Before reading the fifth part of Parallel Lives, be sure to check out the first four parts to begin Max and Misha's journey!

Click here to read Parallel Lives Part I.

Click here to read Parallel Lives Part II.

Click here to read Parallel Lives Part III.

Click here to read Parallel Lives Part IV.

Two army figures greeted Misha as she warily stumbled outside. Her clothes were wrinkled from the ride, and she suddenly felt self conscious about her appearance. The two figures introduced themselves as privates and took her gently but firmly by the arm, steering her towards a large bunker of sorts. Her feet stumbled under her as she walked, probably weak from lack of use over the past few days. Her caramel skin seemed to glisten with sweat from just walking, and she found herself slightly embarrassed that the privates should see her like this. They were probably wondering what the heck she was even doing here. However, every time she stumbled, the privates made sure she was okay before continuing. They kept her on her feet, no matter how many times she almost fell. Her guards surprisingly seemed worried about her.

They entered the bunker, and it was quite obvious she did not belong here from the moment she set foot in the door. They guided her into a large room on the third floor.

“We will be right outside if you need anything, Ma’am. General Thiket will drop by to brief you at 1200 hours.” To her surprise, they saluted her as they walked out the door, leaving her alone in a darkened room. She wondered if her powers worked here. But, now that this Jack person had introduced himself, she found herself wanting to stick around, if only to find out about him. Besides, it was a military base. She would have access to so many more materials to find her dad is she stayed. Heck, she might be able to have her dad brought here.

She glanced around the room, taking stock of her surrounding. The room was furnished quite nicely with one bed, one chair, one table, two lamps, one wardrobe and an odd door. She pushed open the door, finding it lead to a small bathroom. She gratefully took a shower, even if the water was a bit cold.

Next she looked to see if they were kind enough to provide her with clothes. Hers were quite wrinkled and, as she hadn’t had deodorant in forever, smelled quite terrible. She was quite pleased when she found her wardrobe stocked with black jumpsuits, all with different necklines. She chose one with a turtleneck, surprised when it fit her body perfectly. A forest green leather jacket hung on the wall outside the wardrobe, a gold, clover-ish oak-ish insignia on the right sleeve. She pulled it on over the black suit, relishing the warmth it provided. She glanced at the clock on the table. 11:53 am. If she understood army time right, the General would be here in seven minutes. She looked around for some shoes, or even some socks rally, as she did not want to be barefoot in case the general took her somewhere. She finally noticed a pair of army regulation combat boots set against the wall in the corner. The only thing off about them was they they were black, not brown, as she was used to seeing. She was running out of time, and failing to find socks, pulled the boots on over her bare feet.

The door swung open, revealing a husky looking man. He glanced at her before letting himself into the room and closing the door.

“Misha. Welcome to your new home. I must admit, I am a bit surprised to see you so cooperative, after what I was told about you.”

“I have my reasons.”

“I am sure you do. Now, I must ask, what exactly can you do?”

“Shadows. I control them. I am them.”

“And they wanted you on the elite guard?” He scoffed, shaking his head “Why? That seems like a fairly useless power.”

Misha knew he was trying to provoke her into attacking him, to see exactly what she could do. She instead focused on the lights in the room, blacking them out, and teleported back the the entrance of the base. She got a few confused stares, but they soon turned into ‘Ma’am’ and nodding their acknowledgement. She walked through the hallways rather aimlessly, only stopping when she wanted to peer into a room. She was just about to enter a computer room when she felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise. It was the General.

---

“Misha. Hello again. Yes, I do think we can work with you.” He shook his head in what must have been bemusement. “Yes, I think you will do very well here, Major.”

“A snake? How did that happen? I thought we secured the entrance! Unless…” A large bear came lumbering out through the doorway.

“You remember how much trouble we had getting it to let us in in animal forms. We just coded it to look for human brain waves in the animal. You are sure it came through the door?”

“Yes, Mom.”

The bear turned to face the snake.

“So, what are you really? A shape-shifter? A wizard? Don’t worry, we won’t hurt you. We’ve been hiding long enough ourselves, why would we risk our freedom for a snake?”

Max focused on turning his body back into a human, grimacing when the pain in his feet returned. Stupid feet.

“Hi. Sorry, I did not mean to fall in here.” He pulled himself to a sitting position, still unable to move his legs without great amounts of pain. “I’m Max, a shape-shifter.”

“Well, hello then. I’m Jella, this is my son, Wyatt. We are what you would call Wizards. Really, we just ended up with a smattering of less powerful than normal powers. Like, I turn into a bear and can walk on water, Wyatt turns into a hare and can play with fire. Really, playing is all it is. He can’t do much with it… not even create it.”

“Mom!” The boy now identified as Wyatt complained

“So..you wouldn’t happen to have a healing power in there, would you?” Max asked hopefully.

“No, sorry dear. But we can set your legs properly so they can heal. And you can stay with us, it is perfectly safe here. No one has disturbed us in ten years.”

“Thank you. How did you end up here in the first place though?”

“Same way you did. I was running and hiding, and someone...His father...let me in here. He died five years ago, he never made it back after trying to contact another group of supers not far from here. Turns out they are evil people.”

“I know. I was running from them too. They broke my legs.”

He grimaced as Jella jerked his leg, and with a snap, he could feel the bones re-aligning. She then wrapped them in some green, leaf smelling weave.

“So you never left here?”

“Never. Only to find supplies.”

“Do..you want to join the resistance?”

“The what?”

“It’s something have heard of, from friends and animals alike. There is a group of us wanting to take down the government to fight the anti-supers laws. I was on my way to find them when I fell in here. You should come with me.”

“No, I can’t do that. I can’t risk my son’s safety. But thank you for telling us this. We wish you luck.”

“Max smiled. “So, can I spend the night?”

“You can stay until your legs heal. You can stay forever, as long as you don’t cause trouble. But I know you have to leave soon. At least stay until you can walk again?”

Max nodded. “Sure. Are you sure it won’t be a bother?”

“Only if you become a hindrance.”