Cordula was bored.
Today was a school day, and of all days, Nick and the others were busy testing an experiment, and it was today. "Ms. Davis. I certainly hope you were listening to today's lesson instead of other unrelated topics." The voice of her professor made her snap back to reality as Cordula grinned. "Of course I did. We were just discussing the topic of genetics and DNA."
"Then I hope you all don't mind writing a short essay on DNA and genetics to be submitted next week."
All eyes turned to Cordula with different expressions on their faces. Cordula mentally rolled her eyes. Oh, please, it's not like its gonna take them long, unlike her when she actually has a job to do.
***
After another Cameron Winter fiasco, the gang was vehement in letting Cordula stay as an official H.E.A.T team member instead of being an unofficial intern. It was backed up by a giant lizard who barely showed himself back in base when Cordula had gone away for a few days due to a required field trip with her class.
Hicks had to pull major strings for Cordula to be an official intern by name alone as Godzilla's 'subject of interest'. In reality, she officially became a member of the H.E.A.T team.
Once class was over, Cordula did her daily routine of packing her bags and heading to her locker to grab her daily necessities for another trip to headquarters.
She arrived just as the team finished their little experiment.
"Hey guys. How did it go?" Seeing the disappointed looks on their faces. She grimaced. "Not good?" Randy was the only one grinning. "I don't think I could stomach it if I see G eating all that gunk," Randy said with a disgusted look on his face.
Cordula eyed Monique, who had a contemplating look on her face. "Monique, is everything alright?" Monique blinked when she saw concern written on Cordula's face.
"Ti's nothing to be concerned about. However, Philippe reached out to me concerning a possible mutation attack."
That brought the interest of the entire group as Monique showed them the confidential files Felipe had given her when he, quite literally, ambushed her on the H.E.A.T seeker when they were conducting the experiment.
"Wait, isn't this the guy that tried to off Godzilla?" Randy piqued up. Cordula's face turned sour at that little reminder. Nick scanned through the files before telling the entire team his decision.
"We go."
"You have got to be kidding?!" Elsie voiced out. "The boogeyman tells French Toast here about some mad doctor in South America and his homemade mutations, and go running, why?" Elsie looked at Nick for an answer as he replied. "Because I trust her and Felipe." He gave Elsie a stern glare to drop the subject.
"Also, I think the French is more concerned with humanity's survival. If this thing's danger level is so high, Felipe had to reach out to us. Why should we not go?" Cordula added to which Elsie had no more words to say.
"We leave at sunrise."
Nick decided.
***
The seeker slowed to a stop as Monique drove it close to the wooden docks. Randy, Elsie, and Mendel were on deck as they looked at the never-ending forested area.
Cordula was resting in one of the seeker's bunk beds. She had worked overtime on her essay just for her to join in. Now, she's catching up her missing sleep time.
A smell reached Elsie's nose as she turned to see Mendel spraying all over himself something.
"Are you aware how many diseases a mosquito can give you with one bite?" Mendel asked suddenly as Randy lowered the binoculars to look at Mendel with confusion and amusement while Elsie had a contemplating look on her face.
"Um...23 or 24 as I recall." She replied, side eyeing Randy, who grinned at her when Mendel gave her a stunned look at the double digit number. "I thought it was only six."
Monique scanned the entry point of the jungle. "The lab should be 400 meters in land." Monique said, looking down at the map and marking down the location of the lab. "Uh ... sure we don't need someone to stay with the boat?" Mendel asked.
"*Yawn*, I don't know what you're thinking, Mendel, but there are less likely to be people in an uninhabited island. Also, animals don't drive." Cordula said, shutting Mendel down any excuse he could come up to stay on the boat.
"Are you sure you're fit to join us?" Nick asked when he saw the small bags under Cordula's eyes. The girl huffed. "I'm perfectly fine Nick, this isn't exactly my first rodeo of pulling all nighters. We Davis fisherfolk prefer to hunt mostly at night." Cordula said, moving to walk down the plank before Nick could say anything.
***
They trekked through the dense forest with Monique guarding their back. Monique stopped and sharply looked back with a glare as Mendel tensed up beside her. Cordula pulled Nick and the others back when she noticed from her peripheral vision that Monique stopped dead on her tracks.
"What is it?" Mendel asked harshly. Monique scanned the ground and the treeline. "We are being watched," Monique replied. "By who? The monkeys?" Elsie joked with a small smirk on her face.
"I don't see anything," Nick said as the group resumed their trek. However, Cordula began to notice something off in her surroundings. It was like the feeling of a prey animal being led around by a predator in the shadows.
Is Monique right? If so, then who is following us?
***
It became suddenly clear that someone before used this path when there were marks of a straight path that, hopefully, led to Flurry's Laboratory. They stopped dead when they saw a dog snarling in their way.
Everyone got behind Nick as he held his machete in front of the dog threateningly. Cordula gasped when she saw a snake crawl from a tree branch towards the dog, who turned and pounced on the snake.
Nick shoved the group away before any of the two noticed them gone. Monique sliced a few ferns out of the way and saw the laboratory shack. "Real fixer-upper," Randy commented from behind her shoulders. Cordula peeked from their sides. "Really? Looks like an abandoned place to leave some important stuff without nosey youths sneaking in." Randy pinched her cheek.
"Don't get started with me, chica." They both grinned at each other before they proceeded further in towards the abandoned laboratory shack.
***
Once inside, they all found themselves staring into various specimens. some familiar, some unfamiliar, and some very modified familiar creatures contained in jars of various sizes. Elsie made a face as she looked straight at one. "Yuck," She could not help but comment. "Well, it looks like a Craven family reunion." Randy suddenly broke in, trying to release the tense atmosphere. Mendel did not find it funny one bit that he was once again the subject of Randy's jokes.
"Ha-Ha-Ha..." Mendel drawled with hands on his hips and a scowl on his face. Cordula could not help but let out a giggle. Honestly, adventures were a bit more colourful with these two around. "Check for any files or notes," Nick said, quickly breaking up whatever round of argument Mendel and Randy were gonna have.
Cordula went over to a cabinet and pulled open the drawers only to turn and move away as dust was disturbed. She started coughing almost immediately. "These things seriously need a wipe down." Cordula sniffed before shuffling through the papers and notes inside. It was to her disgust that most of them were clearly eaten away by worms or rot.
"I should have brought an extra sanitiser and cleaner." Disgust rang in Cordula's tone. "I'll need my carbon spectrometer to analyze these remains. It's back on the H.E.A.T seeker." Elsie said as she pulled out a folder. "Continue your investigation. I will retrieve your equipment." Monique said as she began to walk out of the shack. All this time, she had been feeling uneasy. The feeling of being watched never gone away. It just seemed to be increasing.
"Whatever yo say, boss." Elsie replied lowly with a small glare. At some times, Cordula wasn't sure if the two women hated each other or just tolerated their presence.
***
"Hey, Elsie ... You might wanna take a look at this." Cordula called out as she handed a few notes that talked about DNA and genetics. The problem was that these notes talked about being able to manipulate the DNA structures to create any living thing with no limit.
"Either this guy was mad before or just downright insane." Cordula stated as she placed the noted right beside Elsie, who was busy gawking at a bizarre looking creature preserved in a jar. "This is amazing." Elsie noted when she skimmed the notes before looking back at the creature. "Three different species moulded into one entity. It's not simply a mutation. It's an entirely new creature." Mendel could not help but comment at the absurdity of it all.
"What kind of twisted mind would intentionally make such a bizarre life form?" Randy looked at the doctor from his mini computer and could not help the quip. "Let's ask your parents." Mendel glared at Randy, not liking it one bit.
From the far end, Nick entered a small door that contained liquid looking blobs of grey. He rubbed them between his finger with a contemplating look on his face before bringing some back for Elsie to test it out.
***
Finding a microscope in a lab is easy. Finding if it still works is another thing.
The blob Nick had given to Elsie was carefully placed under the microscope as Cordula shined her flashlight on the small mirror under the microscope to reflect light.
"What is it?" Nick asked after waiting for a moment. "I'm not sure, but if this microscope still works...Cordula, move the light a little." Cordula let her arm holding the light be used as a puppet as Elsie tried to see what was in this blob.
Randy made some more tinkering on his mini computer before he found himself on line with the old tech. He gave himself a pat in the back. "I give you the undisputed: Hacker of the Amazon." Randy said with his arms raised up in the air in celebration.
Nick walked over to Randy. "What have you got?" Randy opened the files, and his face changed to one of disgust. "Talk about your dry reading; The manipulation and creation of Deoxyribonucleic acid."
Mendel laughed at the words. "Pft, you can't create DNA." Mendel said but was cut off by Elsie as she said lowly, "Wanna bet?" If they could see her eyes, they would have noticed how narrowed it already is as Elsie finished checking the blob.
"This stuff is pure DNA. A genetically clean slate. If that barrel was full of this stuff. It would be like a massive clay waiting to be moulded."
"Into what?" Nick asked. Elsie looked at Nick dead in the eye. "Whatever living thing it wants." Cordula gasped before she ran back to where Nick had found the blob and spotted the container lying flat on the ground.
"Guys, I have a crazy idea. What if this barrel used to hold that much amount of blob. Where do you think the rest went?"
Nick's eyes went wide when his gaze landed on the open forest outside the shack.
"Monique..."
"You guys wait here, Nick and I will be back with Monique." Cordula jumped up, pulling Nick along. He raised a brow in wonder. "If that thing could turn into anything it wants. Who's to say it won't look like any of us? Better go with a group or partner."
The others watched as Nick and Cordula raced off to find Monique, all the while hoping that whatever Elsie just found turned out to be nothing more than blob of DNA and that was that.
***
Nick and Cordula raced through the path they just made to the H.E.A.T seeker. They saw the boat just in time to witness Monique being tackled down by something black.
"Hold on Monique!" Cordula cried out as Nick ran up the ramp. "Not a snake." Monique managed to gasp out loud as Nick grabbed a nearby spear while Cordula grabbed the machete that was laying on the side, probably placed there by Monique.
Nick slapped the spear, which immediately broke apart once it came into contact with the "snake's" body. The snake turned into a pole of blob as Nick helped Monique up. Cordula glared before throwing the machete like a spear and directly hit the blob.
The machete was only absorbed for a moment before the blob turned back to a snake and dove back to the water, hissing all the way. "That's how you properly spear." Cordula said with her arms crossed. Nick and Monique came up to her to watch the creature leave.
Nick touched the railings and moved them back once he felt something wet contact his hands.
"I guess we just met Dr. Flurry's little secret." He stated. Cordula gasped as she looked back. "How long did that thing stay here? Not that I doubt your sharp senses, Monique, but who knows, it might have been here before you came back here."
"Split up and search the seeker. Who knows what that creature tampered with"
Monique went below deck while Cordula checked the computers. Nick patrolled outside for any other suspicious activity. "Guys, we might have a problem." Cordula's uncertain voice made Monique and Nick come inside to see her leaning in on a flashing screen.
"While nothing was touched. I think it searched through our data banks. Specifically about us." Cordula said, eyeing the flashing screen with their names and faces.
***
They hurried back to the shack while keeping an eye on anything that might jump on them. Cordula gasped when she spotted something dark dart through the shadows of the trees.
"Nick, I spotted something."
Nick ran after Cordula to the place she'd seen the shadow dart. Monique was about to follow after them but paused when she heard Randy calling out her name and changed her direction, wondering why Randy was even out here on the forest.
It was to Cordula's disappointment that they did not find anything suspicious save for a few animals that reacted like any normal animal should when faced with humans: running away.
"Must have been my mind playing tricks with me again.
Cordula frowned as she and Nick walked back to where they last saw Monique only to hear voices and to stumble upon Monique and Randy in what appeared to be another argument.
"What's going on?" Nick could not help but ask, stopping Randy and Monique from their conversation. "That is precisely what I'm trying to determine." Monique replied, eyeing Randy with a suspicious look on her face.
"Flurry's second blob of the living DNA," Randy cut in. "You said I should let you know as soon as I figured out where he stashed it." Confusion bled through Nick, Cordula, and Monique.
"Rands, Monique's been with us the whole time. I doubt she has the fast legs to head back to the shack and then come back to us quickly without Nick and I noticing." Cordula replied in bewilderment. "I have not yet returned to the lab." Monique added, confirming Cordula's words.
"But if that wasn't you then - uh oh." Randy's eyes, which had been staring at Monique, suddenly moved up above Monique's head. All eyes turned behind Monique as she turned around to see an exact copy of her staring down at them through an incline.
"Incroyable"
"The mimic!"
Monique and Nick exclaimed at the same time. They watched as The Mimic swung from tree to tree like a monkey in a human body. "I wonder how our primate ancestors should feel about this..." Cordula said, scratching her head. "Don't let it get away!" Nick cried out as the creature disappeared on the trees.
"Split up. If we lose each other, meet back at the lab." Nick said as the four took off in different directions.
***
Cordula searched through the trees, holding her pocket knife as she strained her ears to hear any movement. Unfortunately, she was met with nothing but silence.
"Cordula?"
"Ack!" Cordula whirled around, knife flashing as Elsie yelped and jumped back, hands raised in surrender. "Woah, take it easy there, tiger." She said with a small smile as Cordula sighed but then tensed up.
"Elsie? What are you doing here?" Elsie blinked in confusion at Cordula's suspicious tone. "Well, I was waiting for Mendel to get another sample on something that caught my interest in, but then I heard Nick calling me over."
"You followed a voice from the shack to here?"
"Well, I keep trying to call out to Nick where he was, but he said he was stuck in something and couldn't move."
A movement from behind was enough for Cordula to let out a surprise yelp when "Nick" appeared and pushed Elsie towards Cordula, whose back was dangerously close to a deep ditch.
"Move!" Cordula shouted, shoving Elsie out of the way, who was trying to find her balance from the sudden shove, and tried to make a swipe at the imposter. Cordula grunted when the imposter moved to the side and shoved her roughly against a tree.
"Cordula?! Nick, what are you doing?"
Elsie shouted, grasping "Nick's" arm only to be shoved back and pushed down the the ditch. The last thing Elsie swore she saw was "Nick's" face changing into hers.
"Elsie!" Cordula shouted before pouncing on the imposter, which had now turned into Elsie and stabbed it. It was to her horror that the knife went in like water, and she was suddenly staring at her face. Cordula let out a noise when she was roughly held high.
She struggled as the creature moved to throw her down beside Elsie and managed to knee the imposter's head, wincing slightly when she saw her head being disfigured in front of her eyes.
In the midst of the struggle, Cordula felt gravity take hold of her. Sharp pain from her left foot and right arm hit her as she screamed, and the blob quickly turned to a small bird and flew up.
Cordula hissed and watched as the creature turned back to her before shifting to Elsie's form. The wide grin was so unnerving that Cordula was sure to have nightmares for a few days.
"Get back here!"
Cordula cried out as the creature disappeared from her view. She looked down at herself to check for injuries. Thankfully, her foot only sustained bruising, but her arm was another problem.
"It's sprained." She concluded, wincing as she tried to raise it up only to be met with sharp pain. Turning her attention to Elsie, Cordula frowned when the fall knocked her out cold. Hopefully, the palaeontologist didn't sustain any injuries or a concussion.
How long do I have to wait here for help?
The best way to alert the team was to leave Elsie and head back to the shack. The problem was leaving Elsie to the forest. Something Cordula was not about to do.
Guess her only option was to hope for the team to figure out the imposter and hopefully find them both.
It's not like it can split itself and create both me and Elsie.
She did not have to wait too long. A total of 30 minutes passed before she heard signs of someone shouting out their names. "Guys!, we're over here!" She shouted. The sounds grew louder and louder before she saw the face of Mendel pop out.
"Mendel!"
Cordula cried out as Elsei groaned, showing signs of waking up. "Nick! Over here!" Mendel shouted, alerting the rest of them team. He cradled Elsie, supporting her head as she tried to sit up.
"Chica, you okay? That's a nasty sprain you got there." Randy said, inspecting Cordula's arm. "At least it's not the leg." Cordula joked. "Hey!" Nick cried out when Elsie suddenly shoved him away and stood up.
Randy quickly held her down. "That's for pushing me into that ditch and hurting Cordula! You could have killed both od us." Elsie hissed with her arms crossed. "It wasn't me, it was the mimic," Nick defended himself.
"Sure looked like you." Elsie replied "It looked like you too, before it became a vicious jaguar." Randy said as Elsie shoved his arm, which was on her, away. "Which doesn't seem like too much of a stretch at the moment." Nick said.
"Perhaps, now we can turn our attention towards stopping the mimic." Monique said, promptly telling everyone there was no need for any extra discussion. "What about the mimic?" Elsie asked.
"It knows the coordinates of Flurry's second container. The one marked Y" Randy explained. "The container we found was labeled X" Dawning realisation reached Elsie.
"So maybe the other letters were already taken." Randy said, not even connecting the dots. "X and Y. The male and female chromosomal symbols. It's not just looking for another can of protoplasm, it's looking for another mate." Cordula groaned "Not only did this guy make one but two? And one is male the other female?"
"Those two DNA blobs get together, they'll be able to reproduce unlimited copies of themselves. Their offspring could replace the human race."
"We've got to find that container before that thing does."
***
Th team headed back to the seeker after formulating a plan of attack. "Nitric acid should act as a mutagen on its DNA polymerase. Unravelling the mimic at the genetic level." Elsie said. "Sometimes I wish you came up with subtitles" Randy complained, not understanding at all what Elsie was saying.
"I think I know of a way to stop the bug bad DNA monster." Elsie paraphrased with a roll of her eyes as they went up the ramp only to stop short upon seeing a familiar face messing with N.I.G.E.L.
"What the heck!" Cordula could not help but cry out. "Hey, that's me." Mendel stated in bewilderment "Two Mendels? Uh...I'm not sure I'm ready for this." Elsie said, placing a finger on her head.
"It's messing around with N.I.G.E.L" Mendel pointed out. Randy shoved Mendel away with an angry look on his face. "Hey, you can't do that. Only I can do that!" Randy said, charging at the mimic.
The mimic grabbed N.I.G.E.L and roughly threw it to the sea. "N.I.G.E.L!" Mendel cried out as they surrounded the mimic. It gave Mendel a mocking look before transforming to an alligator.
"Already, this is starting to piss me off. Don't tell me it will be as smart as the person they are impersonating!"
Cordula grumbled. Mendel quickly opened his mini computer which is connected to N.I.G.E.L and found all lockout remained locked. "N.I.G.E.L's not responding. The mimic must have reprogrammed its lockouts." Mendel said in frustration as he tried to figure out how to unlock the lockouts or even pin point N.I.G.E.L's current location.
"That is one smart pile of ghoul." Randy could not help but comment. "I better get to work on that Nitric Acid. Cordula, help me out to make this faster." Cordula nodded as she followed Elsie inside.
"Randy, get us to that Y container before the mimic." Nick said as Randy nodded before heading inside to start up the seeker and head to where the Y container was located.
***
The seeker slowed to a stop as Randy stopped the boat and checked the sonar equipment. Making sure there was no error, he quickly radioed Nick, who was busy gearing up in his dive suit along with Monique.
"Sonar shows the mimic and N.I.G.E.L right below us 80 feet and dropping," He said, making sure to let the others know they have yet to find the Y container but they will soon if Nick and Monique don't hurry up. "Elsie, Cordula, status?" Nick radioed.
"Not yet." Elsie replied, typing in the data. "We're almost done Nick. Just a little more adjustments." Cordula replied as she carefully taped four separated tanks of Nitric acid. She did not want to take chance taping these while the seeker was moving. The last thing Elsie and Cordula want is for the two of them to suddenly disappear due to minor mishaps.
Cordula was finishing up stabilising the three tanks when a sudden shock made the seeker rock so hard, Cordula lost her footing and down she went with the Nitric acid.
"Waoh!"
"Watch out!" Elsie cried out as she grabbed the end of the makeshift arrow as Cordula sucked a breath when the seeker rocked.
"What the heck is going on outside?"
***
Nick and Monique failed.
The mimic finally found its partner and the results were devastating. Monique and Nick surfaced up quickly as Randy and Mendel pulled both of them up. They all stumbled to the ground when the mimic resurfaced and sent huge waves knocking on the seeker.
It dove back down to make another attack only to be stopped by a jaw.
***
Godzilla resurfaced with a roar while holding the mimic in his arms and jaws. "Yeah!, nice to know you got a 300-foot lizard for a bodyguard, eh boss?" Randy joked.
Cordula came out just in time to see Godzilla and the mimic rumble. "Elsie!" Cordula cried out as Elsie finally finished stabilising all four tanks. "Got it!" They carefully brought the makeshift Nitric acid arrow out.
"Nick!" Cordula called, snapping the others from watching the fight. Elsie held up the arrow. "Who ordered the poison arrow?" Nick walked over and quickly grabbed the arrow, heading over to the spear gun stationed right on the side of the seeker.
"Careful, that stuff will unzip any organic material at the molecular level. Including yours." Elsie reminded. "Good safety tip," Nick said as he placed the arrow in.
"Fire it up before that thing gets any bigger"
Cordula shouted as the boat rocked from the waves the two monsters were creating. The two disappeared under as Nick aimed the arrow in the water. Godzilla resurfaced with a roar ad Randy cheered.
"Alright!, Godzilla by a knockout!" Randy cheered only to stop short when another Godzilla appeared with a roar. Nick and Cordula blinked as they stared at th
Wo Godzilla's roaring at each other and swiping their claws.
"More like a split decision." Elsie commented as Nick swung the spear gun left and right. "It's impossible to choose." Monique replied. "Hit the wrong one, and the real Godzilla will be mush," Elsie warned. She and Cordula only made one arrow given the limited time. She doesn't think they would be able to make another one without the mimic killing them first.
"Trust your instincts, Nick. No one knows the G-man like you and Cordula." Randy said. Cordula watched the fight with worry in her eyes.
***
The moment Godzilla saw the thing turn like him. He felt a rush of fury once he saw his female stare at the thing with worry in her eyes.
He will win, and he will return to both his father and his female. He will not let this one replace him.
***
It was when the real Godzill began to aggressively attack using both his claws and jaws that Nick aimed the gun at the right to the imposter and shot it at its side.
"Way ta go jefe!" Randy cheered as a section of the mimic suddenly fell off. Nick heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the result. At the back of his mind, he doubted he could have told the difference between the two of them had it not been for Godzilla's sudden aggressive attacks. He eyed Cordula, who stared at Godzilla, who was also staring at her, with relief on her face.
The mimic began shift in between forms of animals as if it was trying to stabilise itself. "It's DNA is on overload." Elsie stated as the mimic then tried to shift itself on a human form. Cordula felt a tick when it shifted to her face.
Granted, the entire form was brown but still. The way Godzilla suddenly roared and hesitated to attack made her grab a nearby flame gun and shot the mimic directly at the face which made it shift again.
The gang eyed her with looks Cordula can't describe.
"What?!"
"Nothing." Elsie shrugged while hiding behind a laugh. Her laugh was cut short when she saw her brown face, two of them with one smaller than the other, marching towards them about to stomp them to the ground.
Godzilla charged and roared while released his Atomic Breath to fry the mimic down to dust.
"Perhaps you know more about the creature than I gave you credit for." Monique said to Nick who smiled at her. "I only know because of her." Nick replied, pointing to Cordula, who was holding back a laugh when Elsie asked Mendel a question.
"I don't really look like that mimic, do I?" Mendel pondered before replying. "Nah, you're much...smaller." He said. "And colorful." Randy added, reminding them of the brown coated color of the mimic in its overheated stage.
Cordula could not contain her laughter at that as Elsie made a grab for Randy.
***
Cordula wanted the ground to swallow her. The big C grade stared back at her like a menace along with the commented words from her professor.
"Keep your paper clean and readable next time, Ms. Davis"
Ugh...
Note to self: Finish at home and don't bring your work with you on the next adventure.