Part 3: An X-ray and an apartment

Dr. Fransisco explained that there was no reason to believe the scans were accurate. In his thirty-five years of oncology and radiology he had never seen such a phenomenon. My blood count was within the normal limits and he was sure it was a computer malfunction. Another one, I thought. He was personally going to have techs from the manufacturer come in the morning and take it apart and find the reason for the malfunction. After thirty more minutes of reassuring he told me to go home and get some rest. He asked if I wanted his receptionist to call a car service for me but I needed more protection than a driver. I thanked him for his time and left the office more confused than I was when I woke up six hours earlier that day.

I called someone I knew I could trust, Tetsujin Kaga. He had been a long time teammate of mine in Paragon City and I knew if I wasn't safe his firepower and stealth would come in handy. As usual he was there within minutes with a friendly hello and a sympathetic ear. He came in his civilian clothes and picked me up at the hospital. I told him what I knew or for that matter what I didn't know and he reassured me his protection and secrecy. Whatever or whoever was behind this is powerful and the fewer people that knew of it the better.

Our first stop was a department store where he went and bought me some regular clothes. I then changed at the Orion Labs in Steel Canyon. I was a frequent costumer there and after some small talk with the owner, Mr. Phillips, I went back to Tet's car parked outside. He took me to my Blyde Square high rise and waited in the lobby while I went to the super's office. "What can I do for you Ms. Cambridge?" he asked.

"I seemed to have misplaced my keycard Ari..."

"Oh, no problem maam. Let me make a new one for you." he said already placing a blank card into his computer. "How's your day been?"

"Oh, fine, just fine." I lied, then thanked him as he handed me the new key.

We waited for an empty elevator and pushed the button for the 23rd floor. The ride up was quiet. He looked at me and told me not to worry.

I jumped as the elevator stopped and the bell sounded. I held my breath, stepped out and turned left toward my home. He walked behind me and I heard him readying one of his devices. I turned and he was gone. I gasped.

Laughing he said, "Cloaking device.....remember."

"oh....forgot," I blushed. I inserted the card and opened the door. Empty. Gone. Everything. Even the new paint and wallpaper I had just put up a month earlier. The apartment was as empty as the day I had bought it. I felt Tetsujin Kaga pass by me and heard him as he checked every room.

"Its all empty....every room. Whats happenening?" he asked.

"I have no idea...What do I do now?" Everything I had was gone.

"You're staying at our house tonight....I'll call ahead and let the wife know. We''ll send some detectives out tomorrow after you've had a good nights sleep. You look beat."

I was.

Part 2: Identity Crisis.....

The cabbie dropped me off under the Atlas statue in front of city hall. I'm always impressed with the feelings I had as a new hero. I ran past a group of young heroes training with Miss Liberty.

"Hey Liberty."
"Hello, Maden, like the new uni!" she exclaimed. I looked down puzzled. I hadn't even noticed. This wasn't my costume. It looked like it, but it wasn't the same.
"Uh, thanks." I said.

I ran into city hall and went straight to the city rep, Brighid Moriera. "Hey Mental, nice outfit, what is that vintage?"
"Uh, not sure. Look Brighid, I have a problem. It seems I've been robbed. My ID, communicator, eveything....stolen." I said breathing heavily.
"Oh goodness, not a problem, just go see Klauss, he'll set you up.

Klauss Strepp had been the Hero Registrar for as long as anyone could remember. His main job is to collect all hero information for the city. Now days he mainly works with super groups and their information but in the case of a forgetful hero he could get them the proper credentials to get back out and fight crime.

"Ha ha, no problem Maden, I'll just need some civilian ID and I'll get your security card."
"Stolen, too."
"From you....really? I'd like to see the moron who did that."
"Yeah, me too."
"Not a problem, we'll just need to get a retinal scan to verify. You know security reasons. After the Praetorians started showing up we can't be too sure."
"I understand, Klauss." The Praetorians were extradimensional twins of heros from Paragon...only not the nice kind of twins. Ever since they showed up the city won't allow sight unseen clearance. He pointed what looked like a grocery store check out wand at my eyes. It beeped and he looked confused at the display.
"Hmmm, says here no matching file. Damn thing on the fritz again....Look I'll give you a minimum security badge until then...Until we can get the confounded thing working again."
"Come on Klauss, you know its me." I begged.
"Sorry Maden, you've fought em. You know how dangerous it would be if a Praetorian had level 50 clearance....Rules are rules."
I knew he was right and reluctantly took the level 1 pass. I looked down and to my horror it read Mental Maden2. He saw my reaction and was quick to retort.
"Can't use the same name. You know that. I'm sorry kid. These rules come straight from the Mayor and the Freedom Phalanx."
"I know. I know." then it occured to me. "Hey what's this I hear about Salamanca back online with the Green." (the GreenLine train went to some of Paragons higher security leveled neighborhoods)
"Oh yeah, just online today. Weird place. Lots of magic stuff going on there."

It was an idea but maybe that had something to do with my state; missing powers is usually a magical phenomenon. I headed straight to the MAGI offices to see Azuria.

"Greetings Mental Maden. What do I owe the pleasure?" she asked in her pleasant accent. I explained to her that my powers "Weren't right"; I didn't want to give too much information. That could cause serious access problems even when the computers were fixed. She explained that it was very doubtful that anything from Salamanca could have affected me but she'd be happy to look into it for me. Unfortunately they were short staffed and it would be a few days. I thanked her and went straight to the one person in the city government I could trust, Dr. St John Smythe, head of the department overseeing science related heroes. I've known him for years. He was my fathers best friend, my best friends dad, my mentor in hero training, and the man who took me in after my dad disappeared. Holding back tears, I asked to speak to him in private.

I explained in great detail what had happened, the blackout, the flight issues, the missing equipment and ID. I told him I'd seen Azuria and she was unsure of the cause. In his gentle way he hugged me and told me not to worry. He sat down at his desk and stared into nothingness for awhile deep in thought. He looked at me and asked the one thing I did not want to hear, "You don't think it's back do you?"

The words crushed me, but I had thought of it. In fact it was the first thing that came to mind. Not only were my flight powers gone. I was pretty sure they all were. Although its possible I was just having a "hiccup" of my abilities something inside felt different. But what he had asked me went beyond my mental blasts and force fields. What he asked could effect my mortality.

"I'll call Dr. Fransisco and have him see you right away. Mandy," hearing my real name made me calm, "we'll get through this. Don't worry, I'm here." He made a few phone calls and sent me to my childhood oncologist's office. Something was very wrong.

Part 1: A Bunker...

I woke up in a strange bunker somewhere in Steel Canyon three weeks ago. Something strange was happening....I felt different....drained....unsure where I was and for that matter unsure of who I was. I gathered my thoughts and looked at my surroundings. It seemed to be the same type of bunker I'd entered and fought in dozens of times over the past year. 5th Column, the Council, some rogue organization; it could belong to anyone or noone. I tried to remember when and how I came to that place but I honestly couldn't recall. I seemed to be at the entrance and I dared not venture in unaided since I didn't know what had put me in the state to begin with so I opened the door. My retinas screamed as the daylight reflecting from Silver Lake hit me. It was a beautiful day in Steel Canyon...but what day was it? I reached into my belt to look at the clock on my communicator.....Damn! Stolen. My registration: gone. All ID and belongings gone from my belt. Well great, I thought, Knocked out and mugged. Some superhero.
After my eyes adjusted and my head cleared more I started into my typical preflight jog. I hopped, tucked in my legs, stretched my arms, and faceplanted into a bed of lush green summer grass. It tasted like humiliation. I stood up and looked around to make sure no civilians and especially no other heroes saw this embarassment. Good noone around. I made a second approach and this time landed in a row of hedges in front of a park bench. Oh no...not good. No communicator. No ID. No flight. I have to see the city reps in Atlas and get new ID and stop by SERAPH and pick up a new communicator.
I hailed a cab and headed for Atlas Park, realizing about halfway there I had no cash and cabbies don't care much for influence. I explained to the nice man that I was a hero and had misplaced my ID, money, etc. He laughed and mumbled what I think sounded like "Noob" I would normally take exception to a civilian calling my something so vile, but it was already starting to be a very bad day.
"Could you just tell me the day and time?"
"11:39 a.m. August 31," he said with a certain glee in his voice. "Got the Green going to that Salamander place again." I ignored him. Something was very wrong.