Becoming Monsters: One Shot Stories 6

This is a short tale of the Becoming Monsters Universe by AiLovesToGrow.

The idea for this one comes from a commissioner. He wanted some of his characters introduced in a… let’s call it more unique way. Returning are the crew from Mission Impawsible, the OCs of my wife and used with permission.

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Story 6: Smoke and Mirrors

Sometime before the Change

“I need you to listen, Saoirse. Listen close.” Her dad’s voice was almost always soothing. Now, though?

“It’s hard to do anything else right now.” Her snark was, in her opinion, justified. She was sitting in the driver’s seat of a bright red Mustang, one which had significant upgrades under the chassis. Its engine was purring at idle, the power leashed in its engine beyond what 99% of the world would ever have at their command. Her dad was in the passenger seat.

Oh, and she was blindfolded. That was a big point.

“You need to listen to the car. She’ll tell you what she needs. You need to listen to the road, it will too. And you need to drive. Straight forward, one mile. Ain’t no cars but us out here, you can do it!”

She took a moment, running a pale hand through her dark hair. He had a point, no matter how little she wanted to admit it. She could tell that the engine was running well, the annoying burr she’d noticed a few days ago a thing of the past. More sounds and sensations came to her as she coaxed power from the car. The roar as she shifted into gear, the rumble of the road, the crunch of the rocks that were always on this stretch, the buzzing hum of the rumble strips helped her right herself. The thump of the material changing told her where she was, and she stopped.

He’d told her a mile. She’d gone one and a half. Saoirse smiled. The buzzing motor of a drone came to her ears as her dad retrieved it. He’d apparently been recording.

***

Four years after the Change.

Tammy was a cat burglar. She found some irony in this fact, given that she was a cat herself. The tuxedo pattern complimented her figure, she felt. Four years, and she never quite lost the “not quite my body, but I control it” feeling that let her admire it in the mirror every now and then.

Her phone gave a PING, reminding her that she needed to change the tone back since it updated. The text was important, though. It was her boss. Looks like it was a job night. She looked over the information. Should be quick. Smoothly, she climbed in to her bodysuit and zipped it up. Not solid black, that would be too visible. Mottled blacks and dark grays to break up her outline, leaving only her hands and head exposed. As she got to the garage, she fixed that. Custom helmet that had ear ports in the event she wanted to actually listen to something. Leather jacket in case she took a tumble, leather gloves for the same reason. Two katanas crossed across her back, two pistols at her hips. And the last ingredient: her black Hayabusa motorcycle. One that was much, much more powerful than identical-appearing ones might be.

In better circumstances, she preferred to feel the wind in her face on the road at night. Not risking it today. The address wasn’t particularly far away, an office building. Specifically an office on the third floor of that building. Hardly enough time to enjoy the freedom her bike gave her on the roads, zipping in and out of traffic as she got where she was going.

The front door was protected, a security guard at a station inside looking bored. The windows weren’t. Well, the target one was locked and reinforced when she made her way up the side of the building to check, but not the one three rooms away. Easy entry, the camera in the room pointed towards the doorway and not the window. Thus, her route would take her up, through duct work that was pitifully easy to access, then over to the target office. One thumb drive with some pre-loaded programs, peeling off her gloves to do a little bit of typing to cover her tracks, and it was back out the way she came. The way in worked perfectly fine in reverse, and that was that. Time to head home and plan out the information delivery

Not too far away, a minivan was heading towards her position. In the back seat, a tan Otter Beastfolk and a blonde-colored Fox Beastfolk did some light stretches. The Corgi in the driver’s seat was keeping her eyes on the road. “How long will you two need? My minivan doesn’t stick out too badly, but it is night.”

The Otter, a certain Reina Ruddertail, nodded as she gazed out of her own window. “Not long, Lea. Target is supposed to be soft if intel is right, and we’re in a hurry. Much like that biker going the other way, look at that!”

The Fox looked that way. “No kidding, listen to that motor! She’s either in a hurry or an adrenaline junky. My bet’s on adrenaline, black bike at night.”

Reina glanced back at her friend. “What makes you say it’s a woman, Cara?”

“The boobs. Things you see when you’re not on hacker duty. Like today, that’s our stop.”

“For reference, I’m still on hacker duty.” Reina pulled on a pair of gloves, the palms and finger pads of which were designed to grip brick.

Cara did the same. “Yeah, but according to you it’s air gapped, so you have to do your hacking on-site. Come on.”

The two were out of the van almost before it stopped moving, and neither bothered giving it a glance as it rolled off and they started climbing up a shady area. They found their target window, and Cara carefully disabled the alarms on it before shimming it open. The two clambered inside, Reina pulling out a thumb drive of her own as she approached the computer. Fifteen seconds later, she began to mutter some words under her breath that Cara knew she wouldn’t be saying in front of her children. “Reina? What’s wrong?”

“Someone got here before us. Database is cleared. Fresh, too, file metadata says it was less than thirty minutes ago. Looks like they nuked the backups, too. I’m grabbing what I can, but we need to get clear.” Reina was tapping at the keyboard extraordinarily quickly, the glowing tattoo lines appearing on her body as she invoked her Class Abilities.

“Got it.” Cara tapped her earpiece. “Lea, we’ll be coming out in two wags of that tail of yours. No success, explain in the car… wait. Reina, hands up!” Reina complied instantly, and Cara pulled out a tiny plastic bag and tweezers. She meticulously plucked four hairs from the keyboard. “Okay, got a lead. Smells feline, black and white.”

“It’ll have to do, let’s go.” The two made their way back down the wall. This process was MUCH faster than the way up, aided by Reina’s inhuman precision on her landing and Cara’s Brawler class letting her initiate a flying uppercut to break momentum without needing to touch the ground or wall. The minivan pulled up seconds later, and they got away cleanly. The entire process from exit to return had taken perhaps seven minutes.

***

The club music was clearly audible from outside the doors. Tammy grinned broadly, showing more fang than most. It was her kind of place. She’d barely gotten home before her brother had texted her. Knox worked at a nightclub nearby, and they could use an extra pair of hands for the night. Given that she happily worked bouncer, valet, or bartender duty at need just to have fun and people watch? Right up her alley. A quick message to her other boss saying that the mission was a success, a secure transmission of the data, and she could leave it to him to plan out what to do about it. For now, she was making a different paycheck.

Knox looked a lot like her, which is to say feline and tuxedo patterned. Much taller and more muscular (an lacking her rather nice hips and boobs, which she would neither wish to give up nore wish upon him). He was also talking to a man who made her smile much more broadly. “Knox, Leon, where do you need me to assist?”

Leon, a classic Lion who was as tall as her brother and twice as broad (with not an ounce of spare fat on him), nodded towards the entryway. “Bouncer who was supposed to be on shift put catnip into a dehydrator and got himself zooted on the vapor. Need you at the door once you get changed out. Leather looks good on you, babe, but the biker suit isn’t going to do it here. You can do that once your brother pays up.” He held one hand out towards the much surlier-looking cat, who handed over a five dollar bill.

“I swear, I don’t know where or how she learned punctuality. Never used to be a thing with her growing up.” Knox glanced at his friend. “Maybe it’s you.”

Tammy trotted off to the changing room. She had a zero-hour contract here so that they could call her like this, but that meant a locker and a change of clothes. Slacks, white shirt, dark jacket with the name of the club on it to get the tuxedo look. Since she would be the bouncer, a pair of shades to complete the look. Her night vision was sharp enough that they wouldn’t be stopping anything. As she got to the door and relieved the harassed guy who would REALLY prefer to be waiting tables, the first trio to enter seemed off. Nothing she could lay her claws on, but off. Their clothes were nice, not quite the norm here but not exactly standing out, but that wasn’t it.

Of course, once she was busy with the next ones in line, the Otter who was a part of the trio looked back. Something about the bouncer seemed familiar to Reina, but what it was she couldn’t place. She got the group to a slightly-secluded table and spoke barely above the thumping music. “Alright, girls, this is the backup location. Couple of major data brokers in the area like to use the systems here as a drop. If our mysterious little spy is one of them, I might be able to nab it before handoff. Long shot, but the chances aren’t zero and we have to try to not take an L on this one.”

Cara and Lea nodded. The blonde Fox looked around. “It won’t be a public terminal or anything easily accessed like that, but it can't be too bad or they wouldn’t be able to use it reliably. Lea, got your analysis?”

The Corgi’s Architect abilities came into play, and she looked around the room. Her tail started wagging as she looked over near the bathrooms. “Hallway in the back right. Looks like the entry will probably be in the back of the family restroom.”

Cara the Fox facepalmed. “I probably should have guessed that and saved you the mana. Why the heck else would a nightclub have a family restroom?”

Reina nodded. “Alright. Lea, you know my drink. I think I’m going to go refresh myself.”

The Otter stood and made her way smoothly to the restroom. Door closed and locked, then a few moments looking around led her to the mirror over the sink. It swung open with a click, much like a medicine cabinet, and revealed a terminal behind it. Jackpot. It was probably configured to treat all inputs and outputs with extreme caution, scanning and checking everything it could then isolating it in memory to make it impossible to steal.

Its maker was not aware of hackers with Reina’s level of skill when he made it. Her scripts had the package so quickly she had to take a moment to wash her hands to make her bathroom visit take a realistic amount of time. A few moments later and she was back at their shared table, enjoying some soda as her glasses displayed some of the data for her. “Good news and bad news. Looks like I got the right package, but only about half of what we were looking for. Let’s finish up and get gone, the music’s giving me a headache and we need to plan.”

The three didn’t take long. As they stepped out, Cara got a look at the bouncer. Something bugged her about the tuxedo-colored Catfolk. Cara resolved to talk about it with the others… once they were in the rental car and on the way home. The van would have stuck out too much here.

Tammy, already curious after noticing them earlier, definitely noticed Cara noticing her. Hopefully, the shades would be enough to keep that sentence from getting any more twisted.

The scheduled bouncer did show up eventually, Even if his eyes were a bit redder than usual, and Tammy tagged out to go clock out and head home. Work uniform off, bike suit on, helmet under the arm, and out to the underground parking lot. Her black bike was in a relatively secluded corner, one that had enough space from where the cars preferred to be that it was usually safe from less-cautious drivers. She hadn’t gotten there yet when she saw Leon again, and this time she wasn’t on the clock. Okay time to see if he’s actually interested or if he just calls me babe for fun.

She trotted over in his direction, psyching herself up. Even got as far as starting to take a deep breath in when the low, smooth rumble of a sports car engine interrupted her thoughts. Leon made it to his car, something bright blue and looking like it had several herds of horses under the hood, and the driver’s side door opened. Out stepped a dark-skinned woman, one whose large wings and horns betrayed how her body could be that freaking perfect, who stepped forward to give Leon a deeply passionate kiss.

Tammy froze, and the woman seemed to notice her, nudging Leon. He turned and saw her. “Oh, hey, Tammy, have you met my girlfriend?”

She hadn’t for reference, and fled to her bike at the first opportunity.

***

The room the trio stepped into the next evening was, to put it lightly, not the best they’d ever gotten. Cara the Fox was grateful for the fact that they would not be here long. “Alright, spill it, Reina. Why did we just downgrade this badly?” Left unsaid was the fact that they’d left one that wasn’t just a star or two more comfy, but also much more thoroughly pre-checked by their agency to find bugs of both the skittering and spying kinds.

Reina, like the others, started fanning out through the room to find and deactivate the most obvious recording devices. She flicked the first one off within twenty seconds. “Little bird told me this is the kind of place that gets the really good kind of nightlife.”

Lea opened up the window and looked out. “Maybe, but it looks like the nightlife is already gathering up.” Translation: there weren’t just recording devices to worry about. Enough enemy agents were around that spotting them had taken almost no time at all. Which was worrying, even for as practiced an observer as Lea.

Reina nodded. “Then the little bird was accurate. Party bus lands here after the moon’s up, and since that won’t be long we need to make sure we’re ready.”

About twenty feet over their heads and an hour later, Tammy was checking the rooftop in the fading light just after the sun set. The building might not look impressive to people driving by, but the fact of the matter was that it was a story taller than any of the adjacent ones and had a space on the top just large enough for a (small) helicopter landing pad. She’d found the messages from her handler once she got back home, and at least this time she had a day to rest up. Her side would have a lot of people on the ground, but it might require her special touch. Opposing agents were in the area, likely government-aligned, and the last thing anyone wanted was for them to intercept the package.

As the light fell, a thumping sound could be heard in the distance. One that quickly resolved itself into the roar of a helicopter’s rotors. Showtime, and Tammy removed her shades. She’d need the night sight. Pistols, check. Swords, check. Earpiece, check. As the helicopter came into view, she could hear the five drivers checking in. The front curb of this cruddy hotel was lined with identical black Escalade V escape vehicles, all set to take different routes to different safe houses. Four more agents in suits identical to the one the courier should be wearing, carrying identical briefcases, would also help confuse things. As long as Tammy could keep her opponents from seeing which one the courier entered, the rest was up to the Organization. The roaring of the rotors spiked, and the helicopter touched down. Out came one of the most generic-looking men Tammy had ever laid eyes on, carrying an equally-generic satchel. He crouched and ran over to her, and without waiting for any further signal the helicopter took off. As soon as it was clear, she turned and opened the door to the stairway down.

And found the enemy agents there. The Otter, Fox, and Corgi she’d seen at the nightclub. They dove at the courier, and Tammy barely shoved him aside far enough to avoid the initial rush. “FIRE ESCAPE!” she roared as she drew her pistols and opened fire on the three. She was good, her aim nothing short of deadly, but these three were well-trained and had obviously worked together in the past. All of them, despite the split second reaction time, managed to get cover before her bullets reached them. Two of them drew weapons of their own and returned fire, while the Fox looked for an opening to intercept the courier.

Everyone made the exact same assessment instantly. The attackers needed to take the package, defenders only needed to stop that. Tammy only existed as an obstacle and not an objective. The two firing at her intensified their attack as the Fox chased the courier. Tammy found the barest slip of time during a reload to rush forward, invoking her own Class Abilities to get up next to the Corgi. Tammy’s Guide Class wasn’t one she utilized often, but this time the ability to move that fast to get into the shooter’s face was invaluable. The Corgi tumbled back, and the barest noise made Tammy duck to the side and avoid a massive overhead kick from the Otter.

Said Otter was showing glowing tattoo lines. Not good.

Tammy focused on defense until she could get a bead on the capabilities in front of her. Good thing too, since the three attacks she blocked in the initial exchange all hit hard enough to make her VERY glad they hadn’t hit somewhere more important. Tammy dropped her empty pistols and drew her katanas before diving in. This enemy was WAY too dangerous to allow onto the offense, so she had to keep the Otter dodging. The tactic wouldn’t last long, but from the sounds of gunfire the Fox had run into the backup and wouldn’t be able to stop the courier. That meant Tammy just had to hold out up here until the trucks scattered and then make her escape.

The Corgi reloaded and ran to the edge of the roof to support the Fox, but jerked backwards quickly. Too much fire coming her way.

Tammy made a decision then. Talking could only help her. “Hold it! Why the heck are you trying to take my guy out?”

Reina the Otter was standing in an unbelievably precise fighting stance in front of her. “There are at least three organizations that I know of that want the explosive formula in that satchel. None of them will use it for anything good. Now stand aside and allow us to take possession of it for destruction or the next round won’t go so well for you.”

Tammy froze. “That’s it? That’s what you want? The big bad Uncle Sam Spies just want to wreck it?”

Reina’s head inclined barely enough to count as a nod.

“Tell your handler he wasted everyone’s time. That’s our formula, carried by our scientist, headed to our safe house to be degaussed. That stuff wasn’t controllable, and since we can’t use it we don’t want that mess out in the open. Like you said, there are at least three organizations out there we don’t want getting their mitts on it. You included, no offense.”

Reina’s face broke into a grin that showed more fang than was strictly necessary. “None taken. I’m old enough to remember what my side likes to do with bombs. You are still an enemy, but I do not want to waste the resources or risk lives to finish this, do you?”

Tammy’s ear twitched as the sudden sound of five trucks revving up and peeling out reached them. “I think I agree. Hopefully we do not meet again.”

Tammy dashed to the fire escape she’d seen the others go down, hopping over the side and dropping down the several stories to the ground. Landing cleanly, and grinning at the somewhat confused face of the blonde Fox as she passed. Then Tammy turned to where her bike was. Or, say rather, where it was supposed to be. Because unfortunately, that position was directly across the street from a firefight, and between stray bullets and apparently a bystander panic-fleeing in what evidence suggested was a truck that was much too large to be practical, Tammy wouldn’t be riding the Hayabusa home.

Darned shame, that, but at least her insurance was good.

Still left her without a way to get gone and time was limited. Truces in her world had a tendency to have a half-life comparable to Francium, so if she was still in the area for too long that trio might decide the world was better without her in it. A bright red Mustang looked likely, the classic exterior betraying the fact that the lock would be easy to get through and the ignition easy to hotwire. Only slightly slower than if she had the keys, she was riding out of the parking garage going whichever direction would get her furthest from the fight the fastest. Actually getting home could wait until she got a chance to roll down the windows and enjoy the ride.

Still atop the roof, the trio of spies looked around. This would be messy, there would be a lot of investigations that would have to come up mysteriously without a culprit, but they’d had worse results in the past. Cara held still as Lea applied antiseptic to the one grazing wound she’d picked up. Reina, on the other hand, had the worse duty. Calling up home base to explain the mission outcomes, and try to spin it to be a net positive. At least the mission was a success. The drive with the formula was off to be destroyed, and she had gotten the certain ring of truth from the Tuxedo Cat. Reina fully believed that was what was about to happen, and for that she was relieved.

Just like she was relieved they’d be able to leave this town in general and this hotel in particular behind in the morning.