To Overthrow the Guardians

Chapter 35: The Emotional Tole of a Lie

Mallory sat as a bird on the black iron fence surrounding Beth's yard. Although he knew he shouldn't be wasting his Power-Inducer on this, part of him was concerned for her. Part of him was remembering the time when he used to emotionally manipulate and lie to people as a teen, how they suffered because of him. Although he wanted to protect his children, he also didn't want to go back to that horrible part of his life. So there he sat in her yard as if he could offer her protection from the bad thoughts creeping into her mind.

The night was cool, with crickets chirping and the stars sparkling up in the sky. He looked up at the house and saw that the curtains had been pulled back from one of the second-level windows. There stood Beth, looking at him. Then she was gone, and in a minute, she was coming out the back door toward him. Her mouth was in a low frown, her eyebrows lowered and her eyes drooping.

"Mallory!" she called. She recognized him? He immediately shifted back to his human form and hopped off the fence.

"Yes, Beth?" he said.

"I...how bad am I, in the future?" A breeze blew through her straight black hair. Mallory matched her frown.

"That's not a very kind question to be asking. It will only make you feel worse about yourself." He didn't want her to feel this way; he only wanted to kill the Guardians and have her not stop him.

"Am I that bad?" Beth said.

"No no, I didn't mean it like that," Mallory clarified. "I meant that you shouldn't stress over the future. It can be prevented. Just keep your bracelet on, and all will be well."

"But what if the future's already set in stone? What if what's happening now is already causing it?"

Mallory didn't want to tell her that she was right. Hiding the truth from her wouldn't help her achieve her goal, but it would help him achieve his of making himself not feel as bad. "If that was true, then there would be nothing you could do to stop it, so you shouldn't worry."

Beth crossed her arms and looked at the ground. "My friends hate me now because of it. They think I'm bad enough to want to take out the Guardians now."

"They're wrong. Really, Beth, you shouldn't worry about this." Not that that phrase had ever cured anyone, but he had gone so long without counseling that he was beginning to lose his skill of helping others.

"But I can't stop. I've tried, but I can't. Most people, I don't care what they think of me a lot of the time, but I don't want my friends to think that I'm some terrible person. I want to prove it to them by helping save the Guardians, but I have to wait. I have to wait two months until they might forgive me. Well, Cynthia might before then, but I still have to wait for May. What am I supposed to do until I can prove I'm not bad?"

"If your friends are decent people, then they'll realize you're not what they're assuming you're going to become."

"But what if they're not?"

"Then I guess you will have to wait. You wait until the Guardians are rescued and the L.E.R. headquarters and I disappear. I think there's a good possibility that they'll forget about everything after that. You'll be the only one who remembers because of your bracelet. Your friends won't be able to recall any of it, and you don't have to remind them." Mallory offered her a smile.

"It doesn't seem right, though, to just take advantage of their forgetting."

"Then there's not much I can do to help you. Just be the best person you can and try to show them you're not what they think you are."

Beth didn't look any happier, but she told him goodnight and went back inside.

Over the next two months, Mallory reminded May and Cynthia of the Guardians and L.E.R. daily. He doubted Beth would do it, and although he didn't want them to fight, he knew that they would likely rediscover the headquarters anyway. If he made them remember, at least they would be on his side.

One day, however, he saw Beth go back to the building. He turned into a bird and followed, wondering what she was doing. He listened from right outside the doors. At first, he didn't hear much, but then he could make out Beth and the E.A.D. talking.

"What can you tell me about Mallory Bennett?" Beth was asking.

"He is an enemy of the L.E.R., a dangerous man," the E.A.D. answered. "You have not been speaking with him, have you?"

"I have. He told me that the L.E.R. wanted to overthrow the Guardians, and that he left because he was kicked out since he didn't want to."

"Agent B. Howard, while I do not wish to change the future, I must partially deny that statement. I cannot tell you how much of it is true and how much is fabrication, but just know that Mallory is a very convincing liar. That is why, I assume, the power he gains from his Power-Inducer is shapeshifting." Huh, now that Mallory thought about it, it would make sense that his ability had changed due to him starting to lie more. But it hadn't been that big of a change in his being, had it?

Beth walked farther away, and Mallory could no longer hear her voice well enough to make out what she was saying. But his chest tightened. She had figured him out somehow. He would have to battle her to find the Guardians.

*}{*}{*}{*

The next day, when Mallory went to remind May and Cynthia about the Guardians and L.E.R. again, he also told them something else. He was standing on their front porch with them listening at the open door.

"The E.A.D. will probably charge tonight," he said. It was true. "But I'm not telling Beth. I can't stand being around her anymore, remembering what she's like in the future. You two can still help me, though. Are you willing?" He would have to hope that Beth wouldn't know when he was going to attack. Both May and Cynthia nodded, May more eagerly than Cynthia.

However, after he left, he saw the latter head to the headquarters, where Beth was, and heard Beth tell the E.A.D. that Cynthia was on their side.

It seemed he would have to fight both of the friends in order to kill who he wanted to.