Lulu Flint | MISSION

DISGUISE

natalie watches the woman out of the corner of her eye, meanwhile pretending to play a mobile game on her phone. when she says her cover name, there was no mistake. nat listens quietly, allowing the woman to finish her introductions. her relaxed demeanor told her, at least from natalie could tell, she wasn't being forced to come along.

so why had she?

"flint. a name i should've known before coming here, but there is not one peep of you in the community." an impressive feat, considering the constant need for validation those in their profession shared. "i've a great many questions for you. but none of them pressing." and all of them highly, highly secretive.

natalie reaches out to take both items from the other woman's hand, putting the earbud in one ear, and the clip in her hair on the other side. she gives lisa a look, lowering a small pair of rounded-framed sunglasses over her eyes.

"shall we?"

Lulu Flint | MISSION

DISGUISE

despite not used to following directions, natalie nods. she leaves less than a minute after lulu, moving towards a different route. she was outwardly calm, but couldn't suppress the thrill that threatened to burst from her veins.

natalie rounds a corner herself, finding the aforementioned door lulu mentioned. security camera's monitor the league members that enter and exit freely. she eyes the metal detector and guards stationed nearby, an idea forming.

she listens though, as the instructions come; the descriptions. natalie turns her back to look into a small mirror and 'check her make-up.' emerald hues ensuring she isn't approached.

"and if he's already talked?"

Lulu Flint | MISSION

DISGUISE

natalie shrugs, though it's imperceptible to the other woman. at least, she believed it to be. the fate of some kid who got in a little over his head was inconsequential. she was just a little curious is all.

natalie moves a bit further in the alleyway and away from prying eyes as she prepares.

she reaches into her bag and dabs at water with her fingers, running it over her eyes and make-up, smearing it. her hands go up, tossing and disheveling her hair. natalie then reaches down and removes a shoe, tossing it further down the aisle while tearing one of the strings of her top. lastly, she places her hands on the dirty, disgusting ground and rubs some of the grime and asphalt into her skin.

one mugged woman coming right up.

with emmy award winning skills, she rounds the corner, half-limping, half-running- full screaming. "help! oh my god please help me! i was just attacked!"

two men break off from the security detail, running with a fervor she's rarely seen. they push past her and into the alleyway. a woman, older, with crows feet and coffee stained teeth approaches. natalie forces her body to shake. not a difficult task, with the adrenaline coursing through her.

with the sympathy of the crowd on her side, she's ushered past the checkpoint and led further in. worried murmurs linger among the crowd, but her eyes focus on only one thing.

"p-please, the bathroom."

the older woman complies, guiding her by shoulder to the bathroom. she's kind; offering words of encouragement in natalie's ear. she almost feels bad for what happens next.

once they're both inside natalie reaches into her bag, pulling out a small vial that she uncorks. leaning into her role, she tosses her arms around the older woman, sobbing. as she does so, she pours the STUN SPORE down her shirt. the results are nearly instant and the old woman locks up in her grasp.

in the next two minutes natalie is able to successfully drag the woman to a stall, change into a secondary outfit, remove her wig and put on an even larger set of sunglasses.

"oh my gosh the poor thing! she's going to need some time." her words echo as she leaves, a small group of on-lookers standing by. mostly men. always men. like the need to play the hero was instilled in their dna.

finally, natalie moves to a door at the end of the lobby, the older woman's badge in hand.

"i'm on my way now," she says under her breathe, likely barely audible to the other woman.

Lulu Flint | MISSION

DISGUISE

with a casual swipe of the other woman's badge, she's in.

a cool breeze pushes past, but she quickly closes the door behind her, removing a specially designed vial containing her arbok's GASTRIC ACID and pouring it on the lock and handle.

no one would be coming through here.

the hallway was decently sized, an L shape that turned to the left. four doors total lined the walls. one of them would likely hold her target. one or two bodies moved behind the frosted glass of the doors, their shadows momentarily visible before moving away.

she'd have to play this just right.

"how close are you?" she whispered into the ear piece, unaware of the test currently underway for her.

Lulu Flint | MISSION

"arceus fuck." natalie swears, hand flying to her chest. "someone should really put a damn bell on you." she takes a deep breathe, getting her nerves under control. she was aware this was a rocket executive. but did they really need to go around boogey-manning like that?

natalie resists the toxicity that threatens to seep into her next words. "going solo. got it." there was something about being tested she didn't like. she understood it. just didn't like it. at all.

"let's do this the easy way," she spits, tongue tracing a line over her teeth in annoyance. natalie brings out her roserade, jade, who eyes lulu with a trace of arrogance. that is until she picks up on a strange feeling emanating from the woman and quickly looks away.

"paralyze each room simultaneously," she orders. the roserade moves to obey. four tendrils, similar to vines, extend to the bottom of each of the doorways. at their ends, a small bud opens and golden STUN SPORE begins to fill the rooms. there's a shout. two. then silence.

"we'll give it a minute," natalie says to lulu, back to her. last thing they needed was to get paralyzed too.

Lulu Flint

natalie waits in silence. it wasn't the uncomfortable kind. at least to her. still, she felt the prickling of eyes watching her, a instinctual response at the base of her neck that sent the small hairs standing. the other woman's abilities were of keen interest to natalie, the least of that interest deriving itself from fear. she just needed to make sure she had the chance to expand on that interest.

she would allow professor flint her moment in the sun-or rather, the shadows- if only to satisfy her curious itch.

after a sufficient amount of time, natalie checked her watch. she didn't speak, deciding it best to simply act as if she were alone than rely on help that might not come. she checked the first room. a bathroom. some poor sod wore his pants around his ankles, hand gripping his male anatomy with a grip that was not healthy.

any luck and the spores will be out of his system in time to save a thing or two.

she checked the next. empty.

the next, a small room with a massive one-way mirror. on the other side of it were three figures. two were slumped in their chairs. a bald, dark-skinned man sitting across from a purple haired, youth-faced brat. natalie had half a mind to kill him here for simply making her work this hard. she sighed irritantly, moving out and into the interrogation room. the third man, was chubbier and with visible male-pattern baldness. he lie slumped against the wall. fresh coffee stains on his shirt likely the reason his eyes were bloodshot and bulging. the pain must've been insufferable. she gave them both amused winks, their eyes struggling to follow her retreating form, trapped in their own bodies.

the young man was heavy, but not something she couldn't handle. it helped he didn't struggle, too. still, she didn't leave the work all for herself. returning the roserade to her capsule, she released the arbok. the poison-type's massive tail COILING around his limp body, bringing it with them.

"shall we go?"