Hair Extension Has A Whole New Meaning (Solo)

Henrietta Braun had decided that she needed some alone time. Lately, she had felt sad, but wasn’t sure about what. There were a few things that could’ve been the reason, but she hadn’t pinpointed one specific thing yet. It could’ve been a combination of her not speaking to her mother for about a year, her being kidnapped was still bothering her, and not knowing what she was going to do about her future might’ve been it, but she wasn’t willing to give a definite answer, not even to herself.

She wasn’t sure what her destination was. All she knew was that wandering sounded like a good idea. The brunette was wearing a pair of dark wash jeans, a lime green sweater, a pair of gray tennis shoes, and a dark blue coat. It was starting to get cold, so the girl also wore a light pair of white gloves. She strolled down a street when she heard a small voice in an alley off to the side. It was whimpering and sounded like a young girl. Henrietta stopped midstride and walked toward the sound. She came up to a bunch of old cardboard boxes and the noise became louder.

The teen crouched in front of the boxes and then grabbed the one in front, moving it out of the way so she could see the source of the small voice. Another girl, at least 4 or 5 years younger, was squatting there. She was clad in warm clothing and didn’t appear to be homeless. She had long, red, curly hair and bright green eyes. Henri blinked, confused at what she was seeing. After a moment of looking at each other, the older girl spoke. “Um, hello. I’m Henrietta.” The other girl looked at the brunette, seeming a bit nervous and paranoid. “I’m Lexi.”

Henri grinned at Lexi and tilted her head slightly to one side. “So, do you mind if I ask what you’re doing back here?” The red-head looked away and shrugged before standing up. “Well, if you must know, I was hiding. I don’t see the point now though, you gave away my spot.” The teen watched as the girl walked away angrily and then quickly turned back on her. “There were some men after me. They said I stole something from them, which is a lie. They’d been chasing me when I ducked back here.”

The brunette looked at Lexi, a bit shocked. “Why didn’t you get some help or find an officer? Do you have a cell phone or something?” The younger girl rolled her eyes at Henrietta, as if she didn’t think Henrietta could have any idea what she was talking about. Quickly the blue-eyed girl added, “I have one, if you need me to call or something.” As she said this, a couple of men stepped into the entrance of the alley and watched the two girls for a moment.

Lexi saw them, her green eyes widening in terror. “I-it’s them! They found me!” She ran past Henri and to the end of the alley, looking for a way to escape. The brunette turned and her gaze met theirs. One man was tall, at least 6 inches taller than Henrietta, and looked like a walking stick. He was very thin and everything about him looked like the absence of color. His skin was some of the palest the girl had ever seen. He also had white-blonde hair and light blue eyes.

The other man was shorter, maybe around 5’ 4”, and looked decently overweight. He had a tuft of dark brown hair and was beginning to bald. He approached Henri and appeared to waddle as he did so. When he was within a few feet he stopped. The hair-manipulator noticed that he had no whites to his eyes. She took a startled step backwards and felt her mouth drop open slightly. The fat man grinned and sharp, pointy teeth were revealed. Henrietta managed to stutter out a few words. “You-You’re a mutant.” The man’s smile slipped a little and then motioned for her to move out of his way.

Henrietta shook her head and remained where she was. “What did she do? She said that you accused her of taking something. She denies it. I don’t think she’s lying, is she?” The taller man walked up and stopped beside the other man. He gave the girl a smirk. “You don’t seem too shocked about his mutation. How about mine?” As he asked this, his arms began to morph into long, tentacle-like appendages. Again, the brunette backed up a tiny bit, but this time had no facial reaction.

Instead of answering the man’s question, Henri shook her head. “Intimidating people just helps give mutants a bad name. Why would you do that? Even if this girl did do something, you should talk to her parents instead of trying to bully her and scare her so badly. I found her hiding behind a box. I bet you two think you’re so special because you have a couple powers, but guess what? I’ve met tons of mutants. All of them have been a lot more impressive than you.” Her blue eyes were narrowed in disapproval and she had a frown on her face.

Both men looked surprised and then looked at each other before laughing. The short man took a few steps closer to the brunette. “You have guts, I’ll give you that.” His voice was low and raspy. When he spoke, she could see that his tongue was black as well as his eyes. “She took something from us, so we just want something in return.” He glanced past the older girl to look at Lexi. The red-head wiggled nervously under his gaze. “I-I didn’t mean to tell anyone about what you are. Please don’t be angry with me. I don’t have anything to repay you with and I—“ She quickly stopped and let out a sob.

Henrietta didn’t move from her spot and maintained eye contact with the fatter man. “You’re saying she stole something when all she did was spill that you’re mutants? How is that stealing? Do you mean she stole your chance to be normal? Because you’re doing a good job of that yourself.” For some reason, the girl didn’t feel much fear when in the presence of these two idiots. She felt confident that they would leave in a few minutes, realizing they couldn’t bully her into submission like they had done with Lexi.

Instead of giving up like she had hoped, a tentacle wrapped around Henri’s arm. The brunette tugged, trying to get her arm free from his grip. The pale man grinned and tightened the tentacle-like arm on her bicep. “There are spikes instead of suction cups. Interesting mutation, am I right?” The sleeve of her coat began to rip and tear as the felt something piercing her skin. As it happened, she began to flinch. There was a sensation of liquid running down her arm and she instantly knew what it was. Blood.

Lexi cowered, terrified. “No, no, no, no, no.” She was muttering to herself as she rocked back and forth. Henri closed her eyes, starting to feel faint knowing there was blood pouring from her wound. Instantly, the brunette’s long hair began to grow even longer. It happened so fast that the girl didn’t even know that something knew was going on until she heard a gagging noise. Slowly, she opened her blue eyes and realized her brown hair had grown out and wrapped itself around the two men’s throats. They were both flailing wildly and the grip on her arm loosened. When it loosened, so did her hair’s grip. The two men looked at each other and ran off.

Henrietta’s hair flew back in to its normal length and she fell to her knees. After a minute of shocked silence, the girl grabbed her arm. “Ahhh! It hurts!” Lexi snuck over and looked nervously at the girl. “You’re a mutant too, aren’t you? That’s how you knew they were. Thanks for helping me.” She eyed the brunette’s arm. “I’ll go get some help. Who should I get?” Henri looked at Lexi. “I-I’m from…I’m from Xavier’s Sister School…” Her blue eyes blinked rapidly before falling the rest of the way to the ground. The last thing she saw was the concerned look on the other girl’s face.