It was a pleasant day, well, the beginning of it.
In general, what does a pleasant day mean to me? One where the sun is shining, and palm trees are growing outside your villa with the ocean splashing nearby. In my case, only elms and larches surrounded me, and there was no sign of the ocean.
Eh, what a pity.
I caught up with Blind Spot, Toad, and X-23, who was still unconscious, right at the exit of the facility. Of course, we chose a different route for our retreat, as the backup exits were conveniently available. We might have entered through one of them, but the problem is that it's much easier to leave through them than to enter. That's why they are exits, heh.
"Let's move, ladies," I urged the girls who were waiting for me. "I've made things more difficult for those girls, but they'll wake up soon and come after us."
"Where are we headed?" asked Morty. "To the evacuation point, or…?"
"Or," I immediately decided. "We finished too quickly. It's dangerous to wait for the others in the woods. It'll be easier to blend into this town."
And that's what we decided. In reality, the town near the facility wasn't ideal for laying low for an extended period. With a few tens of thousands of residents, mostly private houses rather than apartment buildings, wide streets, and linear construction, it looked fairly new and well-maintained, indicating it had been built recently.
In short, we ended up in a big village where, if not everyone knows each other, at least every second person does. However, we only needed to stay here for an hour or so. Ideally, we would find a car and get as far away as possible, but for some reasons, that option didn't sit well with me.
As we approached the town, we quickly changed clothes. We took off our masks, hid our protective elements, and put on civilian, loose jackets we had stashed near the base. Now, unless someone was paying close attention, it was hard to recognize us as shady characters. Maybe the army-style boots we wore gave us away, but considering the cold, rainy weather, stomping through the mud in those shoes was quite comfortable.
The town was mostly still asleep, which wasn't great. Our group became more memorable for the few early risers and utility workers who saw us. When the authorities arrived, they wouldn't have many people to question, and I'm sure the locals would quickly remember the two ladies, their husband, and the sleeping child.
We couldn't stay on the streets for too long. We needed to find shelter quickly, but that wasn't a problem. We found the first house with a garage and turned down the paved path leading straight to the front door. Those Americans, how can they live without three-meter fences around their homes? I don't understand, but whatever, let them suffer for it now!
"Go ahead," Ino suggested, and I sighed, stepping forward to ring the doorbell.
The door was opened by a short-haired brunette in pajamas, holding a toothbrush.
"H-hi…" she said, staring at me, then suddenly pinched herself and closed her eyes. "I'm still dreaming, right? This kind of thing only happens in movies. A guy can't just show up at the doorstep of my house!"
I didn't respond. Instead, I stepped aside to let the trained people do their work. Blind Spot moved forward, and before the girl could open her eyes, she placed her hand over her mouth.
"Sweetie, who's there?" came a voice from deeper inside the house.
I quickly, but without running, followed the voice and the scent. Apparently, the people living here were getting ready for work—one was still brushing her teeth, while the other danced barefoot on the kitchen tiles, stirring something in a frying pan.
"Hello," I said as I stepped inside, immediately making up some nonsense. "I'm your new neighbor. I just moved in and started cooking breakfast, but I realized I forgot to buy salt. Can I borrow some?"
"A neighbor? B-but I'm not…"
Before she could process anything, I got close enough, held her mouth, and made her fall asleep. It's handy to have shinobi training. And the new abilities showed themselves well—holding a very athletic and tall girl wasn't a problem at all, and I simply didn't let her break free. After sitting her in a kitchen chair, I turned off the gas and began searching the house. Who knows, maybe there's someone else living here?
It turned out that Toad had beaten me to it and had already checked the other rooms. There was no one else here, which was good news. We gathered in the living room. Blind Spot was erasing the memories of the girls who lived here, Laura was still unconscious, I was looking at family photos of the homeowners, and Morty had just returned from the garage where she was inspecting the car.
"The car's a piece of junk," she said right away. "A cramped little car."
"We can look for another one," Ino suggested, momentarily tearing herself away from her task.
"No need," I said, glancing at the still unconscious X-23 lying on the couch.
It seemed like someone had just woken up but was trying not to show it. I had to admit, she'd been trained well, as neither Toad nor Blind Spot had noticed it. Well, that was for the best.
"Do you have a plan?" the girl with the overly long tongue asked.
"Yep, the plan's simple. You guys take the car and head east on Highway 281 to the nearest town. Wait for me at the fifth gas station."
"I don't like this," Ino frowned. "We can't split up."
"Sorry, but X-23 and I have something urgent to take care of."
Ino gave me a worried look and ran her tongue over her dry lips. She cautiously moved a little closer to me. Blind Spot gently touched my knee and,
looking deeply into my eyes, asked:
"What are you planning, Rascal?"
I didn't see any reason to lie. Nor did I see the need for this conversation at all, except maybe to verbally confirm the plan I had made on the spot.
"I want to take her to her mother, what else?" I chuckled.
"What mother?" Toad spat. "What the hell are you talking about? She's our prey! Remember, we came for adamantium, and her claws."
"Magneto needs liquid metal that hasn't solidified yet," I argued. "If he wanted claws, he'd have gotten a much better version by now."
"Not for you to decide. Let the boss figure out what to do with this little one."
"No," I calmly shook my head. "I'm the one deciding. I've already decided."
Toad angrily jumped up from her seat. Blind Spot moved closer and tried to touch my cheek.
"Rascal," she said, freezing in place, her hand just a few centimeters from my face.
Morty also froze like a stone statue of herself. Only their eyes were frantically darting around, and their lips barely moved.
"W-what is this?" Ino gasped. "How did you…?"
"How?" I asked, removing my glove and gently running my palm over the frightened girl's arm. "Oh, it's a long story. It all started with a threesome…"