Christ, it's been like six months or something. So very sorry. Voltron has occupied me almost completely now and unfortunately is taking away attention from this . But I will try to deliver and wrap up this story! After that, I may actually write up a Voltron story. It would basically be an insert with the characters I made up and I haven't done an insert story in a long time... Thoughts?
Mavis sat at her desk, slowly typing away. She reached towards the large stack of papers in her inbox and stamped one of the many reports before depositing it into the bare outbox. She leaned back into her chair and let out a long, tired sigh as her gaze lingered on the stack of reports she still had to go through. Desk duty was proving to be far more abysmal and boring than she thought and worst of all, it felt like time was going by ten times slower. She leaned her head back and groaned, "Indoor cat…"
"You're doing fine on your own, Mavis, just keep doing those reports," Tim said, not taking his eyes off his computer for a second as he stamped another form in completion.
"But it's so boring…" she groaned again.
"I know, Mavis, but you can get through it," he encouraged in a monotonous tone, sounding very much like a broken record on repeat. Even in the days before they became involved with demons and magic, Tim would be hard at work on their school assignments while Mavis would act like she was afflicted with the plague. Behind him, Mavis turned around in her chair, resting on it on her knees while she held onto the head of the chair where she rested her chin. She gave Tim a wide-eyed look with pouted lips, but Tim didn't even turn in his chair when she cleared her throat, louder each time, trying to get his attention. "I know you're giving me the pouty face, Mavis and it's not going to work. It hasn't since middle school."
Mavis narrowed her eyes and pouted her lips more, this time with a groan of annoyance. "Fine," she muttered, turning back around in her chair. After what felt like an eternity of more torturous typing, Mavis let out another frustrated cry and pushed herself away from her desk. "I gotta take a break!"
"Mavis, you've only been working for five minutes!" Tim called after her, but she was already long gone. With a sigh and shaking of his head, he returned to his work.
In her quest to delay her paperwork as much as she possibly could, Mavis joined Remy and Drago as they watched the training simulator. Inside, Alison and Robin were busy sparring with the simulation drones, effortlessly destroying them with a single hit, not even needing to look to land a hit for some. "Wow, they're good," Mavis commented as Alison knocked one of the drones into the air with her staff while Robin shot it with his arrow.
"Yeah, they're also hogging the simulator!" Drago growled, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently.
"Why aren't you on a mission?" Mavis asked.
"Because the new boss decided to bench us," Drago muttered.
"What? Why? And how come I didn't hear about this?"
"Because you're still suspended, remember?" At that reminder, Mavis hung her head with a sad sigh. "Apparently, she doesn't want us 'kids'," Remy said with air quotes, his voice very evidently dripping with sarcasm and resentment towards their current situation, and the woman behind it, "out in the field until we've gone through the proper channels and evaluations: firearms, psychological, she's making us go through every evaluation in the book and it'll take weeks for those to all be finalized."
"Pfft, 'kids'," Mavis muttered, "We're well into our twenties. And besides, we already passed all our evaluations when we started!"
"Fox said she doesn't want there to be any bias," Drago said.
"Bias? Why would there be bias?"
"She thinks Captain Black was too lenient, so she's having us all evaluated again but under her standard," said Remy.
"If you ask me, I think she's just doing this to get under Black's skin," Mavis commented.
Drago's eyebrow cocked up in curiosity. "What makes you say that?"
"Oh come on, you saw how the two were together. It ain't a mystery why they split up. You saw how hostile she was to him, even when he was trying to make small talk about their kid. Twenty bucks says she's the kind of broad to find something wrong with every little thing."
"I don't understand how two people who dislike each other so much could even be married in the first place!" Drago exclaimed.
"Well Drago, not all of us are lucky enough to find our soulmates as kids and then get them to fall in love with you after aggressively stalking them when you're older," Mavis said casually.
"Hey, I did not stalk Mala!" Drago protested in offense.
"Whatever, I wasn't there." Mavis shrugs her shoulders and moves on. "The point is, we humans aren't as perfect as we like to think. One day, two people could love each other and think they'll be together forever, and the next day, they'll hate each other's guts and do whatever they can to hurt each other."
"If this is how Fox and Black are with each other now, it's hard to imagine what it might have been like when they were married," said Remy.
Drago sighed. "I just don't get it… How can two people want to be together and then just not?"
"I'm afraid that's just how the world works, Hotshot. Love doesn't always last forever and nowadays most marriage don't make it past the three year mark before they call it quits."
Drago couldn't help but frown a bit at that remark from Mavis. Love was a big deal to him; he had been given a second chance to be with Mala again and he wouldn't squander it. He clawed his way out from the depths of the Demon Netherworld and earned her forgiveness, earned her love. She was the most important thing in his life and he couldn't have been happier when she said "yes" to his proposal. But, now hearing Mavis talk about how love could fade between two people no matter how strong it seemed at first, he couldn't help but feel a bit scared both for himself and his friend, the same friend who was asking for his advice and input on how to propose to Mavis. "You don't… think that could happen to me and Mala, do you?" he almost hesitated to ask, but he couldn't stop his mind from already coming up with the worst case scenario.
"Not a chance; you two are solid," Remy cut in, "You and Mala have a deep connection that goes back to childhood. Not a lot of couples have that." Remy's words couldn't be more true to Drago. When he met her for the first time, everything in his life changed. Born from two worlds, never truly part of either and always an outcast. Meeting Mala changed that for him, for now there was someone just like him, someone who understood what it was like to be on the outside, who understood that desire to belong and feel like they belonged. More than anything, he didn't want to lose what he had with her.
"Don't overthink it, Hotshot." Mavis places a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I said 'most' marriages, but you and Mala aren't like most couples. The fact that you're both half-demons aside, you two have been through a lot. It would take something earth shattering to drive a wedge between you two."
"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better," Drago remarked.
"Never said it would, but my point still stands!"
Remy chuckled, speaking up to intervene. "Just don't overthink things. As long as you and Mala talk and don't keep secrets from each other, you'll be fine. Most marriage fail because the two people just stop communicating and just end up resenting each other. Meanwhile, until all this paperwork gets sorted out, we need something to occupy our time." Remy crossed him arms as he returned to watching Alison and Robin absolutely obliterating the enemy simulation.
"And it's hard to do that when someone is hogging the training simulator all the time!" Drago growled in annoyance.
"Well, this seems boring," she sighed, walking away and waving with the back of her hand without turning to face them. "I'll catch up with you guys later!"
Mavis returned to her desk to reluctantly resume her work, only for another agent to plop a stack full of papers into her inbox. With a tired sigh of dread, she fell forward onto her desk and dropped her face right on top of her keyboard, pressing numerous buttons and causing the document she had open to be littered in random letters, not that she cared.
She only sat up with a yelp of surprise when she heard another loud plop of files land on her desk. Standing over her desk, glaring down at her was Alison, who must have just finished in the simulator - no doubt making Drago and Remy happy as they could finally blow off some steam. Mavis had stared down Demon Sorcerers before without so much as a flinch, but something about this broad just… felt off. She froze, almost like she was hoping that if she stayed still, Alison would just walk off without even seeing her, but that wasn't the case. Alison leaned forward, sliding a whole pile of files towards Mavis with her fingertips. "Fox wants this done by the end of the week."
"And, what are they?" Mavis tries to peek at the files, but Alison still kept her hand firmly on them. All she could make out was the labels on the side of the files, names, but not much else. No doubt more mindless paperwork, but what really caught Mavis' eye were the four files Alison did not drop on her desk, instead the agent still held them firmly in her arm. Her hand was gripping the edge of the files so tightly that her fingertips were starting to crease the file folder. Whatever was in those files, Alison didn't want anyone taking a peek, that was for sure...
Alison narrowed her amber colored eyes at Mavis, who couldn't ignore the shiver that went up her spine. How could it be that she could stare down the face of a demon without a fear, yet this broad made her tremble with just one look? "Just have it done by the end of the week." Mavis' eyes drifted over to the white stripe in Alison's hair and how out of place it looked in her dark hair. It stood out more than anything and she couldn't help but wonder what the story was behind it. But, from the vibe she was getting off Alison, personal details weren't something she would just openly share. Realizing that Alison was waiting for her response, Mavis simply nodded her head, prompting the stern raven-haired woman to step back and saunter off.
Mavis kept watching until she was sure Alison was out of sight, before sighing and picking up the files the agent had deposited on her desk. As she expected, more paperwork. She grunted and sighed, pushing the files away from her and not caring if some contents spilled out. She didn't sign on for this job to do paperwork. She had skills, useful abilities and she was a good field agent! She was being underutilized! She stood up from her desk, intent on making her case but before she could, she saw that Alison was already heading into Fox's office, along with Robin. Alison in particular, was not carrying the files she was guarding so closely before. Mavis now could not help her mischievous and sneaky desire to sneak a peek at these mystery files. Whatever they were, they must have been important, judging by how tightly Alison was guarding them. Moving as normally as possible so as not to draw attention to herself, she ducked into the small office that had been assigned to Alison. The blinds were already closed, so she didn't have to worry about someone seeing her from outside. Her desk was completely clean, meaning she must have put the files away in one of her drawers. Mavis opened the top first, but it was only filled with the standard collection of office supplies that every desk had. She tried the second drawer, but that one was locked.
'Hmm….' she thought, 'There's got to be a way I can get in this drawer.' She knew she was no good at lockpicking, but… She reached into her pocket to pull out the rest of the coins, holding them in a small pile in her hands. She could never help but get sentimental every time she looked at them. These tiny little magical objects were what brought the six of them all together as a group. This was where it all began. Sentiment would have to wait though. She didn't know how long she had until Alison would come back and she wasn't sure if she'd be able to talk herself out of this. Time to get creative. First, get the drawer open, the Bear Coin's super strength should take care of that. With a squeeze of the coin in her palm, she ripped the drawer open, damaging the locking mechanism in the process, but exposing the contents within: four plain looking files. She placed them on the desk. "Serket, N., Glass, L. & L., Koizumi, J., Evans, A.," Mavis read the names on the files out loud as she slowly fingered through them. She took the file at the top of the pile, "Evans, A.". When she opened the first file, she saw what appeared to be a basic dossier profile for the blonde girl, aged sixteen, born in Wales, father unknown, mother deceased, raised by her maternal grandfather in Norway, moved back to Wales after he died. Mavis couldn't help but cock her head to the side in confusion. This seemed like an odd file for Alison to have, even if it was for a potential recruit. From what Mavis could see, this girl had no extensive training or skill in anything that Section 16 would even be remotely interested in. She didn't even have a criminal record, nothing of any significance that would set off any flags, good or bad! To confirm her suspicions, she reached for the other files. Koizumi, J.: juvenile delinquent, Glass, L. & L.: pre-teen runaways and Serket, N.: supermodel? These were just normal people, as normal as normal people could be! Whatever Alison was looking into, it had to be on Fox's orders… Which begged the question: why was Fox looking into these people? This was a woman who benched all of them because they were children in her eyes, yet more than half of these dossiers were of kids younger than herself! What did they have that warranted her interest? From these files, they appeared as normal as any other civilian, but if there was one thing Mavis had learned in all these years, it was that something looking normal didn't make it normal.
"Something ain't right about this…" Mavis muttered suspiciously. And something truly didn't feel right about this and the fact that she already didn't like or trust Fox only exacerbated her suspicious feeling. Unsure of how much time she had left, she quickly took as many pictures of the files contents with her phone before placing them back in the drawer. Only now there was evidence of her tampering, since the drawer lock was still busted. But, Mavis had a solution for that. She swapped out the Bear Coin for the Jellyfish, using it's time alteration to restore the lock to its original condition from before she messed with it. Before she opened the door to leave, she carefully peeked outside from behind the blinds to make sure the coast was clear. There was no sign of Alison, likely still in Fox's office for whatever meeting they were having, so Mavis took her chance to get out. She decided not to go to her friends just yet, for she knew what they would say: that she just didn't like their new boss and would have to get used to her and that too many years in the spy business has got her seeing conspiracies everywhere. That, and they would no doubt scold her like a child for snooping in someone's personal belongings. But before she'd roll up her sleeves and dive into this, she'd need a pick-me-up.
In the break room, Mavis finished stirring her hot chocolate and dropped the spoon in the sink. She reached into the fridge for a can of whipped cream and sprayed a little puff of cream on the surface of the hot drink. She paused for a moment, examining the size of the puff before spraying more until the entire surface of the beverage was covered in whipped cream. She paused once more before spraying another puff of cream directly into her mouth. She nodded in approval and licked her lips in satisfaction before returning the nearly empty can back in the fridge.
As she made her way back to her desk, she noticed the door to Fox's office was still firmly shut. Whatever they were doing in there, it was taking a rather long time. Mavis narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she slowly inched towards the head office. She didn't go directly up to it however, and instead took a seat in an empty cubicle. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Bat Coin, giving it a firm squeeze to activate it's sonar powers. Mavis focused her now enhanced hearing on Fox's office, picking up the conversation in perfect clarity as if she were present in the room.
"I don't see why we don't just get started right away," Alison remarked.
"Everything's already going according to the plan, Sonny, relax," Robin replied.
"I just want to get started as soon as possible! We shouldn't be wasting any time."
"And we won't," Fox interjected. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but all I need is for you to exercise some more patience, Alison."
"I've waited long enough! I want the boy!" Alison shouted with a firm slam of her fist on the desk. "I want to make him pay for what he did!"
"And you will have him, when the time is right! Right now, they don't suspect a thing. Nobody does and we must take advantage of that for however long it lasts. Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this? How long I've been working towards all of this? I've spent more than half my life putting every bit of effort into this plan, making sure every little piece is in place; I've been working for this since before you were even born and I will not have it spoiled by your impatience!" Fox barked, while Alison remained silent. "I promised you the boy in exchange for your help. Once I have what I want, you are free to do with him what you want. So, will you be a good girl and wait for the perfect moment to make the kill? Or will you be reckless and impatient like your father and suffer the same fate as him?"
Mavis heard Alison sigh loudly. "I will await your instructions," she muttered quietly.
"Good. And you will have your target as well, Robin, in due time."
"I can wait. It doesn't matter to me whether it's now or later, I'll get the bastard who killed my mother. Just tell us what you need us to do."
"Very good. By the time this is all over, you two will have your revenge and I will have my army. What have you done with the files?"
"I've gathered the relevant information so far and pinpointed their rough whereabouts. The boys will be harder to track, all three of them are street rats, but I've narrowed down their last known locations. Why would you want to make an army out of their lot anyway?" Alison scoffed. "Nothing but filthy half breeds is what they are."
"Your father underestimated their potential, where is here now? Where is every Demon Sorcerer to face a half breed?" Again, Alison did not answer, so Fox continued. "The raw force and power of demon magic coupled together with human creativity and that annoying trait that drives them to fight against all odds even when the cards are against them. Just one of them could take down a single Demon Sorcerer or his entire army. Who wouldn't want an army of their kind?"
"So where do we start?" Robin asked.
"Where every army starts: recruitment." Fox ordered. "We'll start with the five we've already discovered and work on branching out further from there. Magic and demonkind have touched this world since the beginning of time. There could be far more hybrids than we think. Demon Sorcerers aren't exactly known for monogamy."
"What if they refuse to join?" asked Robin.
"Make them see why joining is an excellent idea and in their best interest." Mavis couldn't see Fox's expression as she said this, but the way she delivered the line definitely gave Mavis a feeling that Fox was giving them the okay to use deadly force to secure compliance.
"What about the ones here?" Alison asked. "The little self-righteous, self-proclaimed heroes? I doubt they'll come along quietly."
"We will focus on them later; the less they suspect, the better. When the time comes, they'll be given the chance to join us. Until then, start looking for recruits. We have appearances to keep up."
As their conversation ended, Mavis put away the Bat Coin and poked her head out from behind the cubicle and eyed Alison and Robin with narrowed eyes. She took a sip of her hot chocolate, causing some of the whip cream still on the surface to stick to her upper lips. With her index finger, she wiped the cream off before sucking it off her fingertips. "Suspicious…" she muttered quietly. She may not have been an intellectual or magical genius, but Mavis knew how to read people. And based on that conversation, Fox was interested in half breeds. If that was the case… why remove two half breeds already in her employ from active duty? She rushed to the bathroom in order to view the photos she snagged of the files, not wanting to risk someone watching over her shoulder and seeing what she was looking at. She opened up her photos and began looking at the files. Before she could only skim them, but now with a copy of her own, she could take her time to read the information thoroughly. At first, there seemed to be nothing in common among them - with the exception of the two twin boys of course - but other than that, there was nothing visual connecting these people together. They didn't look alike, they weren't even in the same countries. Just when she was about to give up, she zoomed into the picture of one of the individuals, noticing a small detail that others might have overlooked, the sure sign that someone was either a demon in disguise, or at least part demon. Linos, Drago and Mala had the same trait when they assumed human form and sure enough, all five in these photos had dark red eyes.
Next chapter: Mavis relays the information she "found" to her friends and tries to convince them that something nefarious is afoot.