"Ow, my head," Talon groaned as she opened her eyes.
"Oh good, you're awake. I was beginning to worry," Lori leaned over her.
"Where am I?"
"The hideout, living room couch," Tony informed her. He peered at her from the other end of the couch.
"What happened? I remember we were fighting the A.M. and then, nothing,"
"You beat them, but then Vinny knocked you out," Luke told her.
"Who's Vinny?" Talon felt even more confused.
"A new friend!" Tony cheered.
"A human friend," Gio added.
"Human? Another one?" Talon sat up now. "How many are there now?"
"Just the two," Lori told her, "but don't worry, they're very trustworthy,"
"Well, we know that August is. She knows that we're mutants now, but she doesn't seem to care," Luke explained. "Vinny is a little—weird, but he doesn't seem like he'd do anything to hurt us,"
"I still don't trust him," Gio crossed his arms.
"We kind of have to, since August is staying with him at the moment," Lori reminded him, "he'll walk her to and from school like a bodyguard,"
Talon looked around, "Where are they now?"
Luke: "At Vinny's, they're going to stop by here tomorrow night and then we're going to see if those guys are still at her place. If not, she gave us a list of things to pick up for her,"
"Who were those guys?" Gio spoke suddenly.
Talon sighed, "I suspect they were from the A.M."
Gio: "Yeah, you've mentioned them before, who are they?"
Talon: "they're a shady organization that I was once with,"
Lori gasped, "You were with those scary guys?"
Talon: "Not willingly, I was a test subject. They experimented on me for days, and when I couldn't take it anymore, I plotted my escape. The day of my plan, though, there was an explosion and a strange gas was emitted throughout the building. I escaped, but not without getting mutated by the strange gas. It took a few days, but it began to change me and eventually I became like this,"
Lori: "How did you survive on your own for so long?"
Talon: "It was not easy, but I wasn't alone. I had the help of friends and family, who provided a safe escape as well as food and supplies when needed."
Lori: "I know you've told us the story before, but how exactly did you end up raising us?"
Talon sighed, "after I settled into a new place, I began looking around the ruins of the old A.M. building and somehow, I found Luke. I'll be honest, when I first found you, I thought you were just a little kitten that needed a home, but even when you began getting bigger, I didn't have the heart to give you away. The gas had began transforming him as well, so I suspected that someone had abandoned him there out of fear of what he was or what he was becoming. After that, I made it my mission to find other children like him and raise them as my own. After I found Luke, I found Lori and then Tony and finally, Gio. Sometimes I would hear about mutants or monsters terrorizing citizens and I didn't want you exposed to that, so I made sure you never heard about it,"
Luke: "You knew that there were other mutants out there and you didn't tell us?"
Talon: "I was afraid that you would go out seeking other mutants and put yourselves in danger. Not every mutant out there is as friendly as we are,"
Lori: "you mean there are mutants out there that are meaner than Gio?"
"Hey," Gio fumed.
Talon lifted a wing and below it, on her side, was a deep cut. "I got this scar trying to rescue a mutated child that did not want my help. I feared that other mutants would be dangerous like her, so I stopped trying to help others to protect the ones I had already saved,"
Gio: "Well, now that we know about other mutants, we're going to go out and see for ourselves whether or not they're dangerous,"
Luke: "Do you think the other mutants are just kids that were exposed to the gas from the A.M. like you and us?"
Talon: "I suppose it's possible, but now that they know that we exist, we have to be even more careful about going out,"
Luke: "from now on, we'll always travel in groups of two or more. No going out until nightfall and you must be back before sunrise."
Tony: "Aw man, I'm never going to be able to go out on my own,"
Talon patted him on the head with a wing, "Maybe when you're a bit older and the danger has passed,"
Lori: "Who knows, maybe mutants will be normal by then,"
Luke: "For now, let's get some rest and prepare for tomorrow,"
The next day around 4:30pm, there was a knock at the door and Gio was the first to check to see.
"It's Vinny and August!" He called out as he opened the door.
"August!" Tony cheered and ran up to hug her.
"Oof," she laughed as he collided into her, "it's good to see you again too, figuratively see I mean,"
Gio closed the door as he whispered to Vinny, "You're sure you weren't followed?"
Vinny scoffed, "You doubt me?" Gio gave him a look and Vinny rolled his eyes. "I made sure to take the long way around, just in case. If anyone was following us, we most likely lost them on the subway. It was packed!"
"How was school?" Lori asked, walking in from the kitchen.
"Boring as usual, but I just couldn't stop thinking about what happened last night! Who were those guys? What do they want from you? And where are they coming from?" August rambled and Gio had to stop her, before she could go on.
Gio: "Our mom explained everything, let's sit down and talk,"
The cats led her to the couch where they told her everything that their mom had told them and August sat in shock the whole time.
August: "I can't believe they would do that! That's so—"
Gio: "Comic book villain-esque? Yeah, that's what we thought,"
Luke: "But the fact that you guys have heard or seen of other mutants means that we weren't the only ones to survive the explosion,"
"When and where was the last place there was a mutant sighting?" Gio asked.
August tapped her chin to remember, "Just last week, a hiker reported seeing a mutant near the mountains. But what are you going to do if you find them?"
"We know that the A.M. are searching for mutants to capture and experiment on, so we're going to find them first and bring them to a safe place where they won't be harmed." Luke explained.
Gio: "We'll bring them back here for now, but only until we can find a safe location for them to hide out in,"
August: "That sounds like a shaky plan at best,"
Luke: "Well, it's the only plan we have for now, so we'll split into teams and begins searching the mountains. Vinny, Lori and I will search where the last sighting was, while Gio, Tony and August look at past sightings,"
Lori: "Roger that, Captain,"
Vinny: "Hey, Gio, we should stay in touch while we're out. What's your number?"
"I don't have a phone," Gio said as he visibly texted.
August: "I do, my number is..."
Vinny: "You can use a phone?"
August: "Of course I can use a phone! I'm blind, not stupid,"
Vinny: "Right, sorry. What were you saying?"
~
Luke looked around the dense forest area. "August said it was somewhere around here was the last sighting." He said as he took out his phone to check the gps.
Vinny: "I don't see any signs of it,"
"Maybe the hiker saw Bigfoot or something," Lori checked the horizon for any signs, but saw nothing.
"Hey!" They suddenly heard a voice and a bright flashlight broke through the darkness. It was two policemen walking towards them.
"What are you kids doing out here so late?" One policeman asked.
Luke pulled his hat lower, while Lori wrapped her scarf tighter around her face. Vinny tried to play it cool, by walking up to them, confidently and saying, "I'm taking these guys on a vision quest. It's a very important and sacred tradition so it's best that people like you don't get in the way."
The police looked at each other shrugged and tipped their hats, saying, "We'll he on our way. You kids stay safe and have a good night,"
Vinny: "You too, Mr. and Mrs. Police officer,"
"Great job, Vinny," Luke complimented.
"Let's go up the mountain to get a higher vantage point," Lori suggested and they began trekking towards the top.
While looking, the trio stumble upon a cave filled with old clothing and empty cans that once contained food like beans and fruit.
Luke inspected the cave, "Someone must have been living here for quite some time,"
Lori: "Well, whoever they were, they're gone now,"
Vinny: "They were here recently though, this blanket is still warm,"
Suddenly they heard a commotion, the sound of someone dropping a pile of wood at the cave entrance. They all turned to look, only to see the last remnants of a tail disappearing from the cave's opening.
Luke: "That must be the mutant! After them!"
All three began chasing the figure, but in the dark and dense forest it was easy to lose them. Lori was able to pick up the sound of their retreating footsteps and followed them to the edge of the forest, but from there the trail went cold.
Lori: "It's like they just disappeared,"
Luke: "Let's regroup at the hideout and try again tomorrow night,"
~
After Luke and the others come back.
Gio: "I'm guessing the mission was a failure?"
Luke glared at him, but Lori nodded.
Vinny: "The little devil was just too slippery. It's no wonder that the A.M. hasn't caught this one yet,"
Gio: "Looks like you guys could use some help. Luckily for you I've invented a high tech flying camera device using an old remote controlled helicopter and a baby monitor,"
Vinny: "so basically you made a makeshift drone,"
Gio: "a what?"
Tony: "a drone? Like from Star Wars?"
Vinny: "What? No, I mean, it's an expensive toy used by youtubers, anyway, you think this will help us?"
Gio: "of course, I will be your eye in the sky, just as soon as I test it out,"
Gio started the device up and it began flying high into the sky, but after it reached a few feet, it visibly began to malfunction and as Gio started to panic, it whizzed and flew into a tree.
Vinny stared at the tree and crossed his arms. "Do you take constructive criticism?" He asked.
Gio: "No,"
