Cybil (2018) #projectsuper

Chapter 86: Reflection and Dejection

The large girl found herself confused. Wester had made all of this stuff out to be so dangerous, and yet she wasn't exactly feeling it. Maybe that was because she could just walk through the hologram projection things that she passed by.

"Are you still alive, Max?" she called, somehow able to communicate with him, even though they couldn't see each other.

"Barely!" The boy was very upset, apparently having to deal with a lot on his side. "Why... You have the good powers! I wouldn't mind having practical invulnerability right about now!"

Rachel shrugged. "You can fit into places I can't. I'm too..." She shook her head to make herself focus. "Anyway, I'm sure you're doing fine. Just be careful."

"You're...helping..."

That didn't sound right to her. In fact, it brought up something that had been bothering her for a while. "Max..."

"Yes?" Max sounded as if he was still moving quickly.

She came right out with it. "Are you scared of me?"

A back pedaling series of "no's" told her all she needed to know. "You know, I'm not gonna hurt you..."

"You could snap me like a twig," Max answered briskly. "You could do it by complete accident, too!"

She found that she couldn't keep tears from flowing now. "I know... It... It's not fun being able to flatten everything you touch. It also ain't fun to hurt the people you love just because you lose your temper..."

"Actually, I would know something about that, kind of..." Max seemed to have stopped, completely focused on the conversation. "Let's just say that I have memories that I'd rather forget. Being able to get into someone's mind and control it isn't a pretty process and it... Do yourself a favor and don't go digging into someone else's mind, okay, hermana?"

"I guess I wouldn't know that," Rachel admitted. "I wasn't exactly built for smarts of...any kind, really."

"All things considered, I think you turned out pretty well."

"Thanks, Max." The complement made her feel warm inside. "Say, have things gotten quiet on your end?"

"Yeah," Max admitted. "You know, for all of his grandstanding, I don't think that Wester thought all of this through..."

"Yeah. Did he really have a plan to stop me at all?"

***

With James...

If things weren't so serious, James would have laughed at his nemesis. He clearly hadn't thought about Rachel's invulnerability.

"That girl is making a mockery of my course!"

"You did all of that," James began. "And you didn't even prepare for someone you literally made me bring into existence? These were your specifications."

Wester seemed flustered. "Shut up! This... This will still fulfill its function. Besides, the real show hasn't even started yet."

"What now?"

"Notice the black screen in the center? Guess whose that is?"

He didn't need to be told that that belonged to Cybil.

Dread formed in the pit of James's stomach. "What have you been planning?"

"You'll see..." the screen turned on to reveal Cybil free falling in darkness.

"Now watch closely, Jimmy. Try to save all the questions until the end, okay?"