Chapter Ten
Mark Balldring had pretty much come into the group with Austin. They went back a long time, the assassin and the puff cloud. Mark had always seemed out of his right mind, but like all the Mutes, he had his battle face. Mark was even more uncatchable than the Mimic because of the fact that he was a vapor. His only enemy was a vacuum which was rather entertaining.
No one was sure exactly where he had come from or when he changed, since most of what he spoke was in riddles or something nonsense. He never called them by their real names, which was perfect for Mimic considering that was her given name for everything. Mark had gone through some deal of school, since he was a high school graduate and had changed sometime during college when debt and classes took their toll on him. Ever since then, he had just been...well...whacked.
He was helpless for the most part. He only suffocated as an attack, but he was very handy when opening doors in buildings with very tiny air vents to the outside. He could turn himself into a solid and unlock the door.
Puck he had found in one of Elizabeth's books, Shakespeare if he remembered correctly. He understood the bizarre language like Elizabeth did, but when he tried to read it to Bobby, the poor thing walked out with a headache.
Shakespeare isn't for everybody.
The only television in the underground base was in Elizabeth's room. They had often seen themselves on the news channel, Mimic absent of course. Terrorist attacks from the Mutes, the legendary mutant terrorist team. The Acolytes had been into the city before looking for trouble. See, compared to them, the Acolytes were nothing. Sure, maybe they were killers, but Jim could wipe them all out with a wave of his hand. Mimic, oh, it would be funny.
But as she was watching the television for the usual signs of Jim or Austin's outbursts of hate towards the humans, she saw the norm. Jim had destroyed another bus or two and was on top of them making threats to the public. Then the mutant watch showed up and tried to shoot him full of tranquilizers. The darts stopped instantly, then turned and shot back into the force.
More arrived, more darts, more chains, more restraints. Insomnia never knew when to quit, but Jim was like that. Then, he was hit with one, and the camera zoomed in on him sinking slowly to his knees. Elizabeth crept closer to the television. The fabled Insomnia, shot?
Mimic was never far away. First, she'd take out the cameras in the area, all of them, by an electric charge or by knocking the camera guy unconscious. But this time, she didn't.
There, plain on the screen, captured in the endless amount of light, sat the black creature that the mutant control claimed to exist. Mimic seemed panicked, and she froze all darts and chains that came in her direction. Jim offered up his arms, and she lifted him easily off the mangled bus, climbing up the nearest building and disappearing over the top.
She had never been caught on television before. The broadcast was about fifteen minutes behind, and that meant that they would just now be walking through the-
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! I TOLD YOU YOU WERE TOO DISORIENTED TO GO OUT TONIGHT! WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU LISTEN?!"
Elizabeth cringed at the volume of her own voice ringing down the hall.
"I WAS DOING PERFECTLY WELL! YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I FALL ASLEEP! THEY WOULD HAVE ALL DIED!"
"YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO THE CAMP, AND PUT THROUGH THE SAME TORTURE AS BOBBY!"
"YOU'RE JUST PISSED THAT YOU GOT CAUGHT ON CAMERA!"
"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I'M PISSED! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT DANGER THAT PUTS YOU IN?"
"NO, PLEASE INFORM ME, YOU FUCKING BITCH!"
"YOU BETTER PRAY THAT DOESN'T GO ACROSS NATIONAL TELEVISION OR WE'RE ALL DEAD!"
Then there was silence. Elizabeth turned the television off and ran down the hallway to the meeting room, where the Brotherhood and Mutes had gathered to referee the match. Mimic turned to Elizabeth as she entered the room, and instantly, she slammed against the wall in shock. Elizabeth stared straight into the black beast's eyes, and noticed something actually there.
Mimic had never been afraid of anything. Whenever Elizabeth looked in Mimic's eyes, there was just a bright white mass. Mimic had never shown fear before. But there was a figure in it now, a man from the looks of it. With the same white hair and black skin as Mimic, except with more beastial legs and a longer, more Bobby-like tail.
Mimic yelped and slid down the wall in shocked silence, not breaking eye contact with Horror.
"Look, look away, Elizabeth."
Elizabeth promptly closed her eyes and looked in another direction. Pietro caught her as she stumbled.
"Who is that, Mimic?" she whispered.
Mimic tried to run, but Lilian was blocking the doorway by accident. She jumped on the table and backed to one end of it, staring at each of them before putting her head smoothly down on the table in defeat.
"Who is that in your eyes?" Elizabeth shrieked, pounding her fists on the table.
The Mimic shook her head in one last defense, but it was dead. Bobby crawled on the table and hugged her softly.
"Mimic, we are your family. Talk to us now. What did Elizabeth see? What's Snidva?"
She leaned up and staggered forward, collapsing at the end of the table. Her body would have fallen into the floor, but Fred had caught her before that happened. They put her back on the table and noticed that she had passed out.
Mimic had been transfered into Bobby's nest which had been enlarged by Lilian to occupy them both. She created a mouse hole for Mimic's dark-loving eyes to rest, and Bobby was in his normal nest outside, although he was peering in her nest most of the time to see if she was alright.
She had never acted so strangely. They knew she hated cameras and lenses, even the television itself, but they never knew it would upset her so much. At least, not to the point where she'd pass out.
Elizabeth knew better than that. What she had saw behind that creature's eyes had been the reason for her black out. That man, the man. Mimic knew who he was, but she wouldn't talk. Horror knew better than to try.
Wanda and Elizabeth had become good friends, both sharing the love for gothic romance and dark books of Hell. Liz had gotten Wanda to start a journal, giving her a choice of the current notebooks she had. Wanda was hesitant, but she was very grateful. Her notebook overflowed with short essays about her secret passion for the sharpshooter, and random things about the prison they were being held in.
Jim had toned his act down greatly since it was his fault that she had to get on tv. The Brotherhood were allowed outside, supervised of course, by Austin and Mark, who weren't up at all for babysitting, but most of the time, Elizabeth tagged along to give Wanda decent company. Bobby stayed behind with Mimic, although walking in the daylight was pretty much unheard of for him as well.
Jim had figured out the code just as Bobby had and was now trying to find out what Snidva meant, having realized the strange word that Bobby had uttered the previous night was the code for the numbers on her tail. He came to the conclusion that it was a name, first name, last name, some name of someone or something, perhaps the lab she had been at. But there were no clues to who it belonged to. Mimic had never mentioned any name, and it was unlikely that it would belong to her, since the growling voice she had possessed somewhat of a Greek twang to it. There were no Snidvas in Greece. Most of their names ended with -us or -ious.
Damn thing.
He'd have to try and be nice from now on. Something told him that the can of worms was nothing in comparison to what was going on.
"It was a man," Lizbeth said softly, rubbing her forehead, "that looked almost exactly like her. But I couldn't imagine what that would have to do with anything."
Wanda looked at the ground in confusion. Todd stopped in front of them.
"So she's afraid of some dude. Is it really that surprising yo?"
Elizabeth nodded. "I've never gotten a feedback from her. Usually it was just bright light."
"She's afraid of bright light?"
Hmm. There was a thought. Perhaps she was, but still, that wasn't the issue at hand.
"Maybe, but the man was..."
Wanda put her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder.
"He was powerful."
Pietro stopped just long enough to pay attention, then he was off again. Lance was sitting on a garbage can staring suspiciously at Austin and Mark on the building over them.
"The greatest mutant on earth afraid of her own shadow, sounds like, yes?" Mark pipped.
"Mimic, please wake up."
Bobby was too big to fit down the mouse hole that Lilian made for that reason, but he poked his head in there and softly talked to her. He could hear her breathing, carefully stirring in the dark. It was light out, and she would have been asleep anyway, but he wanted her to wake up, just to see if she was okay.
She didn't wake, just kept on sleeping, and Bobby kept whispering words, knowing that she could have heard them if she wanted to.