TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 4

by

Rodford Edmiston

Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.

    "Why does this keep happening to me?" sighed Freddy, picking at her lunch.

    "It wasn't just you, you know," Ramet pointed out, reasonably. He glanced briefly at the unconscious Bl'fff, plastic bouquet laying nearby and carbolloy tray still wrapped around his arachnoid head. Wisely, the alien shapeshifter decided not to try and console Freddy by telling her she looked quite attractive. "It never has been, actually. Karen changed with you two times, and even Miss Furrpect wound up male when she switched with you. Right after you got changed this morning, 3 students getting off the bus were also zapped."

"Yeah, but they weren't riding a bike," groused Freddy. "I almost wiped out. I just wish Doctor Sumt'ang hadn't dismantled the school's Boy/Girl Gun to try and figure out how to improve it. So, I really hope Karen brought her Boy/Girl Gun today. Since this is a Tuesday we don't share any morning classes, and I haven't even seen her yet."

"What's the hurry?" asked Hub, the rhino/whale guy. "You're healthy, and functional..."

"I have football practice after school," sighed Freddy. "Not to mention afternoon gym class."

"Oooh..." said Bl'fff, stirring, "naked girls in the locker room..."

"Like they'd let him in," snickered Karen, walking up to the table and giving Freddy a sisterly hug. "Wow, Freddy; you're looking good today. Did you change your hair?"

"Very funny," muttered the part-time girl. "Did you bring it?"

"Bring what?" Karen replied, innocently.

"The Boy/Girl Gun," sighed Freddy, realizing it was going to be one of those exchanges.

"Right here," said Karen, smiling as she drew the gadget out of her hyperspatial handbag. "Are you sure you want to change back, though? You'd get a lot more dates this way."

"Yes," said Freddy, looking her in the eye, "but not with you."

"Aw, how sweet," said Karen, smiling. "But, you know, I'm not the selfish type. I'm willing to share you with the boys."

  "There's hope!" cried Bl'fff, rising shakily to his eight legs, snatching the bouquet.

Freddy grabbed the carbolloy tray, lifting it from the arachnoid's head to high over her own, then bringing it down with great violence again on Bl'fff's cranium. She even turned it over, so that the previous dent was mostly straightened.

"Do you have to hit him in the same place every time?" asked Hub. "He's getting a soggy spot."

"Now," gasped Freddy, turning back to Karen. "Would you please zap me?"

"Gee, I dunno," she snickered, looking at the arachnoid's twitching limbs. "Seems to me you're a much greater service to huwomanity this way. You're certainly teaching them manners."

Freddy sighed as she realized this called for desperate measures. Lunch was nearly over, and music class was next. She really didn't want to be singing in the soprano section. She sighed again, and looked up pitiably at Karen.

"Please?" asked Freddy, eyes going wide and developing multiple highlights, her lower lip protruding just a bit and trembling slightly.

"AWWWW..." said all within eyeshot, in reflexive response.

"Wow," gasped Karen, "you're really good at that.

"Yeah, well, I learned to do that as a kid. Got me out a lot of trouble, and made my parents do just about whatever I wanted them to. Only I really hate to do it, now that I'm older. Makes me look like a little kid."

"Not when you're a girl, it doesn't," said Ramet, feelingly.

"Okay, you win," sighed Karen, flipping the safety off. "Why the high anxiety about changing back, though?"

"Football practice, among other things," said Freddy, shrugging.

"They already have a couple of girls on the team," said Karen, puzzled.

"Well, yeah, but their uniforms fit," muttered Freddy. "Also, knowing what happens when I tackle them, I don't want the other guys doing that to me."

"And just what happens?" said Karen, voice icy.

Freddy groaned inwardly, knowing she'd done it again.

"Ah, well, you know," she stammered, lying frantically. "Being gentlemen we're always reluctant to tackle a female, and when we do we apologize afterwards. Really slows the play of the game."

"Uh-huh," said Karen, flipping the safety back on and shoving the gun in her purse.

"Karen!" said Freddy, frantically.

"Tell you what," said Karen, sternly. "They're having cheerleader practice after school. You do good at that I'll think about it."

"But... but... but..." sputtered Freddy.

"You do have a very nice one," Karen assured her. "Since there are still two openings for cheerleading, I'm sure they'll be happy to have someone as pretty and athletic as you join them. The time will count, right, since it's still football related? Oh, and you better see the school nurse about a sport bra, or you'll have problems with all that jumping up and down and everything. Since these sniping attacks have been going on she carries bras... and tampons. See you later."

"Argh..." groaned Freddy, sinking down onto her chair, head in hands.

The bell rang.

"You better hurry, if you want to get that bra before class begins," Hub said mildly.

*           *           *

Freddy jumped up and down, shaking her pom-poms, forced smile frozen on her face. She went through the routine perfectly, ending with a leap and a drop into full splits.

"Much better," said Suzy, nodding, "but keep smiling! You made a face there, right at the end."

Well of course I did, thought Freddy. I just shoved my crotch against a hardwood floor.

Something guaranteed to make any human male wince, even if (hopefully) temporarily female.

"Do you want me to try again?" asked Freddy, forcing herself to smile sweetly.

"No, we're just about out of time," Suzy announced. She giggled as the bell sounded. "See?"

"Okay," said Freddy, with relief.

She held back as the other girls herded into their locker room. That was the arrangement Miz Klupper had worked out, after Freddy's first appearance in there had caused a near-riot. Freddy hung miserably by the door, waiting for the female gym teacher to give the all-clear.

It wasn't like Miz Klupper wasn't trying to help. She'd listened patiently while Freddy and Karen explained the problem, the usually-boy being very careful not to make it seem like the latter's fault, even though it was. Miz Klupper had nodded, and told Freddy to wait in the hall until called in. Having one of the cheerleaders teach Freddy the basics after the group warm-up had been Karen's suggestion, Freddy learned after being properly outfitted for the task. Miz Klupper had found a cheerleading outfit which fit Freddy, which she had to wear in gym class, too, since her usual gym clothes didn't fit too well just now. The female coach had even explained Freddy's absence to Coach, though the look he gave Freddy didn't bode well for tomorrow's gym class. Then, while the other girls were doing fun things like playing volleyball and such, Freddy and assistant cheerleading captain Suzy (who didn't seem to understand that Freddy was really a boy and thought she was a new transfer student) went through the drills.

Of course, the arrangement wasn't all bad. Freddy really did not want to engage in sports with other boys just now. Especially since many of them would deliberately tease Freddy about her current gender situation. Some might even try to get fresh, just to annoy her.

As she stood there, waiting her turn, some of the boys looked like they wanted to approach Freddy, either to tease or because they hadn't gotten the word yet and wanted to flirt. However, Freddy had made sure to stand right beside the door to the girls' locker room. Any boy approaching close enough to speak in conversational tones would get fried.

Finally, Miz Klupper opened the door and told Freddy to come in. She obeyed, blushing furiously. The non-cheerleaders had all showered and changed into their civvies and were on the way home. The cheerleaders were in their cheerleading outfits, and almost ready to go out on the field. Freddy didn't need to change, of course, but she did need to attend to other business. Miz Klupper didn't actually come into the stall with Freddy, but she did stay right outside. Ready to offer advice... and to make sure Freddy didn't do anything improper. Freddy resented the implications (it wasn't that hard to pee as a girl, and she wasn't stupid enough to play with herself under these conditions) but decided having an adult present to certify that nothing naughty happened was a good thing.

Shortly thereafter Freddy found herself out beside the football field, with Suzy and Buffy and Bamby and Debbie and several other giggling airheads. Since Freddy was also quite blond she fit right in. Which did nothing for her equanimity.

The practice actually went well. Freddy loved being active, and learning new physical activities. She hadn't previously thought of cheerleading as being particularly challenging, but the routines required stamina, flexibility, agility and even some strength, while performing them with the others was very much a team effort. Towards the end, Freddy was actually starting to enjoy herself. Though that drop into splits was still unnerving.

Then, it happened. By chance or deliberate act, one of the players went out of bounds, heading straight for the cheerleaders. The others, through experience, knew what would happen, and scattered. Freddy turned to look. The guy ran straight into her, and both fell down. As the dazed Freddy regained her senses, she realized two things. The football player was laying on her lower body. He had his head up her short skirt, and his face planted flat against her crotch.

Freddy screamed like a girl (well, yeah...) and began kicking the boy about the head and shoulders. Football players dragged him one way, and cheerleaders dragged Freddy the other.

"Okay, I think that's enough," said Miz Klupper, sympathetically. "Hit the showers."

The still shaken Freddy had enough sense to hang back as the others streamed towards the locker room. However, Suzy grabbed her arm.

"Come on! You need a good, hot shower and some feminine commiseration!"

"Uh, but..."

"Oh, come on," said another of the girls, taking Freddy's other hand. "You behaved during practice, then had... that happen. After that, you're one of us, now!"

Freddy looked appealing at Miz Klupper, but the girls' coach was busy speaking with Coach, and when the chorus of cheerleaders called out to ask if it was all right she just waved them on. Freddy looked for Karen, but she was already down from the bleachers and heading back inside, oblivious to what was happening. Freddy managed a helpless squeal as she was dragged into the gym.

*   *   *

"Are you all right?" Karen asked, suspicion and concern mixing as she saw the dazed smile on Freddy's face.

"Ohhhh, yeah," she replied.

"Well, I guess it's time," she sighed, taking the Boy/Girl Gun out of her purse. "You don't still have the bra on, do you?"

"Huh?" Freddy snapped back to reality. "No, of course not, it's in my gym bag. The nurse said I can keep it, just in case, since there's been so much gender sniping going on."

Actually, she was absent-mindedly pulling the Velcro straps tight when one of the cheerleaders reminded her. However, Freddy wasn't about to tell Karen that.

The change back was actually a bit of a shock, but a much larger relief.

"Whew," Freddy gasped. He smiled in appreciation at her. "Thanks."

"You're not mad at me?"

"Not really," said Freddy, carefully, as they walked towards their bikes. "I got to learn some new athletic skills, and some exercises I might even try as a boy."

"Well, I hope you don't get switched again," she muttered, holstering the Gun. "I think you're beginning to like it."

"Really?" replied Freddy, thinking fast. He put a bit of girlishness in his movements and his voice. "Well, you know, I think it would be wonderful if everybody had a chance to experience life from the other side. Why, it's opened whole new areas of experience for me."

Karen stared at him, not sure if he was kidding. Which was just fine with Freddy.

*           *           *

"More gender sniping?" said Freddy, alarmed, a couple of days later.

"Yeah," said Ramet, "but this time they were going for adults. A few teachers, but mostly parents dropping their kids off."

"There's got to be some way to stop this," muttered Freddy. "This is happening so often I wonder if I'd even notice changing any more."

"I would," Bl'fff volunteered, helpfully.

"There might be a way..." muttered Hub. "Don't know about stopping the sniper or snipers, but I might be able to kludge together some form of protection."

"Now that," said Freddy, feelingly, "would be a genuine contribution to science."

"The problem is that no-one knows how the boy/girl guns work," said Hub, scowling like an irritated statue. "Literally. We can make monkey copies but the original designer is unknown and the operating principles are only vaguely understood."

"You mono-forms are so somacentric," scoffed Ramet. "Freddy, you aren't even old enough to have a solid gender identity, yet."

"Hey, I've been shaving since I was nine!" he protested. "I'm an early bloomer."

"Nine?!" said Ramet.

"Yeah, and I've been noticing - if you know what I mean by 'noticing' - girls since I was eight. Though the girl was fifteen..."

"Ooookay," said Ramet, impressed. "That contradicts what we were taught about mono-forms and gender. Of course, that just means your gender identity is so solid that being switched shouldn't be a threat to your mental image of yourself."

"It isn't," Freddy said, firmly. "It's not being a girl that upsets me. It's being a girl and not being allowed to... y'know..."

Ramet snickered.

"So that's it. You haven't been with a real girl yet, and you're curious."

"Are you saying Karen isn't a real girl," countered Freddy, voice dangerous.

"Uh, no, not at all," was Ramet's hasty retraction. "I just meant... she's too much of a lady to have let you... uh, y'know."

"Oh," said Freddy, relenting. "Well, you're right about that. Anyone who says otherwise will answer to me! Got it?"

"Got it," all those present enthusiastically chorused.

End Part Four

Next time: Everybody but Freddy changes! :-)