The Oregon military command centre was busy with activity. An alert flashed up on the screen of one of the analysts.

  “We have received a report of Mavis’s possible location. A restaurant in the downtown Portland area.” Agent Shultz reported to the team.

  “Can we verify that?” The commander responded.

  “On it.”

  ??????

  Police officers Kirk and Samson, middle-aged, cruised down the street in their car.

  “Busy day, eh?” Kirk was exasperated. Everyone had been called into work today to manage the multitude of issues that had been going on in the city.

  “Just glad we've managed to maintain some semblance of order around here.” Samson replied in agreement.

  Suddenly a transmission came through over the radio: "Hostage situation in progress at 625 Oak St. Suspect is armed and dangerous." They sped off down the road without having been given information about the full situation, for otherwise there was a risk they may have decided not to go.

  ??????

  Back in the restaurant, Frank carried a large plate of food out of the kitchen, and set it upon Mavis's table.

  “Duck a l’orange”. He stated and walked away warily. He hoped it would be acceptable.

  Mavis takes a bite.

  It's delicious! It's the best food she has ever had!

  ??????

  Back outside, Kirk eyed inside the restaurant through his binoculars. Their car was parked across the road, idling.

  “Shit!”

  “What is it?”

  “It's her! The girl!”

  “Are you sure?”

  Kirk checked his phone again, which showed an image of her face. “I'm sure of it. Here, you take a look.” He handed the binoculars to Samson.

  “You're right!”

  “Let's get out of here.” Kirk began to drive off down the street.

  Sam picked up the radio and called through: “Confirmed reported sighting of the girl. The restaurant at 625 Oak St. She appears to be having dinner there. We are leaving the scene. Please alert the relevant authorities.”

  Back at the military command centre in Oregon, things immediately sprung into action.

  “Agent Holt, assemble a strike team and get down there as soon as possible!” The military commander at the Oregon centre barked.

  “Yes sir.” Agent Holt replied.

  “I'll be with you soon. Let's go, people!”

  ??????

  Inside the restaurant, the phone rang. Jessica who was at the counter, closest to it, answered.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  After a brief pause without Jessica saying anything, the man on the other end of the phone spoke: “This is Sergeant Macoy of Portland PD. We understand there is a hostage situation. I am outside the building with fellow officers.”

  Jessica glanced through the window but couldn't see anything. "Yes, would you like to make a reservation?" She pretended to be having a normal conversation in order to not arouse the suspicion of Mavis.

  Sergeant Macoy understood what was going on. “Do you know what she wants?” he replied.

  “No, we don’t”

  “How many people inside?” Sergeant Macoy continued.

  Jessica quickly looked around the room, counting how many people she saw: 4 customers, plus the 4 chefs and 3 wait staff. "Yes, we do have availability for February 11st."

  “11, got it.” Sergeant Macoy paused. “We will continue to monitor the situation at a safe distance until the Feds arrive. I know you can't stay on the line longer so I'll let you go. Hang in there and don't lose hope, we're going to get you all out of this.”

  “Ok great, see you then.” Jessica hung up the phone, unsure of whether she could be that optimistic. The reality of the situation seemed far more grim.

  ??????

  After an hour or so, Mavis had finished her dinner. Calmly, she walked out of the restaurant.

  As she was walking down the street, she noticed a car across the street slowly begin to follow her, so she walked over it.

  Sergeant Macoy got out of the car to face her. He was fearful.

  “What do you want?” he stated bluntly, his voice sharp and confident.

  Mavis was silent.

  “Why are you doing this?” Sergeant Macoy pressed.

  Mavis continued to stare at him intently, giving no reply.

  In the background, the sound of an engine was heard getting louder as it approached them. A tank crested the hill coming into view. Its barrel was pointed directly at Mavis.

  Before she can react, it fires a shell hitting Mavis, exploding, throwing her backwards a few metres away, into a crater in the street. But she is mostly unharmed, merely coughing up smoke and dust. Her ears are ringing.

  It fires again. This time she is more prepared. She shields herself and recovers. Infuriated, she rises to her feet. Before it can fire again, she fires a ball of energy and vaporises it.

  There are other military vehicles behind it. She flies up and vaporises them as well.

  Then buildings in the street begin to collapse inwards.

  There is a helicopter overhead - Mavis flies up and sends it crashing down to the streets below.

  She leaves a trail of destruction throughout the city.

  Everything begins to crumble and is destroyed as if it was made of sand, the atoms separating from each other at a molecular level.

  Flying up higher, she observed everything below. Small fires burning in the night are now the only source of light illuminating the ground.

  Mavis flew away.

  Their failure was reported to the President in the White House situation room.

  “Well, what happened?” the President enquired.

  “We lost track of her, sir. “ was Agent Miller’s solemn response.

  “Damn it.”

  ??????

  The night dragged on. Mavis was now in Seattle, and tired. She flew around and after a while landed on top of a random apartment building.

  Looking around to make sure no one had been watching, she walked towards the roof door and busted it open without bothering to attempt to turn the handle. Quietly she stepped inside and zipped down the stairwell for a few floors until she decided to stop at a random apartment. As quietly as possible, she grabbed the keyhole and lock with her left hand, driving her fingers through the wood. She didn't want to wake anyone up.

  Silently, she crushed the lock and removed it from the door. With her other hand she moved to turn the knob slowly but accidentally broke it off, partly crushing it.

  "Oops..." Mavis whispered, but the door swung open anyway. She placed the lock and door knob on the ground and walked straight towards the bedroom, seeing a man and woman fast asleep in their bed.

  The room was small and had a window. She walked towards the side of the bed where the woman was sleeping, closest to the window, and vaporised her with one small quick motion of her head. She took her shoes off, then got into the bed, brushing off dust as she did so, unable to tell if the residual heat on the mattress was from the woman sleeping there or the result of her demise. Mavis soon fell asleep.

  ??????

  “Miller, give me an update on the status of the girl.” The President barked to CIA agents in the White House situation room.

  “Sir, the attacks seem to have ceased. We are still unable to locate her.” Agent Miller responded.

  “We need to find where she went.” The President insisted.

  “Perhaps she's sleeping” Agent Lyons chimed in.

  “There's more. Leaders of the international community are contacting us, wanting assurances that we have the situation under control.” Agent Carter reported.

  “It doesn't look like it at the moment. But we can't tell them that. Put them through to me - I'll deal with it.” The President believed that even seeing his face and knowing he was alive and well would go a long way for other nations to regain confidence in his ability to control the situation.

  “Sir, don't you think you should get some sleep?” Agent Miller asked the President.

  “I'm fine Miller. Focus on the plan for tomorrow.”