As Francis continued his "educational" presentation, a wave of panic began to ripple through the theater.
Even young Sheldon wasn't immune to the anxiety, genuinely worrying that Earth was on the brink of an alien occupation. After all, the footage of that tentacled monster earlier had been viscerally terrifying.
The only person in the room who managed to keep his cool was Mike. Since his run-in with the Men in Black organization, he was mentally prepared for this kind of thing. Besides, as far as Mike knew, aliens weren't all that unstoppable. Once they landed on Earth, they still had to play by the rules of physics—and the local authorities.
What Francis was doing right now amounted to fear-mongering, plain and simple.
And that was exactly the point. This "Francis" was actually a vanguard for the Chameleon race. His mission was to sow chaos on Earth to pave the way for a full-scale invasion by his people. As for why they wanted Earth? It was simple real estate—Earth had perfect conditions for life, which naturally made it a target for alien races stuck living in harsh, cosmic dumps.
Seeing the terrified reaction of the crowd below, Francis was incredibly satisfied. Mission accomplished. He knew that once these influential academics left the room, they would spread this chaos far and wide.
"Alright, that concludes our viewing for today. You are all free to go," Francis said with a smile.
Hearing the people around him muttering about "aliens" and "octopus monsters," Mike sensed the situation was spiraling. After a moment of thought, he figured out exactly what Francis was trying to pull.
However, this felt a bit above his pay grade. He was just a small fry in the grand scheme of things. His main priority right now was getting Sheldon out of there safely. Dealing with this Francis character was a job for the professionals.
Mike had a very clear understanding of his place in the world. Plus, looking at it from another angle, aliens had been on Earth for God knows how long without causing a global apocalypse. Francis's little conspiracy probably wouldn't succeed either.
After all, the Men in Black didn't mess around.
With that thought in mind, Mike grabbed a shell-shocked Sheldon, who was staring blankly into space, and prepared to exit with the crowd. The presentation had clearly done a number on the kid's worldview.
But just as the crowd began to move, the theater doors were kicked open from the outside.
Two men in black suits and sunglasses strode in.
"Excuse me, everyone needs to return to their seats immediately. Sit down," the lead agent commanded, blocking the exit.
Seeing the massive plasma cannon in the agent's hand, the crowd panicked for a split second before wisely deciding to sit back down.
"They actually have plasma weaponry..." Sheldon whispered, his fear momentarily replaced by scientific curiosity. The boy had been through so much tonight he was practically numb to the shock.
"They must be the special incident response team. I've seen rumors about them on the dark web. I can't believe they're real..." Beside them, Colin the hacker looked ecstatic, like he'd just stumbled onto the scoop of the century. Clearly, he was already plotting how to leak this to the internet to go viral.
"Chameleon fugitive, you are under arrest for inciting mass panic. Anything to say for yourself?" The lead agent marched straight up to the stage, locking eyes with Francis.
The alien disguised as Francis had terrible luck. In a small, single-exit theater like this, he had nowhere to run.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Francis said, adjusting his lab coat and feigning righteous indignation. "I am a researcher for NASA. You have no right to detain me."
"Still acting, huh?" The lead agent raised his weapon. "The real Francis is currently in the hospital. We're tacking on an assault charge. Get ready to spend the rest of your life in a cosmic supermax."
The agent reached for his handcuffs to make the arrest.
"Damn Men in Black! You'll never take me!" Realizing his cover was blown, the fake Francis dropped the act. He smacked the plasma cannon aside and lunged at the agent.
After a blur of hand-to-hand combat, the scuffle ended with the two combatants separating.
But now, there stood two identical Men in Black.
The junior agent, who had been ready to provide backup, froze. He held his little "Noisy Cricket" pistol, looking back and forth in confusion. "Uh, which one of you is the boss?"
"I am!"
"I am!"
Both men shouted at the exact same time, in the exact same voice.
The Chameleons lived up to their name. They possessed a natural talent for shapeshifting and mimicry, able to perfectly copy anyone down to the vocal cords.
Staring at two identical bosses, the junior agent hesitated. "Okay, look... tell me a secret only you would know to prove your identity."
It was a classic movie trope way to solve the problem. Of course, whether the junior agent was just looking for juicy gossip about his boss was anyone's guess.
Just as both identical agents looked torn about revealing personal secrets, Mike shouted from the front row:
"The one on the left is the fake!"
[Marksmanship +66]
[Constitution +3]
[Fighting +88]...
[Acting +100]
[Mimicry +50]...
Thanks to the glowing stat orbs dropping from the combatants, it was easy for Mike to tell them apart.
Besides, there was a logic to it. Even if the alien could mimic the appearance of the agent, he couldn't replicate the complex internal mechanics of a high-tech plasma weapon. If the two agents just shot at each other, the problem would solve itself.
Of course, Mike kept that thought as a last resort. Judging by how the MIB operated, they clearly wanted to take the alien alive, likely to interrogate it for intel.
Hearing Mike's shout, the two real agents didn't hesitate. They immediately pincered the fake on the left.
"In your dreams!" The Chameleon realized the agents were hesitant to use lethal force. He shoved through their blockade and dove into the crowd below.
Green light flickered across his body as he rapidly shifted forms, blending seamlessly into the panicked audience.
Watching an alien morph into a human right before their eyes sent the crowd into hysterics. People screamed "Monster!" and scrambled in every direction. This chaos provided the perfect cover for the alien.
The two agents stood there, dumbfounded. They had lost the target.
Meanwhile, amidst the stampede, the already timid Sheldon got separated from Mike.
"Sheldon!" Mike yelled, scanning the crowd.
"I'm here!"
"I'm here!"
Two Sheldons answered simultaneously. They looked at each other, both freezing with identical expressions of terror.
Mike, who had already locked onto the fake Sheldon's stats, shook his head in disbelief. However, for the safety of the real Sheldon, he didn't expose the alien immediately. instead, he waved them over.
"Come here, quick!"
Both Sheldons ran toward him.
Mike grabbed the hand of the real Sheldon and, in one fluid motion, delivered a savage kick to the other one.
"How did you know it was me?!" The fake Sheldon went flying, crashing into a row of seats. As he hit the ground, his disguise failed, revealing his true form—a giant, humanoid chameleon lizard.
The creature recognized Mike immediately. This was the same human who had called him out on stage earlier.
"You want to know?" Mike smirked. "I'm not telling."
At the same time, Mike absorbed several new glowing orbs floating in the air.
[Acting +666]
[Mimicry +100]...
[Intelligence +3]...
Naturally, the Intelligence stat came from the real Sheldon.