After taking a sharp turn, the office worker slammed on the brakes suddenly!
Michelle and Irene, who were sitting in the backseat, weren't ready and hit the front seatbacks with a painful groan.
"Why did you brake all of a sudden, mister?!" Irene complained, rubbing her head.
"Looks like your friend noticed us..." the office worker said helplessly, shrugging at the two girls in the back as he looked at the van blocking the small road ahead. "Not my fault."
Michelle and Irene looked at each other, having noticed the situation ahead.
They never planned to be seen. If Clarice found out, it would be very awkward for them, even though their intentions were good.
Now that the van had suddenly blocked their way, they could only sigh. This was exactly what they were trying to avoid.
The next moment, a man and a woman stepped out of the driver and passenger seats of the van.
The man called out, "Hey, friends in the car, come out and talk."
Hearing this, they knew they couldn't hide anymore. Gritting their teeth, they got out of the car.
As soon as they did, Irene demanded, "Who are you? What did you do to Clarice?!"
Michelle tugged on Irene's sleeve, trying to stop her from saying too much, but Irene ignored her.
The pair who stepped out of the van were, of course, Thunderbird John and Dreamer Sonya.
They were prepared to fight, but when they saw two high school girls in uniform get out of the car, they realized it might be a misunderstanding.
Once Irene started questioning them, they were even more certain of it.
"Are you Clarice's classmates?" Sonya asked.
Irene nodded out of habit but quickly realized something was off. She was the one asking questions, so why were they being questioned?
"You still haven't answered me!" she said, sounding unhappy. Then she warned, "You better not try anything. The uncle in the car behind us is holding a phone. If you do anything, he'll call the police right away!"
John didn't look like a good person to her.
One look at all the scars on his arms, and she was sure of it.
But before John or Sonya could respond, the van's side door slid open. Clarice, wearing her colored contacts again, ran out looking surprised.
"Michelle? Irene? Why did you follow me?"
"I've noticed you've been acting strange lately. I thought maybe something was wrong, so Irene and I decided to follow you to make sure you were okay," Michelle said, looking a bit embarrassed.
Clarice quickly understood what had happened. She wasn't mad at her friends for secretly following her—if anything, she was touched. "Thanks, I'm okay."
But Irene was still suspicious. "Are you really okay? Did they force you to say that? Don't be scared; we're here now. They won't dare do anything to you. You can tell us the truth."
"Irene, you're misunderstanding. They're my friends. Really, I'm not—"
Lorna's warning suddenly cut Clarice off mid-sentence!
At the same time, Lorna stepped out of the van and raised one hand, pointing it toward the direction behind Michelle and Irene.
Because of her warning, everyone turned to look.
They saw that the office worker, the man from the car behind, had also gotten out without anyone noticing—and in his hand was a pistol with a silencer, aimed straight at them.
But that wasn't the most shocking thing.
What really grabbed their attention was the bullet floating in midair, completely still!
Michelle and Irene were frozen in shock!
They couldn't understand how the Uber driver, who had seemed so timid earlier, could have suddenly pulled out a silenced pistol as if he was a trained killer.
Even more confusing—why was the bullet just floating in the air?
"Irene… you guys…" Clarice was also shocked.
She never expected the person who came with her two best friends to turn out to be a threat. Judging by how he had already fired, he clearly didn't mean well.
If Lorna hadn't reacted in time, someone could have been badly hurt.
"He was just a random Uber driver we called to follow you! We don't know him at all!" Michelle quickly explained.
"She's telling the truth," Sonya added from the side.
Hearing Sonya's confirmation, Clarice, John, and Lorna all instantly believed it—because Sonya had the ability to tell whether someone was lying.
"John?" Clarice looked at him, unsure of what to do.
John raised a hand, signaling her to stay calm, then stared at the office worker and asked, "Are you with the Special Unit?"
The man no longer looked weak and scared. Smirking, he looked at Lorna's raised hand and said, "That power...feels so familiar. Hey, girl. Interested in joining us instead?"
"Answer my question!" John snapped, angry that he was being ignored.
"You young people really have no manners. I was going to make this quick for you… but now I'll have to change my mind."
John's expression darkened. "Lorna—do it!"
Without hesitation, Lorna closed her raised hand into a fist!
At that same moment, the bullet floating in midair suddenly shot back toward the office worker like a guided missile.
A sharp metallic sound rang out—but the man didn't fall.
Instead, his body had completely changed—he had turned into a transparent, crystal-like statue!
"No—he's a mutant too!" John's face changed drastically.
Sonya and the others looked nervous, too—they hadn't expected this.
They thought the office worker was just a special agent. As long as they weren't surrounded by a whole squad of agents, they wouldn't be in much danger.
But now it turned out that this man was also a mutant. Judging by how he blocked a bullet by transforming his body, his powers were no joke.
Irene and Michelle were completely dumbfounded, staring at the unbelievable scene in front of them.
Just a short while ago, this man was nothing more than a nervous Uber driver. Now, he had a gun, fired it, and turned into a walking crystal statue?!