She wiped her mouth and came away with blood. Akaisha spit it out on the stone floor. “Well, aren't you a big man? Smacking a defenseless woman.”Junior laughed. “Defenseless? The hell you are. I know what you can do. I’ve studied you. I'm just like you, but only better.”She stood up. “If you're so much better than me. Why don't you let Amethyst go and we can settle who's the favored child? That's all this is. You throwing a tantrum over Daddy.”Junior ran at her in a blur of motion, knocking her into a wall. She hit a box, causing sparks to fly. He yelled at her. “I'M BETTER THAN YOU! STRONGER AND FASTER! TAUNTING ME, won't do you any good.”She crumpled to the floor, catching her breath. “Whether I taunt you or fight you. You're still just throwing a tantrum.” She staggered to stand. “Admit it. You’re doing all of this just so that psychotic man will look at you. It's patheti

She breathed out, knowing they were close by, but there was no time to wait. They needed to get free. They needed to get them inside. Dave stood there awkwardly in his furry form. There wasn’t anything she could do to get him to fight Junior. It was up to her. “Í don’t know what to do. Junior can open portals. I don’t have that ability.”“I see. If you could steal that ability, then we could come in.”She shook her head. There were only a few ways she would be able to do that, and she didn’t want to use Amethyst blood to do it. “Where’s Amethyst? Is she out there?”“Yes, she’s in the back of Jalefel’s car. There’s bruising on her arms and puncture holes, but she’s fine.”She nodded, knowing Misty couldn’t see her. Akaisha had to act fast. Junior was dragging her over to the table with the beaker. A million

Ralev gave a quick knock on the door before letting himself in. Akaisha thought it was strange, but let the thought pass. Ralev had been working with journalists for a long time. Who knows how many times he was there to interview that man? She followed him inside. The professor sat on the sofa looking as regal and put together as he always did. Even when she was a child, he would want no one to see him looking disheveled. He gave them all a smile. It faltered just slightly when Akaisha stepped around Ralev. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. How long has it been since you’ve been here?”Ralev answered. “A while, but we have a new journalist for you to break in. She’ll be giving the interview. This is Akaisha.”She stepped forward with a tight smile. “It’s so good to meet the man behind all the wonderful inventions and charities that we have now.” She went into reporting mode. “You said you have some news

Professor Mozart arrived at the hospital just in time. He walked in like a flash of lightning. Wind billowing his trench coat behind him. He blurred on the cameras. A nurse recognized him immediately. Rushing up to greet him. “Do you need anything, Professor Mozart?”He began to wave her away, but stopped in mid-action. “There was a young man that was rushed here. He has no family. I heard he was in critical condition.”The nurse snapped her finger. “Right, his name is Junior Isaacs. Are you perhaps related to him or?”He shook his head. “No, I’m not.” He lied immediately. It was a habit by now. “It reminded me of my adoptive daughter. She had no family and suffered through an unfortunate house fire she was saved from. It's a shame. And if the young man is critical, it would be a shame to die surrounded by robots, machines, and strangers. Not that I would be any better, but I would be a somewhat familiar face.”She added her own statement to his response. “Because you’re so widely kno