be able to at least get Grace back in the end, which would be enough to compensate for her losing her powers.