There was a comfortable silence as Erin followed Alleyshadow. They got to an office area that eventually turned into a lobby, where Silverknight was working with the front desk computer. His visor was down, but his helmet bobbed up at them when they stepped into the room. Erin wondered how he’d been typing with gauntlets, but at second glance she noticed the gloves weren’t on.

“Erin! -Razor, are you alright? Any complications, Alley?” He seemed to be following them with his gaze, but she couldn’t see past the lilac light glowing through silver armor. Erin hadn’t really noticed from all the footage she’d seen on forums, but Silverknight was considerably more to the point and focused when in costume than when playing Tyson.

“All’s good. Had to put down four mutants,” Alleyshadow gestured with his staff, “but with Erin distracting them, it wasn’t hard. I have her in a containment spell, but she’s probably coated in the chemicals, need Ferret to confirm. The spell should last an hour. We have time.”

“‘M fine,” Erin added, when his visor seemed to turn to her. She didn’t have much to add. Clearly she hadn’t mutated yet, so what else was there to worry about?

Silverknight seemed relieved even though the suit. “Seems that Ferret had finished destabilizing the last batch we found, and is running diagnostics. There was enough mutagen to affect everyone in the city - in each batch. Pyrocles is running down Doppelganger. Didn’t find them, but he found a little hutch and home. They seemed to have something planned with another set of mutated gang members, but the gang never got called in to cause trouble, and they went into cuffs without much of a fight. Seems Doppelganger left in a hurry, their plan awry. I just finished helping Pyro detain them. They’re in the next room.”

Alleyshadow nodded and said, “I’ll check on them really quick.”

Erin, not sure what else she should do, just stood where she was. Could she sit down in a chair? Or would the mutagen get on it? Tyson continued typing on the computer.

“Sorry.”

Erin had been staring at one of the flickering fluorescent lights above, and took a moment to realize Silverknight had spoken. “Huh?”

“About all this. Getting wrapped up in Hero business. Nothing I hate more than when normal civilians get wrapped up in this mess. We’re here to be your shield, your armor against these criminals, but so many see that as an opportunity to use you as tools and hostages. I am sorry I couldn’t prevent this. I will do everything in my power to stop Doppelganger or anyone else from doing this again.” Tyson had stopped typing, and was looking at her as he spoke.

“Whatever. It’s the way the world works now.” She was a little tired for more speeches.

Outside, it was dark out the window, which meant she’d missed at least Monday’s work. She was, frankly, relieved for this quiet moment, before the police came, and the questions, and then all the internet speculation, and further social isolation.

Silverknight didn’t seem to know what to say after that, and she couldn’t guess what he was thinking. Helmet and all.

After a period that couldn’t have been very long but that felt like hours, the quiet was filled with the distant sound of sirens. The police, arriving far too late.

As flashing lights started to fill the aura of light in the windows, the next room’s door opened, and Alleyshadow came through with Misty - The Ferret, actually - striding in behind him, decked out in her furry-looking bodysuit. 

Erin had to remind herself to breathe as The Ferret stalked towards her, a frown visible below the mask and asked, “Erin Razor? Are you feeling alright?” The Ferret sounded angry, and Erin reminded herself silently that she’d done nothing wrong. “Any reactions at all?” Her voice was level and deep, modulated by some device. Having forgotten about this particular part of The Ferret’s disguise, Erin needed a moment to get back on track.

“Not that I can tell. The room fogged up for a while, but I didn’t feel any changes.”

“Hmm.” The Ferret paced around her, examining closely through goggles packed with tech. “You are definitely coated in the substance, and you don’t show any symptoms.” The Ferret stopped in front of her again, pulling out a penlight. “Keep your eyes open, I want to check your pupils.”

“I am going to meet with the authorities, tell them the story.” Silverknight left from behind the counter. When the Ferret was finished blinding her, Erin could see that his gauntlets had rematerialized.

The other two Protagonists nodded. “I’ll work the mutagen on Erin Razor.” To Erin, The Ferret said, “Just sit tight a moment. I need to adjust my reactant.” The Ferret gave Erin room as she began rummaging among her many hip pouches, doing something with the high tech gadgets plugged into a compact computer that unfolded from her wrist.

“I got eyes on the other minions we caught.” Nathan - Alleyshadow - motioned, heading back into the other room.

Erin just stood there, feeling silly with nothing to do but watch The Ferret. The Ferret outfit was a skintight bodysuit made of some patented hyperfiber of some kind. The weave made her look like she was wearing a suit of thick suede that blended from black to dark silver depending on the angle it was seen from, and it protected from just about everything from bullets to fire to even some magical resistance, which is why, even if she was occasionally teased online for her outfit, it was hard to argue it wasn’t practical.

Her long hair was tied back and hidden under a cowl, and dark mask with a pointed nose and goggles hid the top half of her face. Erin decided her photos and footage did not do her justice. She really did look like she could take Tyson on in a fight. Adorned in an array of gadgets on her belt and a bandolier and her fingers tipped in sharp metal claws, Erin thought the Ferret looked more like a hunting animal than some rodent.

“You alright?” Erin realized she’d been staring up at the Protagonist the entire time.

“Yeah. Sorry. Long day.” Erin should have been more bothered by being surrounded by the Cavalry, but after her second Villain Protagonist, normal ones were just low grade annoyances. That or she was suffering some kind of trauma.

She laughed, a low chuckle with the modulator. “I don’t doubt it. This should destabilize the mutagen and make it safe for you to be near others.” She waved a device that looked like a slightly overcomplicated spray bottle. “I am amazed you haven’t transformed yet. I don’t like prying into other people’s personal business, but do you have powers? Some sort of supernatural history?”

“Nope. Nothing I know of.” Erin probably wouldn’t have admitted it even if she did. Not to a Protagonist.

The Ferret nodded doubtfully, explaining, “Well, the mutagen acts on certain geometries and on junk DNA in your system, it’s possible you just have the right mixture for it not to have anything to latch onto. Some of the gang members had very mild reactions, and one appeared completely immune. All of it was hastily developed. Maybe you had a bad batch too. Close your eyes please.” She took aim, and began spraying Erin up and down.

Erin’s mind flicked over how the ‘junk DNA’, much like many of the other inexplicable things in her world now, didn’t square with old laws of physics. More than forty years ago the laws of physics began to unravel, and magic began to seep into the world. The generation before Erin’s had been full of hope for a brighter and better future. 

‘Junk DNA’ was just a Protagonist baby-talking to a backdrop character.

Maybe backdrop scientists could have figured out how the new rules worked, if half the most capable scientists who studied magic and physics didn’t become Puppets and supervillains. Erin was too tired to retort, if she had the inclination.

Erin lifted her feet when The Ferret requested it. The sound of sirens, distant, started to cut out completely. Silverknight had gotten to them and explained the situation. Wonderful.

“There you are,” she said, “That’ll even work inside your clothing and shoes. Just give it about ten minutes and you should be good to shake hands. Need anything else?”

Erin shook her head. “Nothing comes to mind. It's Monday night, right?”

The Ferret nodded, but tilted her head at an angle, as if listening for something. “Tuesday morning, actually. I am very sorry that you’ve had to go through this sort of mess, Erin Razor. Do you have any idea-” They were interrupted when Silverknight came through the front door trailing several people in Hazmat suits, followed by a small army of police officers. The Ferret huffed, “I need to meet with the Hazmat team. You going to be okay?”

Erin waved her off and The Ferret walked away.