The Mutatio Disease

Sector Seventeen

- - - - Sector Seventeen - - - -
- - - - Part One - - - -
Why Are You Wearing a Wig of all Things?

     Penelope squealed, leaping onto my bed and laughing aloud. "Girl-girl-girl, look at this!"

     I groaned, stuffing a pillow at her. I had been perfectly happy asleep. She was way too excited for this early in the morning. "Whaaat?"

    She just pointed at the television, beaming.

    "--Rumors are flying around that the robbery of the downtown bank by five robbers was foiled by Argentum herself." Someone in the back coughed. "Yes, you heard us right. The rational Mortem of the Defenders arrived to save the day, saving a citizen and taking care of the attackers. Footage proves it, thanks to her gold cloak.

   "It happened moments after a jarring fight with our local Mortem at the outdoor mall nearby. Inferno, Argentum, Jumper, and two new additions, reportedly titled Valkyrie and Ghost, attempted to take on the Mortem. It is said that Argentum was beaten the worst in the fight, yet here she is, saving the day moments afterwards. Though the Mortem is still rampant, Kansas City citizens are hopeful. The Defenders haven't failed yet, and are clearly harder to take down than previously thought."

    Penelope muted the TV, laughing. "That's brilliant, Fletch! Covering a brutal defeat with the face of victory! Man, you're genius."

   "Huh? I wasn't even thinking about that. I just needed a way to blow off steam and happened to find some idiots with guns."

   Before Penelope could reply, smoke puffed into the room. Felix threw himself onto the bed, laughing. "You're a genius, fledgling!"

   I shouted, surprised, and shoved him away. "Great god, Felix, don't scare me like that."

   Silvester and Logan grinned. Logan stole the chair before Silvester could get to it, sticking out his tongue. Felix was beaming and ruffling my hair.

    "It was brilliant, fledgling! Everyone's forgotten about our first fail. Now they're so focused on you that they forgot! This is absolutely perfect. And this time, we're not going in without a plan. We're going to get her next time."

   "And what's your plan?" I asked dryly.

~

    I navigated the busy street, hands in pockets and sleeves covering every inch of my arms. Not a fleck of skin was exposed to be touched, with my black wig on and sunglasses perched on my nose. Luckily, people were avoiding each other anyway, so it wasn't too risky. The person I was supposed to be meeting would be heading my way soon, and I had to get to the meeting point.

   Lyra had found another hopeful for the Defenders and sent them my way. While the rest worked to locate Narissa, I had been booted off of the job because of how personal the issue was. I had grudgingly agreed, as long as I still had a hand in getting her brought down. The others had agreed to the same policy -- if it ever got that personal for them, they'd back out too.

   There was a yelp and something kicked my ankle. The sidewalk was already slick from a rain the night before, and I slipped with a yelp. The other person went down with a cry, and I barely caught their hand before it hit my bare neck. Eyes wide, I turned to chew the person out when a froze.

   Very familiar green eyes stared back. With blonde hair cut short, a dimple on one side, and a pointed chin, I recognized him and instantly pushed away, paling. Please don't recognize me--