I'm gonna try really hard to get chapter 25 out before the end of April, but no promises. Enjoy chapter 24!

Soft lighting. Floating lanterns, well they were held up by string, but Seth chose to give in to the fantasy. That was what this was, a carefully reconstructed fantasy. And in Seth's fantasy, things were perfect. This was perfect. There was Morgan, wearing heels and towering above them. She liked a boy in their grade, Josef, but she'd chosen to dance with Seth.

"My homecoming king," Morgan had whispered as they danced, before drawing Seth in for a kiss. Morgan's lips tasted like the raspberry lip balm she'd always worn in high school. Seth had asked to borrow it once, just to know what Morgan tasted like. Nowadays Morgan always tasted like coffee but Seth didn't need to remember what Morgan tasted like nowadays. Their dreamy real life didn't have a place in the reconstruction of their high school homecoming dance, where Seth kissed Morgan, where Morgan kissed Seth. Where people didn't laugh when Seth Drake was crowned homecoming king. Where Josef Aaron didn't get a single dance with Morgan. Seth focused on the raspberry, on the lanterns, on the sound of Morgan's voice.

And then Seth heard screeching, and within a few seconds, they knew the screeching was coming from themself. It was involuntary, a result of the electric shock that Liv had just administered.

"Bad news, Seth," Liv said, with a sympathetic-seeming frown, "Big Hero 6 is suddenly very interested in your disappearance which means somebody told somebody."

"Which means somebody has to pay," Chris said, overeager with the threats.

Seth let out another mournful screech, realizing that of course Morgan wouldn't give up on finding them, but that Morgan was likely about to become a science experiment herself.

"No worries, Seth, we'll get to that. First, you should meet your new neighbor, Kei."

Suddenly, with a lurch a new mutant was upon them, not attacking, just looming. It was a slimy, pointy leech-like creature with teeth (if they could be called that) that looked fit to kill. And the parasite was a very familiar shade of purple and green… Kei. Kei the parasite… DJ Parasite. Like several villains and now Seth, Morgan's favorite musician had been mutated. Seth's first thought, of course, was that Morgan would potentially be very jealous that Seth was getting to meet DJ Parasite. Then the fear really set in.

Liv Amara was clearly the type that would turn the whole city into monsters if it served her purpose. Seth had no clue what Liv's purpose actually was, but it was no good. What did Liv want? Power, money, knowledge? Or was it evil for evil's sake? Seth had no idea. But one more jolting shock reminded them that now wasn't the time or place to fight back. Now was only the time for fear and fantasy.

Kei was more angry than afraid. Once more Liv had betrayed her trust, once more someone she had seen as a friend had let her down. More than she hated Liv, she hated herself for trusting Liv, for thinking their brief friendship in the past mattered to someone as ruthless and driven as Liv Amara. Worst of all she'd let Morgan down. Seeing Seth mutated as Kei had been mutated, into a horrific bat creature had set in stone just how much Kei had failed. Hopefully, Morgan would be able to rescue Seth and undo this terrible curse. But who would come for her?

Obake.

She didn't know why she was thinking about him. He barely even liked her. He was a pain in the ass. Her freeloading roommate. Her Bob. Oh, she couldn't deny it, she had feelings for him. And it would be nice to have him swoop in and save her, like her own personal Prince Charming. But she wasn't a princess and he wasn't a hero. They were criminals and now she was a horrible monster. So any hope that her prince would come was mere fantasy. A daydream thought up to blot out the present nightmare.

Morgan wished this was a nightmare. She hugged herself, digging her fingernails into her arm until Booker noticed and gently pulled her hands away.

"This can't be real," Morgan said in a strained voice, looking at the security camera feed she had hacked.

Her fears had been confirmed, Seth had been mutated by Liv.

"I'm breaking you out, baby," Morgan promised as if Seth could hear her through the screen.

"We're breaking them out," Booker promised.

"And Kei," Obake said, from where he was working on the buddy guards. When he'd seen Kei in her mutated state he'd turned away and worked at the buddy guards with a reinvigorated passion. Obake had had to repeatedly talk himself out of nuking all of Sycorax to get at the women who'd hurt his Kei.

"And Kei, of course." Guilt churned in Morgan's chest. She was the reason why Kei had gone to Sycorax. What if something happened to Karmi because Morgan had asked her to ask around? What if something bad happened to Hiro?

Morgan let out a squeak and got up, walking away from her laptop. Obake didn't even spare her a glance, but Booker stood up and followed her.

"Let's take a walk," Booker suggested, "get some fresh air."

"And leave Obake in the basement?"

"Bob will be fine," Booker said.

"I'm more worried about my house and my cats."

"I'm not going to hurt the cats," Obake grumbled.

"Do not fire the lasers in the house."

"How the fuck am I going to test them then?"

"Wait till I get back!" Morgan grabbed a jacket and threw it over her outfit. She zipped it up to hide the fact that she was still in yesterday's clothes. She'd been in a bad place before seeing inside Sycorax and now she was close to shutting down. Booker's suggestion to go outside helped ground her a little bit. She took deep breaths and was a little relieved to find that her lungs were still functioning.

"We're going to save Kei and Seth," Booker said, keeping a comforting hand on Morgan's shoulder.

"Yeah, definitely…"

"Bob said he could have the updated buddy guards done by tomorrow. We'll strike then."

"You're talking like me," Morgan said with a tired smile.

"Well, you're a good bad influence."

"Are you sure you want to help?"

"Absolutely. I love helping people. At least on my own terms. Sometimes it can get kinda overwhelming at work."

"Have you ever thought about doing something else?"

"I've thought about starting a true-crime podcast, but I'd still want to bartend. It's pretty good money, and I'm saving up to move out of Good Luck Alley, so Maya could stay with me more often."

"Hey, I don't know if this would interest you, and I'd have to talk to Seth, but we could probably rent out our spare room… We'd give you a real good deal, what with all you've done for us "

"You mean it?" Booker's eyes widened and lit up.

"If Seth is okay with it, I definitely am. And I don't know why Seth wouldn't be okay with it, they moved in with me back before we were together. I like helping people too. Especially my friends."

"You're really easy to be friends with, Morgan. There's just something about you. I don't know what it is."

He paused in the street to think about it, squinting up at the sky.

Finally, "You're radiant, Morgan. Anyone would be lucky to be your friend. Thank you for letting me be a part of this. We're going to make things right."

Morgan nodded, thinking about how miserable Seth had looked. They had to make things right. There was no other choice. Seth was her king, her dream. She had to make that dream a reality once more.

Question Of The Week- What's your dream job?