Switcheroo Issue 3

By Melanie E.

Louis wakes up to find his whole world has changed, again.

---

Chapter 9
Prehistory

I stood at the front of the classroom, nervously clutching my report in my hands as I waited my turn to give my presentation. I was next to last in line to speak, and I stared out at the rest of the class who had already finished, wondering what they were thinking and hoping that nobody would laugh at me.

"...And that is why I want to be a doctor when I grow up."

Everybody clapped as Lillian finished her report and returned to her seat, happy with her reception.

"Louis Phelps, it is your turn. Please take the podium."

I felt the sweat begin to pour as I crossed the short distance to the worn-out podium at the front of the room. My hands shook as I placed my report before me on the stand and cast my eyes around the room. Mrs. Hanson's fourth grade class stared back at me, most of them disinterestedly, but a few sniggered as they noticed my discomfort.

I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. I didn't need to open the report to give my presentation -- I already had it memorized.

As clearly as I could, I said, "When I grow up, I want to be a superhero."

-

"There's a lot of blood, doctor."

"I know. It's bad, he's lucky the bullet bounced off his skull, but even with that a shot like he took would have killed most people, regenerative capabilities or not."

The pain in my head was tremendous, even trying to open my eyes sending tendrils of electricity shooting through me.

"Doctor, he's trying to wake up!"

"Damn! He's developing a tolerance to the anesthesia faster than I expected. Nurse, increase the dose to..."

-

I heard my mom shriek in terror as the building before us began to shudder, windows breaking and cars slamming into one another, but I could only watch raptly as the hero Warhammer brought his namesake down in an arc, generating one of his trademark waves of force that pushed the falling rubble back and away from the civilians surrounding him, cowering in terror. Efreet was getting away, but Warhammer had no choice -- it was either save the civilians, or catch the enemy.

"Louis, get back here! It's not safe to be that close!"

I ignored her warning, too fascinated by watching Warhammer using his powers to control the building's collapse, directing wave after wave of force with his hammer to keep the collateral damage to a minimum.

I might have only been fourteen, but there was nothing I wouldn't do for the chance to be a hero.

-

The incessant beeping was the first thing to penetrate my consciousness, followed shortly by the feeling of pressure on my head. I groaned as I tried to feel what was pressing on me, only to follow it up with a hiss as I felt the needles pulling on my hand.

"Shhh, don't try to move. You're going to be fine. The doctors managed to get all the fragments out of your face and repair most of the damage, but you're still pretty chewed up."

I recognized that voice. "Dia?"

"It's okay. I'll summon a nurse if you want, or I can administer some painkillers myself since the medical systems are part of my network. Is there anything you need?"

"Sleep," I mumbled as I felt myself slip back into unconsciousness.

-

I fought back the tears, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of knowing how much they had hurt me. Not that they could see me, up in my room away from them all, but the red eyes would be a dead giveaway when I had to go back down later, and only add fuel to their anger.

I ignored the knocking at my door the first and second times she came by, but the third time I finally gave in. "Come in."

Lesli opened the door slowly, like she was worried I would lash out at her when she came in. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, not bothering to turn over to look at the door, or her. I didn't want to move from my spot on my bed, and the wall was much safer to stare at.

"I'm sorry Mom and Dad are mad at you." When I said nothing, she continued. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Be stupider," I wanted to say to her, but I knew it wasn't her fault. "Nothing," I said instead, still not turning over.

"Alright, I'll leave you alone, then." I could hear the disappointment in her voice, but if I looked at her I would cry, and I couldn't allow that. I heard her move something on my desk, and then the door closing as she left.

Once she was gone, I forced myself to sit up. On my desk was a box wrapped in newspaper, with a note that said "From Lesli." At first I refused to open it, but it wasn't long before my curiosity got the better of me and I carefully undid the paper.

Inside was an Iron Maiden tee shirt. No, not the band, the heroine, standing strong and proud with the MDSPF logo behind her in crimson, and across the bottom her signature in permanent marker. It was the tee shirt that Lesli had won in the scholarship speech contest, the same contest my mom and dad had been pressuring me to enter. I had refused, public speaking still scaring the living daylights out of me, but Lesli had had no such problem. Besides being presented with the scholarship by Iron Maiden herself, Lesli had also been given the tee shirt I now held.

When Mom and Dad had found out Lesli had won, they were ecstatic, showering praise on her. When they were done, though, is when they had turned on me, berating me for not entering and going on about how I would never make anything of my life if I didn't apply myself like Lesli did. Perfect little Lesli.

Yet I couldn't be mad at her. After all, I had helped her write the speech that had won the scholarship for her, not that my mom or dad wanted to hear that. Lesli was a great little sister, they were the ones with the problem.

I looked down at the tee shirt in my hands again, and something inside finally snapped, the tears that had been fighting their way to the surface falling freely.

-

"Come on, sleepyhead, time to get up."

The light stung as I eased my eyes open, the bright reflective white of the walls and ceiling only making the effect that much worse. Finally, after what felt like ages, my eyes began to adjust, at the same time as what had happened came rushing back.

"So, Doc, will I ever be able to model again?"

"You always had a face made for radio, so anything would be an improvement I'd think," Dia said, a teasing tone in her voice.

"Dia, now's not the time," I heard Mr. Stone say as his face swam into view above me. "We were worried about you."

I smiled. "Thanks. So what's the damage?"

"It's not too bad. Since you're still undergoing the body changes associated with acquiring your powers Doctor Blade said he doubts it will even scar, though you might not like some of the side effects much."

I sighed. "Can I see?"

"Do you think you can stand up?" He asked.

I gave my arms and legs an experimental flex, and nodded. "I think so."

He held out his hand, and using it I pulled myself into a sitting position, taking a break to let the momentary dizziness pass before swinging my legs off the bed and standing up with surprisingly little trouble.

"So how long was I out?"

Mr. Stone grimaced. "Almost a week."

"A WEEK!"

He nodded. "For a face wound like you had? Even for a Superhuman, a week is amazing recovery time. All the Switcheroos have always had good regenerative powers, but it seems that the extended time it is taking your body to adapt has given yours an extra boost."

I felt a twinge as my dreams, memories of past times, came back to the forefront of my mind. "Lesli must have been... really badly hurt, to have died, wasn't she?"

Mr. Stone hesitated before answering, staring at the floor, but when he looked up into my eyes I could see legitimate sorrow there. "I didn't want to tell you before, but now that we have found out Weaver was responsible there's no reason not to. I managed to track down your sister's autopsy reports -- please, don't ask how since I can't tell you, and even I'm not supposed to have that level of government clearance. Beyond her injuries, she had also been poisoned. One or the other she could have survived, but the two combined was too much for her regenerative powers to handle. The particular poison involved was specifically engineered to counter her immune system, indicating to us that someone on the inside had been involved for the enemy to be able to get that kind of information. I swear to you, we had no idea it was Weaver until you brought in the hard drive though."

I looked at Mr. Stone, and for the first time I realized how old he truly was. Mr. Stone, as the hero Martial, had been in the business since the early seventies, and had taken over as the director of the local MDSPF almost twenty years ago. Despite that, under the years of bureaucracy and working with the system there still beat the heart of the hero he had been, and I could see how much his impotence was hurting him.

I led the way to the small bathroom in my hospital room, clutching my robe closed behind me as I walked. Just walking told me a number of things about what changes had occurred, but I tried to ignore them until I had a chance to see it all at once.

Looking in the floor-length mirror in the bathroom, though, what I saw was more of a shock than I had expected.

"My god...."

-

Chapter 10
No Going Home

I knocked on the door for a second time, hoping someone would answer soon. It was an uncomfortable feeling, standing outside my own front door waiting for what I knew would be a train wreck of a meeting, but I had no choice. Not after what I had gone through.

This superhero stuff could be a real bitch.

"Coming," I heard my mom yell through the door as I prepared to knock again, only to have the door swung open seconds later. "What do you..."

I looked down at the shock and pain on my mom's face and felt something twist inside me. I fought it down, though, and looked her in the eyes. "I just came to let you know I was alive."

"Lesli?"

I sighed. "No, Mom, it's me, Louis."

She looked between me and Mr. Stone, her eyes registering confusion. "We were told there was an accident at work, you were alive but they wouldn't let us see you... what's going on?"

"Mom, it's hard to explain. Can we come in?"

"Honey, who's here?" My dad called, walking into the room even as Mom waved us to the couch.

My parents settled into the two seats across from the couch while Mr. Stone and I sat side by side. I placed as little weight on the couch as I could, still afraid that its creaking under Mr. Stone was a sign of imminent collapse.

"Louis, what happened to you?"

I looked at the ground. I couldn't stand to see the pain on my mom's face any more. "Mom, you remember when we were holding Lesli? The day she... the day she died?" I looked up to see her nodding wordlessly. "I didn't know it at the time, but when she died she gave me her powers."

"What do you mean?"

"Mom. Dad. I'm the new Switcheroo."

Neither one of them said a word for what felt like forever, but when one of them finally came around it was my father, who burst into derisive laughter. "You can't be serious? Switcheroo's always a girl, I don't think a guy can even have the powers. Not that looking at you you'd be able to tell."

I looked up into his glaring face, and something in me snapped. "Well you're right about that, Dad. The powers are changing me so I look more like the Switcheroos who came before me. That's the trade off, that to be able to use the powers I've gotta be a girl." I could hear my voice rising, partially in anger and partially to be heard over my mother's mounting sobs, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. "It's not like I asked for this, alright?"

I wanted to feel sorry for my parents, but seeing them like this, my father growing red-faced with anger while my mother cried, not for me, but for the loss of her daughter, I felt nothing but outrage. When my mother would look at me, I could see the blame in her eyes. I had Lesli's powers. By taking them, I had condemned her daughter to death. I knew it was a lie, but I also knew there was no way I would ever convince her otherwise.

No tears fell from my eyes as I stood up, and while trying to ignore the shouts from my father walked to my room to gather the few things I wanted to take with me.

"--ungrateful little bastard, after all we've done for you. How DARE you come into my house looking like some sissy and tell us you're a superhero? You were never the person Lesli was, and now--"

I spun around and roared, stopping my father in his tracks. "You're RIGHT, Dad, I was never the person Lesli was. I was ME! And you two hated me. I loved Lesli, but from the moment she was able to talk all I ever got from you two was lecturing on why she was better than me. You know what? I just woke up from being shot in the HEAD, and you don't even ask if I'm alright? Fuck you."

It only took me a few moments to load a duffel bag with the things I wanted to take with me, mostly photographs and a few mementos. I left all of my old clothes -- none of it would fit me for much longer anyhow, but that was something I didn't want to think about at the moment. With that bag over one shoulder and my laptop case over the other, I scribbled a quick note for Lucas and slid it under his door before trudging back through the living room and out the door, Mr. Stone close behind me.

We were halfway down the stares before either of us said a word.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Stone said, resting his hand on my shoulder. The force caused me to have to lock my knees just to keep from collapsing.

"Fuck them. I've dealt with that shit all my life, I'm sure as hell not putting up with it now."

"Maybe they'll come around eventually, give them time."

I shook my head. "No. Lucas knows how to get in contact with me, if they want to apologize they can do it through him. But I'm not going to be the one who makes the effort to fix this. They're the ones with the problem, not me, so they're the ones who will have to change."

Mr. Stone smiled as he looked down at me. "You really are more like your sister than you think. She could be just as bull-headed when she believed in something."

"Yeah, well, Lesli was special. My parents were right about one thing, I'll never be able to live up to her as Switcheroo, but I'm damned sure going to do my best."

He nodded, still smiling. "And you'll do fine. Come on, I called ahead while you were packing to make sure Dia had your room set up before we got back. I had been hoping we wouldn't have to use it."

I shrugged the duffel and laptop into better positions on my shoulders and continued my way down, fighting back my tears the best I could. "Honestly? So was I."

-

TO BE CONTINUED

NOTES: Sorry this one took so long to get out! I'll try to have the next chapter up sooner, and I promise it'll be back to action and adventure and hitting things :P

No, Louis and Mr. Stone don't mention any specifics about where his appearance is at at the moment. Yes, it will be covered in the next issue. Thank you.