The Last Stop

Lynn looked out the window, staring aimlessly at the clouds as they slowly drifted past. They all looked so bland and boring, same as always. No shapes, no sudden bursts of creative inspiration, nothing. Whoever said all of those things about them was lying, and that would be a lot of people. She hated clouds; why was she even looking at them?

Right, that's why…

"… and what, does it leak only a few drops? Or is it like a stream or something." a man sitting on a comfy leather chair next to her said. For some stupid reason, he wore sunglasses.

"Just a few, man, and only when we're about to-"

"Can you shut up already?" Lynn broke up the conversation. "You talk about this shitty thing one more time and I'm throwing you off the ship!"

On the other side of their chairs sat a laid-back man, wearing normal glasses just like hers. Just thinking about it made her want to punch something. Great, now we are Team Glasses as well. As if Team L.A.B. wasn't stupid enough.

"But I spent my entire savings-"

"Listen to me, Benny. No one, and I mean no one gives a shit about that! Not even Adam." she yelled, before letting her voice fall down to normal levels again. Luckily there were no other passengers on this flight, except the pilot, who had probably covered his ears by now.

"Hey, Ben, it's okay, Lynn is just, well, you know…" the man with shades replied. "Besides, you can't go back to it anyway, so what's the point?"

Ben looked slightly disheartened. "Yeah, man, you're right. We're here now, goin' places."

"Hell yeah, we are."

Lynn smacked her forehead. We're fucking here alright. The three of them together, it certainly fit. If there was a word to describe them other than 'bland', she could not find it. All three of them looking like your average Joe: with dark, short, safe for work hair, wearing the same immaculate stain-proof lab coats and now glasses too. Glasses and shades. Utterly ridiculous.

An ad screen flashed above them, immediately catching her colleagues' attention. There was only one commercial which used that idiotic, seizure-inducing flash at the start. She still couldn't believe they were watching it enthusiastically again.

As usual, that insult to intelligence opened up with a bunch of stars twinkling in the vastness of space, then zooming in to the star revealing it's actually a person sitting in a comfy office. That person? A slim girl with bright-green hair dressed in a skimpy outfit, wearing obviously fake animal ears. She would spout some nonsense about building a better future and opening up new stores everywhere. Then, of course, would pull a statistic out of her behind about how many have bought and enjoyed their products, then would showcase three of them and actually let people buy them by calling a number shown on the screen.

If there was something about that commercial she did not find totally insulting was the fact that the three products always changed, meaning a different ad would play each time. That was some dedication she could respect. But her colleagues, they drooled over her like she was some kind of idol. Mirai this, Mirai that. It was like watching two children ogle a celebrity, or a cartoon character. That girl was definitely both.

"Wow, she sells Christmas magic? How does that make sense, man?" Ben asked in his usual voice that sounded like he was high all the time.

"It doesn't." Lynn responded. "I can't believe you would ask that… actually, never mind, I can."

"Hey, she's from the land of magic, you know?" Adam turned to Lynn. "For all we know, Christmas magic is something they actually sell there."

Of course, as if she could believe that. Magic was the opposite of what they dedicated their lives to, that which it appeared only she held in some form of regard. "Yeah, right. The magic of teleshopping more like."

"If anyone is proof that magic is real, then it's definitely Mirai. I can look at her all day." Ben said, much to Lynn's annoyance. "Right, bro?"

"She's good, I'll give her that. Wacky enough to gain my trust." Adam answered with a grin. "Real charmer."

Lynn felt her blood boiling. The more they talked, the more she felt like drops of searing hot lava were poured over her brain. "This is ridiculous…"

"It's okay to be jealous." Ben spoke with a deadpan expression, as if that was the thing to say right now.

The female scientist smashed her fist against the transparent table between the chairs, making the three coffee cups lying on it spill some of their contents. "Jealous? On that scrawny kid? Are you actually out of your mind?"

"He was just jo-"

"Yeah, I know. He's still pissing me off." she immediately wiped out the spilled coffee, trying very hard to remain collected. "I don't get you guys. Something's seriously wrong with you. Here we are, approaching our last stop and you act like nothing happened, like we didn't just desert. You're both insane."

"Hey… Lynn?" Ben looked at her with his usual oblivious expression. "Maybe you should slow down, take it easy… enjoy the sights."

"Enjoy the fucking sights? Don't act like you don't know what we're here for, idiot!" she yelled again, clearly unable to control her emotions.

"Ben, you know the deal. Leave her alone." Adam placed his hand on her shoulder, to which she briskly pulled away from. The man nodded and silence followed.

She rubbed her temples softly, this was going to be the worst trip of their lives. Those two fools just couldn't see it. Why were they here with her in the first place? This was supposed to be her journey alone… yet they went along with it. Idiots.

Her mind recalled the last moments before departure. It was something she would never forget any time soon, if ever. It all started with-

"So, uhm, you think they have computers over there?" Ben opened his mouth, making her eyebrow twitch.

She recalled the fateful incident clearly. It was when-

"Dude, who needs computers when you got magic?"

"Can you two cut it out already!? I can't even hear my damn thoughts!" she bellowed, almost jumping out of her seat.

"I'm sorry, Lynn." Ben said to his raging colleague.

"I am not talking to you until we get off." Lynn snarled, hoping to silence him for a while.

It was the day she made a terrible decision. Yet it was the only decision she could make. In the middle of the night, she-

"Hey, Adam."

"Yeah?"

"Tell Lynn I'm sorry."

Adam turned to her, with a silly smile on his face. "Ben said he's sorry."

Bash… Bash… Bash… Her head bashed against the table, again and again. Their flight continued in this manner, until she eventually stopped thinking.

It was two hours past midnight. Facility 104 barely saw life as it was, let alone in the middle of the night. She casually walked through the neon-lit corridor, maintaining a neutral posture. Cameras hidden within the walls were tracking her every movement. As for whether someone was actually monitoring her or not, the woman couldn't risk it. Having a gun strapped to her back and holding a strange cubic object would raise some suspicion, but not enough to have someone come over. After all, she could be performing an experiment for all they knew.

She glanced at a pair of doors, a sign was written above them. This was the hangar, exactly where she'd wanted to be. The woman pulled out an ID card from her pocket. 'Lynn Rhodes' was written on it, but what was also on it was a maximum security clearance, courtesy of the Chief. With a swipe, the path was open.

In contrast with the constantly-lit labs and corridors, the hangar's lights were near-constantly turned off. After all, people would seldom leave the Facility. Still, a cautious approach was the best choice. Lynn carefully paced around the dark room, trying her best not to make a sound. Damned heels.

With her eyes adjusting to the darkness, a shape appeared before her. Such luck; it was exactly what she was looking for: a transport ship – and it was a stealth-class as well. Lynn could never get too excited, as the cameras in the hangar were still fully functional and more than capable of seeing in the dark. Her plan was simple: use the ship as a blind spot for the cameras, sneak in and take off. Should she be spotted, she could always pretend to be looking for something.

It all went… surprisingly well. No one spotted her and she now lied in front of the ship entrance, whose massive size blocked all of the security cameras' line of sight. Blessed be the maximum clearance, it was all over. With a couple of button presses, she would be taking off in no time. The woman started inputting a code, when the door beeped. This was supposed to happen, that meant the door was open. Much to her shock, however, the beeping came from inside.

She quickly ducked below the left wing, her back leaning against the cold exterior of the stealth-class. The hatch cracked open, a ray of light from inside the vehicle pierced the darkness in the room. A pair of footsteps tapped upon the metal floor, stopping abruptly not too far away from the ship. Lynn inched closer to the edge, slowly turning her head to get a better view of the entrance. With the corner of her eye, she saw him. The masked agent that had become something of a local legend in the obscure facilities of Westland. The trench coat wearing agent with an almost flawless track record, the one known only by his code name: Red Mist.

But why was he… standing there? Was he looking for something? His distorted voice seemed to mumble something in the distance. "…I'm waiting, Black."

Whatever it was, she had to act now. Slowly…steadily… reach the ship… close the door. Holding her breath, she marched. The man was standing as still as a corpse, looking at the door of the hangar. Lynn was just one step away from it, when she noticed something that shouldn't exist. Why was this here? His shadow… was being cast the wrong way.

It shouldn't face her. The light was coming out from the ship! When Lynn finally stepped in Red Mist's shadow, she froze in place. A terrible chill ran down her spine. Death. The researcher went weak at the knees. Something about that shadow was…wrong. It was as if she walked into something that by all accounts shouldn't exist. The door… so close… but her body wouldn't move.

"You missed your chance." Red Mist turned around. His shadow was now behind him, as it should be.

The sensation stopped, Lynn could move freely. But this man, he was dangerous; one wrong move and it would be the end for her. "I… I was just…"

There was no way of lying out of this one. The situation was as clear as it could possibly be. "I know why you're here." he said. "And what you've done."

"And I know who you are, eliminator." Lynn's voice was hopeless. "I guess it's over, huh?"

"Not yet." his answer was monotone, yet somehow it carried a sliver of hope. "You have a mission of your own. Hopefully you prepared for it well."

"You don't mean…"

"Your equipment. When dealing with experimental objects, what you bring will determine the outcome of your life." Red Mist told her, almost in the manner of an instructor.

Without thinking too much, the woman answered. "A Theta designation is known for temporal manipulation, therefore…" she slowly realized now that the only experimental item she was carrying was a Capture Unit Theta. "… A C.U. Theta would…"

"Accomplish nothing."

He was right. How could she have forgotten about the report? This thing wasn't the Theta, it was that bloody meteor! In her rush, Lynn had forgotten a detail that would prove fatal. "I… brought standard firearms as well."

Red Mist walked over to her, unstrapping her rifle. "This is useless." he placed it on the ground. "Waste of ammo. Where you are going, a bullet fired from someone who's never held a gun will barely leave a scratch."

"What do you mean?"

"In there, a strong-willed punch can be as powerful as a pulse rifle." he continued. "Use what you are most comfortable with, what defines you."

Lynn could not make any sense of this, but she would not let the man know that. "I…see." her answer was tense. "But I still don't know why you're doing this. You're supposed to…"

"Make no mistake. When you stepped into this room, your life has ended." he coldly stated. "I just prolonged it."

Lynn was shaking with fear. For a single moment she really thought she could get away from it. But there was something about Red Mist that made her curious. Sure, they never met before and he must have clearly read on her file, knowing full well she planned this for some time, but was something else at play here?

"Why not kill me here and now if you know what I'm going to do?" this was it, she was prepared to die.

"I do not wish your blood on my hands." his modulated voice was as emotionless as before. "But what I wish does not matter to you. By the end of this mission, you will die; one way or another." the agent walked past the terrified scientist. "Make the best use out of your life."

Her legs finally gave up as she fell to her knees. A few days ago Lynn could never imagine something like this happening. And it all started because of that fucking creature. If there would be one last thing she would, no, had to do, was to make sure that thing regretted ever being born. Afterwards, anything could happen, Lynn would no longer care. Tears fell down from her cheeks, evaporating on the cold steel underneath. She really was going to die… at least then they would be-

Red Mist walked back inside the ship, and soon, the hangar doors opened. This must have been what he was looking for. "Get in. All three of you."

Three? She noticed that not one, but two figures entered the dark room. With eyes wide in shock, Lynn's jaw dropped to the ground. Those silhouettes… there was no way it could be them.

Why... are you here?