The four agents trooped into one of the department’s large elevators, Monica tapping a button on the panel. With a series of screeches and whirring noises, the elevator lurched into motion, heading upwards towards the Dragon’s office. Claire chuckled. “You’d think with all the magic around here someone would have done something to fix the elevators by now.” She said.
Monica rolled her eyes. “Bureaucracies girl. If good enough is okay, why spend the resources? It hasn’t broken yet.” She said with a scoff. With a loud ding, the elevator announced that they’d reached the top floor. The doors slid open and the women trooped out. Monica gulped. This was not going to be a fun conversation.
The director was a brunette women in her late fifties. Her hair was slowly starting to gray, and she wore a pair of glasses, but she just had an aura of complete power around her. She’d apparently been around with the MPD for as long as anyone could remember, and had been through thousands of missions, some with Class Twenty potential, about as dangerous as it got. She’d literally written the book on proper procedure for cases like the one they’d just botched.
Her assistant didn’t even bother asking them to wait; the young man simply waved them through into her private office. The women exchanged nervous glances. That certainly wasn’t a good sign. They trooped in, Monica already preparing her report as she did. The Dragon’s personal office was just as she’d remembered. There were various magical artifacts—rendered inert by the MPD’s specialists first, of course—hanging on the walls, mementos from past missions, but other than that there was nothing of a personal nature. The director’s life was her work.
The Dragon eyed the nervous agents as they crowded into her office. “Shopping spree, ladies?” She asked, the slightest hint of a smile crossing her face as her agents went pale realizing they’d never actually dropped the bags of clothing they’d purchased. “Relax, agents, I know how powerful reality changes can be.” She continued. “So, how did you four end up….like this?”
Monica launched into the story, carefully watching the director for any sign of a reaction. Nothing. The Dragon had one hell of a poker face. As she finished her account, the woman slowly took her glasses off her face and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “You four got careless. Complacent. You are lucky I’m not pulling you off the mission entirely.” She said.
A pang of excitement ran through the four agents. They were still on the case! Stella couldn’t wait. Any second now the director would change them back and they could pursue the guy who’d, quite literally, booby trapped the store.
The director lifted a device off her desk. It was one of the MPD’s own reality shifters, a tool they used to undo reality changes and restore agents to their normal selves. She pointed it at the four, and the device began beeping. A beam of light shot out and enveloped the group, and there was a FLASH.
There was a chorus of feminine gasps as the agents looked at each other. Not only were they not back to normal, they were still their female selves! The only real change, it seemed, was that they were younger. Now they looked like a quartet of college co-eds. “Director?” Monica questioned, playing for with the edge of her skirt, which had gotten skimpier than she realized.
The Dragon gave them an amused look. “Since Plan A failed, I decided to move onto Plan B. There’s been rumors that your target relocated to a college town. You four are going undercover to track him down. This could easily be a long term mission, so I suggest you get used to your new forms.” She said.
“But why are we still women?” Stella protested. “Not that there’s anything wrong with women, just….we are guys!” She added hastily when the Dragon raised an eyebrow.
“Not for now you aren’t, honey. Now you are the four newest sisters at the biggest sorority on campus.” The Dragon corrected. “Being attractive females will make intelligence gathering much easier in a college town. And, well…..” again, there was that ghost of a smile “This will teach you four the importance of following proper procedure on raids in the future. Go get kitted out for your mission; I want you down at the target location and investigating by two days from now. The magic will help you fit your new roles perfectly, so I suppose you can thank your quarry for that. Dismissed.”
“Yes ma’am.” The agents chorused, turning and heading out of the office. Della spotted the admiring look the director’s assistant was giving them as they left and flushed. This was going to be a looooong assignment….