𓄼 BEHIND THE MASK 𓄹 ◜ 🎭 ◞₊
⤹ ... be the change you want to see in the world.
written by .. @.yourlocalrebel
KALI SAT STILL in the chair, dozens of wires attached to her. Dean was still hunched over, eyes glued to his computers.
"Well? Anything?" Alyson asked, growing impatient.
"It's genetic." Dean responded, never looking away from the screens.
"What's genetic?" Alyson pressed.
"Kali's powers. Those shields. One of your parents had that power and it was genetically passed down to you." He explained, looking up at Kali as he talked.
"Why am I just now being able to use them?" Kali questioned.
"Well, the scans show that you were stressed and scared. Were you having a nightmare when we woke you up?"
"A lucid dream." Kali replied, looking down at her hands.
"Do you get those often?"
"Sometimes."
"Well, the fear and stress from your lucid dreams are what is triggering these powers. They're shields and they're probably used to protect you and whichever parent had them. You're so cold and devious during the day, they wouldn't be triggered."
"So her powers have a mind of their own?" Alyson asked.
"No. There's a small part of her brain that controls them. Her brain is trying to protect her from whatever she's dreaming about."
"Do we tell him?" Kali questioned. It was obvious who she was referring to. Their father.
"No, he'll want to study you and we'll be pulled from the mission. I'll come up with a training plan to help you out." Dean answered.
"Okay. What should I do?"
"Go upstairs. Do something to keep your mind off of this."
Kali nodded, listening to her brother's advice. Although once she was upstairs, she wasn't sure what she should do.
A movie would only keep her mind off her powers for a short amount of time. A walk could help. She could get some coffee, go shopping.
"I'm going to go take a walk for a bit." Kali announced to Alyson who had just exited the elevator.
"Yeah okay. Have fun." Alyson replied. Kali gave her sister a small smile before she walked out the door. The crisp air hit her face and Kali took a deep breath.
She was okay. Everything would be okay.
The walk to the coffee shop was quick, as it always was.
It seemed as if Kali had picked a perfect time to enter the shop, seeing how very few people were inside. Without a never ending line, Kali ordered her usual drink and paid.
It only took a few minutes for the drink to be made and during those minutes, Kali stared out the window. The peace and quiet was addicting. The beautiful morning sky was a sight for sore eyes.
As soon as her drink was in her hands, Kali made her way to the mall. She wasn't sure what she would shop for, but it seemed like something that would keep her mind off the downwards spiral she was experiencing.
DEAN'S TRAINING PLAN sounded like hell to Kali. Of course, she's been through worse with people she didn't entirely trust. Therefore Kali agreed to go through with this training, knowing her unstable powers could cause harm to her or people she cared about.
Since fear was what triggered her powers, that would be the core of their training. Meditation would also be used, but the fear part was what concerned Kali.
Dean needed to know what really scared her in order for this training to actually work. Kali didn't have a choice but to open up, which she loathed greatly.
As Kali spoke to her brother about her fears, she felt weak. But a part of her knew she wouldn't be weak for long. Her powers would be put to good use and she would be stronger than anyone else at the Sanctuary.
So what truly lights fear in Kali?
Memories of the people she killed.
Failing and being the cause for her siblings' transfer to Cadmus.
Cadmus in general.
Leaving this mission behind her. Here she was able to interact with others and see what life is really like.
Disappointing others.
Failing.
Running out of coffee. "Kali be serious." Dean repriminded her.
Angering Vanessa Stine.
As Kali spoke, Dean took notes. When she was done with her list, Dean shooed her out so he could work on the training plan in peace and quiet.
The brunette was currently curled up on the couch, her favorite grey blanket wrapped around her and a bowl of strawberry ice cream in her hand.
Alyson, wearing a black crop top and pajama pants, sat on the chair and turned the TV on. One of Alyson's favorite movies was playing. Kali never found it interesting, it was more fantasy than realistic. But given her circumstances, Kali found it interesting.
A girl about their age was the main character. She was from another planet where their kind all had powers. The girl could create white flames from her hands and could harm or heal people. What really interested Kali, was the fact that the girl wasn't from Earth. Were Kali's parents from another planet? A question that she might never get an answer to.
Kali glanced over at her sister for a moment before returning her attention back to the movie.
"You don't have to apologize. I know it's hard for you and our fight was just a stupid sibling fight. Those happen often in normal families. Let's just forget about it and move on." Alyson spoke up, munching on her bowl of popcorn.
"Okay." Kali's voice was soft and quiet, almost like a mouse.
The brunette turned her attention back to the movie.
Her brain was filled with unanswered questions and it was slowly beginning to bother her. As the main character entered another fight to save her home planet, Kali took a bite of the cold treat.
What were the other planets out there like?
For Kali, that was just another unanswered question.
KALI SAT ON the basement floor with her legs crossed. Several feet away, Dean's computers surrounding her in a circle. Kali's eyes danced around as she looked at the screen, her heart rate beginning to rise.
Each computer was playing either actual footage of something that scared Kali or a clip from a movie that was almost identical to her experinces. All the footage was working.
Just as Dean predicted, an orange shield began to form in front of Kali. It was the shape of a 2-D circle and now that Dean could see it up close, he could study it better.
"She can't make force fields." He whispered to Alyson.
"How do you know?"
"She's surrounded by haunting memories and the shield still forms in a 2-D circle."
Dean and Alyson watched for a few moments as Dean took a few notes. Without an order from Dean, Kali wanted to try something else. She began to concentrate her mind on the videos playing before her. Without telling herself they were fake, she focused on making the shields disappear.
Her brother and sister watched in awe as the shields flickered and the color dimmed.
"Keep going Kali." Dean instructed. Kali nodded, continuing to concentrate on getting rid of her shields.
'I don't need protection. I need to face my past by myself.' She told herself, repeating the words in her head until the shields disappeared completely.
Alyson cheered as Dean scribbled something on his notepad.
"When I turn the videos off, try creating the shields." He said as the computers shut down. Kali sighed, thinking to herself again.
'I am strong, but even strong people need help.' Again, she repeated the words until the glowing orange shield appeared again.
"Incredible!" Dean spoke in amazement.
"Kali you're so fucking cool." Alyson grinned.
"Okay, now that you can use your powers at will, let's test the strength." Dean set an arrangement of items on a table and nodded to Kali. Alyson stepped back as her sister created a shield on the floor.
Dean threw knives at it and was happy to see that no damage was done to the shield.
Bullets were next.
Then a very small bomb.
Fire was used as well.
Nothing caused any harm to the shield.
Kali grinned, feeling powerful and unstoppbale brought a ping of pride to her. Of course, she knew better than to let it get to her head.
Days flew by as Kali continued to train. While they mainly focused on controlling her abilities, Dean wanted to continue testing her strength as well.
After all, some of the Titans also had powers and they had no way of testing that on her shields.
Kali wasn't worried about fighting the heroes. She was worried about one, singular word.
Control.
Something she wanted to feel.
She wasn't in full control of her powers yet, but she was able to make them appear and disappear upon her will.
Kali had gone through extensive training with Dean to make sure she was ready to use her powers whenever. It took three days away from their mission to fulfil this training, but she had done it.
She was somewhat in control and it was a start.
'Baby steps.' She kept reminding herself.
THE TRIO GATHERED around the bowl and tossed all the drugs, minus the ones Kali had taken, inside it. Carefully, the crushed the drugs up into a powder.
Dean walked away from the bowl as the other two continued to crush the pills up.
Quickly and quietly, Dean pulled water bottles out of their cases. He handed them to Kali, who handed them to Alyson. Quickly, Alyson dropped some of the powder into the bottle.
This went on until they had all the cases empty.
"Now what?" Alyson whispered.
"Put the bottles back in their cases." Dean whispered back, grabbing a few. Kali and Alyson did as they were instructed too, piling all the drugged water back into their cases as if they hadn't been touched.
The trio of young criminals were behind a store, knowing a camera was recording their every move. Just as they had planned.
Not enough people were buying from the radio Dean used, so the team had to get creative.
Tricking people into taking them seemed to be a good option. Good enough to keep the Sanctuary off their backs for a few days.
Even so, Kali had a bad feeling about how things would turn out in the end.
Would their mission succeed?
Or would they fail for good this time?
﹃ END OF CHAPTER ﹄ ⇌ ☆.
Not my favorite chapter, but sometimes you just need a boring chapter to lead you into a good one. Trust me ;)
~ R E B E L ~