It had been a near two weeks since they came back. They met up at their secret hideout and everyone told each other whatever happened. Logan due to his injuries was resting up in his apartment instead of going to a clinic or a hospital because they didn't want anyone to know about him being injured. Lucy was devastated upon hearing the news of Nick's death but she decided to stay strong for Iris. But what shocked the four who came back from the island was the fact that Dick had stopped investigating them. From what Lucy told them, apparently Merrick came to George to ask about Iris and everything. While he didn't say he was on their side, he did tipped him off, making Dick stop being doubtful.

They would only meet at the secret base on the weekends or sometimes late at night or early morning, otherwise they would go to the normal base assigned to them by The Mercurial as to not get suspicious.

Alex and Iris were coming back from their training when they noticed that everyone around them were excited and whispering.

"What's going on?"

Iris inquired

"Didn't you guys hear?"

Luke replied

"Hear what?"

"Remember that huge high-class party we talked about? Well, this year everyone got invited. Even the trainees. Every single staff who works at The Mercurial got invited."

Amelia explained the cause of the disturbance.

"Why? This is weird."

Alex remarked

"Who knows? They say that this year, it's something special."

"There is one more thing."

Lucy stated from behind, startling them.

"What do you mean?"

"Rikky Wilder is here."

"What's wrong with that?"

Ella asked

"Yeah, isn't he the head? It's normal for him to be here."

Max adds

"No, it's not normal. After taking his father's position, he has rarely shown his face and he now has suddenly appeared out of nowhere."

"Is it because of that?"

Iris whispered, referring to his project they blew up. Since there were other people here, she didn't want to name that incident.

"No. No one knows why he is here."

"Then this is really weird."

"Hey....does he know about Iris?"

Ella spoke in a low voice

"He did know Nicholas.....though I don't know about that."

"Guess we will find out about that at the party along with what he wants."

"I will talk about this to George, Arthur and Merrick as well. Let's see if they know about this."

Lucy states. They were in the middle of talking when they hear a squeal come from the other side of the room.

"Oh my god! I got the invitation!"

They turn to look at a girl, jumping with excitement while holding her phone.

"Show me."

Lucy requested to which she showed Lucy the email she got. Before Lucy could read, everyone's phone starts buzzing. All of their faces were lit with joy.

Lucy then turns to read the email out loud.

Dear member of The Mercurial,
You are cordially invited to the annual dinner of The Mercurial held at the top floor of the main centre. You are requested to show your presence this Saturday at the allotted time which is 9:00 p.m. sharp. The dress code is formal wear and any non-fancy wearing person will not be allowed to enter. You will have to show your invitation at the entrance otherwise you will not be able to attend the party. We hope to give you a wonderful time. And as a special surprise, there will be an important announcement made personally by the Chairman, Mr. Rikky Wilder. Please look forward to it.
Yours truly,
The Mercurial

"Important announcement?"

"I wonder what he is going to say."

"Whatever it is, I don't really have a good feeling about it."

Iris remarked

"Why haven't we gotten our invites?"

"Are we not invited?"

Iris, Ella, Luke, Lucy, Amelia, Alex, Max and Henry looked at each other and then their phones checking their emails.

"No, everyone is invited. Maybe it will come soon."

"Yeah, otherwise there is always an option of crashing the party."

Luke grinned

"I really do hope we don't get the chance to do that."

"Well, let's see. We will soon get our invites."

"Yeah, then for now, get back to your work. Iris, you're going visit Logan after this, aren't you?"

Iris nods at Lucy's comments

"Here. I bought a little extra ice cream so give this to him, for me."

She gives her a bag.

"Tell him, I said hi."

Iris then walks to Logan's apartment wondering if he got an invite or not. Even though he was in contact with them, he still wasn't a member.

She rings the bell, while waiting for Logan to open the door. Over the two weeks, she and her friends would often come to check up on Logan which although he would act he was annoyed about, but secretly had fun with all of his friends.

When Logan answered the door, the first thing Iris noticed, aside from the fact he works out which was due to him not wearing any clothes except black jeans, was that he came straight after taking a bath judging from his wet hair.

"...Wear a shirt, idiot."

Iris remarks, hiding her blush and entering the apartment, handing him two bags, the other contained food she bought for him to eat for lunch. They along with their friends would often have lunch or dinner at Logan's apartment when they came to see him.

"Yeah yeah. Just a second."

He puts the shopping bags on the kitchen counter and turns around to go to his bedroom. Iris's eyes go round at seeing his back. There was a scar across his back that looked like it once used to be pretty deep. Her first thought was that did he get it from two weeks ago? But when she noticed how faded and pale the scar looked, she figured it must be older than that.

After a moment, Logan comes out wearing a black hoodie. He goes into the open concept kitchen to get plates.

"What's this?"

"That's chinese for lunch, and the other one is ice cream given by Lucy."

"Oh nice...."

He starts setting up the table for lunch.

"Hey Logan......."

Iris was curious about his wound. She didn't want to seem too nosy but then she figured that they are all friends now so it wouldn't hurt to ask him about it.

"What's that scar on your back?"

"Oh that.....it's old. I got it about two years back when our squad got sent into that trap."

"Oh....I see. So, it doesn't hurt anymore?"

"Nah."

He shrugged. He was more focused on eating. Chinese was his favourite food after all, which is why Iris bought it.

"What about your other injuries? You took off all your bandages. Even your hand one."

"Because I am fine now. See."

Logan puts his left hand in air for her to see and smiles. Iris smiles back and replies,

"That's good."

After dinner, Iris told Logan about the party and how everyone is invited. She was just explaining to him when her phone chimes and she checks to see an invite. She reads it out loud so that Logan can also hear. But one thing that perks her attention is the last line which was not there in the invite they all read earlier. It was written,

You are specifically requested to stay even after the announcement.

"What's wrong?"

"This wasn't in the invite that the girl got."

Suddenly in their group message, Luke, Ella, Alex, Henry, Max, Amelia and Lucy messaged the same thing about how in their invites this last line was also written.

"Just what is going on?"

Iris mumbled