Freestylin’

“Hey, uh, guys?” said Rick, from the back of the pack, “Do you think we could, uh, find a restroom to stop in real quick?”

“Jesus, man!” said Christopher, turning around to speak with his colleague, “What the hell is up with you this afternoon? You’ve been acting weird ever since we left the hotel. This is supposed to be our ‘fun day’ at the convention, gettin’ out to do a little sight seeing, and the whole time you’ve just been hiding at the back of the group, which is so not like you – and what the hell is up with all this ‘I gotta go to the bathroom’ shit?”

“I, um… I’m just not feeling well,” Rick said, holding up his well-muscled arm behind his head.

“What, you got a headache or something?” Christopher asked.

“Yeah, something like that –“ said Rick, “Listen, I’m just gonna go in here and see if they have a restroom. Tell the rest of the guys I’ll meet up with ‘em in a bit, okay?”

“All right…” said Christopher, “Man, maybe you should just go back to the hotel and rest up. I mean, I’m sure everybody would understand and –”

“No, man!” said Rick, perhaps a bit aggressively, “I’ll be fine, just give me a second, okay?”

Dodging into the nearest storefront, Rick navigated to a small restroom in the back. He ensured that the door was locked and then looked himself over in the mirror.

“You’re a handsome fella, that’s for sure,” he said to his reflection, stroking his goateee and giving his body a quick flex, “But why the hell aren’t you bonding with me?”

Reaching behind his head with both hands, he pulled at an invisible seam, ripping the studly facemask off and pulling it down so that it hung loosely over his pecs. He examined the edges of the mask. It was a clean cut, no obstructions. Why wasn’t it working? He checked the inside of the mask, running his hands along the slippery interior, wiping it clean.

“Damn it,” he said to the mask, “I should be able to just slip you on, and you should stay on, and I should be able to bond with all of your memories and personality traits and pull this off just like I always do. Maybe I mixed the serum too weak for a big guy like you.”

Stretching the facemask out, he pulled it once again up to his face. He pressed it against his features, carefully making sure everything was lined up as it should be, and then firmly sealed everything together in the back. He felt the seams melt together, once again becoming invisible. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, waiting for a few moments for something to happen.

“God damn it,” he grumbled with his disguised voice, “Nothin’! Ah well, maybe I’ll have to ditch these guys and see if I can make my own fun with this body. I’ve handled a few guys like yourself before, and I think I can act the part well enough. Otherwise, I’d just be wasting a perfectly good body!”

Giving himself a tough look in the mirror, and another quick flex for good measure, Rick unlocked the bathroom door and peeked his head out. Looked like the rest of the group had already moved on. Casually, he exited the restroom, strolled out the front door of the store and made his way in the opposite direction of the rest of the group.

“All right!” he said to himself, “Looks like I’m freestylin’ it this time – Let’s see how this goes!”