Chapter Eight- The Mongoose
"You must have acquired the mongoose's synaptic response times as well as its anionic receptors! That's so cool!" Cisco said, lollipop in hand. Diggle was back at S.T.A.R. Labs, trying to get some answers. Apparently, they had infused Diggle with mongoose DNA, particularly the gene that controlled the mongoose's immunity to neurotoxins. Apparently however, other genes had been transferred as well.
"No, not cool! You people didn't tell me you were going to alter my genetic code!" Dig grumbled, visibly upset.
"Oops," Cisco shrugged. "I thought Barry explained it to you. But look on the plus side! Now you have insane reflexes."
"It's seems that your body has actually taken to the foreign DNA quite well," Caitlyn Snow said, as she peered at a screen on the computer table. "So far then, you haven't noticed any ill side-effects?"
Diggle shook his head.
"This is so sick! You're like a meta-human now!" Cisco crowed.
Diggle's scowl darkened. "This isn't natural; I liked it better when I was just human. Who's to say what other things might happen to me?"
Dr. Wells leaned on the computer table and nodded thoughtfully. "Mr. Diggle is right. He's very lucky that the DNA took to his system like this, otherwise he would have died." He looked Diggle in the eyes. "We're going to have to do full blood work and a body scan to better determine what's happening to you."
Diggle heaved a sigh. "I don't have time for this."
"Look at the bright side!" Cisco said, sticking his lollipop back in his mouth. "Now you'll never get poisoned again! And with your new reflexes you'll be a butt-kicking machine! We should call you...The Mongoose..." Cisco trailed off as he nodded slowly, his gaze traveling upward.
These people are too smart for their own good, Diggle thought. And Cisco's not taking me seriously. "When this is over," Dig pointed menacingly at Cisco. "I'm gonna shave that little head of yours."
Cisco's jaw went slack and his lollipop fell out of his mouth and hit the floor, shattering.
"Anyways…" Dig growled. "I been thinking, and I've decided that I need a mask."
"A mask?" Caitlyn raised an eyebrow.
"Well, Oliver wore a mask so people wouldn't recognize him and his loved ones wouldn't be hurt. If I keep going out like this, I need to do the same thing. Considering what's just happened, I think you people owe me a mask."
Cisco had recovered from his shock and now looked thoughtful. "No…you don't want a mask."
"Excuse me?"
Cisco began nodding his head, and pointed an index finger at the ceiling. "I've got something better, hold on one second," he said, turning and running off.
"What's he talking about?" Diggle asked.
Caitlyn and Dr. Wells just shrugged.
"Here! This is it!" Cisco ran back into the room with a black and chrome something dangling from his hand. "They're goggles! They've got night vision and thermal imaging and are tinted too!"
Diggle took the head gear and looked it over. It actually didn't look half bad. "Okay, I can work with this."
"What you really need is a full outfit. Something stretchy that won't hinder your movement...I'll get to working on that right away." Cisco danced away into an adjacent lab.
