The next day, Sophia got a call from one of the Elite Morpho Defenders, Catalina Ramírez, asking how she’d been and what happened. She was fine, mostly, after all, nothing had really happened. But she had a dreading curiosity to know what exactly that Morpho Mon had been and what was up with it, so she asked if she could see it again, and Catalina accepted her request a little too eagerly, telling her she should come to the laboratory before class.

She put on her uniform and let Strapholynne into her bag. Yesterday when she arrived home, she had already been back in her bed, sleeping like the horrible event hadn‘t even happened.

She arrived at the lab over-punctual, getting there even before the Elite Defender was there. “H-Hello?” She looked for anyone to receive her.

“Miss Smith.” Roy approached her, his partner Famfay sleeping on his shoulders. “You’re here because of the Morpho Mon, right?”

“Uhm- yeah, right.”

“Miss Ramírez will be here in a second. I’ll show you the body, follow me.” He went ahead to another part of the lab, and Sophia followed.

They went to a metal wall with a lot of drawers embedded within, some of them had lights glowing above them. Roy checked his clipboard, then went to a drawer on the far right and pulled it out. A cloud of cool air blew out of the drawer, which revealed a metal desk with the body of the Morpho Mon from the day before on it.

“Oh darn….” Sophia gulped.

“We classify this Morphing Monster as BM-1315, Pergrandis form, it‘s a type we have encountered before. Specifically distinguished by their large jaw and purple fur, as well as their overall anatomy.”

“Ah…”

“Now, you noticed that something about this Morpho Mon is a bit unusual, right?” Roy put his clipboard away and slipped on a pair of latex gloves. “These teeth grew out of it very fast and in unnatural places.” He carefully lifted the monster’s lips to show its disrupted gums. “A normal Morph will not mutilate a Morpho Mon’s anatomy like this.”

“S-So-” Sophia had a worried expression. “What does this mean?”

“It means this Morpho Mon has been corrupted.”

“Corrupted…?”

“OH! IT’S DEAD!”

A woman with brown hair, a large, blue pair of sunglasses and a lab coat approached the two. “THAT! Makes me SO HAPPY!!”

“.......?” Sophia looked at the woman, visibly surprised.

“Oh, you must be Sophia! I remember you called!” She held her hand for a handshake. “I’m Catalina Ramírez! Elite Morpho Defender!”

“Ah- Nice to meet you-” Sophia grabbed her hand. “I’m Sophi-” Suddenly, she held her dismembered arm in her hand. “AAHH!!” Sophia screamed and dropped the arm.

“HAHAHA! Works everytime!” Catalina picked up her arm and put it back on. “Alright alright alright, four-eyes~” She now faced Roy. “What’s the creature we have before us here? What did the little redhead bring us?”

“This Morpho Mon has been corrupted.” Roy said with a serious look on his face. “This is the third corrupted Morpho Mon in less than four weeks.”

“Oh man.” Catalina ran her fingers through her hair. “That thing looks nasty! Are you alright little girl? Did it hurt you?”

“Uhm…” Sophia gripped onto her own arm. “No… I’m fine. My partner protected me.”

“That’s a relief!”

“Miss Ramírez.” Roy took off his gloves and pushed up his glasses. “I need you to update the CEO and the other Elite defenders.”

“Yes, will do! This whole situation is very concerning~” Now Catalina got herself a pair of latex gloves and a scalpel. “Especially the fact that little miss red found it in a suburb. We will need much more patrolling around these areas! If there is one corrupted Morpho Mon, there might be even more!”

“Uhm- Can I ask….?” Sophia raised her voice again. “What is this… corruption?”

“I’m glad you ask!” Catalina said with a concerningly happy tone. “Corruption is a phenomenon we have encountered in many berserk Morpho Mons. It’s like a sickness that makes them mutate painfully, erases their memories and makes them attack anything in their way.”

“And the worst part is…” Roy crossed his arms. “There have been cases where a corrupted Morpho Mon’s energy has actually infected humans too.”

“Oh….” Sophia looked to the ground. “That- Sounds horrible…”

“Yeah.” Roy sighed. “First year apprentices are not experienced enough to deal with corrupted Morpho Mons. But… just in case the number increases even more, you should ask your Morphology teacher to show you how to deal with them. He can give you tips and help you practice. As well as your firearm tutor.”

“Ah- Y-Yes, I will tell them, thank you!”

Catalina swung her scalpel. “NOW, if you don’t mind! I’d love to dissect this monster! You should probably go to class!”

“Urgh- Y-Yes I‘ll go-- S-See you-” Sophia covered her mouth with her hand and quickly left the laboratory. Outside, she closed her eyes and took a deep sigh.

“Hey Sophia!”

“AAGHH!!”

“AAAHH!!”

Sophia jumped in fright as she was suddenly greeted by her classmate. “Ahh--” She shook her head. “H-Hey Toby--”

“Oh gee-” Toby picked up his skateboard which he had accidentally dropped while screaming. “Are you okay Sophia? You look a bit- distracted…”

“Uhm- It’s fine.” She looked away, blushing. “A-Anyway-” She cleared her throat. “Toby… what class do we have today….?”

“Today is Maths and English class!”

“Oh- okay… Ahm. I might have to see Mr. Franklin later… I hope I can find him.”

“Mr. Franklin? I heard he hangs out in the break rooms a lot when he doesn’t have classes!”

“Ah- Great- Thanks I will go there!! I’ll be back soon!!” Sophia ran off, leaving Toby and his partner looking after her confused.

Sophia made her way to the break room, looking for Mr. Franklin. The break room was large with many different areas to it. There was a cafeteria-like corner with desks and chairs, a lounging corner with couches and even a corner that resembled an arcade.

She found Mr. Franklin on one of the couches, resting in a position that didn't look comfortable at all with his partner Rufus spread across his chest. He held a book above him, a fantasy novel of some sort, which he was reading.

“Uhm- Mr. Franklin-” Sophia approached him.

“AH!!” He jumped up, throwing the book away. “WHO’S CALLING ME?!”

“AHH--” Sophia jumped with fright. “I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to-”

“Oh, it’s just the little Princess of Fire.” Mr. Franklin stood up. “How can I help you?”

“..... Princess of what?” Sophia shook her head in confusion. “I’m- I was sent to you because- I encountered a corrupted Morpho Mon in my neighbourhood last night… And Roy said you could teach us to deal with them.”

For the first time Sophia saw an actual, human emotion on Mr. Franklin’s face, he was visibly disturbed. “A… corrupted Morpho Mon? Oh dear lord- Are you okay? Did it hurt you?”

“N-No nothing happened - Luckily… My partner was there to defend me.”

“Good grief…” Mr. Franklin sighed. “Look I- I will definitely see to it that you can deal with them as soon as possible, but - corrupted Morpho Mons are the most dangerous type you could ever encounter - and we will not send you out to fight them within like, the next two years. Just - try to stay away from them, okay?”

“Ahm… I will…”

“Just inform the advanced defenders immediately when you see a Morpho Mon that’s gone postal. Nothing is more important to us than your safety.”

“...” Sophia nodded. His energy was completely different than usually, so she understood the urgency of his words.

“Now- if you excuse me- I have a lot of paperwork to look through now. You should go to class.” He gave her a weak smile before he left, picking up his Morpho Mon on the way.

Sophia looked after him for a moment. His advice right now hadn’t been the most useful, but she was glad to hear that he will prepare them for when something like this happens another time.

“Gee, that guy is so annoying.” Strapholynne’s head popped out of Sophia’s bag.

“Huh? Straph?” Sophia looked at her Morpho Mon. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it. Go to class, you’re gonna be late.”

“AH- Y-Yes, right-,” Sophia said and quickly made her way to her classroom.