Switcheroo
Issue Four

By Melanie E.

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Chapter 11
Changes

My eyes stung from the sweat streaming down my face, but I wasn't about to let that stop me. One, two, one, two, punch, kick, punch, punch, groin shot, roundhouse, repeat. The workout helped to take my mind off of my situation, as well as burn off some of my excess energy -- something that I seemed to have in spades, now that my transformation was slowing down.

I heard the door buzz, indicating someone else had entered the base's training facilities, but I ignored it as I continued administering my beating to the punching bag before me, fighting the urge to morph into my bear or lioness form and tear the thing to shreds.

Unfortunately my peace wasn't to last, as Roland circled around behind the bag and braced it against my strikes.

"How's the training going?"

"Good. Getting better control. Less tired after changing." I punctuated my short sentences with strikes to the bag, seeing how far I could slide him. Being a super, he was quite stout, and my shots to the bag barely caused any visible reaction.

"And the changes?"

I shot him a glare. "Don't wanna talk about it. Maybe later." Punch, kick, punch.

Roland was one of the three members of the team I had gotten to know the least. Nate -- Armory -- avoided me because of his relationship with my sister, though I'd be damned if I knew why that mattered, and Tag, well, nobody really knew all that much about her. Roland, on the other hand, just never seemed to be around. As Bard, he was known for his mysterious vanishing and reappearing act, as well as his showmanship, but as a person all I had been able to tell about him so far was that he was really into folklore, and had an on-again off-again relationship going with Jami that seemed like a match made in spooky heaven.

"You've been in here for four hours."

"I know."

"Stone's getting worried."

"I'm fine."

"So's Jami," he said with a significant look.

"I'm fine. Really."

He nodded, and held the bag in silence for a few minutes.

"Is this about the bra thing?"

That stopped me cold.

"Well?"

"No."

"You're a terrible liar."

"Shut up."

The punching bag didn't hold any interest for me any more, and I was sure he would follow me no matter what piece of equipment I moved on to, so I decided to take advantage of his presence and headed for the free weights in the corner of the room. I was up to two hundred pounds, which was damn good for my size, but I was finding myself having to work harder at it than ever before.

"Spot me."

"No."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself." I bent down to pick up the weight, only to find him standing before me, his foot holding the barbell in place. I gave him a cold stare. "Move it or lose it."

"You won't hurt a team mate. That's not like you."

"How would you know? This is the most you've spoken to me since I started here."

"Jami likes you. She doesn't like assholes."

I snorted. "So you're the exception?"

He grinned. "Sometimes."

He was right, though. As angry as I was, as frustrated as I felt, I wasn't about to strike one of my team mates without a really good reason.

I sighed. "So why didn't she come down here to stop me herself? Why'd she send you?"

Roland grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. "She doesn't know I'm here."

"Okay. Then why are you here?"

"For the reasons I gave you." I glared at him some more. "Aaaand because your being upset is upsetting her."

"Hah! Why would it be doing that?"

"I can answer that one," Dia said from the speakers above me. "Many of the spirits that communicate with Totem on a daily basis are highly sensitive to emotional states, and can pass the discomfort they feel from negative emotions on to her."

"So you're saying my bad mood's giving her the heebie jeebies?"

"In a way."

With a defeated growl I crossed the room and plopped myself down on the edge of the sparring platform, wrapping my arms in the ropes. "Fine, then. Lay it on me. Make me feel better."

Roland smiled, a far more pleasant affair than the serious expression he usually wore in debriefings and on missions. He sat down next to me on the platform, but said nothing.

"Well?"

He shrugged. "You're the one who needs to talk, not me."

I grunted. "If I wanted to talk I'd have done it with Jami herself. Or Dia."

There was a telltale whirr, and less than a second later Dia stood before me, complete with workout clothes. With a snap of her fingers a chair formed behind her and she sat down. "Deal. Now talk."

I looked at the two of them. Then I looked at the door.

"Nah ah," Dia said. "Not 'til you've talked."

I had to laugh. "About what? About turning into a girl? About losing my family because of it? About knowing who killed my sister, and not being able to do a damn thing about it? WHAT," I screamed, feeling the anger building, "do you want me to TALK about, exactly?!"

"You haven't turned into a girl yet," Dia said, giving me a small smile.

I didn't return it.

"No, you're right, I haven't. Instead I'm stuck as THIS," I said, standing up and gesturing down my body.

A lot had changed in the week since I had left my parents. Mr. Stone had been right, the gunshot had done something to speed my transformation to the point that anyone looking at me would no longer doubt what they saw. My waist had shrunk down, at the same time as my face had softened. Most of my body hair had disappeared and what little was still there had morphed into the same golden blonde color as my hair, which had taken on a life of its own. My chest now sported a very obvious if not overly large set of breasts. Even my voice had completely changed. In fact, the only thing about me that still reminded of me was, well, reminding me less and less every day.

But none of that compared to the biggest problem. Turning into a girl wouldn't have been so bad, if it wasn't what girl I was turning into.

Roland nodded. "You're looking more and more like your sister every day."

"I KNOW!" I screamed, feeling the dam burst. "I know and I HATE IT! SHE, I, I can't... I can't..."

"What?"

"I CAN'T BE HER!"

Roland stood up and placed his hand on my shoulder gently. I tried to knock it away, but his grip only tightened slightly, my strike doing more to move me than him.

"No one expects you to."

"You ALL do!" I cried -- yes, cried. "Everyone always has! And now I'm even supposed to LOOK like her? I can't be me? How is this fair!" I slid to my knees, and Roland lowered himself with me, holding me stable.

Once I was no longer falling over, he looked at me and shook his head.

Dia crouched next to me, a sad expression on her face. "It's not fair, but none of us can change what's happening to you." She placed her hand on my forehead. I couldn't feel the actual contact, but where her hand touched me I felt a strange tingling sensation. "Your hormones are all over the place right now, Lou. Do you know what that means?"

I sniffled, feeling like a complete waste as I sat on the floor in tears. "No."

She gave me a serious look. "It means that your emotions are going to be all over the place too."

I laughed again, a humorless, cold sound. "So you're saying even my emotions are being turned into those of a girl?"

Roland turned to Dia. "I'm gonna go get Jami, okay?" Dia nodded, and he left, leaving me there alone with her.

"You gonna leave too?"

"Not on your life," she said, with a small smile. "Friends don't abandon friends when they need them." We were both quiet for a moment, before Dia asked me softly, "Is it really so bad?"

"What?"

"The changes in your body. Why are you letting it hurt you so?"

"My body is... it's part of who I am."

She looked confused. "Why?"

"Well... you know."

She shook her head. "Not really, no."

Before I could try to explain further Jami, in full Totem garb, came in, Roland in tow.

"Are you okay?"

I sniffled again. "Yeah, I'll be alright."

"Good," she said, stepping forward and giving me a hug. "I'm sorry about him. If I had known he would be such an idiot-"

"-hey!"

"-I wouldn't have told him about how I felt."

"No, it's okay," I said, stepping back to see her face. "He was just trying to help."

She frowned, and turned to him. "That's not how you go about it with girls! Or people who are turning into them," she said, giving me an apologetic glance.

While they stood there, warming up to an argument of their own, I waved to Dia before stepping around them and out the door.

-

NOTES:

Alright, so this is my first posting using the experimental single-chapter setup. Questions, concerns?

Come on, people, comment! It was kinda empty here last chapter, ya know? :P