Archer Warrick February 29th,20XX

“Remember to go along with whatever he says! And don’t fight! When you get on camera, make sure you show your earring!”

Kaja had fretted over him and looked more nervous than Tillo, despite not being the one that had to meet the criminal outside.

“Calm down, Kaja. Archer read his mind and said he would not hurt her. As long as I don’t fight back, he’ll just take the video and wait for the ransom to come in.”

Well, that was what I’d read, but he seemed disorganized and scared. Who knew what would happen if he panicked and changed his mind. I knew Tillo had already thought of it, so I didn’t bother warning him of the possibility.

I had the role of providing them with the necessary information, so they would take anything I said seriously. I couldn’t burden them with any what-ifs? Or maybe’s.

“Hey, be safe, okay? If anything happens, just mentally call out my name and I’ll have Eva reach out to you. I’ll be reading your mind, so don’t worry and focus on staying safe. Okay?”

It was disorienting to see Tillo listen so eagerly with Thelma’s face and naturally fix the short skirt around his legs. He’d changed his uniform to look as much like Thelma’s modified one as possible, but there were still a few details off.

“Tillo.”

Kaja pointed at the crevice between her nose and cheekbones.

“She has a small mole up here, and another by her eyes.”

“Ah.”

He ran over to the mirror and carefully grew two moles according to Kaja’s instructions. Thelma stirred from her position on the floor, and we all froze, but she only tightened the tie around her eyes and pushed the headset closer into her ears.

Kaja had originally volunteered herself to take on Thelma’s image while Tillo snuck into the principal’s office and used the emergency line to contact Aaron and the police. We’d already called them earlier, but the criminal had used some sort of signal jammer on the area. I could still text Eva since she was only a building away, but all of my texts to Joyce and Aaron went unsent.

After Kaja got to the office, she would go over to Eva’s classroom and bring her close enough to attack the man. They wouldn’t enter the building or come anywhere close enough for the assailant to see them, but thankfully all Eva needed was to get a solid look at the person she wanted to attack.

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Tillo had challenged Kaja on their roles and after an intense round of rock paper scissors has successfully convinced her to switch roles with him.

Kaja captured Tillo’s new face between her palms and focused his eyes on hers.

” Remember. Stay safe and don’t do anything you don’t need to do. Call out if you need help and if you’re in danger, then use your powers. Okay?”

The backup plan we had was to have Tillo use his powers to escape while I bludgeoned him with the fire extinguisher we’d found in the bathroom. It was relatively heavy, and it would take a lot of energy to take the man down. There was also the risk that it would kill him if I used too much force or would only make him angry if I didn’t use enough, so I was reluctant to use that plan.

Eva’s building was only about four minutes away from us, If Kaja could get over there, pick her up while she looked like me, and bring her right outside the hall, then she could mentally lambast the man and immobilize him before she could do any harm.

Tillo shook in nervousness as he prepared to walk out to the assailant and held his hands up as a sign of submission. He had an impressively terrified expression on his face for someone that had been so calm a few seconds before, but I could feel a wave of stress roll off him and into my head.

I restricted myself to the second layer so I could completely make out his thoughts and sealed the connection between us, but it was difficult to focus while actively maintaining Tillo’s thoughts and the thoughts of the assailant.

Kaja closed her eyes and put a hand to her left ear, and then her face transformed into mine. I looked away and stared at the ceiling as she worked her powers. While it wasn’t grotesque, it was disarming to see her gradually change from her appearance to mine.

“Archer you have to look at me so I can make sure I got it right.”

I braced myself one more time before turning around and facing someone almost identical to me. My neck almost snapped as I looked up at the underside of my jaw.

“Too tall.”

It was embarrassing to admit and somewhat humiliating, but it wasn’t something that could be ignored.

Kaja waved it off and adjusted her uniform into a male one.

“Sorry Archer, I’ll need to make it over as quickly as I can, and I can’t risk adjusting to a new body type while I run. I’ll adjust my height when I get there.”

Well, there wasn’t much I could say about that, but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I redirected my attention to the situation outside and waited for the assailant to round the corner before giving the twins the signal.

“Now!”

With a final deep breath and one more look at Tillo, Kaja took off running down the hall in the direction we’d come from. It was a bit of a long way, but going the shortest way would have gotten her caught by the criminal.

The assailant broke out into a run as well and came back in our direction, but Tillo ran straight ahead into a different hallway and let out an ear-piercing shriek. I heard a scuffle as the assailant caught Tillo, who looked like Thelma, and got him into a chokehold.

I scanned their minds and kept track of everything that was going on when I got a text from Joyce. It looked like the assailant had removed the signal jammer while he sent out a request.

I fumbled for the phone as I quickly pulled it open and read the text, but once I did I was filled with a tub of mixed emotions.

Relief, dread, happiness? They all intertwined within me and created a bitter emotional soup.

Joyce: Sit still and don’t do anything more reckless than you already have. Aaron is on his way. We’re going to have a long talk when you get home so you better be safe enough to do that.