Mom, I'm Bulletproof

Chapter 8.3: Trouble

After Future Girl said she felt something was wrong with Mirai Academy, Amy considered her own conversation with Kahror.

"Ms. Kahror asked me about you," Amy said. "She's totally curious about you."

"I know," Future Girl said. "It's best if I kept to myself. I want to focus on saving lives for now. Once I get a better handle on my powers, and how this school works, then maybe I can deal with Miss Kahror. Until then, I'm better off making my own way."

Amy thought for a moment. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"I'm twenty-two."

Awkward silence.

"I admire you," Future Girl said. "You don't have to deal with stuff like school. You get to hang out until there's a crisis, and then you get to save the day. There's no 'bigger picture' for you to always worry about. I wish that was my life."

"No, you've got it easy," Amy said. "You protect a school. I've got a whole city – hell, a whole world – to protect. I've got 'bigger picture' stuff you have no idea about."

"You mean that fight with those guys with the flying jetpacks?"

"You heard about that?"

"It was on TV. They showed satellite photos."

"Great."

"Those guys just flew off after they fought you. They didn't hurt any civilians."

Amy almost said, They weren't after civilians, they were after me, but she stopped. Instead, she stared right at Future Girl.

"Who are you?" Amy said. "For real?"

"I'm Future Girl. I'm Mirai Academy's superhero."

Amy stepped forward. "You have a secret identity, don't you?"

Future Girl rolled her eyes and blushed. "Yes," she said.

"And without a mask. That's impressive," Amy said.

Future Girl held out her right palm again. "This can make me look like someone else. I'm not really a blonde cheerleader. I'm just ordinary. Boring."

Another awkward silence.

Woot-woot-woot

"You hear that?" Future Girl said. "The school's in trouble."

A gust of wind blasted Amy in the face. When it faded, Future Girl was gone.

Amy wondered if that was what it was like when she flew off at top speed. She took flight and raced to the main Mirai campus as fast as she could.

Future Girl already stood at the center of the campus green, in front of the biggest, ugliest green Jello mold Amy had ever seen, made up of a sticky viscous substance, just sitting there in the center of campus.

"The hell?" Amy asked, landing next to Future Girl.

The blob seemed to shift in place for a second, then its exterior surface changed, growing thicker and more vegetable-like, as opposed to the gelatinous form underneath.

A rootlike tendril poked out from the side of the mound. It expanded, forming a muscular structure and a few joints. The appendage had transformed from a wayward root to a fully functional arm, complete with an elbow, wrist, and long fingers, which now waved around in the air.

"What is this thing?" Amy said.

Part of the green, grass-like vegetation covering the mound split apart, revealing a black emptiness inside it.

"It's Milfoil," Future Girl said.

"It has a mouth," Amy said.

Future Girl turned her head toward Amy. "You have ice breath?"

"I have what?"

"Ice breath."

"You saying my breath stinks? Like I need Certs?"

"No, I just..."

"You don't just bug another person about her breath. That's not cool."

"That's now what I..."

"Eat!" the creature shouted as it slogged toward them.

"This guy's weakness is cold," Future Girl said. "If we could freeze him, we could stop him. Do you or don't you have ice breath?"

Now Amy understood. "I can fly, I'm really strong, and my hearing is sometimes better than normal," Amy said. "But that's it. No luxury items."

"Yeah," Future Girl said. "No ice breath for more me, either."

Amy studied the shambling blob in front of them. As it approached them, it left behind patches of dead grass behind it.

"Eat!" Milfoil spurted out smaller versions of itself from its body, which fed on the grass all around it.

"I've seen enough." Amy flew upward, hovering about a foot the ground.

"Wait!" Future Girl said. "This guy is..."

Amy didn't listen. She balled her right fist and flew at the creature as fast as she could.

"That's not going to..." The rest of Future Girl's sentence faded as Amy sped toward Milfoil.

Aiming for the spot right above the creature's gaping mouth, Amy swung her fist, propelled by flying at maximum speed. This would be enough to knock most genetically enhanced crooks unconscious. The creature, though, burst apart as she struck it, giving her the feeling that she had just flown through the empty air.

Looking behind her, Amy saw this was not accurate. The top portion of the creature's head was gone, and its single arm flailed around in confusion.

Not dazed at all, Amy landed and faced the creature again. It was already reforming into a slightly smaller form of the one she first saw – more VW bug sized instead of SUV sized – while smaller blobs of Milfoil slithered around the main body.

"Go!" Milfoil said. "Eat!"

The smaller green blobs were miniature versions of the larger one, whichthemselves left trails of dead ground behind them as they spread outward fromthe main body of the creature. Amy saw several small blobs of Milfoil's spawnall over her uniform, trying to bite through her uniform.

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Next: The smart one.