I wake up to Miss Claire sitting on the edge of my bed, she's grabbing my broken arm, examining it. She notices that I'm awake and looks over to make eye contact with me before speaking, "Sorry, did I wake you, kiddo?"
I shake my head, "Nope, but why are you looking at my arm like that?" I ask her.
"I want to see how bad your injuries are, because this might be a case for Jane." She says plainly.
Jane. I haven't seen her in a long time, as I've only met her twice. She patched up my injuries the first day Miss Claire took me in, and I met her a second time when I broke my leg during training last year. I always found it odd that her full name is Jane Doe; isn't that typically used as a placeholder for a female name?
Aside from that, I don't know much about her. She and Miss Claire seem to be close; I often hear them talking on the phone together. I can only assume they've known each other for a long time.
Miss Claire finally lets go of my arm and says, "Let's go, kiddo, might as well have Jane heal ya. It would make things easier to get you back in fighting shape."
"So, are you gonna blindfold me?" I ask, Miss Claire had blindfolded me the last two times, as I suppose Jane doesn't want anyone aside from Miss Claire knowing her location.
Miss Claire shakes her head, "Nope, I talked to Jane earlier before you woke up. She's allowing you to come without being blindfolded."
"So I'm allowed to know where she's located?" I reply
"Yeah. Since you're now officially out there doing missions with me, she's letting you know where she's located so you can go there yourself to get healed." She confirms.
"Do you go there often, Miss Claire?" I ask her. "No, I don't get hurt all that often. But she's a close friend, so I still like calling her to check in." She replies. "I'm aware," I say plainly in response.
In response, Miss Claire rolls her eyes and grabs my hand. She makes a portal, and we walk through it, entering a vast forest. Miss Claire leans down and whispers to me, "This is Dreis Forest."
I look up at her in shock. This is twenty miles out of the city; it isn't in any city's zone, so it's kind of its own land. No one really goes here besides the occasional hiker. Miss Claire walks over to a nearby tree and knocks on it three times. She walks out three steps diagonally and stomps twice. Before walking to a tree across from the one she initially knocked on, and knocks on it four times.
What in the world is she doing?
I don't have time to contemplate it before the ground in front of us opens up to a stairwell leading down. "Shall we head down, kiddo?" Miss Claire asks me, reaching her hand out to take mine.
I hold her hand as we both walk down the steps to this large, ominous metal door covered in moss. Miss Claire pushes open the door, and we walk through it, entering a lab that's vaguely familiar to me. There's a lot of old equipment that I'm almost certain Jane doesn't use; she has healing powers, after all. The lab is very dreary and worn down, an eerie buzzing sound playing in my ear from the broken but still functioning ceiling lights. The entire lab is pure white. It's honestly very dreary.
In the distance, I spot Jane, she's a very pale, almost ghostly woman with brunette hair in a messy bun, and she's the same height as Miss Claire. Jane is currently sitting on an operating table, clearly waiting for us. She spots us and runs over and hugs Miss Claire, "Claire! It's so good to see you!" she exclaims, her face now practically beaming. She then turns her attention to me, picking me up and pulling me into a bear hug, which particularly hurts my poor, broken arm. "Oh, Ray! How are you, kiddo?! You've grown so much since I last saw you!" She exclaims, now squeezing harder.
"Ow! You're squeezing my broken arm!" I shout.
Jane immediately drops me. I promptly land on my feet. "Sorry kiddo," she apologizes, looking away and scratching the back of her head. "Sit on the table, let's get this done," she instructs. I walk over to the operating table and sit down. Jane begins working on my arm, I see her aura all concentrated near her hands, and it meticulously spikes at certain intervals.
"So, how'd you break the arm?" She asks me, not making eye contact, still entirely focused on my arm.
Before I could answer for myself, Miss Claire chimes in, "The little moron picked a fight with two B rank heroes."
"Cool! Did you win?" She grins at me, reaching out for a fistbump. I fistbump her and reply, "Nope, didn't come close. They almost killed me."
"Well, you'll get 'em next time, kid." She says as she ruffles my hair before going back to working on my arm.
"Do not encourage that behavior! What he did was stupid!" Miss Claire shouts.
"C'mon, Claire, you're so uptight when it comes to him. You did tons of stupid shit like that when we were kids. He's honestly pretty similar to you, you sure he ain't biologically yours?" She asks jokingly.
"Don't even start with that, Jane. I know he's similar to me, and that scares the hell out of me. I can't help but be uptight sometimes when it comes to him. I don't want him getting killed out there." She says with a somber smile.
Jane nods as she continues working, "If he's like you, he'll live."
Miss Claire nods, acknowledging her statement, but not replying to it.
"I had ice cream for the first time yesterday," I say to Jane, trying to make small talk, her healing my arm is going to take an hour at least. It took her an hour to heal my broken leg a year ago.
"The first time yesterday? Wow, Claire has been depriving you of the good stuff, huh, kiddo?" she teases, shooting a playful look at Miss Claire.
"Mhm, Mr. Eun-ji bought me some." When those words left my mouth, Jane's eyes widened as she turned to look at Miss Claire, "Claire? You seriously introduced him to the kid?" She says with a hint of caution in her tone. "That's awfully… generous. Personally, I wouldn't trust him if I were you. Not that he isn't trustworthy, he just doesn't like you very much."
"He knows I'd kill him in a heartbeat if he tried to spill anything to anyone." Miss Claire says calmly, as if it were a completely normal thing to say. "Plus, I bet money he wouldn't do that because he knows it'd endanger Ray here," she says, following up on her previous statement.
"True, that man is quite too gentle to put the kid in danger. He's always been like that, even when he was a villain, despite how threatening he likes to make himself sound." Jane replies.
"So Claire, what are you and Ray gonna do once we're done here?" Jane asks.
"Oh, I'm gonna take the kid out on his second ever mission." Miss Claire says with a smile.
"You are?" I question. This is the first time I've ever heard of this.
"Yup, you're gonna handle a real C rank hero. Unlike your last target, who wasn't even worthy of his rank." She clarifies.
Jane lightly punches my arm, "Ooh, you hear that kid? You're gonna handle a stronger target."
"Mhm," I reply plainly.
Jane stands up, "Alright, Ray, I finished your arm. Have fun on that mission," she says as she lightly pushes me off the operating table. I land and walk over to Miss Claire. She makes a portal and sticks her hand through it. She hands me my mask and cloak, and I put them on as she grabs her own and does the same.
"Bye Jane, be safe!" Miss Claire exclaims as she and I start leaving.
Jane laughs, "Claire, you better visit me in person more often, I could use the company."
"I'll try. But I'll still call you often either way." Miss Claire responds. Afterwards, we promptly exit the lab. After we walk out, the ground closes again. We walk a certain distance away. Miss Claire turns to me, "Ray, make a portal here so you can come back here yourself when needed."
I crouch down and attempt to make a portal on the ground. It's rather difficult. It takes me a few tries, but eventually I make a little one, just enough for me to squeeze through.
"Perfect." Miss Claire says, patting my back. "Now, my little Chameleon, I know this hero you have a personal beef with."
"Who is it?" I ask.
"Paleoumbral," She responds.
No way.
Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this.
I remember over a year ago, on my seventh birthday, Miss Claire had me tag along to observe her work, and she was observing Paleoumbral. I saw him turn into a pitch black Giganotosaurus, one of my favorite dinosaurs, right behind the Ankylosaurus.
I cannot tell you how excited I was. I love dinosaurs, so obviously the first thing I tried to do was to copy his power. Even my instant one-time activation would've satisfied me. But no. I learned that terrible day that I can't copy powers that transform my body like Paleoumbral's power.
That evil man can turn into a dinosaur when I can't. This means war.
"Still upset that you couldn't turn into a T-Rex?" She teases.
"It was a Giganotosaurus." I retort.
"Same shit, kiddo." She replies, letting out an exasperated sigh. "According to my intel, Eun-ji. Paleoumbral should be out on a mission in Paragone right now, but he should be closer to the southern side of the city."
Paragone, the city named after the number one hero. It's a little bit northeast of here, so I suppose I'm in for a bit of a walk. Miss Claire began walking, and I jogged a little bit to get beside her before I slowed down to walk at her pace.
"So, how should I handle this fight, Miss Claire?" I ask her. I'm really just probing to see if she wants me to use her power or Mr. Eun-ji's.
"You handle it however you want to handle it, Chameleon. In a fight, you need to make that judgment call for yourself, especially as your repertoire of powers increases." She replies, not even looking at me.
I suppose that makes sense. But to fight a Giganotosaurus like Paleoumbral… It's really fast, and the jaw strength of that dinosaur could tear me in half. It's pretty durable, too.
However, according to some studies, there may have been less armor on its underbelly, making that its weak spot. I don't know if that still applies to Paleoumbral, but it's worth a shot.
"Whatcha thinkin' about kiddo?" Miss Claire asks me.
"Potential weak spots. Paleontologists think that the Giganotosaurus probably had bony armor everywhere, aside from its underbelly. So I think that I should focus my attacks there." I say, still lost in thought.
"Okay, but don't you think that Paleoumbral knows that's his weak spot and wouldn't let you get that close?" She questions.
Oh.
I didn't really think of that.
"Then in that case… Maybe I should use Mr. Eun-ji's power to dodge his attacks and get in close, and then use your power to attack him?" I say halphazardly, making it up on the fly.
"I agree, that's your best bet. Good job." Miss Claire says as she pats my back.
Soon after, we arrive at our destination. I suppose all of that thinking passed the time of the walk.
At the same time, Miss Claire and I both spot a giant black Giganotosaurus just casually in the streets, and there aren't any other people around. I can only assume they evacuated.
Miss Claire pats my back and pushes me forward, "Go get him, Chameleon!"
I stumble forward before regaining my balance. I don't respond to Miss Claire's encouragement and dash forward towards the dinosaur. I stop a few feet away from him. Looking straight up, I clear my throat to get his attention.
I see the giant creature turn around and look down at me, leaning that giant head down to be closer to mine.
"And who are you, tiny masked one?" he asks. I feel his breath nearly blowing me back as he talks, a testament to his size, I suppose. I ground myself further to prevent myself from being knocked back. As I hear him speak to me, only one thought enters my mind.
Ew. His dinosaur breath stinks.