Author's Note: A Retroactive Continuity, or Retcon if you will, is the altering of previously known facts in order for the universe to conform to new story lines. This is mine. The second in a series of stories, a followup to this universe is a retcon of Terra in the DC Comics Universe. DC owns the character and all rights associated with him/her/it.

"So you're saying it's Supergirl?"

"No, she's not Supergirl," I may have said with a little more bite to my voice than normal. "She's Power Girl."

A dumb look dropped over Aaron's face like he couldn't understand the concept. "Uh… But I thought you said she's Superman's cousin."

"From Earth-2. Supergirl is his cousin from Earth-1, or Earth-Prime."

"Which is a parallel dimension, universe, whatever?"

"Right."

"So she's just Supergirl from another universe."

The frown I was sporting didn't look like it was going away any time in the near future. "That's like saying if you had a fraternal twin brother that he was exactly the same as you. They had different experiences, grew up differently. They don't even look like one another."

He nodded appreciatively at the posters on my bedroom walls. "I'll say. Look at her tits. Freakin' mutant boobs from Mars."

"Krypton."

"Whatever."

Some people just don't understand my attraction to the DC Comics superheroine. Personality-wise, we had a lot in common. We were both outgoing, socially conscious, a little absentminded, and easy to tick off. The one thing that I identified with the most was, people always judged us from our outward appearance. "Her breasts don't define her, Aaron."

He pulled his gaze away from the near life-sized poster I had hanging on my closet door and gave me a 'you're kidding, right?' look. "Dude, it's a comic book character."

I'd gotten that reaction from my mom as well. She didn't call me 'dude', but you get the picture. "Just because you have the hots for Meagan Fox doesn't make Power Girl any less…"

"Meagan Fox is an actual person." He thumbed back at the poster. "She's not real."

Now I started getting mad. Nobody insults the girl I was in love with… even if she wasn't real. "Meagan Fox isn't the girl on the big screen. You do realize that don't you? I mean there aren't any real Transformers out there. Plus, she's got toe-thumbs." I shivered in disgust.

"What?"

That made me smirk, just a little. I moved over to my computer and opened up a browser window. After a few moments, and a quick Google Image search later, a picture popped up. "Look."

Aaron leaned in and got a gander at the thumbs of the girl he's been panting after for the last three years. "Oh… gross!"

I shrugged. "Granted, her freaky toe-thumbs don't define her either, but certain things just turn me off. Plus, the whole speech tattoo on her back. The girl is just weird."

"Terry," my mom called from downstairs. "Is your friend staying for dinner?"

I almost cringed. Mom usually asks, 'Is your little friend staying…', but this time I was spared the embarrassment. Maybe whining the last time she did it saved me. Aaron looked at me questioningly.

"Meatloaf and new potatoes."

He shook his head in response.

"No, Mom."

"Okay, it's ready in five minutes," she called back.

Aaron grabbed his backpack. "You got a comic or two of hers I could use?"

There was no way I was letting my mint condition Power Girl comics out of my room. Who knows what he would do with them. "Use? You mean read, right? You're not whacking off on my comics."

His face reddened as he tried to assure me that wasn't the case. I didn't buy it for a second. "Why don't you just Google her and you'll find naked pictures of her on the web." Disgust tinged the edge of my voice.

"Really?"

Instead of rolling my eyes I headed to the closed bedroom door and opened it for him. "Yeah. Some artist Rule 34'd her." Meaning, 'If it exists, there's porn of it.' "They added a dick to her, and had her screwing She-Hulk. Try not to get anything on your keyboard."

I did say that Power Girl and I were easy to tick off, right?

After escorting him to the front door, I washed my hands and trudged to the dining room table to sit. Mom looked at me with disappointment. "Terry, we really have to do something about this obsession of yours. You're never going to make any friends if you get upset every time they make disparaging remarks about made up cartoon girls."

"Comic book, not cartoon. They're not the same."

The correction went in one ear and out the other. "How about we go to the mall after dinner and get you some new posters?"

My eyes lit up. "Really? Cool. Comic Emporium has two new Power Girl posters that came in this week."

Mom's brow wrinkled. "I thought maybe you could try something else. How about Hannah Montana? I hear she's very popular with your age group."

I blinked in stunned shock. "I'm not twelve, Mom." Was she serious? Hannah Montana?

She shrugged and spooned several potatoes onto my plate. "Well, what girls do seventeen year old boys like? Taylor Swift?"

While I did find Taylor Swift cute, she just didn't do it for me. I started to reach for the meatloaf, directly in front of me, but Mom swatted my hand. To this day, she still won't let me serve myself. It was only recently that she let me cut my own meat with an actual steak knife. Sometimes I think she thinks I'm seven or something. It's incredibly annoying.

"I like Power Girl."

Her eyes flicked to me. "Someone that actually breathes the same air as other humans, Terry."

My eyes rolled. "What's the difference? I'm never going to meet them. They're all famous and stuff."

"The difference is that they have realistically formed bodies. Very few real girls have figures like those comic book girls."

And here we go, back into the what's real and what's not real discussion that Mom just loves to rub in. "She's realistic. Power Girl has a very full figure."

"Full boobs, you mean."

My face heated up and my ears burned. "That's not…"

"We talked about sex and realistic expectations, Terry."

Oh god. "Mom!"

"When's the last time you masturbated?"

I hate it when she did this. One second I'm seven and the next, I'm an out of control hormonal teenager.

That's how my journey into hell started, all because of my love for a comic book superheroine. I'd let Kara, a girl friend of mine from school talk me into being her guest at her mom's Halloween ball party where she worked. It was their way of providing community investment, or whatever you want to call it when companies do things so they'd look good for the locals. They would open up their gigantic conference room to the employees and their families so they didn't have to worry about them going out trick or treating.

Kara was tall, like freakishly tall for a girl, five-eleven or something. Her blonde hair was cut into a bob and she was actually fairly cute when she wore makeup, which wasn't often. She was butch and not quite fat, more like very well rounded and curvy, which she hated. Her mom was always on her case about ditching her baggy clothes that hid her figure. That's why Kara chose the costume she did. It was a big bite-me to her mom. It was Power Girl.

I was in heaven. This was the reason that I had the world's biggest crush on her.

It was unrequited, of course. I'd never seen Kara ever go on a date or even so much as express any interest in guys. One of my biggest fears was that she might have been interested in girls, seeing as she acted fairly butch and all, but that was a no go as well. Her interests ran right along with mine. Comics and hanging out. She was a geek through and through.

Sounds like a match made in ComicCon, am I right? No, I'm very wrong. I should have asked her out years ago, when we were both freshmen. Due to puberty and genetics, she was so out of my league it was pathetic. Guys that date women that are significantly taller than them are destined to be laughed at. I already received more than my fair share in the category because of my height and willowy figure.

I take after my dad in that respect. He's five-two. Mom's five-eight. I split the difference. Thanks Mom, every inch helps. In the back of my head I was desperately hoping that I'd be just like Pete Matthews. He was three years ahead of me and my next door neighbor. Pete graduated high school standing an inch taller than my current height. Six months later he went through some sort of mutation and now tops out just above six feet. The doctors said it happens like that sometimes and I wasn't to get my hopes up. The odds weren't in my favor for a similar growth spurt.

Kara got me to help out with the costume since I was a Peej freak. Oh, sorry, Peej is short for PG or Power Girl. Kara was made for this costume. See, Karen Starr, Peej's secret identity, was a voluminous girl, not like the knobby-kneed girls of today's world. She was all woman, just like Kara, if she would actually come out from hiding her figure.

When we'd finally got her costume all together, all of my dreams had come true. She was perfect. Even Kara thought so. There was only one thing missing in her mind.

"You still haven't told me who you're going as. You've seen mine now you got to spill."

I grinned. "I'm going as Sand."

Her brows dropped and furrowed. "Sand? You mean Sandman?"

I nodded. "Yep."

Kara's shoulders slumped and she shook her head. "What does that entail? A trench coat, hat, and ski mask?"

Yeah, that was pretty much it. "I brought some sand back with me from the beach. I thought…"

It was lame. I knew it, she knew it, she knew I knew it. "Lame."

"Yeah well, we all can't make our own costumes from scratch like you, Kara. Some of us just aren't creatively gifted and have to make due."

She understood that. I could see it on her face. Instead of anymore small talk, I just gave her directions to my house, since she was giving me an unexpected ride home from school. When we pulled up she took the car out of gear and turned off the motor. I froze up for a second, not knowing what I should do. I'd never been driven home by anyone but my parents and was a little lax on the etiquette.

When Kara saw I was squirming she almost laughed. "Invite me in," she whispered.

I cleared my throat and acted like nothing happened. "Would you like to come inside?"

She played right along. "Oh sure, thanks for asking. That was thoughtful of you."

When we got to the front door, I fumbled my keys for a second, but got it together enough to get things inserted where they were supposed to be.

"Mom, I'm home. I have a guest," I called out.

Seeing the light on in the kitchen, I knew where she was. There was just enough time for Kara to step inside and for me to close the door before Mom appeared to begin the ritual embarrassment.

"Hi sweetie!" Her step stuttered for a moment while she took in my friend.

"Mom, this is Kara, a friend of mine from school. Kara, my mom."

I could see Mom almost lick her lips, not because she was attracted to Kara or anything gross like that, but because I actually brought a girl home with me. It was a first, and most probably a last. Mom was excited simply for the fact that Kara was female and friends with me.

"Hello, Mrs. Cross. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's mine, Kara. It's always nice to meet a friend of my little Terry."

I gave Mom my Eyes-of-Death. She was doing the little thing again. Kara concealed a laugh with a casual cough. That's it. I'm divorcing my family.

"We're going up to my room, Mom," I said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, sweetie."

By the time I made it through my door I was coming down off of my red face. It had happened so much that I was used to it and learned to shrug off the annoyance and shame.

"Oh, wow."

I turned and saw Kara looking at my walls. Oh, yeah.

"You're really into Power Girl aren't you?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, you knew that already."

She pushed her hands into her back pockets which made her breasts pop out a little more then normal. This is what I meant about observing things. I knew she was more than gifted in the chest region.

With a nod, she went from poster to poster, eyeing everything critically. It's one thing to see a picture on the computer, It was something else to see poster-sized examples of what you were trying to pull off.

"You mind if I change?"

She shook her head without breaking her inspection of Power Girl's third costume. Peej had a lot of different costumes over the years. "No, go ahead."

Grabbing some shorts and a tee shirt from the drawer, I went to the bathroom. A quick change later and I was back in the room to see that Kara was checking out the most recent poster I had with Peej and Terra. Terra's her sidekick in the newest Power Girl series.

"I like this one the best."

"Yeah, that's my favorite too." Stuffing my school clothes into the hamper by my door, I went to stand beside her. "It's classic. The artists aren't trying to hide the real her."

Kara nodded. "Yeah. I really didn't like when they got rid of her boob window either."

No… not you too. "It's not about her boobs, Kara. She's a woman and she's proud of her looks. Why does she have to cover them up in order to be taken seriously?"

Her head turned slowly to me, questioningly. I just walked away and went to my CD collection to sift aimlessly through. "I don't get why all the boney girls get to show off their gross ribcages, knobby elbows and knees and they call that beauty. Bigger girls are tons better."

"You like fatter girls?" Kara asked it like you'd ask someone if they like Cheerios over Corn Flakes.

I didn't break away from browsing my CDs. "I didn't say fat. I said bigger. I think girls should actually have a normal body. There's nothing wrong with having wide hips or larger breasts."

It sounds bad, I know, but I really tried to be sincere and not try to sound like a perverted teenaged boy.

"I believe you."

I nearly broke my neck when it snapped around. "You do?"

She had her arms crossed underneath her breasts. "I've never seen you ogle girls like most of the boys at school." She paused for a moment. "You're not gay are you?"

That time I had to choke. She thought I was gay? "No!" My voice took that moment to squeak in a higher pitch. Great.

"I didn't think so."

Oh, thank God.

"Anyway, I don't think you're a horn-dog or anything. So, I believe you when you say you like girls to look natural and not like they've been shooting heroin."

"Exactly." I pointed at her. "You got it."

The side of her mouth quirked up. "Look, I want you to come over to my house tomorrow. I'll hook you up with a costume."

I let my face show surprise. "Really?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh. But you've got to wear it. None of this hiding away behind a trench coat and mask thing anymore."

That turned my warning radar up to uncomfortable levels. "Uh… it's not going to be lame is it? I don't want to be Ambush Bug or something."

She eyed me and shifted her jaw. "I'm Power Girl. I don't do lame."

For just a microscopic point in time I believed she was. The attitude was there, her hip was cocked out and her eyelids half closed in seriousness. In that minuscule eternity I remembered exactly why I was crushing on Kara. "Okay."

"Good. Go ask your mom if she has a tape measure I could use. I need to make sure this thing fits right the first time."

When I returned, Kara already had a sheet of paper on top of my desk with a generic model drawn. It was something a little more than a stick figure and less than an actual person. Ten minutes later she had all her measurements, some of which I entirely didn't understand. Why would she want to measure my butt? I endured the comments here and there about how small my waist and feet were. I'd heard it all before and she sounded encouraged instead of insulting so I let it slide.

I spent the next morning mowing the yard and trying to find something to wear that didn't totally scream out to the world that I was a dork. I didn't have much to work with. In the end just wore jeans and a plain tee shirt. I was suppose to go over to Kara's at noon.

The worst part about getting ready was fixing my hair. It took me forever to get it to lay flat. Emo style hair was on its way out, but I was still enjoying it while it was around. I'd contemplated changing colors to something darker, but stayed with plain old brown.

When I was done, I slipped my plastic framed glasses back on and sighed with regret that I wasn't six-two and had more muscle so Kara wouldn't laugh at me for asking her out on a date.

"Mom, I'm leaving."

She stuck her head out of the bedroom. "Well, don't you look nice," she said with a smile. "Going to meet your little friend?"

"Kara's not little, Mom." My annoyed tone let her know that we'd covered her choice of words far too much. "We're working on our costumes so I'll be home late."

She raised a finger at me. "Not too late."

I nodded. "I'll call and let you know later, okay."

We lived in the same neighborhood, just on opposite sides, so it took a good fifteen minutes to arrive.

"I've got it, Mom!" I heard her yell behind the front door followed by galloping footsteps running down the stairs.

The thought of someone like Kara excited enough to actually run to let me in her home gave me a thrill. Yes, I had low self-esteem. It's kind of a given for a guy that looks like me. So, any boosts like this were savored while they lasted.

"Hey!" Kara was all smiles when she swung open the door.

"Hey."

"Come on in."

I noted white dust on the back of her hands and a streak of the same across her forehead making me wonder if she was performing some feat of drywalling or something.

"Were you busy with something else? I could come back later."

She cocked her head trying to figure out what I was talking about. "No, you have perfect timing, actually." She turned and waved me on. "Mom, we'll be in my room!"

I still hadn't heard anything from either of her parents, but I did hear the sound of a lawnmower in the backyard. This time, I followed Kara upstairs and enjoyed every single second of the experience. There weren't very many times that I ogled. I truly believed it was degrading to myself and others, but when everything I wanted was mere inches in front of my face… well, I think you get why I took time out to let the lecherous side of myself loose for a scant few seconds and just fantasized.

"I hope you like it. I worked until midnight last night. There's some things that I still have to work out, but you can help with that."

"Cool. I'm sure it'll be great."

Her room was like a workshop. A simple single bed was stuck out of the way, in the corner. A drafting table doubled as a desk and a place to do her sewing stuff. From the scraps in the trash can beside the table I deduced that the costume was black and white… and some type of shiny metallic looking material. My brain went into overdrive thinking of all the superheroes that had black and white costumes. There was Ghost Rider, The Punisher, both of which would be cool. Then there was North Star from Alpha Flight which I wasn't too thrilled with, but at least it was something different. I was drawing a blank for any others.

"Have a seat."

There was only one chair, by the sewing machine at the foot of her bed, which I took. Kara sat on the edge of the bed, putting her about a foot away, and for once, at eye level. It was kind of nice not to feel short for once.

"Okay." She clapped her hands and rubbed them together like we were getting down to business. "I got this idea over at your place, yesterday. I don't know if it will work, but if you're willing to try I think you'll have the best costume out of anyone, by far."

She seemed a little excited and it was leaking out onto me urging my anticipation to new heights. "What is it? Who is it?"

She grinned and held up her hand forestalling me. "Not so quick. It's a little different than what you're probably used to." She stood and walked over to her dresser where there was a closed box on top. "The whole idea with Halloween is to come as you aren't, right?"

I nodded and tried to figure out where she was going with her line of questioning. "Yeah."

Kara turned around and leaned against the dresser. "I'm going to tell you who I have in mind, but you have to let me explain my line of reasoning before you object."

All sense of anticipation fell into a feeling of dread. The costume was lame. It had to be.

"There, see." She pointed at me. "You're already judging and you don't have a clue what it is. Just give me a chance to explain and you'll see I'm right."

Taking a gamble that Kara wouldn't make a complete fool of me I leaned forward and set my elbows on my knees. "Okay, you're right. Go ahead and explain."

I received a grin and felt the level of excitement rise in the room, mostly from her side. "First, by the time I'm through, nobody, and I mean nobody will be able to figure out who you are underneath the costume."

My brows furrowed. "Really?"

She pursed her lips and nodded. "Yep. I'm going for the total transformation thing here. You'll lose your glasses, different hairstyle, a little body modification, some makeup…"

I didn't let her finish. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up. What?"

"You'll lose your glasses…"

I waved her off. "Yeah, I got that part. I can see well enough without them, I'm talking about the body modification part."

"Oh." She smiled. "That took a little bit of doing but I'm going to change your shape a little with prosthesis'. They glue into place and alter the way your body looks."

I was really confused. "Are you talking about fake muscles or something?"

She shrugged. "Something like that. Obviously I couldn't go out and buy the real things. They're way too expensive, but I did a little brain storming last night and game up with this." Kara reached over and picked up a small purple box off of the dresser. "It's a water-based gel that I picked up at the hobby shop a while back. I used it to… nevermind, it's not important. The thing is, I can make a plaster of Paris mold and pour this stuff inside. When it solidifies, I pop it out and it imitates the texture of skin pretty well."

I stood and went to inspect the box. "Really?"

She nodded. "Well it won't pass muster if you get too close, but I worked on blending colors this morning and I think I've just about got it."

I smiled and thought of the implications. "So I can have muscles?"

Kara shook her head. "Not exactly. In order for it to look natural, you'd have to cover your whole body and then you'd die from heat exhaustion because your skin couldn't breathe."

Oh yeah. Well that was disappointing. "So what are you using it for?"

One final grin at me, sizing me up, and she turned around to the closed box I noticed before. "Remember, you said I could explain, so don't freak out okay."

Images of a third eye on my head or a humpback came to mind, which was actually kind of cool. I didn't see what she was so worried about. That was until I saw the two mounds of skin colored things in the box.

"What's that?" I tilted my head to the side trying my best to figure out where they were supposed to be attached. Maybe the shoulders to bulk the costume out a little, but from the size of them that was out. They were way too big for my little shoulders.

"They're homemade prosthetics."

"Yeah, I got that part. Where do they go?" Maybe on the sides of my head? Was I going to be an alien?

A slight rush of breath exited her nose in a mini-snort as she set the box back down and withdrew the molds, one in each hand. "Stand still and don't make me drop them okay. I don't know how stable they are and don't want them to tear."

"Yeah, okay."

Then she pressed them against my chest and it all became much more clear. My eyes widened and I took a very wide, purposeful step backward, away from what I now recognized were fake breasts. "You're not serious."

Kara placed them back into the box and covered the top. "See what I mean when I said nobody would recognize you?"

I stalled. "But…"

Her arms crossed under her breasts. "I'm not stupid, Terry. I know you wouldn't do this without certain assurances that nobody could ever find out."

"But…"

"I've thought it all through. Everything. I have your costume already done. It was easy once I started. There's only a few things you need to do and you'll be a totally different person."

Maybe it was because she had me under some type of spell. Even at the cost of my manhood, I couldn't say no to her. That didn't stop me from giving it my best try, a token at least, so she didn't think I was totally uncooperative.

Kara took me to a friend of her mom's that ran a salon at one of the strip centers near the mall. There I received a modification to my hair. It wasn't all girlie when she was finished, at least the cut wasn't. It was the style afterward that had me questioning the whole thing. She left the inside of my hair alone and cut the outside just a little so that it could look wispy and just a tad shaggy, but still straight. It would be hidden enough that it looked like I'd had a trim. When she added gel and went to work the tools and brushes, my hair totally turned into a bouncy mass, spread out and light all around.

When Kara declared it perfect everything was washed again to be put back to normal. I kind of poked at it and grimaced a little at the little bit of bangs that hung below my eyes.

"There, see. It looks pretty much the same, doesn't it?"

I shrugged. "I guess." It did. I was just giving her a hard time.

The mall was our next stop. Where I dropped thirty dollars on a set of violet contact lenses. Thank God that was the end of my spending spree. I couldn't afford to buy anything else. As it was, I'd be brown-bagging it to school for the next month.

Halloween fell on a Friday that year and the morning of Halloween was the start of a three day weekend, with Friday being an inservice day for the teachers. Just like any other student, I cheered at not having to go to school. The only thing I was nervous about was that evening's festivities. Kara was hyped about finishing the costume and gave me instructions as to prepare myself so that we wouldn't waste time that afternoon getting ready.

With a firm reminder to myself that it would grow back, I entered the bathroom that morning for my traditional shower, except I took along a razor with me to get rid of my body hair. It was the only semi-permanent thing that I would be changing. The small amount of hair on my arms would be covered by the costume, as would the hair under my arms, but Kara insisted that a mound of hair might show a small bulge so I was to get rid of it.

For the sake of anonymity, I complied. I didn't want anyone to suspect that I was anything other than a girl that night.

The whole process, included legs and the tiniest patch on my chest, took forever ensuring that the hot water ran out right when I finished. Usually I'm in and out no longer than ten minutes. This time it was more like thirty or forty. Mom, of course, noticed.

I received the contemplative eye when I went downstairs. "Terry, why were you in the shower so long? Now I have to wait to start the laundry."

She stopped and sniffed at me. "What is that smell?"

I cringed. Damn, I wasn't even out of the shower for ten minutes and was already busted. "It's for the costume, Kara made me."

Mom looked really confused. "That's body lotion. What do you need…" Her eyes widened with understanding. "Ahhh, you're going as a girl."

I was dumbfounded, but I should have expected Mom would know. She was the person in the theater that always figured out whodunnit minutes after the murder. I'd never been able to hide anything from her.

"It's a superhero…ine. Kara's going as Power Girl and I'm her sidekick, Terra."

She crossed her arm under her breasts and rested her other elbow on top so she could do her lip-tapping thing as she tried to figure out who I was talking about. "Terra, Terra. Isn't she on one of your posters?"

"Uh-huh."

Mom twirled her finger at me and pointed to the stairs. "Show me, and you'll change into some shorts so I can make sure you didn't miss any spots."

My face turned red again as I ascended to my doom. When we got to the room I pointed out the proper poster and she examined it as I went to change. When I came back in, Mom was shaking her head.

"I can't tell anything with those shorts on. They hang down to your knees. Take them off."

"Mooom," I whined.

She thumbed back at the poster. "If you're wearing that thing out of the house then you'll be showing a lot more than your underwear covers, believe me. Off."

Embarrassment burned through my face, but I did as she said, and suffered through the inspection.

"A pretty decent job for your first time. Pull the sides of your underwear up. Good, nothing there either. Did you do your pubic region too?"

I purposely looked away and nodded.

"Very good. You don't want any short and curlies poking out. That would be a dead giveaway."

I was amazed at how she was taking the situation. Mom was treating this like it was no big deal, and just another part of the teenage experience.

"What are Kara's plans for underwear?"

My eyes darted to her. "Uh…"

She smiled and rolled her own. "Get me your cell and call her up."

"Mooom."

I gave up. There was no way to avoid looking like a douche-bag, but I didn't have to listen to her end of the conversation. I put on my shorts and went down to fix myself a bowl of cereal while Mom embarrassment me even more. By the time I'd finished and rinsed my bowl, she popped back up in the kitchen.

"Kara's on her way over. You don't have to worry about underwear. She bought you some panties at Wal-Mart that you'll wear with the outfit."

I almost dropped the bowl in shock. "What?"

Mom gave me the don't-argue-with-me stare. "You wanted to dress as a girl for Halloween, Terry. You'll do it right. I may be open-minded enough to know this is just a costume for a one time event, but there are those out there that won't understand the lengths you went to pull it off. Not many boys will shave their legs for any reason much less for a costume that you'll only wear for a few hours."

Stepping up to me, she ran her fingers through my hair, looking at it with a small smile on her face. "So, from now until you take it off after the party, you're getting a crash course in femininity."

She turned me around and smacked my butt, lightly. "Upstairs. We need to get you ready."

I started to protest. "Mom, the party isn't until tonight."

"You're right. That's why we start this very second. And that's why Kara's coming over to help."

Having Kara do this was one thing. I liked her and I was trying to impress her with how I could do something that was so obviously out of my character, but Mom was a whole different issue. She made me get out of my clothes and wear one of her bathing robes. It wasn't anything overly girlie, just a terrycloth bathrobe. However it was short and hardly enough to sit on much less tug down to my knees. Most of Mom's height was in her legs. From the waist up, we had fairly similar body styles. Well, minus the breasts, of course.

By the time Kara arrived, Mom had finished my hair, making it look virtually the same as the stylist did the previous Saturday.

"You look perfect!" announced Kara as she followed behind my mom into the bedroom.

"Doesn't she," Mom agreed while my eyes bugged at her calling me she.

"Mooom."

Kara smiled as she came over to play with my hair. "Your mom told me about her idea of you being a girl for the day. I think it's great that you're willing to do that so you'll make it that much more believable."

Suddenly everything was alright. If Kara thought it was a good idea, well then, it was okay. "Uh, yeah."

She pulled back and gave me a dazzling smile which pretty much melted any resistance I might have been harboring. Then she held up a tiny bag for me. "Your panties are inside. They came in a three-pak so, you'll have some extras if you want. Just make sure to wear the black ones for today."

Why I would want extra panties I had no idea. "Uh, thanks."

Her cheeks reddened a little turning to my mom. "Mrs. Cross, there's a liner in there so he won't show if you get my meaning. Would you mind…"

Mom nodded. "Consider it done, Kara. Why don't go grab Terry's costume and I'll get her situated."

Kara snapped her fingers. "Oh, that's right. Her. I'm glad you came up with this idea of acting like Terry's a girl. I would have blown it already by saying him instead."

She disappeared a second later and I looked in the back. "What was she talking about when she said there was a liner in here?"

Mom took the bag and upended it on top of the bed. A new pack of panties fell out and something that looked like… oh brother. She didn't bother explaining and instead opened the pack to pull out the black pair.

"Oh," she almost giggled afterward. "You're getting all sorts of new experiences. But considering the costume I suppose it's a smart choice."

"What?"

"You'll be wearing a thong so your panties don't show."

I blinked. "You mean a thing that rides up my…"

"Yes. Now watch. Take the liner like so. After you tuck your penis between your legs, center the liner over the top. That way you won't show anything that will give you away. Understand."

Good point. That would be bad. "Okay."

I disappeared into the bathroom and performed the required necessities. It took me a minute to figure out what to do with the extra baggage, but they slid away perfectly fine. It was a tad uncomfortable, or maybe odd would be a better word. Just different than the normal way I let everything hang.

A knock sounded and Kara's voice followed. "Here's your costume, Terry."

Making sure she didn't see anything, I opened the door enough to let her slip it through. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. If you need any help just say."

"I should be fine."

I wouldn't need anything. It was a simple modified leotard, just in something other than spandex and a zipper that ran down the front. I had to give her serious props. It looked just like the comic, down to the metal T hanging from the zipper and popped collar. With a breath to calm my nerves I unzipped the costume and stepped into the leg holes so I could wiggle it up over my thighs.

I cringed when I saw how high it rode up over my hips, and how little there was in the back. Half my butt was hanging out. I turned away from the mirror and slid my hands in to the sleeves until I was able to pull everything up over my shoulders and center it right. I did up the zipper and noticed that the chest area sagged. Oh, right, the breasts were missing.

Holy crap. I had just got my first idea about what I'd look like as a girl through my reflection in the mirror.

"Everything look okay, Terry?" asked Mom.

I pulled my eyes away from the cute girl in the mirror. "Uh, yeah. I need the things though."

Kara was next. "Come on out here. I have to glue those on so they don't slip."

"Glue?"

A two-knock sounded and the door cracked open. "You decent?"

I turned to Kara so that my front faced and not my exposed butt.

"Oh wow, you look really good." She entered and stood right in front of me. A tug at my shoulder and she nodded. "Fits perfectly. Turn around."

I swallowed. "It's kind of, um."

"Exposed?" she offered with a grin. "Yeah, mine's the same way."

"Yeah, but you have a cape."

Kara didn't wait for me and instead walked around. I felt her fingers slide under the material and almost jumped. "Don't worry it looks great. You have the perfect body for this."

I really didn't know how to react to that statement. I have the perfect girl sidekick's body. I wondered if my ego could be any more trashed.

"Let's go get your breasts."

Mom was there, waiting by the door with her hand over her mouth, trying to act nonchalant.

"Lay down on the bed and open your front."

With as much dignity as I could muster I followed Kara's directions.

"Are those the breast forms you were talking about," Mom asked Kara.

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you made these?"

She shrugged. "It wasn't really that hard. I mean they aren't like real forms and probably won't last for very long, but you can shape the gel into any mold. It'll hold unless it gets really hot, like in the boiling range, or if they get left outside in the summer. For tonight they'll be perfect."

"What kind of glue is that?" asked Mom.

"Oh, uh, surgical adhesive. Don't worry, I have the solvent right here. I can have them off in about ten minutes using that, and it won't hurt his… ugh…" she giggled. "It won't hurt her skin."

Mom raised an eyebrow and watched as Kara went to work. First one was pressed against my chest and then the other. I tried not to look ridiculous laying there palming a set of breasts, but there was only so much I could do while I waited for Kara's okay to let them go.

"They're don't blend too well with the skin on her chest," Mom noticed.

"That's okay. I made a contingency plan for that."

She dug into her bag of tricks again and pulled out a piece of semi-sheer white fabric with Velcro strips on the widest portions. "This will attach on the inside of the exposed portion of her costume. So you'll still be able to see she has breasts, but the color difference will be minimized."

Before Mom asked anymore questions Kara leaned over and smiled. "Okay let go and let's see what we have to work with."

"They feel kind of heavy," I commented.

That made Mom laugh. "Welcome to womanhood, honey."

I was given a hand up and marveled at what was hanging from my chest. Before I had a chance to look at them for long, Kara was already at work, slipping the extra fabric inside the opening that would normally expose a lot of cleavage. I got tucked in and she zipped me up. Now there wasn't any sagging fabric. In fact it pulled tight across my back making the whole outfit feel like a second skin.

"There."

"Kara," Mom announced. "You're a genius."

She beamed back at her. "I know, right?"

The boot things were next. They weren't really boots, more like more of the same material the costume was made of that slipped up my legs about a third of the way up my thighs. With my shaved legs it felt really nice. The shoe portion was what was the weird part.

"I took a pair of ballet slippers and an the old soles of a pair of platforms that were too small for me, glued them together and sewed the black over the top."

Once I wiggled my feet inside both shoes I stretched my legs out and tugged everything up.

"There's a line of silicone inside that should help everything stay up. That way you won't have to worry about them falling down when you're dancing."

I chuckled a little. "I can't dance, so that won't be a problem."

Kara gave me a weird look but shook her head. "Here, stand up."

"I'm going to get my camera," announced Mom.

"Oh, not until the make up."

I found myself taller than before by three inches. It was totally awesome. I almost felt normal. There weren't any heels on the soles of the shoes. They were just that thick.

"Be careful. You need to get used to walking around in those, Terry," Kara warned me.

"Kara, do you think we should change her name?"

"Terra is her codename," I said.

My balance was totally off. It felt like my chest was dragging and with the added height I was waiting for the moment that I'd take a nosedive into the carpet. Kara held her hand out for me to balance my way over to the makeup table. That's where she cleaned up my eyebrows, widening them, but not going overboard with thinning them out. My bangs would take care of disguising the changes. Makeup came next and I suffered though thirty minutes of that, having to go back and wiping some off to try something different. When she was done, I didn't even recognize myself.

I felt a strong swell of confidence that I'd never be recognized.

The violet contacts were the final touch. I wouldn't be able to wear them all day but Mom wanted pictures and wouldn't be denied. I was helped downstairs and we took a few shots while waiting for Kara to get into her costume.

Before she made it down, Mom pulled me over to the kitchen, out of earshot and got kind of misty-eyed.

"I've always wondered what it would be like to have a daughter, Terry… Terra. Thank you for going through with all of this."

I shrugged and kind of got a little embarrassed, but in a good way. "It's okay, Mom. I'm kind of used to it now, the costume I mean. It's the shoes that's gonna kill me. I feel so tall now."

She smiled at me and kissed my forehead. "You're very beautiful. I hope Kara feels the same way."

My eyes widened at knowing Mom knew about my crush. "I…"

"It's our secret, honey. I won't say anything."

I looked back up at her after staring at my shoes. "Thanks. I don't think she knows, and I really don't want her too while I'm dressed like this."

Mom smiled at me again. "Sweetie, she knows who you are underneath. That's easy to see. So if the opportunity presents itself don't pass it by because you look like a girl at the moment." A naughty look appeared soon thereafter. "Besides, maybe she likes boys and girls. Wouldn't you just take the cake then."

I snorted a laugh.

"Hello?"

Mom straightened up. "We're in the kitchen, Kara."

Power Girl entered the kitchen and I couldn't breathe anymore. Her costume was similar to mine in the leotard category, except it was all white with blue piping, blue pirate calf boots and gloves and a red cape. She had her makeup on and her hair was a perfect Power Girl bob.

I actually thought I was going to pass out.

"Kara, you look stunning."

I nodded along in full agreement with my mother since I was unable to talk.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cross." She turned to me and smiled. "Terra, what do you think?"

I tried to say something. I really did. My mouth actually formed the words, but nothing came out. That was more than enough for Kara. I'd never seen her smile so wide. "Thank you," she said in response to my speechlessness.

I spent the rest of the day getting use to the platforms and being coached by two delighted taskmistresses. While Kara and I did change out of the costumes so we didn't accidentally ruin them, I was trapped in the shoes. They were actually really comfortable, just high. Mom was more than happy to let me borrow a pair of shorts and one of her shirts, I wasn't happy about having to wear a bra. According to mom, it wasn't the right cup size and the band strap was digging into my back for five hours. However, I had to wear the thing to support the fake breasts or else they might tear, and that would be a bad thing.

Mom must have taken a hundred pictures and she left before we changed back into the costumes so she could run down to the store to have the memory card dumped and turned into hard copies.

Once we were in my room, I grabbed my costume and started to head over to my mother's room to change and so Kara could have some privacy.

"You don't have to leave," she said, her voice almost rushed. "We're all girls here."

I froze and turned slowly in place. Kara's shirt was halfway unbuttoned, but all I saw was something in her eyes that told me not to go. Instead, I closed the door and watched as she smiled and closed in on me. Before I knew it, her lips were on mine for my first ever kiss.

I melted for an entire minute or maybe it was an hour. When she pulled back, I blinked my eyes open and saw her looking at my mouth. "You're going to have to redo your lips."

My tongue flicked out to take the remnants of the gloss. "It's for a good cause."

With a playful smile she turned away and let her shirt slip from her arms. "Better hurry up or we'll be late."

Have you ever tried to pay attention to what you are doing and what someone else was doing when you're both virtually naked? Needless to say, I almost fell over a number of times as I navigated the costume back onto my body.

"Terra, can you zip me up?"

I had just finished zipping myself up and Kara presented her backside to me, without her cape on. There was no doubt in my mind that she was the perfect girl, I concluded as I tugged the outfit closed. She turned around and took me in again. "You are so hot in that costume."

I grinned sheepishly. "Thank you. Yours is perfect. You are perfect."

She sighed. "Thanks for doing this for me."

I swallowed and said the first thing that came to mind. "Anytime."

Her face nearly split to show me almost every tooth she had. "Really?"

At that point I'd made my decision. If it made her this happy and turned on to see me dressed like a girl then I didn't care in the least. "Whenever you want."

Kara stilled. Her eyes ran all over my face and hair, shining like I'd just made her the happiest girl in the world. Little ol' me did that. "Go fix your lips. We've got to get going."

Mom made me take one of her little clutch purses so I could keep some make up, my drivers license, some cash, and spare liner, just in case. I really didn't want to carry my ID with me, but figured the odds of getting asked for it by a cop were minimal since I wasn't driving.

On the ride over, I kept fidgeting with the fingerless gloves I was wearing. Maybe it was the nervous energy of being seen in the outfit or perhaps it was because I was next to my dream girl in every way shape and form.

"Nervous?" asked Kara.

I nodded. She held out her hand for me and I grasped it. We were both wearing gloves, and hers were full style so I didn't get to touch her, but I was holding Kara's hand nonetheless.

Twilight had set in and I spotted a few costumed people walking out and about. Everything was perfect in my little world.

"I need to stop off at the store real quick."

Glancing over at her, she didn't look too good. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Just heartburn. It happens when I get excited. I just don't have anything with me to kill it."

I looked around the street and pointed. "There's one."

Kara pulled off the street and into the parking lot. Grabbing my clutch I fished out a couple of dollars. "Is Tums okay?"

She nodded. "I can get it."

I held up my hand. "You wait here. I'll be right back."

Feeling fairly nimble at the moment, I nearly bounced into the store, secured the needed antacids, and went up to the counter. There was only one person ahead of me, so I waved at Kara sitting in the car. She covered her mouth and I could tell she was giggling at me being goofy.

Turning back around I was wondering what was taking so long. The cashier didn't look too good and when I saw what he was looking at, I didn't feel so good either. The customer in front of me wasn't a customer, he was a robber, as in cops and robbers. The bad part was there weren't any cops around.

My heart felt like it was about to bounce out of my chest as I tried to back away. Looking up at Kara I mimed a gun and waved for her to go. Her cell phone was in her hand and I assumed she was dialing emergency services. Meanwhile, I broke out in a sweat and seriously thought I was having a heart attack. Being seventeen and in pretty good physical condition I thought that was impossible.

The robber hissed at the cashier to hurry up.

Pretty soon I couldn't breathe right. I made my way behind a display and knelt down to try and calm myself. I unzipped the costume and pawed at the breast-forms. Not caring that the glue was melted and they were loose. I just knew that I had to get them off my chest so I could breathe. Something exploded making me flinch and cry out in fear. It wasn't two seconds later and the robber was hovering over me, staring.

"You don't look so good sweet cheeks."

My breath was coming in short gasps before the surrounding blackness took me.

"She's coming around."

Something was covering my face. I batted it away and opened my eyes to what I recognized as the inside of an ambulance.

"Miss, you need to calm down. You're safe now. The police are here."

I wheezed for a second and then took a deep breath. "Kara!"

The EMT leaned over me. "Who's Kara, is she your friend."

Pushing him away with surprisingly little effort, I sat up. There was a uniformed police officer standing at the back of the ambulance.

"Where's Kara?"

He looked at me. "Are you talking about Kara Sorenson, the girl who called in the robbery?"

"Yeah, where is she?"

He pressed his lips together which looked suspiciously like he was about to give me some bad news. "I'm sorry, Miss. Your friend was kidnapped by a person who witnesses say was the same man who held up the store. If you'll hold on for a second, I'll go get the detective in charge."

I nodded and my stomach churned.

"Honey, why don't you lay back down and let me check you out okay?"

I turned to the EMT and shook my head. "I'm fine."

She smiled to appease me. "You were passed out on the floor of the store and you were spiking a really high temperature. You're not fine."

Without arguing anymore I slid off the gurney and out the back of the ambulance only to encounter a guy in an blue off-the-rack suit and a hard demeanor about him. "You're a friend of the Sorenson girl?"

I just nodded. He held his hand in a placating gesture. "Don't worry. There are currently fifteen patrol cars trailing behind her car on the I-10 headed west. They're not going anywhere."

My heart was pounding again. "He's got a gun and he shot the cashier already. Don't tell me not to worry."

"What's your name, Miss."

I turned around and looked to the freeway only two blocks away, like I could see something. There was no telling how long I was out of it or how far away she was, or how scared she was. "She's got heartburn. She can't get excited like this. It'll make it worse."

Why did I say that? I had no freaking clue. Maybe it was because it was one of the last things she said to me before I got out of the car. Maybe I was just going insane with worry that I was standing there without a clue what to do.

I looked down in my hand and noticed I was still clutching the small roll of Tums that I hadn't paid for. The wrapper looked slightly blackened, and for some reason I thought that was odd.

"Miss, you're in shock. You need to come back to the ambulance."

Spinning around, I glared at the detective. "I need to get to Kara. Will you take me?"

He smiled like I was joking around, but then he saw I was serious. "Not until this is over with, one way or the…" I think he realized what he was saying and shut his mouth. Instead of finishing his sentence he reached for my arm, but I pulled away.

"No. She not going to be hurt." My voice was laced with confidence, but at the same time, it shook with fear.

"Of course she's not. We'll do everything we can to make sure of that."

I backed away again when he took another step toward me. One of his eyebrows raised and he looked up, jutting his chin out to someone behind me. Before I had a chance to turn, someone grabbed my arms and started forcing me to the ambulance.

"Let go!" I screamed. "I have to get to Kara!"

The detective took one of my arms and I saw a regular officer had the other. "We're just going to give you something to relax you, Miss. We don't want you fainting again."

"No!" I struggled and even though they had to put more effort into holding me I was still within their grasp. "Let go!"

The ground shook and a low rumbling sounded from underneath. The officer that was holding my left arm fell backward and I let him. Turning to the detective, I screamed in his face. "LET GO!"

Before I knew it the ground in front of me exploded upward, throwing the detective back and lifting me into the air. I looked around. Everyone stopped what they were doing and gaped at me in stunned shock. Then I looked down.

A section of the ground and cement had separated from everything else and was currently hovering about four feet above everyone else.

"It's another one!" Someone said behind me. My feet were glued to the cement. The whole block turned in the air so that I was facing some red-haired lady and a television camera. She rushed up holding out a microphone, and looking like she was about to make her career.

"Are you another metahuman? What's your name?"

I swallowed and looked behind me. I had better things to do than to answer her questions. Something had happened to me and now it looked like I really was Power Girl's sidekick. "I'm Terra."

With very little thought, I moved the mound of concrete further into the air and raced to the freeway. Wind was rushing by my face, the faster I moved, so I leaned into it and poured on the speed. Behind me I could hear brakes squealing and the sound of cars slamming into one another. It wasn't my problem if people couldn't drive. I had a mission. There was a girl somewhere on that freeway with my name on her lips, probably wondering if I was dead or alive, and I was going to kick that kidnappers ass.

Fifteen minutes passed until I saw the closest cop car. Then I pushed just a little harder until I was passing them, one after the other.

Higher in the sky I flew.

"Hey there."

I jerked to the left until I saw what was flying next to me, a girl in a black and green bodysuit with a green glow all around her body. "I'm Jade. Who are you?"

I gave her a weird look. "I'm Terra. Look can we do this some other time. I'm kind of busy at the moment."

She shrugged. "Need some help?"

I looked down at Kara's car. As much as I wanted to crush the guy that caused all of the trouble, I knew that Kara's safety was more important. "If I distract them, can you get that guy and his gun out of there without my friend getting hurt?"

Her eyes glowed green when she smiled. "You bet. Distract away."

The sound of helicopters above made me pause for a moment. Three of them, only one of which was from the police. The other two were local news.

"Ready?" she asked.

I nodded. Pushing harder I sped up until I was at least a quarter of a mile ahead and then I dropped as quick as I was able, straight in front of the car. The brakes locked up pouring smoke and burning rubber in a long line. Jade held out her right fist and a jet of green light lanced forward, smashing into the passenger side window. A half second later the kidnapper and would-be robber was jerked from the car incased in a green bubble. All the while police cars were screeching to a halt.

Kara jumped out of the drivers side and ran up to me as I dropped completely onto the freeway and stepped off the block of concrete. Her cheeks were black with running makeup mixed with tears.

"I thought he shot you!" I was grabbed up in her arms and hugged within an inch of my life.

"I'm fine. Are you okay?"

She pulled back to take a look at me. "Uh-huh." Her eyes shot wider. "Terry…" she said in a hushed whisper.

Police officers started closing in right when Jade landed beside me. Before I realized it we were all incased in a big green bubble.

"We can talk. They can't hear us."

I grinned at Jade. "Thanks. Kara, this is Jade. She was the one who rescued you."

They shook hands. "Thanks."

Jade shook her head. "It was Terra's planning that saved the day." I knew she was full of it, but it was a nice gesture all the same. "Is she part of our crowd?"

I looked at Kara and shook my head. "No, Kara's an innocent. She's my friend."

Kara took my hand and squeezed it. "Terra's my girlfriend."

Jade nodded, with a smile. "Do the police know about you, Terra?" I shook my head. "Then I would suggest, if you are both willing, to keep that information a secret. That is if you still want a private life."

"Oh, good point. But the detective back at the store knows we're friends."

Kara nodded. "I'll just say that we met today and I barely know you, but we're friends. I can keep a secret."

Jade nodded once. "Good enough." She pointed at me. "You and I should hit the road together. Sorry about the window."

Kara looked back at her car and almost laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'm alive."

"I'll call you tomorrow morning, okay?"

She nodded, and let go of my hand. The green bubble dissolved and I went back to the mass of concrete. On a whim I held my hand out toward the broken glass and watched as it all jumped back up to form a perfectly new window in the door.

"Miss, you can't leave yet."

I waved at the cops and willed my transportation back in the air. When Jade and I were well out of earshot I asked, "I need to return this and repair the ground where I took it. Can you give me a lift after?"

Jade laughed. "It'd be my pleasure. Then you and I should talk somewhere more comfortable."

"Cool."

I was inside a spaceship behind the Moon. Could that be anymore cool or what?

We were in some sort of kitchen and I was nursing a Coke that didn't really taste like Coke.

"It's the old Coca-Cola before they made Classic Coke. The guy who had this place before me insisted on that formula."

"Ah," I replied.

"So, what's your story and are you really Terry Cross?"

I almost choked on the soda. "How did you know?"

Jade held up her right hand. "My ring. It's got an artificial intelligence inside that says that's the highest probability as to your identity. It overheard Kara say your name and there's only one Terry at your high school. Seeing as it also says you just came into your abilities as well, it made a logical deduction as to who you were."

"Were? More like are. I'm Terry Cross."

Jade made a face of reluctance. "Not anymore. Have you not noticed any changes about yourself since you developed your powers?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well yeah. I have superpowers now."

Jade shook her head. "I mean physical changes."

"Uh, no, I don't think so." I looked down at my hands and something was a little off. My fingers looked thinner, more delicate. "Do you have a bathroom?"

She jerked her thumb behind her and I saw a door. Without saying anything else I moved to the room and locked myself inside. There was a mirror which was exactly what I was looking for. At first glance it was me, but I looked closer and saw subtle changes in my face, not to mention my eyes. I thought it was my contacts, but I leaned in and saw that my pupils weren't blurred like what happened when you wear colored lenses. Sorry, but violet isn't a normal color and it's easy to tell when someone is wearing them. Another thing was that my vision was perfectly clear. I'm a little far sighted and only wore glasses to prevent headaches when I read, for the most part. I read a lot, so I always wore them.

"Shit." I had purple freaking eyes.

My legs seemed the same, maybe a little smoother lined. The muscles weren't quite as obvious as before, and my thighs looked thicker. They weren't the same! It was almost like…

I held my breath and then I held the breast forms. This time they were both very real and very sensitive to my squeezing. The zipper came down and I ripped away the Velcro piece to find that they weren't fake at all.

Swallowing tightly, I remembered there was one more place to check. I pulled the zipper down the rest of the way and stuck my hand inside.

I was a girl.

A knock sounded at the door. "Terra, are you okay?"

"Not really."

"Come on back out and I'll explain. The AI has an idea about what happened."

I zipped the costume back up and tossed the Velcro shield. That was useless at that point. Washing my hands afterward gave me time to settle my nerves. "Okay," I whispered to myself. "If I turned into a girl then I can turn back. Can't do one without the other, right. I just need to learn how."

There was bound to be some law of physics, thermodynamics, or hydraulics, that can't be broken and it'll make sure I got turned back. But seeing as how my luck was going that day it was obvious as to who's law couldn't be broken. Murphy's. With a cleansing breath I opened the door and returned to my seat to find Jade giving me a sympathetic look.

"Having a bad day?" she asked.

I scratched at my eyebrow and then grabbed the Coke. "About thirty minutes ago I was a guy. Yeah. I'd say that my day pretty much sucks."

"You tell her. I'm tired of translating for you." Apparently Jade was talking to her ring.

A hollow sounding female voice emanated from the ring. "Miss Cross, this ring has concluded that you are aware of what is known as the metagene. Is this correct?"

I nodded. Ever since Jade was interviewed on TV the previous week, that was all anyone was talking about. While it was exciting and all to think that I would be one of the people that would actually have the gene, I wasn't holding my breath over it. From what she'd said, only one point three million people on the planet actually had the gene. That's out of almost seven billion. And from that, ninety-nine point five percent would develop what was termed nuisance-level powers. Those are the people that can make a ball slowly roll to the end of the table with the power of their minds, or something equally tame.

Doing the math yet? Don't bother. That leaves around sixty-five hundred people that merely have the possibility of possessing metahuman powers on the scale I showed today. Just the possibility. So you'll see where I stand a better chance being hit by lightning three times in a single year than to be a metahuman. Maybe if I threw in hitting the lotto as well it would even things out. Don't think I'm not buying a ticket as soon as I'm eighteen. If I can hit this genetic lotto then the power ball is a cinch.

"Yeah. I heard about it."

"You are the first reported activation on Earth."

I slowly nodded. "Okay. So how do I turn back into a guy?"

The AI didn't even bother softening the blow. "With existing technology, unknown. There is the possibility that another metahuman will possess that power. However, the odds are…"

Jade cut in. "That's enough. Sorry. I should have translated."

I shook my head. "It's okay. I'm still a little numb at the moment. I'm sure it'll hit me later."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

I wanted to talk to Kara. I wanted to talk to my mom. "Is there a phone I could use to call my mom?"

She shook her head. "They won't be secure. I wouldn't advise it. You can bet that the government will be monitoring all forms of communication to find out who you are. Since you were seen in public as a girl, they'll have a hard time hunting you down. But you weren't concealing your identity either. It'll only be a matter of time until they find you."

"Oh shit. What am I gonna do?"

Jade reached over and set her hand on mine. "Don't worry. This isn't anything that I can't handle."

I wasn't so sure. "Can you turn me back?"

She shook her head. "No, but I can disguise you. I can make you look like you were before. Underneath you'll still be a girl."

"Are you serious?"

"Come on."

The ship made these little things that looked like tiny microchips. Jade attached one of them behind the T on my zipper. I was to keep it on me at all times, especially if I was around a cell phone or other electronic device capable of transmitting an audio or microwave signal. It would act like a jamming device that would mimic the inane babbling of casual conversation. I was to give a few to Kara for her parents and a few for my own use, for those that knew my secret.

As long as I was within twenty feet of one of those chips then I was safe from the NSA or whatever super secret spy service that was around to catch metahumans. The next in Jade's bag of tricks was a ring. It wasn't green like hers, but it did have the same symbol engraved in sliver or platinum. I couldn't tell which and something told me that it was neither, in favor of some space metal that nobody had ever heard of like Craptonite or something equally as weird.

If I activated that ring then I would also wear the body of Terry Cross. If I deactivated it then I'd be Terra.

It was only thirty minutes later when Jade smuggled me into my house where my mother was watching the news and biting her fingernails to the quick.

I had Jade move us to the kitchen so we didn't give her a heart attack when we reappeared out of thin air.

"Mom, I'm home." I called out.

"Terry!" she almost screamed as she ran to the kitchen.

I was still in my Terra costume when she grabbed me up. Jade smiled and waved at me. "I'll get going and let you two talk."

"No, wait."

Mom pulled away, and looked at the tall lady.

"Mom. I want you to meet Jade. She helped me save Kara this afternoon."

She got all flustered when Jade held her hand out. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Cross. My name is Jade, member of the Green Lantern Corps for Sector 2814." She looked at me. "You and your daughter have a lot to talk about. Have a good evening, Terra. You know how to reach me if needed."

I nodded. "Thanks Jade, for everything."

With a final smile, she glowed green and disappeared.

The next morning, while I was still asleep, Kara arrived. Mom let her in my room and I awoke to the feeling of warm lips against mine. Best wake up call ever.

"Hey sleepy head. Don't think that you're getting out of making with the explanations so easy."

I smiled up at her. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Sitting up a little made me almost lose the sheet that was covering my new assets. When I made a grab for it and held it to my chest, Kara looked at me weird.

"You've still got the breast forms on? I left the solvent on your dresser."

Sheepishly looking to the side, I muttered, "Not exactly."

While my predicament was obvious to me, Kara only knew that I had superpowers, not that receiving them had cost me my manhood. "Um, I'll explain everything, but I need to go pee first."

Her face reddened a little. "Sorry, yeah. I'll turn around."

"Thanks."

Grabbing a tee shirt and one of the extra pair of panties that Kara had bought for me, I escaped to the bathroom and had my second experience with my new equipment. Everything was just so strange. Due to taking health class as well as other avenues of not-so-moral learning I knew all about the female reproductive system, all its parts, and their function. However, not being able to hold something while I peed was annoying, distracting, and generally felt gross.

Afterward I washed my hands and while I was there, brushed my teeth. Kara was in my room, after all.

She was nice enough to make my bed by the time I'd returned. I really didn't have to point out that there was something strange going on. When I entered the room, Kara looked sideways at me, trying to figure out what was different. "Terry, what did you mean by not exactly when I asked you about the forms?"

I sat down on the bed, beside her and tried to explain about three or four different ways. Nothing would come out right, so I did the next best thing. Taking her hand I set it on my breast. At first she just smiled at me, like I was flirting or something. Then her hand moved and I saw her face change.

Kara's thumb brushed across a very sensitive portion of my breast and my eyes went half-lidded while a pleasant shiver ran through my body. "Terry?"

"I'm a girl now." Her hand snapped back, and her eyes dropped between my legs. I nodded. "Yeah, everywhere."

The now familiar gesture of covering her mouth was repeated, but this time instead of hiding a smile, it tried to hide her shock. "How?"

"I'm a metahuman. It happened when I got my powers. Jade has this computer thing that says physical changes are common when that happens. Mine went a little overboard."

All I heard were little noises of disbelief, until she'd finally broken through the shock. "Are you sure? I mean everything?"

"You know that ring Jade wears?" She nodded. "Well, it's a really advanced computer, and artificial intelligence. It has all sorts of sensors and stuff. It says that I'm a perfectly healthy seventeen year old girl, just with a few extra traits. That's one of the reasons I had to go with her last night. We had to work though a few things."

Kara grabbed my hand with both of hers and started petting the backside. "Is it reversible? Is that one of your powers?"

I shook my head. "No. The best Jade was able to do was to give me this." Holding up my free hand, I showed her the silver-colored ring on my middle finger. "Activate Terry." Speaking the phrase to enable the illusion function of the ring, I saw my body shimmer for the briefest of seconds.

"Oh, wow." Kara took me in again. "You look normal again. I never realized how much we changed you yesterday." Reaching up to touch my hair she smiled in awe. "You've even got your old hair back, and it looks like you need a shave."

I nodded. "Yeah, um, Jade thought it might be a good idea to look as different as I could realistically manage. Over the next few months, I'm going to gain a few inches in height, and start looking more rugged."

Her face fell slightly. "So this isn't real?"

I shook my head. "Not really. You won't be able to tell the difference on the outside, but I'm still the same on the inside." A silence settled between us until I eventually broke it. "You don't look too happy. I thought that you like it when I looked like this."

Kara gave me a really weak smile. "I do. I did." Her hands were fidgeting. "I liked that you were a boy underneath and only I knew about it." A pained wince let me know she really didn't want to say something, but knew she had to. "I'm not really into girls, Terry."

My throat knotted up and I felt my eyes start to burn. "Oh."

She squeezed my hand. "This doesn't mean we can't be friends. I just… I'm sorry."

Pulling my hand away, I looked down at the floor and tried to hold back from crying in front of her. I really didn't want her to see that. "Maybe you better go," I choked out

"Terry."

Taking a deep breath, I looked back up at her. I knew my eyes were shining unshed tears, because it was becoming difficult to see properly. "It's better this way. You'd only be in danger being around me. If the government found out or whoever, then they might try to use you to get to me." Trying my best to distract myself I got up and crossed the room to my dresser. Picking up one of the microchip things I held it out to her.

"Stick this on your cell. If you need to contact me this will scramble the call so nobody can hear what's said."

Kara was on the verge of tears as well. "Terry, I'm so sorry."

Turning my back on her I went to my closet and pulled out a pair of jeans. Before I even had them on, I heard my door close. So much for first loves.

Mom gave me her pity face when I made it downstairs, but when I ignored it and went to fix some cereal she did the same. I didn't want to talk about Kara dumping me. At least Mom understood.

"Do you have any plans today?"

I shook my head while I poked at the softening sugar-frosted flakes.

"We're going to have to talk about what to expect, now that…"

Now that I was a girl, was what she was going to say. "Can we do it tomorrow. I just…" I couldn't finish. It was just to depressing.

"Sure. That should be soon enough. However, I do have a few questions that need asking now, though."

My appetite was nonexistent. Pushing the bowl away, I looked up at her and reluctantly nodded.

"You said that the way you look now is because of the ring, that it's not real, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then we have to do some shopping for you. I'll need to know what you want me to buy since you're keeping Terra a secret."

Closing my eyes, I rubbed at my face. "I don't need anything. The only time I'm going to be looking like a girl is when I need to use Terra and I have the costume for that. It not like I can go out in public as a normal girl."

Mom leaned in and tried to catch my wandering eyes. "Sweetie. You said you can't change back, at least not yet. That means you'll need to learn about being a girl. Hiding yourself away like a boy isn't going to make things any easier. If anything it will make it harder. You don't even sound like a boy anymore."

I cringed and felt warm wet trails appearing on my face.

Mom got up and moved her chair over to me. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry. I don't mean to push you. You've been through a lot over the last day, but if you don't start now, it will be much worse later on."

She held my head to her shoulder and petted my hair soothingly.

"I can't be a girl, Mom."

"Shhh. Of course you can. From what I saw on the news last night, you were the perfect girl. There aren't a lot of people that would have the courage to face someone with a gun, not to mention chase after them to save someone they care about. Most people would have let the police handle the situation."

I sniffed.

"But you, young lady, you did something very feminine whether you want to believe it or not."

Rubbing at my nose, I asked. "What?"

"Here, sit up and look at me." I did what she said and wiped at my eyes. "Every girl out there is born with a maternal instinct, even if they aren't a mother. That instinct is to protect those that are weaker than them, those that they care about. They do it because they care." At my doubtful face she pushed on. "Men are protective because they're selfish. They see someone messing around with something that is their's or threatens what is their's and they move in to fight for ownership rights. Do you see the difference?"

I nodded. I didn't think it was true, but I understood what she was talking about.

"You went to fight for Kara, not because that man stole her from you, but because she was in danger and you wanted her safe."

Okay, that was true.

"So, you can be a girl. You can be a girl that I am very proud of. And if that means you dump this secret identity thing you've cooked up then I would be proud of having you as my daughter as well. I don't care what anyone else has to say in the matter."

Wiping away the last of my tears, I smiled, just a little. "It's not only about that, Mom. If people knew who I was, you'd be in danger."

Her eyes narrowed at me. "I believe that is my choice to make, not yours. Besides, I seriously doubt anyone would come after me with you around to kick their butts." She grinned. "I read your Power Girl comic books."

My eyes widened at the thought of seeing Mom curled up with my treasures.

"Don't look at me that way. I wanted to find out all about this Terra person that you seemed to have become. From what I've seen, she's quite powerful."

I nodded. "She can control almost anything that the Earth produces that isn't alive in the strictest sense: rock, minerals, sand, dirt, lava…"

"How about water or plastics?"

I shook my head. "Just earth related stuff."

She nodded. "So iron, copper, diamond?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I haven't really seen her do that specifically, but I don't see why not."

"How about steel? Refined minerals."

I blinked. "Um, I don't know."

She took a napkin from the holder in the middle of the table and set it down. "Give me your spoon." When I handed it to her, she wiped it off and held it up to me. This is stainless steel. From what I remember, it contains steel, which is made form iron, and chromium for the most part."

She laid it on the table. "Okay, see what you can do with it."

My eyes tracked to hers and then down at the spoon. Remembering what it felt like to repair the concrete from yesterday, I reached out with my mind and lifted the spoon in the air. I kind of didn't think that I could do it.

Mom clapped and grinned. "There. Now, answer me this, young lady. If the government decides to come and take you or me away, how exactly will they accomplish this?

I didn't even think. I blurted out the first thing in my head. "They'd have guns."

"Which are made out of what?"

I grinned. "Metal or polymers. Bullets are brass or lead mostly."

She nodded. "And even if they bring on the big guns, tanks, battleships, whatever, it all runs on metal in some way, shape, or form. Almost all of those things have to travel on land. Now, explain to me again how you or I are in danger?"

My heart lightened and I lunged forward grabbing my mom in a hug. "I love you."

My tight squeeze was returned with one of her own. "Good. Now, get rid of this boy thing you have going and only use it if you need some privacy. Maybe change the way it looks so it doesn't resemble you at all."

I pulled away and brought the ring closer to my face. Right when I was about to turn it off the ring grew warm around my finger. That was the prearranged signal that Jade needed to talk to me.

"Jade's calling, Mom. Hold on. Open Com. Go ahead, Jade."

Her voice came over, loud and very clear, almost like she was standing in the room with me. "Terra, how are you with volcanoes?"

Mom's face went slack with surprise.

"Uh, I've never tried, but I should be able to work with it."

"Good, Mount Fuji just erupted and there's a small city at the base. I'll be there to pick you up in three minutes."

I was stunned into remaining frozen, but Mom snapped me out of it. "Go change, hurry!" She was right behind me as I ran up the stairs. "I thought Fuji was a dormant volcano."

"Apparently it woke up. Deactivate Terry."

My male form disappeared while I ripped off my clothes. Mom held open my costume. "There's got to be a better way to do this."

I nodded, but stepped inside the suit while Mom grabbed my shoes. Adrenaline spiked energy shot through my system when I zipped up the costume and sat down to slip on the shoe-boot-legging things. I only had time to stand up. Mom pulled me into another hug and then stepped back. "I'm so proud of you, sweetie."

Jade faded into existence from her invisible form and nodded at Mom. "Mrs. Cross. Terra you ready?"

I nodded. "Bye, Mom."

Jade and I were encircled in a green bubble and faded from her view as we ascended out of the roof and into the sky, virtually straight up.

"Uh, I think Japan is back that way."

Jade grinned. "Trust me, this is faster."

Seeing as she was jetting all over the globe on a daily basis I took her word for it. When we exited Earth's atmosphere, I blinked and was amazed at how fast we were descending again. That's when I saw the gigantic plume of smoke, ash and whatever was pouring out of the volcano into the sky.

"Get me somewhere so I can pick up something to stand on." Jade nodded at descended far enough so that I could spot small rock formations in the country side. Picking one at random, I called it to me.

When it arrived Jade set me down on top and pointed at Mount Fuji. "See what you can do to stop that, and I'll protect the city."

She was gone a moment later. Rotating to get a better look, I swallowed. How in the heck was I supposed to stop that thing?

This wasn't like the comic books, I just couldn't plug the thing up with a gigantic boulder that was conveniently laying around. Volcanoes erupt for a reason. If I plugged up the top there was no telling what the resulting backwash of pressure might do. It could quite possible blow out the side, uncontrolled. Control, right. That's what I could do.

Looking up to see which direction everything was flying I concentrated on gathering everything that was shooting into the air so I could throw it to the ground at the base of the volcano to protect the city. If possible I'd direct the flow to the nearby lake. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than letting thousands of people get flambéed.

Sparing a glance to the city, I grinned as I saw a green dome totally surrounding it, deflecting anything that I missed in terms of stone balls of fire that usually shot out of an eruption. Once a decent barrier was set, I got another bright idea.

"Jade!"

She replied through the com. "Go ahead."

"Ask your ring when it would be safe to collapse this thing in on itself and plug up the hole."

It didn't take long. "It isn't a bottle of Coke, Terra. Plug up the damn thing if you can."

My face burned at thinking I was doing a good thing by letting the pressure relieve itself.

Collecting everything on the side of the volcano that didn't have lava on it, I directed it up and into the top. I forced the lava to back up and push back down where it came from, and then I collapsed the top portion of the monstrosity into the center.

After a good long while Mount Fuji settled until it was just burning into the air and not exploding all over the place. The green dome disappeared and I saw a green streak shoot off.

"I'll be right back. Stick around and keep and eye on things," said Jade through the com.

While I was waiting for her to come back I took the chance to rid the neighboring town of the mess of ash and rock that had rained down on them. I couldn't repair everything, but it would make things a lot easier for those that could.

Ten minutes passed when I spotted a giant green globe at least a hundred yards in diameter approaching. Jade was behind it and when she reached me, the beam of green light emanating from her ring stretched out and over the center of the volcano. Then the globe disappeared.

"Ah, water."

The world's biggest water balloon landed on top of Fuji sending massive amounts of steam into the air while it flash froze the top layer of lava into a sealing crust to end the eruption once and for all.

"You're not helping global warming you know."

Jade grinned and rolled her eyes. "Wave to the nice news people, Terra."

News helicopters closed in on us but kept their distance. Jade waved and I shook my head and curtseyed instead.

"The AI says everything's clear for the most part. You want to go up to the ship?"

I had a feeling that Jade was spending a lot of time being a hero and not really devoting any time to herself. "Sure."

Just as before, it took very little time to reach the dark side of the Moon. I was still in awe of seeing the light side. It was nothing like being in my back yard and looking up at the small white spot in the sky. Skimming across the surface at a few hundred feet, I could see even the smallest impact craters where it had been assaulted by meteorites. Everything seemed desolate and peaceful at the same time.

Instead of staying in the galley, Jade led me to a more comfortable room, kind of like a lounge for lack of a better word. A few couches and chairs lined the walls. They looked a little dated, but were still in pristine condition.

"I don't get a lot of company as you can probably tell."

I smiled graciously. "Well, you can call me up anytime. I love coming up here." There was a single food replicator that she retrieved some sodas from before she made herself comfortable on one of the couches.

Leaning back, she kicked up her feet and sighed. "You settling in to the new body okay?"

I sipped at my drink and then set it on a coaster that was on the table. "Yeah, I guess. My mom and I talked, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to get rid of the secret identity."

Jade's brows raised in surprise, showing off her beautiful green eyes. "Really? Why?"

I shook my head a little. "It's too much of a hassle and since I'm not going to be changed back into Terry anytime soon it'll be harder for me to adjust to my new body."

She bit the inside of her cheek. "Yeah, I guess that would be hard to deal with, hopping back and forth. Don't you think that they'll be people that will take advantage of you."

She was talking about the government and whoever else might want to control me. "It's not just dirt and rocks I can control. It's minerals too whether they're processed or not."

Jade looked like she was internally speaking to her AI. I suppose they were talking over the implications of what I just revealed. "That's a handy talent to have. Profitable too if you know what to look for."

I hadn't thought about that. "Good point. I guess I don't have to worry about working at Burger King in the future."

She smiled. "Just make sure you have a legal right to whatever you find."

I shrugged. "It probably wouldn't hurt to talk to some people that do that sort of thing. Maybe earn a hefty paycheck for hard to find things. Let them deal with who owns what."

"Now you're getting the idea." Jade looked off for a moment, kind of tuning out.

"We won't be doing things like this every day, will we?"

She blinked and looked at me. "You mean volcanoes, and generally helping people?"

I nodded in agreement.

"No, probably not. The people that will be coming into their power are just like you and me. Average. They can be self-serving, greedy, evil, or maybe apathetic. We just don't know."

Leaning forward, I looked at her. "I know this may sound a little hokey, but have you thought of maybe forming a team to deal with them?"

A wistful smile graced her face. "The thought had crossed my mind, but two people do not a team make."

I shrugged again. "We'll just have to go on a recruiting spree. How did you hunt me down?"

She held up her right hand. "I have the AI actively searching for reports of anything out of the ordinary. When you ripped a chunk out of that convenience store parking lot, the detective called it in."

"I fixed that, just like it was."

Jade chuckled. "As much as I'd like to have a metahuman radar on Earth to let me know when someone mutates, it's not possible at the moment."

We spent the rest of the morning talking. Jade gave me a tour of the ship and even said that she had a desire to explore some of the solar system when or if we gathered more members to our club. When I told her about needing to get home so I could fulfill my mother's desire to do some clothes shopping, I thought Jade was going to bust a gut. That's when I got my ring replaced with a different one. It looked exactly the same but in addition to programming a generic male body for times when I didn’t want to look like a girl, she added a wardrobe as well. I'd never have to do wash again. And the plus side was that I got an upgrade on my uniform.

It looked no different color-wise, but the old metallic material was gone and in its place was a seamless outfit made out of the same material as hers. At first I thought it was something rubbery like latex, but it didn't feel anything like that. The fabric breathed and didn't slip around like the stuff I had before. I suppose there's something about fighting crime and having to stop to pick out a wedgie. They never went over that sort of stuff in comic books.

Sunday came and went, and Monday was upon me before I knew it. Regretfully, I was still a student and it was only November. Seven more months of school loomed before me. The only thing I was concentrating on was my first day back.

Mom accompanied me to the office to explain what happened. Can you picture this? It was much worse than it sounds.

I left my hair and makeup the same. Oh, and learning to do my own makeup really sucks. Instead of trying to decide what to wear, I went with a variation to my superhero uniform. The black and white theme stayed. I shortened the thigh boots to calf boots. Yeah, they were officially boots at the moment, all one big piece instead of the three pieces like before. The only difference was I added a black knee-length pleated skirt, which really was all one piece, but looked like it was two pieces.

Mom pierced my ears and I had her old silver posts as a starter set. By the way. It hurts when your mom shoves a needle through your lobes. I don't recommend it.

Do I need to say they wouldn't let me attend class since I had no way of proving I was who I said I was. Oh, they recognized me from TV. That wasn't the problem. I needed to get a doctor's note.

"I'm sorry about this, Mom."

She giggled a little as we sat waiting for my turn to be examined. "Sweetheart. This isn't a problem. I don't mind missing a day of work. It's dealing with my boss tomorrow that's going to be funny."

I crooked an eyebrow at her. "Why's that?"

"I had to tell him why I was missing work. When I said that the school wouldn't let my daughter go to her classes without a doctor's note, she said that she thought I had a son."

I rolled my eyes. "And?"

"Well, she want's to know all about you now." When she saw the look on my face, Mom held up a hand. "Don't worry. I'll keep to the basics. You're the new metahuman and when your powers came in they turned you into a girl. That's all."

"That's important, Mom. Nobody needs to know exactly what I can do. That's how the bad guys…"

"I know, I know. Nobody needs to know your weaknesses."

Grinning at her, I patted her knee. "Thanks, Mom."

"Terry Cross," called the receptionist at the window.

Mom got up to go with me. Granted I was almost eighteen years old and I'd been going in by myself to see my doctor for the last five years, but I was a different person now. She needed to be there for verification.

It took another fifteen minutes for the doctor to show up. Mom was sitting on a chair in the corner and I was on one of those examination beds with the butcher paper and the lame pillow that really isn't a pillow. They're not the most comfortable things in the world, so I chose to sit up instead. I wasn't sick anyway.

"Terra, keep your legs together."

Whoops. There wasn't anything to see anyway. If I lifted my skirt up it was just my uniform underneath, but I guessed that propriety is propriety after all.

A short two-knock sounded at the door and Dr. Phillips entered, looking down at the clipboard with a weird expression on her face. "Terry, how are you…" That's when she looked up at me.

I waved. "Hi Dr. Phillips."

She looked over at my Mom. "Mia. It's been a while. I'm guessing someone's going through some changes?"

Mom smiled ruefully. "You don't know the half of it, Susan."

I had to give it to the doctor that had known me for all of my life. She was my first and only pediatrician. The file she had on me was about two inches thick. There was nobody I trusted more with my health.

She was trying to keep her professional demeanor in place, but that was before she noticed my breasts. It all fell apart at that point. "I'm disappointed that you two couldn't trust me to be objective when it came to altering your sex. I thought you knew you could trust me not to be judgmental."

I looked over at my mom and smiled. She got up and set her purse on the counter. "Susan, it's not what you think."

Dr. Phillips visually looked me over again. "So your son hasn't been taking female hormones, and had breast implants put in?"

Mom looked at Dr. Phillips really weird. "Susan, have you seen the news at all this weekend?"

Her brows furrowed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

That's when I thought it was best to put her out of her misery. "I'm a metahuman."

I actually heard a pop when Dr. Phillips snapped her head around. She winced and grabbed at her neck. "Ow." Having a miracle of modern medicine sitting in her examining room threw all of her training aside. I'd never seen her dumbfounded before.

"When did this happen?" she asked.

"Friday, late afternoon," I replied. Mom resumed her seat and I took over from there. "My girlfriend got kidnapped by a guy that just killed a convenience store clerk. I thought I was having a heart attack and passed out. When I woke up," I held my hands out and pointed to my breasts, "these were there."

Dr. Phillips was having a hard time understanding. She closed her eyes in confusion and shook her head. "I've never… I mean. Instantaneous change of gender breaks the laws of thermodynamics. The human body can't survive that kind of rapid metamorphosis."

"I'm not exactly human anymore." At that, she opened her eyes again and they bored into me. "Jade said that it has something to do with the metagene and high stress activating it."

She covered her mouth. "All that's real?"

I nodded. "You've seen Jade I take it?"

She nodded dumbly. "I saw the interview on the news. But I thought…"

I shook my head. "It's real."

I could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she looked me up and down. "I need to get a full physical workup on you, blood samples, tissue…"

"Whoa, uh sorry. That's not why I'm here. I'm in perfect health."

She tried to regain her composure. "I think I'll be the judge of that, Terry. You're not a doctor."

"Jade has a medical thing that did a scan on me. It says that I'm healthy."

She didn't looked convinced. "A medical thing? Terry, come on. Is Jade a licensed physician?"

"I don't think so. But trust me that she has access to technology that makes the most high tech things on the planet look like flint and stone." She still didn't seem convinced. "It's in her intergalactic Starcruiser."

Dr. Phillips blinked.

"Look, Dr. Phillips. The reason I'm here is because my school needs a note from you saying that I'm really me. That I'm a girl now and whatever. That's it. I'd love to be able to let you take whatever samples you want, but there's security issues I have to deal with now."

She blinked at me again. "Terry, I'd never give out any information about you."

I stared her down. "Even if the government came in with a warrant that says it's a national security issue? Come on. You've seen enough horror stories about how much they do for our own good." I air quoted the last part for emphasis.

Her mouth opened. "They wouldn't." Then after she stopped to actually consider it for longer than five seconds. "Oh God, they would. You're right."

"Look, I'll make a deal with you." She looked up at me expectantly. "You do what you need to do in order to prove that I'm me, aside from taking anything from my body, and I'll talk to Jade about releasing some of the information she has on metahumans. Then sometime in the future if you can positively insure that nobody can get a hold of my stuff, I'll let you take some blood and whatever."

She didn't even think about it. "Deal."

If you take out all of the things that require bodily fluids being withdrawn there's still quite a lot that a doctor can do to examine you. I had a full physical that included the stirrups thing at the end. All the while Dr. Phillips questioned me, just to provide background in case my identity was in doubt. When all was said and done she turned to my mom.

"Congratulations, Mia. It's a girl."

"Can I get dressed now?"

Dr. Phillips nodded and I activated my school clothes. That little trick nearly gave the woman a heart attack when I deactivated my clothes. When I reactivated it, she just stared. "If you could sell those rings, you'd make millions, or more probably billions."

I shrugged regretfully. "It's not mine to sell. Jade gave it to me."

She looked at me hopefully. "You'll put in a good word for me?"

I nodded. "You bet."

Armed with a few doctor's notes I entered the school for the second time that day. The extra notes were for the state and the federal government so I could legally change my gender on my official documents. All I needed now was a lawyer so I could get my name changed and I'd be set.

By the time Mom left, it was lunch time and I was starved. The looks I was receiving as I made my way through the snack bar line was almost comical if it wasn't so unnerving. All the whispering was driving me nuts. Yeah, I knew I'd be recognized. That was a given. Teenagers will also be teenagers. The thing was that nobody actually had the nerve to talk to me or ask me if I was actually the same Terra that they'd seen on TV. Instead they chose to gossip about me, which was par for course.

When I got to my table with my chilidog, Fritos, and my Coke, it was like every single eye in the cafeteria was on me. Thank God Kara showed up.

She was stunned that I was in girl mode. That much was obvious. "Terra."

I looked up after opening my Fritos. "Hey. What's up?"

"Did you forget something this morning?"

I laughed and crunched a couple of chips. "Uh, no. I decided I wasn't going to hide."

She looked around, creeped out. "Everyone knows who you are."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know." Kara seemed more scared than she should have been. "If you want to act like you don't know me, that's cool. I'll understand."

Not knowing what to expect, I guessed that she would object, saying that our friendship was more important. But she just grabbed her tray and didn't give me a second look before disappearing into the masses. "Holy crap. I didn't actually think she was going to bail."

The shear amount of camera phones that were being pulled out was astounding. I heard little clicks all over the place. After double checking that my legs were crossed properly, I continued eating my lunch until I was through. Disappearing into the girls restroom was my only option if I wanted a safe haven. Waiting there for the final bell to ring took about five minutes which I utilized in the proper way. Yes, I was a superhero that had to pee. And here I was thinking that it all magically disappeared into the ether like in the comic books. I mean you've never seen Wolverine going to the bathroom in X-Men comics have you? Come to think of it that would probably be dangerous. Snick-snick yeouch!

Economics was one of three classes I had to take after lunch. Needless to say that went oddly. People stared at me throughout the walk to class and when I entered and held out a note to the teacher, he gave me a long hard look. "Take a seat… Terra."

I gave him a grim smile and of course my seat in that particular class was right up front.

Whispers continued well after the bell sounded and Mr. Harrington was having a hard time getting everyone to calm down. Finally in a huff, he turned to me. "Everyone. Yes, it's true that we have a first at this school. If she agrees to tell us what happened can we get down to business."

I sighed. It was bound to happen. I just went with the flow when rounds of yeah, and yes let me know I was up.

I stood up and took a breath before turning around and seeing everyone looking at me, not even blinking for fear they might actually miss something cool.

"Hi. Name is Terra, but you probably know that already."

The girl who sat next to me just blurted out her question without raising her hand or anything. "That's Terry's chair."

I nodded. "That's because I used to be Terry."

Some jock dork in the back yelled out. "Whoa, you're a dude?"

The majority of the class laughed, and some of them even looked uncomfortable. When it calmed down, I continued.

"Not anymore. I'm a metahuman. When I received my powers, I also turned into a girl for some reason."

Someone, I'm guessing the same guy that said the last statement, coughed and said bullshit at the same time. Another joined him, coughed and said homo at the same time. I located them easily enough.

"What's your power?" another girl asked.

That particular answer was already pre-planned. It was a question I was expecting. "I'm a Geo-kinetic. I can control the earth."

The cough/bullshit thing came again. Mr. Harrington sighed. I let the slightest bit of concentration loose on the metal legs of Rick Masters chair. They folded in half dropping him to the floor. Right after he was sprawled out, I repaired the damage.

The girl that was sitting next to my chair turned around. "Didn't you dorks see her stop a volcano erupting in Japan on Saturday? It was all over the news."

Mr. Harrington stood up. "Okay, that's enough. Show's over. Let's get to work."

When I sat down. The teacher started writing on the white board. A few seconds later the girl next to me passed me a note.

That was her name! Sorry, I never pay attention to people that normally ignore me. I gave her a quick smile of thanks and stashed the note so the teacher wouldn't see.

The same thing happened in my last two classes, but there were some students that were in my Economics class that had already seen the show. They were the ones that asked different question though.

"Do you know Jade?" One boy asked. It was obvious why. He had a geek-crush.

"Yeah. She's become a good friend. Helped me out a lot."

And the other question that a lot of people were wondering about.

"Can you turn other people into metahumans?"

"No. It happened purely by chance. You can get struck by lightening three times in the same year and have better odds than becoming one of us."

It only took a few days for people to stop treating me like I was a caged lion that they could stare at. As strange as it seems, even someone with superpowers in a school full of normal people gets ignored once the hubbub was over.

It was during Civics class on Thursday when my ring grew warm. The bell had just rang. I raised my hand. "Mr. Franklin?"

"Yes, Terra."

I cringed. "Sorry sir. I just got called."

"Cell phones are prohibited in class, Terra. Bring it up front."

"No sir, that's not what I meant. I mean…" The ring almost got hot. "Sorry." Raising my hand up, I said, "Open com. Go ahead Jade."

"Terra," came the voice of my partner in crime, or good rather. "What can you do with oil?"

The students around me were shell-shocked at seeing me talk to my ring and it answering. Even the teacher was slack-jawed.

"Oil?" I looked clueless. "Anyone know what oil's made of?"

"What kind?" Mr. Franklin asked.

"Crude," answered Jade. "Like the kind gushing out of a pipe a mile or more down at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. An oil rig just exploded and I can't handle it all."

"Hydrocarbons, Terra. A mixture of Carbon and Hydrogen." Mr. Franklin confirmed.

I nodded and smiled my thanks. "Carbon. I can do carbon."

"I'm almost there. Get ready. There's already thousands of gallons spilled."

Picking up my backpack, I brought it to the Mr. Franklin. "Can you keep an eye on my this for me. It shouldn't take too long."

I could see his little internal teacher disapproval radar blinking and arguing with his save the whales personality. Guess which one won?"

Turning around I waited for Jade to show. One of the girls looked at me. "What are you doing?"

With a grin, I raised my ring up. "Waiting for my ride. Activate Uniform."

My skirt disappeared and my boots stretched up past my knees. A wolf whistle sounded from the back, and I also heard an "Ay mommie," after that. Then Jade faded into view beside me. I waved. "See you in a little bit, guys."

Being a real girl wasn't awful. It was a lot like being a guy, just different rules and annoyances. It only took two weeks for the first guy to come up and ask me out on a date. No matter how much my gender had changed, my sexual preference had remained the same. Kara is still keeping her distance. I'll get the occasional smile as we pass in the halls, but that was about it. So it was an unrequited love, something that I was very familiar with. It would go away eventually.

In the meantime, I spend each day learning more and more about myself. Jade and I have been working on what we want our team to represent. For right now, we just have to wait to see who else shows up in our lives.

End

Image Credit: Petercotton

Author's Note: Next up is Captain America, or the fem version of him anyway.

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