-Friday, after school-

Randy wanted more, better quality answers from Debbie, but now was no time to pursue them. His friend was becoming more agitated by the minute, as if sensing the snacks were almost gone. Knowing two chips could not last the long corridor in front of him, Randy tossed one to Howard and ran like hell.

Desperately looking for the Artifact Restorer's shop, Randy noticed multiple rooms with science-y looking equipment. No one was in the labs so his passage went unnoticed.

Randy sped up when angry squawking erupted behind him. Holding the last chip high, he reminded himself that the thing chasing him is still human and not, in fact, a rooster for example. Back when he was four, he had been chased by a rooster at a petting zoo and had feared them (and chickens) from then on.

Barely noticing the door in time, sneakers squealed on the tiled floor as Randy changed course. In his panic, the handle took longer than usual to turn. Randy spared one glance over his shoulder and saw that his friend was not as human as he had thought when the door swung in. Scrambling to his feet, a startled, nondescript young man gawped at him.

"Hi," Randy said awkwardly before sliding under a work table.

A gangly creature followed the boy into S. Ward Smith's work shop. Not quite bird, not quite human, the entity born of Howard's body was a mix of both. Clawed wings swept cluttered talismans off shelves and from its beak high pitched screeches deafened the onlookers.

Randy feebly tossed the chip to the other side of the room where it broke upon impact. The other boy sprang to life, having been trained to react in a similar situation for years.

"Infected!" he cried. Liquid metal shooting from his sides like extra arms, it wrapped around the writhing bird-thing and chained it to the ground. The metal solidified, still connected to its host.

A black man came running from a different room, a cane in hand.

"Don't hurt him!" Randy had no idea that things would get messy this quickly. "He's a friend, we came here for help."

The duo regarded him skeptically.

"Really, his amulet is broken."

"Boopus, you led an Infected to one of the most important places in the school!" The older man prodded the creature his cane.

"Howard's not infected!" He wasn't sure of the word's meaning, but felt it was safer if he denied the accusation. Then again, was calling him possessed any better? Growling, Randy ducked the outstretched arms and boldly grabbed the amulet. "It's cracked, see?"

The Tengu strained against his confines.

"You've got guts kid, call me crazier than a crambit, but I believe you," the old man chuckled. "I'm Smith, that's Brent."

Brent grunted.

"Get me the replicant," Smith commanded.

Randy wondered why Smith didn't get it himself, Brent had his hands full. Then he noticed the darkened glasses, couple with the cane…

"Oh, you're- I mean… the thing with your eyes-"

"Blind?"

"I'm so glad you said it not me; that would have been awkward." Randy rubbed the back of his neck. "So what does infected mean?"

"Shut your yap and let me work." Snatching a bottle from another hand-like metal outgrowth of Brent's, Smith started the repair.

Randy let his eyes wander to the interesting contents of the room. Many glass things were smashed on the floor. On intact shelves there were antique weapons, books, bottles, and trinkets. He was drawn to the shining swords; they looked straight out of medieval times. Winding through large wooden tables filled with tools and unfinished projects, Randy's foot bumped into something.

Rolling across the floor was a green orb. In fact, there was a few of them.

"Would ya look at that." Randy bent over to pick it up. Before he could touch it though, the end of a cane smacked his hand. "Hey!"

"What do you think you're doing?! These are dangerous! Out, out, out!" Smith made shooing motions.

"How did you…?"

"Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I don't know what you're doing."

Randy was relieved to find his friend steadily recovering, the crack repaired. Brent had also returned to a normal human form.

Gathering the orbs with gloved hands, the old man aligned them on a rack and placed them out of reach.

"You okay?" asked Randy.

"Sure, except for this awful headache."

"Now I don't know who let you in here, but this area is off limits and you must leave. Brent, see them out." Smith gestured to the door with his cane.

Brent rolled his eyes. "C'mon…"

"Wait! You never told me what it meant!"

"What what meant?" Howard asked, confused.

"Infected? No one has told you?" Both shook their heads. "What are they teaching kids these days… Have you at least heard of the Sorcerer? Good. The Infected are the Sorcerer's minions. Using demonization he turns powered kids into hybrid monsters. They attack the school, always adding more to their ranks. Pray there is not another Code Green for a looong time."


-10 minutes earlier-

"Sir, there's something I need to show you," Viceroy rapped softly on his boss's door.

"It better be good news," McFist replied moodily, slowly spinning in his office chair. He had been put out since the incident with his step-son. Marci had been inconsolable, blamed him for everything. Happy wife, happy life. Hannibal was spending extra hours at work to avoid going home.

"Not quite. Otto."

The robot projected a live security feed. Two students were on an unauthorized floor, the laboratories.

"What in the blue blazes are they doing there!? Viceroy take care of this at once!" McFist pounded a fist on his desk.

"No experiments are ongoing currently, we're fine. What I wanted to show you is this." The frame stilled and zoomed in on the closing elevator doors. The figure was blurry, but identifiable. "I think we may have found our leak."

"Good. Good. But speaking of experiments, have you discovered why Bash lost control of his powers? You said he was a success and you know how important that is…"

"Yes I do know. However, the results came back and his system is functioning normally. This leads me to believe it was the work of an outside force, particularly, our little secret." Viceroy grinned slyly, proud of his ability to always have the answers.

"The robots?"

"No, Randy Cunningham!"

"Who?"

The scientist calmed himself before answering. A yelling match with McFist was no contest at all.

"The leverage against the Sorcerer."

"Oh yeah. What did he do?"

"I am… not sure." Viceroy frowned. "By all accounts he should not have powers and yet…" The recording had been too far away and it was too crowded to see what had transpired.

"Then figure it out!"

Viceroy took the exclamation as a dismissal and turned to leave.

"And Viceroy, did you know some students are running around in the labs?"


a/n sorry it's so short, school is killing me. How do you like the 3rd person? Also, I'm working on a thing for Halloween that I want to be about 5k long, it's a ghost au ;)

ps Brent has Metal Mimicry as a power