#mousey situation

While you spent your night under a blanket with your comfort series on the TV, Sonar spent his at the shittiest den he managed to stumble into.

“I'm telling you, the new one is a weirdo.” Sonar argued as he nursed his drink. With his blazer off and sleeves already rolled up, he reached up to loosen his tie. 

Malevola gave him a sceptical look. “Have you even seen them?” 

That made her best friend stop in his tracks. Sonar opened his mouth only to close it again without saying a single word. The sight got a snicker out of Prism.

“...no.” He trailed off at the realisation. 

“Bitch you scared them to death!” Prism cut in with an amused grin.

Sonar snapped his head towards the idol, a confused frown noticeable on his face.

“What do you mean?” He slowly asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer or not.

“What I mean? Didn't you see??” 

Neither women needed an answer to know Sonar hadn't noticed what he'd done at all. Prism broke out into laughter while Malevola slightly winced. 

Sonar's white eyes darted between both women, trying to figure out what he'd missed. The frown settled deeper into his face as he managed to get no answer. 

He was a Harvard graduate, for God's sake. He should be able to figure it out with ease. 

Malevola ended up taking pity on him. With a long sigh, she joined her hands on the table as she braced herself for the explanation.

“Sonar, you were eating mice in front of them when Blazer brought them over.” Malevola calmly explained like a mother would to their 3 year old.

Sonar was raising his glass up to his lips, but stopped halfway. A puzzled expression fell on his face as he attempted to understand what Malevola was trying to tell him. 

“...yeah?” He slowly nodded. “That's my lunch.” 

His answer came out so flippantly that it made Prism snort loudly. Malevola didn't think twice before slapping a hand over her mouth to keep her from laughing out loud. 

“This is gonna be tough..” Malevola muttered to herself, but it didn't go unnoticed by Sonar's awfully good hearing. 

He lifted an eyebrow as his best friend pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand. 

Another deep sigh left her lips as both her hands joined again on the table, as if the simple action could give her courage. 

“Sonar, Moosh is a mouse hybrid.” 

Malevola’s voice came out as flat as possible in an attempt to appear serious. 

A tiny snort left Sonar's lips. “Yeah, and I didn't perform one of the best Silicon Valley investment frauds this country has ever seen.” He retorted nonchalantly with an amused smirk. 

He was definitely not buying it. And he'd bought a lot of sketchy stuff.

But Malevola's serious gaze along with Prism's laughing fit made him do a second take. 

They weren’t serious, were they…?

It seemed his flabbergasted expression was hilarious as now Prism was slapping the table. 

“No…” Sonar mumbled and to his dismay Malevola nodded slowly. 

Oh, he was so over.

He then spent the rest of his night trying to drink down the fact that their new teammate probably hated him. 

It was not like he particularly cared, of course not. He just wanted to leave a nice first impression. And that was not it. 

He wanted to apologise. No, he needed to. 

The following morning Sonar woke up with a blaring headache as the drinks from the previous night took their toll on him. 

Still, his top priority was now apologising to you. Getting an aspirin was a close second, though. 

As he came through SDN's door, his milky eyes were already looking for a certain eary individual. Not that he'd seen them, but that's what Mal told him to look out for: big ears, like him. 

He was running a bit late so he didn't have a lot of time to spare before their shift started. 

His first stop was the gym. Perhaps they liked to exercise before work. Like a pre workout? He had no clue how that worked. But as he stuck his head through the gym’s door and found no one but Flambae, his ears dropped slightly. 

Perhaps the break room? Yeah, that was probably it. 

On his way, Sonar checked the locker room. Just in case, you know? Well, it was empty. 

On the lift ride he sighed and went over his mental script: he was sorry, he hadn't noticed and he hoped to start all over again. 

Or something along those lines. 

As the metal doors opened, he gave himself a little pep talk.

“You got this, it's not that hard…” He muttered to himself. 

Falling on a confident stride, he stepped into the bull pen. Despite being early, it already brimmed with activity. Dispatchers were already speaking through their comms as employees walked back and forth. Even that weird orange cat mascot was on motion. The average, run-of-the-mill day at SDN.

Robert was sitting down on his chair with a corporate mug, probably full of coffee. Black, without sugar and probably double. That man had no taste. Still, Sonar greeted him on the way. 

“Sup.” He nonchalantly said with a small nod. 

Robert took a second to process it (blame the early hours) but greeted him back with a small wave. 

“Hey.” 

When Sonar turned his head back forward, he saw exactly what he was looking for. With his incredible vision he spotted a pair of big ears inside the break room. And opposed to his, these were pretty round. 

As he walked up to the room, he also caught sight of his best friend Malevola. She was conveniently talking to this Moosh person he had to apologise to. 

He could do it. Of course he could. 

He got over that one time his crypto plummeted twice in the same night, this was going to be a breeze. 

Walking up to them, he did his absolute best to appear nonchalant. 

“Hey.” He spoke, as he stopped between them, at a reasonable distance. 

But he didn't have time to even get another word in before you bolted out the door, again. Sonar didn't even get the chance to have a proper look at your face. 

“Damn.” Malevola blurted as her eyebrows shot up. “They're fast.” 

Sonar didn’t have enough time to try and find them as their shift started. 

“Alright guys…” Robert’s tired voice came through their earpieces. “Let’s get started with this. Moosh, this one’s on you.”

As soon as the words came through, your ears perked up from the place you managed to flee to (which was the interior garden of the SDN). Sonar had somehow taken you by surprise, managing to go under your sharp hearing. You felt kind of bad for bailing on Malevola, but you really couldn’t help it. Being caught off guard had thrown you off. And adding it up to yesterday’s incident, you didn’t want to be near the man-bat at all. 

“Someone named Bill Fences called. His very important package got delayed and he needs it. Pronto. I trust you can deliver him whatever he ordered in a good time.” 

Well, that was some less than thrilling call. But while it kept you busy and out of the branch, it would do just fine. 

“Got it, Robert.” You nodded as you started to head out. 

“Perfect. I’ll send the details to your phone.” 

A small buzz alerted you of the arrival of the intel. It was pretty simple, retrieve the package from the post office and bring it up to Fence’s doorstep. You felt disappointed, as you hadn’t signed up to the Phoenix Program to do mailing work. But there wasn’t a lot you could do. The sooner you were done with it you’ll get assigned to something more… fulfilling. 

As you made your way to the post office, you could hear Robert dispatching your fellow teammates. 

“There’s a… baby kaiju?” Robert started, his voice taking a surprised tone as he went over the call. “On the beach. Golem, go over there and try to get it under control.” 

“An event downtown has requested the presence of a hero to keep fans under control and to step in if they get out of hand. Malevola, this one is for you.” 

“Another drug bust.” Robert sighed loudly. “I don’t even have to say who’s going.” He said with a resigned voice, earning a bunch of snickers from the team.

“Fuck yeah. You won’t regret it, Robert.” Sonar answered with a slightly excited lilt. 

“I better not.” He deadpanned. 

Your quick legwork got the job done sooner than expected to both Robert and Fence’s delight. You bumped into Flambae on his way out as you just made it back to the branch. 

“Why is it me who always answers fire calls?” He whined over the comms.

You heard Prism snort as you made your way to the break room. 

“Bitch you seriously asking why?” She said before breaking out in a hyena-like laugh. 

“Shutup.” Flambae immediately hissed at her. “Just– shut up.” 

“Keep it down, guys. Some people here are trying to actually get their job done.” Robert cut in, in an attempt to get back on track. “Coop, you’re out. This is the second helicopter issue this month. Please, solve it.”

“The average citizen has way too much access to helicopters…” The former assassin grumbled between gritted teeth. 

“Talking about average citizens, we got some absolutely smashed people causing trouble near the stadium’s Burger Lord. They’re a big bunch so, Invisigal and Punch Up you’re out.” Robert followed up with another call. 

“What are some wankers doin’ already pissed at 11 am?” Punch Up asked no one in particular. 

“Who knows.” Invisigal answered. 

“You’re just jealous.” Flambae sneered and the comms were instantly flooded with multiple voices. 

It took them a while and Chase’s intervention to quiet down. But when they did, Robert was already there to assign some new calls. 

“Got intel on the Red Ring planning something big. Moosh, go there and try to gather some intel. Avoid getting discovered.” 

The morning shift ended up with a raid on the Red Ring that you were not invited to. You would have complained, given it was thanks to the information you managed to get. But as it was done by Sonar and Malevola, you felt better being left out. 

As far as you knew, they hadn’t made it back yet to the branch. This meant a free pass to the break room before scurrying to anywhere Sonar couldn’t find you. 

As you made your way inside, you saw both Flambae and Prism. The pyromaniac was rummaging through the fridge while the bicolor one was sipping an overly complex looking smoothie. 

Working around Flambae’s tall shape, you managed to snatch your lunch from the fridge. Today you had a fresh salad with diced fruit and some sprinkled nuts. A very nice meal, if someone asked you. 

As you sat down at the same table as Prism, she turned her head to look at you.

“So” she started, and something in her tone made your ear flick. It gave you the vibe she had some ulterior motive “how you liking it here so far?” 

Humming, you gave it a little bit of thought as you munched your food. 

“I think I mostly like it here.” You answered with half a shrug. “I’ve not been here for long enough to judge properly.” 

Prism gave you a smile as she sipped her drink. “What do you think of us?” 

Oh, she was going somewhere. Where? No clue. But somewhere. 

A small frown formed on your face as you recalled what you knew about everyone. Your nose also scrunched up slightly, and Prism had to hide a smile. You were so cute. 

“Blonde Blazer is like an angel. And Robert… he’s alright.” You said, tilting your head to the side. “He’s good at his job.” You concluded with a solid nod. 

“Yeah yeah” Prism said with a dismissive hand movement. “Off with those two. What about us?” She pointed at herself, obviously talking about the Z-Team. 

Your ears flattened slightly against your head. You hated when people asked what you thought about others. 

“Well…” you muttered “you’re really cool.” 

While your first answer got an approving nod from Prism, it made Flambae snap his head in your direction.

“She’s cool?” He said with an incredulous tone. “And what about me? I’m way cooler than her!” He said, pointing at himself. 

As your eyes flicked to his missing tooth, your ears dropped even more. A couple more flicks between the tooth and his eyes were enough for Prism to snort loudly and start slapping the table in a fit. 

That took Flambae’s attention off of you. 

“HEY!” He yelled, staring at Prism with a pointed look. “What are you laughing about?” He hissed. 

His demands were of no use, as Prism was choking on thin air. You took the distraction as a good sign and went on with your lunch. And after a little back and forth between them, the attention unfortunately fell back on you.

“S-so, what about the rest?” Prism wheezed, as she half covered her mouth with her hand, obviously still laughing. 

That seemed to appease Flambae, whose gaze was on you again. 

“Malevola looks very chill. But Coupè kind of scares me…” 

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted Prism looking past you, but you brushed it off as nothing. 

Big mistake. 

Next thing, Malevola had stopped between Prism and you. And if she was there, it could only mean one thing– 

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKK”

Sonar’s screech took you so off guard that it made you squeak as you jumped in place. You felt your heartrate spike up and your eyes instinctively closed. 

A round of gasps echoed around you and the next thing you saw when you opened your eyes was the tiled floor of the break room. And it was bigger than you remembered. Unless… 

Oh no. 

That has not happened since you were a teenager. It had been so long you had in fact forgotten about it. 

The thing is that you could shift into a mouse. Both physically and in size. But you never learnt to control it and usually happened when you were scared or startled. Well, it used to happen. Not anymore. Or so you thought. 

But seems your instincts had proven you wrong as you were now running for your life dodging chairs and feet. 

Sonar had not intended for that to happen at all. His screech was purely on instinct. That was something he did. But damn. If he already had messed things up with you, now it was like he’d dropped a nuclear bomb on the matter. 

The faces of the four of them were exactly the same: wide eyes, eyebrows so far back up they could be mistaken as hairline and mouth hanging completely open. 

Like, what the actual fuck. 

Their new teammate just shifted into a mouse after being startled. To be fair they should’ve been less… surprised. They had him, after all. He could shift too. In fact, he did it on a daily basis. But he could– somewhat –control it. And his form was not the size of… half a stapler. 

The first one to react was Malevola, who started to frantically look to the floor. 

“God damnit!” she cursed as she looked for you. 

As there was no sight of you, she darted to the door of the break room. The rest of them followed, being very careful of where they stepped. Even though you were not there. 

Malevola barreled through the door frame, slapping a hand on it for support. As her eyes went over the bullpen like crazy, she spoke out loudly. 

“NOBODY MOVE!!” She yelled, managing to catch everybody’s attention and stopping them in their tracks. “You’re going to step on Moosh!!”

Becoming a hero had never been an idea you had entertained. But when you were contacted by Blonde Blazer at prison… Let’s just say you couldn’t refuse. It was either that or staying in jail. And you knew more than well you would’ve been torn apart in there. 

That summed up pretty well why you were now right in front of SDN’s Torrance branch. 

After breathing in deeply, you walked into the building. With quiet steps you made your way to your new boss’ office. With a light knock to the door, you made your presence known. 

“Ah, come in.” Blonde Blazer’s calm voice greeted you from inside. “You’re here earlier than I expected you.”

Closing the door after you, you sat down in one of the chairs in front of her table. Your hands mindlessly joined together on your lap in an attempt to suppress fidgeting. 

“Yeah, I wanted to make a good impression and all of that…” You did your best to keep your voice steady, but failed slightly. 

Blonde Blazer gave you a warm smile, both genuine and in an attempt to calm your nerves. 

“That’s very nice of you.” She commented as her head tilted slightly to the side. The hero found your nervousness almost endearing. “I’m really glad you showed up. I wasn’t sure if you’d back out at the last minute.” 

You knew she was trying to lighten up the mood. And honestly, you were thankful for it. 

“Yeah, I’m still not really sure about all of this…” you looked away as you rubbed the back of your neck “but I wanted to give it a try.” 

A nervous smile formed on your face and Blonde Blazer mimicked it with one of her bright ones. She always gave off those vibes of security. She felt like a warm blanket in winter. If she was there, it would go well. 

After going over everything– the rules, protocols and basic knowledge –one last time, the hero led you to the lockers.

“You can get changed now, if you’d like. The team is about to start their lunch break and you’ll be joining them afterwards.” She explained and you nodded. 

After changing into your hero suit, you joined her. 

“I’ll take you to the break room so you can meet your new teammates and get… acclimated to the. They can be pretty intense.” She gave you a look filled with a mix of encouragement and slight pity. 

Now you were getting anxious again. 

“But I’m sure everything will go just alright. You’ll make a perfect hero.” She added as the lift opened its doors. 

You were incredibly doubtful of her words, but said nothing about it. It would do no good bringing up your insecurities about your powers. 

You weren’t anything out of the ordinary– save for the fact that you were a mouse hybrid. You had big ears, which meant good hearing, and a tail that was kind of an extra limb. You  ran a bit faster than the average person and your sense of smell was more developed, but that was it. 

You did have other mousey features like a smaller and cuter face with big eyes but that didn’t help in catching villains. You were nothing special.

Blonde Blazer knocked on the open door of the break room to announce her presence, along with a throat clearing. Some of the few presents turned their heads to look at her. 

From (almost) behind her you could spot a woman all in black and grey sitting stiffly on a chair. In the back, leaning on the wall was a very big and very red woman. She was talking to another woman, but this one was pink and blue. Lastly, someone in a suit was rummaging through the fridge. 

“I wanted to introduce you to the new member of the Z-Team.” She said before stepping to the side for the others to see you. “Guys, this is Moosh.” She looked to you as her hand gestured in your direction. “I trust you to be welcoming to them.” 

Blonde Blazer shot them a small look before walking off, leaving you with your new team. Standing all stiffy, your hand shot up in a very awkward wave that looked almost robotic. 

“Hi…” You muttered quietly. 

You could feel the black-and-grey woman judge you silently, which only made your nerves worse. Fortunately, the red woman waved you over to her with a smile. 

“Hey, I’m Malevola.” She introduced herself with a relaxed expression. Despite being so angry-looking, she was more chill than you expected. 

“Wassup, Prism here.” The other woman looked at you. You couldn’t make much of her, but she had a bold personality. That much you deducted. “Over there’s Coop” 

Following her pointed back thumb, you spotted the judgy lady again. Nodding, you tried to write down all the names in your memory before you forgot. 

“And the one over there is Sonar.” Malevola added as she pointed to the fridge. 

As you turned your head, you caught the consternated look that fell over Malevola’s face. But it was too late, you had already seen it. 

Standing in front of the counter was a… man? Probably a man, given his physical build. Well, more than a man, it was a bat man. Or was it a man bat? Anyway, another hybrid. 

You had nothing against hybrids. It would be extremely hypocritical, given that you were one yourself. But your eyes became impossibly wide as they fell on the man-bat-man. 

Your face visibly paled as you saw one of your new teammates devour a tiny mouse. 

Before Malevola could say a single word, you were out the door.

Divider by @pixopix