Aubrey set down her cup of water on the coffee table. She was sitting crossed legged, Indian style, on her orange sofa.
Sitting by her were Wyatt and Makenzie. Makenzie was sitting in the egg chair beside her, and Wyatt on a chair diagonal from her. They had come over for lunch.
"I guess your apartment is cool." Wyatt suggested, looking around more "But it's also really small."
"Uh, Thank you?" Aubrey didn't know wether to be grateful or offended.
Ringo had sauntered up to him and was staring at him curiously. Aubrey smiled in amusement.
He noticed Ringo staring at him, and gave the cat a questioning eyebrow.
"So what exactly is your deal with cats?" he asked her "Because as far as I know, you and your mom have an affinity for them."
Makenzie snorted as she sipped her coffee. Oddly enough, she had on a graphic tee that had the words 'But First, Coffee' printed in black. But the shirt itself was white.
"Heh, " Aubrey smiled sheepishly "um, I dunno. I like them I guess?" She shrugged "I mean, I'd always been around them, so..." She didn't know "what her deal with cats" was. Her family had always had a or multiple cats.
"Is it like, your favorite animal or something?"
"No. Lions are my favorite."
"But lions are cats too." Wyatt smiled at her playfully.
"Yeah whatever." She rolled her eyes "Well what's your favorite animal then?"
"A hawk." he replied with confidence.
"Mine's a chinchilla!" Makenzie interjected.
"A what?"
"A chinchilla, Wyatt." She crowed.
"What the heck is a chinchilla?" He asked to himself to make a point.
"A chinchilla is a rodent that's a little bit bigger than a squirrel. They are native to the Andes mountains in South America." she explained to him "They look like this." She turned her phone screen towards Wyatt. She had searched up a picture of a chinchilla.
"Ooook then." he raised an eyebrow "odd that you just happen to have a picture of one handy, but Okay."
Makenzie glared at him.
"Anyway, do you have any pets?" Aubrey jumped into the conversation again.
"Um, not exactly. I co-own a dog named Chip." Wyatt replied.
"Co-own?"
"The dog belongs to my...roommate, but ya know since we live together, I kinda have to take care of it too."
"Oh." She understood. Trixie jumped onto the sofa, and curled up next to her. She noticed, and started stroking her back. Trixie purred.
"Wait, the dog's name is Chip?" Makenzie asked with realization.
"Yup."
"Ha. It's like from Beauty and the Beast." she said to herself.
"Heh, not exactly." Wyatt whispered under his breath. There was silence for bit. Makenzie took another bite out of her sub. Aubrey had bought subway sandwiches and Chips Ahoy! Cookies for them to eat.
Wyatt couldn't think of any thing else to say. So he stayed quiet until someone said something, or until he had something to say. In the brief silence, Wyatt noticed Aubrey's tattoo again. She had had it covered up the past couple of times he saw her. It was on her right shoulder. Two light purple flowers diagonally aligned. The top flower had an open middle, and the bottom had a closed middle. He wondered if it stood for something, or if it was a past mistake. Or if it was completely random. He also noticed her freckles on her shoulders. And arms.
"Uh, does your tattoo stand for anything? Or is it just...random?" Wyatt asked Aubrey. She looked up at him.
"My tattoo?" she stopped petting Trixie and pointed at it "Yes. It stands for something."
"What?" He exhaled through his nose, slightly amused at her answer.
"The open flower," she put her finger on it, and shifted her body so he could see it better "stands for curiosity." She paused and put her finger on the other flower. "And the closed flower stands for confidence."
"Hmph."
"Flowers because I didnt want the words written out on my arm, and I wanted something subtle. Um, and they're purple cuase that's my favorite color."
"That's, really cool." She could hear that he wasn't being sarcastic (For once). He was genuinely intrigued.
"Thanks, I guess." she looked away and blushed slightly, it was nearly unnoticeable. But Wyatt noticed.
"Oh yeah, what about your sword?" he quickly changed the topic.
"What about it?" She raised her eyebrows at him.
"Like, why do you have it? You know you could get charged for having a weapon like that?" Aubrey shrugged slightly.
"Well I got it at this convention thing I went to one time. I dunno, it looked cool or something. But it's not like I practice sword fighting or anything. Yes, I know how to use it, but that's for my own safety. And plus, the blade is dull. So it can't really hurt anyone. Not severely anyway."
"Ok" he said slowly. "Also, why the loft bed?"
"I like high places." she answered simply, and smirked slightly. He squinted his eyes at her. He was expecting more of an answer.
"I hope you guys know that you're funny." Makenzie chimed in. She smiled and sipped her coffee. Aubrey and Wyatt looked at her questioningly.
"Aaanyway, how do you like working with the police so far?" He turned back to Aubrey.
"Oh, um. It's... ok I guess." She shrugged "I don't hate it. But I don't love it either. Everyone seems pretty nice. I like working with Christian."
"And you're finally making use of your degree." Makenzie said.
Aubrey chuckled "Yeah, I guess I am. But I could do without being around all those people for so long. It's tiring."
"Oh, then you can't come to the parties then. There'll be people everywhere. And you'd have to talk to them too." Wyatt teased.
"Hmm, I'll make note of when they are, and stay home." She just might actually do that when they did have parties.
"Ok, but let's ask the real questions-" Makenzie put her mug down on the coffee table. Wyatt leaned forward again and so did Aubrey, but only a little. "What are your guys' favorite super heroes?"
Aubrey rolled her eyes at her bff's silliness.
"Because mine's Black Canary, Black Widow, Wolverine, Batman, and Mystique, not from X-Men, of course."
"Of course." Aubrey remarked. Makenzie looked at her and smiled. She remembered how Makenzie reacted to her reveal. At first she didn't believe her, so she had to show her friend, it was real.
Makenzie stared wide eyed at the ice covered coffee table. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She looked back up at her best friend. Aubrey had a feeling of utter anticipation. She bit her lip, waiting anxiously for Makenzie's response. But when Aubrey looked into her friend's eyes, she didn't see anger or betrayal like she thought she would. She saw, confusion, interest, and curiousness.
She took a deep breath and broke their gaze.
"Look, I know I probably should have told you before but-" she started.
"No." Makenzie snapped curtly. Aubrey looked up in surprise. "I've seen enough superhero movies to know what you're about to say. And I know you Aubrey. I understand."
She exhaled a sigh of relief.
"But I have many questions." Makenzie warned.
"Ok. Go on ahead." She was ready for questions.
"How?" She asked simply.
"Uh, so you remember the accident, right?" She asked shyly.
"Yes."
"That's when it happened..." Aubrey explained the truth about what happened that night two and a half years ago. She also told Makenzie everything else. How she learned to control her powers, how exactly she became Mystique, how the suit worked, why she used a frying pan as a weapon, everything. They had stayed up late into the night talking about the new development.
"Who else have you told?" Makenzie asked quietly. They were laying on the floor.
"No one else. You're the only person I've told." Aubrey confessed.
"Not even your mom?"
"No. I don't know. I'm just, waiting for the right time."
"Ya know that might never come."
"I know."
There was comfortable silence between them.
"Now the odd criminals actions make sense. They're trying to get your attention."
"Oh trust me, they've already got it."
"Ok well mine are Black Widow and Batgirl." Aubrey told hers.
"Did you pick those two only because they're both red heads?" Wyatt teased.
"No. They're just really bad a$$."
"True. I like Hawkeye, Night Wing and the Winter Soldier."
"I bet hawks are your favorite animal becuse Hawkeye's your favorite superhero." Makenzie joked.
"That is not why!" he yelled playfully at her.
"Ok, whatever you say..." She wasn't convinced.
"Ok but, DC or Marvel?"Makenzie asked again. "Because I'm with DC."
"Me too." Wyatt agreed.
"I don't really have a preference, so..." Aubrey murmured.
"What." He looked at her in disbelief.
"You have to pick a side. We've been over this Bree." Makenzie proded.
"Well, Christian would say Marvel." Aubrey brought up.
"Yeah, he would." Makenzie agreed. Wyatt made a face.
"Ok, but DC has been around longer, I think, but Marvel has better movies."
"Ok but-" Wyatt's sentence was cut off by a high pitched scream coming from nearby. All three of their heads turned toward the sound. Ringo and Trixie stirred too.
The three of them looked back at each other. They needed to take action.
They were up and out the door in seconds. Aubrey spotted her neighbor at the end of the hallway, looking out to the street.
"Hey Ms. Lynch, what's going on?" She asked as they approached her. The middle aged woman whipped around, a little startled.
"Ah, Aubrey. I don't know sweetheart. That's what I'm tryin' to figure out." she replied, her southern accent prominent.
"Oh, ok then."
"We should probably head downstairs to see if we can figure out where the scream came from." Wyatt suggested.
"Yeah." Makenzie agreed. Aubrey nodded in agreement.
"Stay up here ma'am" He told Ms. Lynch. Aubrey and Makenzie were already halfway down the stairs.
When they were about to go down the last set of stairs, the sound of a small explosion rang out. This hurried the three.
They raced down the last of the stairs, and dashed into the parking lot.
"Over here!" Aubrey yelled and pointed to the left. They hurried to where she thought the noise had come from. But, she stopped in her tracks once she saw what was causing all the racket.
It was a robot.
"What the heck?!" She blurted.
It had a human figure, with arms and legs, but it wasn't an Android. The robot itself seemed to be unfinished like it was a prototype. And from what she could tell, it was being controlled remotely.
"Look!" Makenzie pointed to something beside the robot. It was a person. A young boy to be exact.
That's who screamed. Aubrey realized. The robot was standing over him, it's mechanical arm pointed at the child.
She felt Makenzie looking at her, so she glanced at her friend. Makenzie glanced down at her bracelet and then back up again. Aubrey got it. She shook her head no. Somewhat satisfied with her answer, the two focused their attention back on the robot.
Electricity sparked on the robot's arm. Her eyes went wide. She impulsively sprinted to the child, and pushed him out of the way. The grass was stricken black a moment later.
It was gonna electrocute him!
The robot turned its 'face' towards her. She scrambled up. And picked the boy up too.
"You have parents?" She asked hurriedly. The boy nodded vigorously. "Ok, go find them. Now!" she pushed the boy to urge him to run away. He did exactly that. She sighed, slightly relieved.
She turned back towards the robot. It held its arm out. She scrambled to get away, and frantically sprinted towards Wyatt and Makenzie. Police cars were rolling up behind them, their sirens dying down. She looked back for a split second, and-
Shit!
The robot had turned, it's arm pointed directly at her. She whipped her head back around, her hair clip had come lose.
"Move!!" She shouted. She could hear the electricity charging up.
"NOW!!" Makenzie and Wyatt moved out of the way. Aubrey dropped to the ground, covered her head, and curled up into the fetal position. A stream of electricity shot over her head.
When the stream ended, she scrambled up, and ran towards Makenzie, who grabbed her shoulders.
"Oh my gosh!" She breathed.
"What the heck just happened?" Captain Ferguson approached them.
"I don't know but someone needs to shoot it." Aubrey proclaimed.
"What?" Captain Ferguson, Makenzie, and Wyatt said, at the same time.
"It's being controlled remotely. If- if we cut the connection, we end it."
"Where?" Captain Ferguson wasn't completely convinced, but she would do what needed to be done.
"Um, The head, chest, and possibly the stomach."
Captain Ferguson nodded. She stepped forward. And pulled her gun out of the holster, and took aim.
5 shots rang out. They were quick and consecutive. There were two bullet holes in the head, two in the chest, and one in the stomach. The robot sparked and then fell to the ground.
No one said a word.
"Now," Captain Ferguson turned around and put her gun away. "Why are you two here? Both of you are off duty." she stood there with her hands on her hips, waiting expectantly.
"Uh well, I thought it'd be nice for Aubrey and Wyatt to get to know each other better, so we had lunch at her place. Just now." Makenzie explained themselves.
The captain narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow "Alright then." She didn't exactly know how to respond "Freeman, you live here?"
"Aubrey, and yes ma'am." she said the first part under her breath, but Captain Ferguson still heard it.
"Hm" she stared at Aubrey for a good while before saying anything else "Now that we have a case on our hands all three of you need to head down to the station."
"Yes ma'am." all of them responded, but not at the same time. Captain Ferguson walked past them but then stopped.
"Did Mystique make an appearance?"
"No ma'am. She did not." Makenzie replied. Captain Ferguson's face fell, but she shook it off though, and walked over to the other police officers.
They walked into the police station. Aubrey spotted Christian come up the stairs, his tablet in hand. He waved awkwardly at them, and made his way over.
Aubrey noticed that he was wearing a grey t-shirt with a picture of Australia printed in white, and the word "Home." above it. And that his turquoise converse matched his hair. Hm.
"Uh, so what's this about a robot, I hear?" He asked immediately.
"Well..." Makenzie started.
She explained exactly what happened, word for word. By the time she was done Christian's head was full of questions, and his eyes full of intrigue.
"W-wait, so, you ducked when it shot electricity at you?" Christian asked Aubrey.
"Yup."
"How? It was almost unnatural." Wyatt asked. He said the last part to himself though.
"Uh, I have...quick reflexes." It wasn't a lie.
"Hmm." Both Christian and Wyatt hummed.
"Uh I guess, are you ok though?" There was a twinge of concern in Wyatt's voice.
"Yes. Well, a little shaken but, I'm good."
"Ok. Good." He nodded his head.
Aubrey averted her eyes. She thought about the robot, and how it had kind of randomly shown up. These people must have some real high tech equipment or technology or something. She thought. Because Plasma Man had that gun, which had to be specially made. But he's been the only one so far with advanced tech... She thought back to her fight with Plasma Man, how she dodged the beams with gymnastic precision.
"Crap!" she blurted.
"What!" Wyatt asked, a little startled.
"I just remembered I have a show. I owe somebody." she sighed and leaned back on the sofa. They had walked over to the break room, and were taking a quick break.
Wyatt raised his eyebrow. Christian furrowed his in confusion. Aubrey could clearly see that they didn't understand.
"This guy did a favor for me a while back. And we agreed that I would do a favor for him in return. He's an event coordinator/ show runner for athletic performances. Like, gymnastics or something. And he's putting on a show in the next couple weeks, and well, he asked me if I could be in it. And I accepted. But I just remembered that real rehearsals start today." She explained.
"Oh." Wyatt and Christian said at the same time. Makenzie already knew she was in the show.
"Wait? Real rehearsal?" Christian was again confused.
"I went to a kinda rehearsal yesterday, but it was more like meet and greet/ 'here's how everything's gonna go' kinda deal."
"Oh."
"So why is this such a big deal?" Wyatt asked. She squinted her eyes and scrunched her face up, giving him a 'really?' look.
"Because I have to be at rehearsal at a certain time which means I might have to leave early." She explained in an obvious tone.
"You took time off just last week Freeman." Captain Ferguson's voice entered the conversation. Aubrey was a bit startled, and whipped around to look at the police captain. Captain Ferguson had been eavesdropping on their conversation. Makenzie stared wide eyed at the Captain, also startled.
"Yes but I made up that time. And I'm not officially apart of the force yet right? So, technically..." Aubrey shot back. Captain Ferguson glared at her, because she was right.
"How long will you be leaving early?"
"For about two weeks."
"Fine."
"Yes!" she whispered to herself "Thank you, Captain."
"Mmhmm." Captain Ferguson smiled slightly, and turned away from the group, heading towards her office.
________________________________
- Hey y'all!
- So first part of Chapter 5!
- This is what a chinchilla looks like btw.⬇️
They're actually kinda cute in my opinion.
- I hope y'all enjoyed this part!
- Comment, vote, and share please!
- Candace 😊