Bullets & Spells

''Well, That Was Fun''

We pull up in front of a building, it's nicer than most of the places around this area. There's a neon sign of a woman holding a rose up to her mouth like it's a microphone.

"What is this place?" I ask.

"It's a karaoke bar," the assassin answers, her voice somewhat distant. I noticed on the way here that she seems angry. Though no one was hurt, much, this 'Newt' giving guns to young men has rubbed her the wrong way. The Falecido pisses her off and he only steals bikes from young people. I can't imagine how mad this makes her.

"Okay, stay still, I need to concentrate. If you move I'll have to start over."

"Aight, try not to make me look too weird."

The first thing to do when disguising a person is to hide any distinguishing features they have. In Hollyhock's case, it's her tattoos and scars. I create a pliable sheet of energy that takes in the shape of her face. It copies the deep brown of her skin, creating a blank version of her face. I fill in the lines in her hairline and eyebrows just to be safe.

Then I start adjusting the main features: the eyes, nose, and mouth. I give the eyes more space, making them somewhat smaller and for added measure change the colors. A little yellow in the sclera, change the iris to emerald green. I turn the point of her nose slightly up. Her mouth, her lips, I like their shape as is.

'Seems a shame to change it.'

But this is important. Narrower and thinner lips, I straighten the Cupid's bow and lower its position entirely.

Then what every good disguise needs: a new distracting feature to focus on. A thin scar that travels under her eyes and across her nose bridge. I raise her cheekbones and make her jaw smaller.

With that, her disguise is complete, I can't recognize her as herself anymore. I push it onto her face and it meshes perfectly.

"Done," I announce. The assassin opens her eyes and explores her new face in the mirror.

"Whoa, that's really fucking weird." She touches her face to make sure it's her. "How long will this last?"

"As long as I want, as long as I'm near you," I explain. She considers it for a moment.

"Fine. I'd need your help anyway." She points to the glovebox. "Give me the patch in there."

I oblige, opening the compartment and handing her a white patch. She peels a layer off it and slaps it on her deltoid, covering her Bay Leaves tattoo. She rubs it in circles and then the material starts to change color, matching her skin tone. In a few seconds, it completely blends in.

"How does that work?" I ask.

"No idea. C'mon, stay close." She exits the car, walks to the building, and takes out her phone. Tapping something on her screen her phone goes black for a few seconds. Then comes back to life showing a video of people walking around.

"What are you watching?"

"This is a camera feed from inside," she answers. Hollyhock taps the screen and it changes to another room.

"How are you seeing that?"

"This building has a thing called WiFi, it lets things like my phone connect to other things like the internet. The security system here runs on the same WiFi network, sloppy, and my phone has a program that lets me use certain things connected to WiFi," she explains quickly all while tapping through to see through different cameras. "Like these security cameras." One of them cycles into a women's restroom. "This place is disgusting," the assassin mutters under her breath. She cycles faster and finds who she's looking for. She starts following him with the cameras.