Author's Note: Since villains are mostly portrayed in two dimensions, I thought it might be nice to have one fleshed out for your reading pleasure. This is a villain's story. It does not have a happy ending. The main character is not going to be a fluffy person, but I won't be overly gross or cruel with his/her portrayal. It's just meant to show how an average person can become evil with a little push in the wrong direction. Kudos to djkauf for betaing this for me. Pic Credit: Darth Hell. Star Wars and recognizable characters from that universe belong to George Lucas et al. This chapter is a tad bit lighter, well, not at the beginning, bit still.

Chapter Five

The difference in attitude was polar opposites. Where male Jesse was submissive and emo, female Jessie glowed with excitement and passion. It was annoying as hell.

“Quit dancing around without a shirt, dammit!”

She stopped her bouncing and grinned. “Yes, mistress.”

“And don’t call me mistress. I’m not wearing any leather and I’m not carrying a whip.”

There was a sparkle in her eyes that told me she wouldn’t mind so much if I were. “But you’re a Jedi Mistress aren’t you? A Sith wouldn’t care enough to heal me.”

I frowned, and tossed her a tank top. “Put that on. You’re creeping me out. And female Jedi are called Master as well, not mistress. All that aside, I’m not a Jedi.”

The tank barely fit. She was a lot more gifted in the breast region than I was. Maybe it was all the pills she was taking. Jesse exuded sex and femininity. I couldn’t believe her proportions.

“But… you used the Force. I felt it.”

I pointed at her. “You’ll keep that a secret. Do you hear me?”

She nodded quickly, with a smile.

“Only three people know about that and two of them are my parents. If it gets out…”

Jesse made a cross over where she thought her heart should be.

“It’s on the other side.”

“What?”

“Your heart, and two livers,” I said.

During the transition, I felt everything about her that changed. Her internal organs shifted and the picture I got in my head, during the process, wasn’t pretty.

Pointing at the chair I said, “Sit. We need to talk.”

She bounced over and dropped down, crossing her legs all ladylike. I rolled my eyes.

“You’re different now, Jesse.”

“Can I change my name?”

“What?”

“My name. Jesse can be a girl’s name too, but I want one more exotic.”

“I don’t care. It’s your name, do whatever you want,” I said. “Anyway, you’re a Zeltron. I know it’s not what you wanted, but…”

“Lyshaa.”

“What?”

“My name; I want it to be Lyshaa.”

I licked my lips and tried to keep my temper under control. “Fine, now quit talking and pay attention.”

“Yes, Master.”

After I sighed, I crossed my arms. “You have to be very careful with what you do. Zeltrons have control over their pheromones, the ones that are associated with sex, specifically. If you start seducing people left and right, they’re going to lock you up. Pick someone and don’t be fickle.”

I tried to recall everything I was taught about Zeltrons that differed a lot from normal people.

“Look, just try to act normal, please, and if anyone asks you how you changed, you were nowhere near me when it happened. Understand?”

She nodded with a grin. “Uh-huh.”

“In fact, you don’t know me.”

She pouted at that. “But…”

“After you get your visit from whoever is in authority, then you can know me; not before. I don’t want them to think I can just lay hands on someone and change them.”

“That’s what you did for me; isn’t it?”

I deflated. “I tried healing you Jess… Lyshaa. I have no idea how that happened. If people think I can do that, can you imagine what my life would be like?”

She shrugged. “I guess.”

As we were talking, Lyshaa was rubbing her hands over her body. It wasn’t really obvious, but I noticed all the same.

“Contact me after you get settled with the authorities, okay?”

I received another nod after that and she looked at the stairs. “Should I go now?”

Holding out a hand at the stairs, I nodded. “Don’t forget your tee shirt. I don’t need my mom thinking I’ve had boys down here undressed.”

She giggled and then giggled again after she heard herself giggle the first time. Bouncing up, she grabbed the tee shirt off the floor and bounced over to hug me.

Lyshaa hadn’t gained any height during her change, but she made that up and more in every other area. Her breasts squeezed against mine as she reached up and kissed my cheek.

“Anything you want. I’ll do it. Anything,” she said. “You made my dreams come true, Master.”

“Quit calling me master. I’m not a Jedi.”

~O~

It took me about thirty minutes to do my homework, and then I pulled out the GH and updated the Yoda-Gatekeeper on current events.

“Curious, the Healing Force is. Work that way it should not.”

“What I wouldn’t give for some Jedi equipment that is actually useful.”

The Muppet face looked up at me. “All current technology is stored in the Great Holocron.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “But where am I going to get the parts to actually build anything? They don’t have a Jedi-R-Us on every corner here on Earth.”

“Mmm, perhaps you should look somewhere other than Earth.”

Peering down at Yoda, I frowned. “You’re not the most helpful program in the universe, you know? I’d need a ship to travel to other planets to get supplies to build a ship, but I can’t do that because I don’t have ship. Savvy?”

“Trust in the Force you should.”

“Uh, yeah, thanks. I’ll do that.”

With that bit of lame advice I shut the GH down and began my meditation exercises.

Shortly after seven that night the doorbell rang. Mom looked at me.

“Are you expecting anyone tonight?”

I shook my head. She got up and peered through the peep hole then back at me. “Do you know someone with blue hair and pink skin?”

With closed eyes, I groaned. “I’ll get it.”

A few seconds later and I was staring at a weepy-eyed Lyshaa with a backpack in her hands and a lower lip that dealt an agonizing death by pouting.

“My dad kicked me out,” she said.

I sighed and felt a migraine coming on. If you think you’ve had a migraine before with your puny human-sized head, imagine how I felt.

“Come in.”

Dad was in his study doing dad-stuff. That left Mom and me to do the consoling job on the newest person in my life.

Once Mom got the low down on what happened earlier, an abridged version of me trying to heal Jesse, and Jesse turning into Lyshaa, it didn’t take her long to offer up our house as shelter. Believe me, I gave her all sorts of looks over Lyshaa’s shoulder, but my mother had a soft and caring heart… unlike mine.

Since she was my friend Lyshaa got to stay with me in the basement. I suggested my sister’s room since she was off at college, but Mom wouldn’t have it. I caused the mess, now I had to deal with the fallout. It didn’t matter that it was an accident and the whole thing was Jesse’s fault in the first place for stalking me.

When Mom finally laid down the law, I gave up and went downstairs.

Lyshaa was sitting on the edge of the bed looking sorry for herself.

“This is the best and worst day of my life,” she said.

I went over and sat down on the camp chair. “Do you have any money of your own or a job?”

She shrugged. “I’ve got about fifteen hundred in the bank, but I’m supposed to be saving for college.”

Chewing on the side of my cheek prevented me from saying something that would make things worse. Instead, I thought of a more diplomatic way of stating things. “Fifteen hundred really won’t go very far, maybe a semester at community college if you’re lucky.”

Lyshaa looked up at me. “Dad set up a trust fund from my mom’s insurance when she died. It was supposed to pay for that. The bank account money is for spending cash.”

“Ah.”

“Except he took that away, too.”

My eyes narrowed. “Hold on. He took your college money away?”

She nodded pathetically. “I’m a crime against nature or something. Ever since he found out about me carrying the metagene he’s been distant, treating me different. I thought it was because he thought I was gay, but when he showed up tonight and saw me…”

I rolled my tongue over my teeth. I really hated people that did shit like this. Holding my hand up, I called over a tablet and a pencil. Lyshaa looked at what I did and her mouth opened.

When I handed them over to her I said, “Not counting everything in your room, I want you to write down anything that was yours, like the trust fund.”

She started scribbling away while I changed clothes. I was going for an intimidating look here so everything was in black, from my sports tights to a tank top, to my knee boots. Lyshaa peeked out at me every once in a while, but she was more gifted than me in a lot of areas, so I let it slide.

Lyshaa was still in the same clothes she left in earlier, which reminded me of the last thing Jesse did before the change. Eww.

I let her borrow a pair of my tights which she stretched to the limits with her wide hips and generous butt. There wasn’t a bra in the house that would fit her so she’d be showing off a little there. Oddly enough, her shoes still fit.

After she finished changing and I looked over the very small list, I got up.

“Let’s go.”

She was right behind me, almost eager again. “Where are we going?”

“To see your father about some restitution.”

~O~

I felt ridiculous in the Ford Festiva. There wasn’t enough head space and every bump we hit squished my lekku.

“Who all is at your house?”

“Just Dad. My sisters have work until ten.”

I nodded to myself. “Good.”

It took us about five minutes to find the house and pull into the driveway.

I looked at the big two story house. “I guess being a geneticist pays well.”

“He owns a medium-sized company. You’ve heard of RNAtional?”

I nodded. “That’s him?”

“Yeah.”

Looking over at the front porch, I saw one of the curtains move and I knew we’d been spotted.

“Look, what I’m going to do might not be pleasant. You want to wait here?”

She shook her head. “I need to get some stuff from my room.”

“Okay. After we get inside then go straight there, hopefully I’ll be finished by the time you’re through.”

Lyshaa reached out and fell short of grabbing my arm. “You’re not going to hurt him are you?”

I pursed my lips. “Not permanently.” I’m trying not to be evil.

She looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded.

Twilight had come and most everyone was already off the streets, at least in the general area. I led the way to the front door. Lyshaa was close behind.

When I rang the bell, it didn’t take all of two seconds for the door to open and for me to stare down the twin barrels of a shotgun. Instinctively, I threw my hand out and Force Pushed Lyshaa’s dad across the room. He slammed into the wall and split the sheetrock where he hit.

“Go, Lyshaa.”

She swallowed, looked at her father, and the fallen shotgun before running off upstairs.

I crossed the floor and listened to the early forty-something man groan.

“Get up.”

Lifting the shotgun with the use of the Force, I split it at the break and threw the shells across the room before letting the weapon fall to the floor again.

He looked daggers at me. “You won’t get away with this,” he said as he rubbed at his head.

I concentrated my gaze at his. “You’ll sit in that chair there and open your laptop.”

He fought me for a few moments, but eventually his eyes glazed over and he did as I said.

“Access Jesse’s trust fund and transfer the entire contents to his savings account.”

His fingers trembled. At that moment it was a battle of wills. Only the strong-willed could fight Jedi Mind Tricks. Apparently Lyshaa’s dad was a stubborn bastard.

“Do it now.”

His fingers flew across the keyboard and mousepad. Then he stopped. I looked at the transaction and nodded. “Transfer a third of your company’s stocks that you own into Jesse’s name. Do it now.”

He really fought me for that one. Lyshaa didn’t list that as one of her three things that were hers, but frankly the guy pissed me off and I wanted her to get what was coming to her in the event of dear old dad’s death. Her sisters still had their shares available so I didn’t feel the least bit Sith’ish in doing so.

“Now, transfer one third of your personal savings into her account.”

That was for pointing a loaded weapon in my face. Believe me, he was getting off easy. Pointing a deadly weapon in a minor’s face is a felony in Texas. He was lucky I didn’t have him confess to the police and wind up in prison getting reamed by his cellmate on a nightly basis.

I had him head to his personal safe afterward and remove the personal items Lyshaa wanted. When I checked inside, I whistled. “Someone’s not reporting everything to the IRS. What do you have in here? Go sit at your desk.”

He did as he was told with minimal fighting. I guess he finally gave up. I rifled through the contents of the safe, without touching anything. The money went into a handbag sitting beside his desk. I emptied the contents first though. I wasn’t a petty thief after all.

“This should pay for Jesse’s new wardrobe nicely. We want her to have the best after all the crap you’ve put her through.”

“Aayla?” Lyshaa’s voce came from down the hall.

“In here, honey.”

Her head peeked around the corner and she saw the safe open. “What are you doing?” she asked curiously.

I smiled brightly at her. “Your dad here wanted you to have something to buy some new clothes. I thought it was really thoughtful.”

Floating the bag over to her, she looked inside and nearly choked then looked up at her dad.

“What’s wrong with him?”

I shut the safe and closed the picture it was behind. “He’s kind of in a daze at the moment, regretting everything that he’s done.”

When I got behind him, I held out my hand above his head. “Everything you’ve done tonight, you’ll remember doing of your own free will. You’ve never seen me before. Go to sleep.”

His head hit the desk with a thump.

“Let’s go.”

She looked at her dad and frowned, but followed me back through the house and to her car.

“Let’s go get you a few things to wear, Lyshaa. You can go shopping for everything else tomorrow.”

~O~

One thing about the basement: in the mornings it’s cold. I don’t know if it’s the whole underground thing or what, but when I go to sleep at night it’s cool, and when I wake up in the morning everything is brisk and chilly.

That morning everything was very warm and dare I say snuggly. With the addition of the lekku to my body, I rarely sleep on my back anymore, so it was no surprise to find myself on my right side with my arm wrapped around the thing that was giving off such warmth. Lyshaa.

We were spooned together, our legs intertwined, my left arm wrapped around her waist and bent upward, and my hand firmly grasping her generous breast. I would have immediately pulled away, but one of her hands was covering mine while the other held my arm in place.

The quick trip to the mall the previous night included a stop at Victoria’s Secret where Lyshaa bought her underwear and something to sleep in. Everything had to be the most ultra-feminine things she could find. There was no cotton harmed in the making of her underthings, but several silkworms apparently had been mugged.

That’s what made the thing so unbearable. Her whole torso was slippery and warm and that translated into thoughts of sex in my head. I still liked girls very much and having one in my bed, especially one as gifted as Lyshaa was beyond temptation.

The alarm took that moment to go off and she tensed, tightly. Since my hands were otherwise occupied, I used the Force to turn it off.

I heard her breath escape her mouth as she relaxed and push back a little into my embrace.

“Can we stay here like this?” she said with a much more subdued voice than she had the night previous.

“I have school and you have shopping, and you have to see official type people. Can I have my hand back?”

She gave me a minor groan and squeezed it which in turn made me squeeze her breast, before she let go. I quickly rolled out of bed and grabbed a change of clothes.

The shower was heavenly that morning. Maybe it was the good night’s sleep I received. I definitely wasn’t chalking it up to being with Lyshaa. I mean seriously, she was Jesse in a different body. The same person that stalked me was lying in my bed, probably doing things that will make me change the sheets when I got home after school.

I pulled on my jeans and frowned when I realized that I’d grabbed the Capri’s by mistake. They were denim blue and the blouse I put on was shiny blue. Sorry I’m not a color wheel. I have to look everything up on the internet in order to find out what weird names they give to colors.

All I know is that it was the brightest blue I had tried since the change. It definitely showed me off and contrasted with the red of my skin. I adjusted the new bra — I’m still doing that to all of them that I haven’t had a chance to wear — and made my way back downstairs.

Yep, I was right; I’d have to change the sheets. The room smelled of sex, and let me tell you it was powerful. I swayed about halfway down the stairs and got my bearings.

Zeltron pheromones could have an effect on me if I let them, but I had a stronger will than that, not to mention the training to counter their effects on my body chemistry.

Lyshaa was on the bed, with the covers only hiding the bottom half of the body. The look on her face was comical. Her eyes were wide and there was a goofy smile present.

“Can you not do that until we can get you a bed of your own?”

“Sorry.”

She wasn’t sorry in the least.

“I said you need to keep your pheromones under control too. It smells like a bordello and a chocolate factory exploded in here.”

“Sorry. I’ll try harder.”

There was nothing to be done at that point until the air conditioner filtered out the worst of the smell.

“You look nice. I like that color on you,” she said.

I started looking for a pair of cross trainers I knew Mom had bought me.

“Whatcha looking for,” Lyshaa said as she snuck up behind me.

“Shoes.”

She pointed. “Those sandals go with that outfit.”

I saw the things that she pointed out. They were flat sandals with three thin straps, one going down the middle and two others crossing it, with an ankle strap and a tiny bit of leather at the heel.

“My feet will freeze at school.”

“That’s the shoes that will go with that outfit.” She said it like I was slow or something.

I grumbled and grabbed them. After I put them on I looked down. Yeah, they looked good, but I was questioning my ability to ride my bike with so much skin available. I had a tendency to crash my bike a lot. I didn’t really want to lose a toe.

“You’ll need to drive me to school. Get dressed.”

She smiled and eagerly ran to the drawers I set aside for her use while she was here.

I had no idea what I was going to do with her. My basement had to be a port in the storm. Maybe I could help her find an apartment or something that she could rent.

Before I knew it, Lyshaa was dressed in a skimpy neon green and blue pair of stretchy shorts and crop top that showed massive amounts of cleavage. She was brushing out her hair when I saw her eyes in the mirror.

“Do I have time to put on some makeup?”

“No. You just have to drop me off, Lyshaa. You can come back and pretty yourself up to your heart’s content after.”

She beamed a smile at me. “You think I’m pretty?”

I rolled my eyes. “Can we go now?”

Lyshaa grabbed her purse which she had happily filled the night before with just about everything known to man inside. I shook my head at how fast she had taken to being a girl. It was like she was one all along and only blossomed when given the body to be herself.

Not that I had anything against the trans-people or anything. I just really didn’t give a crap about anyone outside my sphere of sociality. Let them do what they want to do, and let me do what I want to do. However, fate had introduced one of them into my sphere and I felt I had to understand them for some unknown reason.

The entire way to the school, Lyshaa was sorting through her CD collection and tossing the emo stuff into the back seat until she found her Katy Perry CD. Apparently, having her wish come true meant a positive bubbly change in attitude. Thankfully, she kept the volume down below ear-bleeding levels, but she smiled and danced in her seat for the remained of the ride.

When she stopped the car in front of the school, she turned the volume all the way down.

“You want me to pick you up after?”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

She reached out and set her hand on my forearm. “Like I said before; anything you want, anything.”

With a sigh I said, “Lyshaa, you aren’t my slave or anything. I’m glad I could help and all. You don’t have to pay me back like this.”

“I want to. You made my dreams come true, Aayla.”

I wasn’t sure if I liked all this touchy-feely stuff of hers. “I’ll see you after school. Make sure you get your name changed otherwise you can’t access your money.”

She nodded and I alit from the car.

~O~

After stopping by the office to leave a suggestion in the counselor’s head not to give Jesse/Lyshaa a hard time, I went to class and my monotony began all over again.

Matt and I didn’t have any classes together. The only time I saw him was in the halls, much like after lunch when he stopped me.

“Have you got a dress yet?”

The Junior Prom! “I had my hands full yesterday.” Grabbing his arm, I pulled him over to a less traveled portion of the hall so we could have a quick conversation. “You know Jesse Walls?”

He searched his memory. “Short dude? Long hair?”

I nodded. “He followed me home yesterday and uh…” When I realized what I was about to say, I stopped. That wasn’t my secret to tell and some of it was just secret. “Long story short, he turned into a Zeltron in my basement.”

Matt’s face shifted to astonishment. “He what?”

“A female Zeltron; you know the blue hair and pink skin.”

He nodded. “Holy shit. Maybe we shouldn’t hang out at your place anymore.”

I frowned at him. “It’s not because of my place. He’s a metahuman. It’s coincidence.”

“Uh, Aayla, I think you’re hot and all and if Jesse is a Zeltron then she’s definitely hot. I like being a dude.”

“Are you a metahuman?”

“How am I supposed to know? Besides, what are the odds that you both wind up looking like Star Wars chicks?”

Considering what’s been going on, they were pretty good actually.

“Anyway, her dad kicked her out. She’s staying with me for now. I just wanted to give you a heads up.” Then something clicked in my head. “Hold on. You think I’m hot?”

His eyes widened and the warning bell rang. I narrowed my eyes at him before he pointed up. “Gotta go.”

I simmered for a small span of time before heading to Physics. Matt had been bullshitting me all this time. He did have the hots for me and the whole let’s go to the prom as friends thing was a load of crap. The teasing he gave me after the movie wasn’t actual teasing either. It made me wonder if he actually cancelled the hotel reservations like he said he did.

Going over the exact turn of events that led up to this moment was distracting. It had occupied so much of my thought processes that I didn’t really pay much attention to the teacher when it was my turn to go up to the dry erase board and write down the formulas on the theories we were supposed to be studying.

By the time I’d returned to my chair so I could decide on a course of action to deal with Matt, I got called down.

“Aayla,” the teacher said. “What’s that?”

I looked up at what I wrote. The odd part was, I had distracted myself so much that I didn’t notice I’d filled up half the board with my specific formula about space and gravity’s effects on planetary bodies.

What I actually wrote down was the theoretical basis for a class 1.0 Hyperdrive Motivator.

“Oops.” I got back up. “Uh, just something that I was working on, sorry. I’ll correct it.”

He led up his hands. “Nonono, stop.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and then peeked out after a few seconds. He was standing there staring at it for the longest time.

“This… what is this? It looks like… no, that can’t be right. What if… no, that’s right there. But what about…”

“I think you broke him,” said the guy I was standing next to. “What is that stuff.”

My eyes fluttered for a second and then I had an epiphany. In a slightly louder voice than I would normally use I said, “I’ve been working on a way to subvert relativity.”

The teacher’s head spun around. “Is that… how did you… where did you… This can’t be right.”

I went to the front of the class and started explaining the process of a hypothetical drive for a spacecraft that would conceivably travel a hundred million times the speed of light without falling prey to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Supposedly, if you traveled the speed of light, there was some time dilation involved. The Galaxy where that formula came from fixed that. Now you could travel from one end of the galaxy to the other in a matter of days.

And there was the formula that made it all happen. It’s for a hyperdrive motivator. That’s the thing that made the Millennium Falcon get up and go.

I don’t understand it all, I just learned what I needed to know to make things work properly.

Heading back to my workbook that I’d been drawing all my schematics in, I tore out a few sheets of paper and gave them to the teacher.

“This is what I’ve got so far.”

The bell rang when I handed it to him, but he made me stay. “This is more important than…”

“Trigonometry.”

“Right. If this is even close to workable then MIT would give you an honorary doctorate. Don’t worry about it.”

~O~

I didn’t wind up staying long. The teacher sent my formula to a friend of his that knew more than he did on the subject. He’d pass it on the powers that be when the time came.

Glory and a doctorate wasn’t my goal, although that would be pretty nice to have. What I ultimately wanted was access to materials and money where I could build my own equipment or have it built for me by people that actually knew what they were doing and had the wherewithal to get the job accomplished.

This wasn’t a job for a mechanic or a hack inventor to dally with in their shop. I needed precision materials and tools in order to get this done. Government funding would be sweet.

I’d release a few iniquitous things for them that would take large steps forward in technology and I would leave the serious stuff for myself.

The latter half of Trig swept by and Economics was boring as hell. Then I got to get out of there.

Lyshaa was waiting for me in the parking lot. The person I’d left in the morning and the one that was leaning against the car were two totally different people. She’d had her hair cut and styled and her make up accentuated her face and colors perfectly. Her clothes were still in blinding neon colors, but what could you do?

She held the door open for me with a bright smile.

“Hi, Aalya.”

“Hey, you look good.”

“Thanks!” She bounced and then shut the door after I got in.

A lot of the boys that didn’t have to ride the bus were staring at her as she swayed her hips and waved at them playfully. I could see the whole monogamous thing was going to be a problem in the future. Zeltrons thought the whole idea of a couple only having one partner was quaint. I’d be lucky if Lyshaa kept it under a dozen.

When she hopped in and started the car, I could smell her pheromones on the rise.

“Tone it down, Lyshaa.”

I watched as her thighs rubbed together under the short skirt. “I can’t help it,” she said with some zeal. “I’m really… um…”

“Randy?”

She shrugged and took a deep breath.

“Maybe you better find yourself a boyfriend and get some oats sowed. You like guys, right?”

She nodded empathetically. “I was mostly gay before. Dad was right about that.”

“Just make sure they use condoms. We don’t need you pregnant on top of everything else.”

I couldn’t believe I was giving sexual advice to someone else when I still had yet to even see another sex organ in real life. Well, I didn’t count showers at school in gym class, and I was still kind of confused about which side I fell on when choosing a partner.

Lyshaa was out of the question. I’d feel like I was taking advantage of whatever hero-worship she was holding for me, plus she was just too damn perky. It was like dating a hyper cheerleader or something. Then there was Eric and Matt.

The thought of either of them filling that role kind of made me uncomfortable. It was just a weird situation to be in, but I needed to make a decision soon, because I still didn’t want to be stuck, going into Twi’lek heat sometime between that moment and another three months, without a partner.

I stopped and blinked, refocusing. Having Lyshaa and her ever present pheromones around was making me think of sex too much, and I had more important issues to deal with.

“I need a dress for the Junior Prom,” I said.

That was the magic word in Lyshaa’s lexicon apparently. She hit the brakes and spun a left out of the subdivision.

~O~

One thing led to another and not only did I purchase a slinky evening gown, Lyshaa talked me into the three inch high heels to go with it. That would put me firmly into Matt’s height, eye to eye.

She was looking at the dress forlornly until I asked her if she was going.

“No. I never had the nerve to ask another guy. I was in the closet.”

If anyone deserved a dance and a chance to be in her element, it was Lyshaa. Knowing Eric wasn’t going, I called him up.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself. You’re still not going to the prom, right.”

“Why?” he asked warily.

“I just sent you a pic. Take a look and call me back.”

With that, I shut my phone.

“Are you setting me up?” she asked. “Who is he?”

“Eric Fontaine.”

I could see her rolling the name around in her head until she could connect it with a face. “He’s big.”

If Eric ever decided to work out, he’d be a powerhouse. As it was, he was just normal, tall and put together pretty well.

My phone rang before we could talk about him any further.

“Holy shit, Aayla.”

“Her name is Lyshaa and she needs a date for Junior Prom. You game.”

“Totally.”

“Awesome. I’ll give her your number.”

When I closed the phone this time, Lyshaa bounced high and pumped her hand. “Yes!”

It may have been a mistake though. It took me all of thirty minutes to hunt down a dress and shoes for me, and the better part of two hours to narrow the field for her.

“Just get both. I’m sure you’ll wear the extra at some point.”

“You’re brilliant, Aayla. That’s what I’ll do.”

It wasn’t brilliance that prompted me to suggest both dresses. It was fatigue.

“Did you get everything done today?”

She nodded. “The Department of Metahuman Services was annoying, but since I had all my documents they processed me.”

That was a Texas idea. It wasn’t a complete department since it wasn’t like metas were popping up every day. They had allocated a single room in the Department of Human Service in each metropolitan city in the state, and manned it with a bureaucrat and a nurse. The latter one was to do a blood draw and send it to the proper authorities, and the other was for the paperwork involved.

“How about the shopping?”

“I picked up a few things. I thought maybe you’d want to go to the outlet mall this weekend?”

She said it with such hope in her voice. It was then I realized I had another mission. I had to find Lyshaa a girlfriend as well. It would be for companionship. I just wasn’t up to the painting each other’s nails and talking about boys aspect of a girl/girl friendship.

“Maybe you could get Eric to go with you. You’d be able to spend all day with him.”

Her eyes widened. “Take a straight-boy shopping?”

Dammit, good point. Eric would be heading for the hills at the first sign of a sale.

Backed into a corner, I nodded. “It depends on what the rest of the week brings. If it’s open, I’ll go with you.”

Lyshaa smiled as she pulled up by the curb.

Once we got down to the basement, I went ahead and showed her the GH. She just about had a spontaneous orgasm when the Yoda-Gatekeeper popped up.

“I knew you were a Jedi!” she almost screamed.

“I’m not a Jedi. This is something one of my ancestors was trying to hide.”

“But…” she pointed at the hologram. “That’s Yoda, and you’re using the Force. Do you have a lightsaber?”

My mouth dropped open a little. “Uh…”

“I knew it!” She stopped and her face changed to that begging one I was really becoming familiar with. “I want to train. Can I train… pleeeeease?”

“Too old you are for Jedi training,” said Yoda. “Set in your ways you are.”

Lyshaa squeaked. “He even talks like Yoda!”

That migraine was coming back and I really needed to start my meditation exercises. I’d skipped the day before since I was so busy.

“But I’m only sixteen and Luke Skywalker was older when he started.”

Yoda looked at me and I just raised my hands letting him know this was all on him.

His lips bunched a little and I could see he was annoyed at having the whole Luke Skywalker thing thrown in his face. It was hard to argue with that little fact. He was in his late teens when he even heard of the Force, and he turned out to be one of the most famous Jedi’s ever. Who was to say that lightning couldn’t strike twice? Maybe a former trans-person who was a metahuman and got changed into an alien could become the next Jedi Master.

God I hoped not. Can you imagine the whining when she has to wear the drab robes?

Yoda grumbled for a few moments. “Tested you must be.”

“Battery’s dead.” I reminded him about the equipment that I possessed.

“Then improvise you must.”

He went over various tests that were performed, half of which I couldn’t do because I didn’t have the proper equipment. In the end we settled on a deck of cards.

I held one up. “Concentrate and tell me what it is.”

She almost burned a hole with her stare. “Three of clubs.”

I turned it around. “Jack of Diamonds.”

Again. “Picture what I’m looking at.”

Her lips went white. “King of hearts.”

“Ace of spades.”

We went through half the deck and she hadn’t called even one of them. By the end of the test, her eyes were glassy and I could see the sorrow on her face.

“A Jedi not everyone can be, Lyshaa Walls,” said Yoda.

Without a word, she got up and retreated to the dresser drawer and then went upstairs with something silky in her hand, I guessed to take a shower.

I frowned at her pink legs as they disappeared. Putting the cards away, I shut off the GH and settled into a meditative trance, banishing my ill feelings of the day, along with all the chaos that surrounded my life.

Afterward, Lyshaa and I shared a small pizza and turned in early. It had been a long day, and she was troubled. In the darkness, I could feel the pain radiating from her along with something else.

“Aayla, you awake?” she whispered.

“Uh-huh.”

“Can we cuddle? Just for a little while?”

I thought about it for a few seconds. It’s not like we wouldn’t end up like we were that morning or some variation thereof.

“Come here.”

I turned on my side and Lyshaa spooned up against me. Not knowing what to do with my free arm, I hooked it around her and she took my hand in both of hers resuming the exact same position we were in much earlier in the day. I had a handful of breast.

If only I was a guy.

She sighed in contentment while I tried to relax.

“I know you don’t like me,” she said.

I closed my eye. Did we have to do this right away?

“It’s not that, Lyshaa. I’m just going through a hard week right and anything else that takes up more of my time is preventing me from taking care of what I have to take care of.”

Her hands squeezed mine which in turn… well, I can paint you a picture.

“I could help you relax if you want. I like girls too.”

My hand stiffened. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

Yes, I’d fallen back to that tired excuse.

“I’m not pretty enough?”

I sighed. “You’re very pretty, Lyshaa. I just don’t think it’s good to take advantage of you like that. It wouldn’t feel right.”

She started sniffing, but I wasn’t going to give in that easily. “If I was still a guy I’d be all over you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I can pretty much guarantee that. Look, you just found out that you and the Force don’t get along very well. I don’t want to be the one to turn you down again, but I’m doing it not because you aren’t attractive. I’m doing it because if we started something here, right now, my heart wouldn’t be into it and it would just be sex. You deserve better than that.”

She pulled my hand tighter against her and then relaxed.

“Get some sleep, Lyshaa.”

~O~

The next morning, my lekku were spread out and I was on my back. Lyshaa was nearly on top of me and this time it was me being groped. Fair’s fair I guess.

The alarm went off and I snapped a hand out while I felt my bedmate wake up. Her hand squeezed me and I had to admit, it felt a lot better when someone else was doing it.

“Time to get up,” I said in a half-whisper.

Lyshaa’s hand slid away and followed the contours of my body to my hip. “You really should rethink what we talked about last night,” she mumbled.

I chuckled as she slid away. This time she got ready right beside me. As scary as it may seem, they make schoolgirl outfits in neon colors. Lyshaa just had to buy one for herself. It wasn’t one of those naughty types, but with her figure she made it look like one.

When she sat down to put her makeup on I checked to see what time it was. Someone changed the alarm to add an additional thirty minutes to the morning routine.

“Some of us need to wear makeup,” she said as I glared her way.

I took that as a challenge went to my backpack to retrieve the mascara. A few strokes later and Lyshaa was grinning at me.

“See, I can do that too,” I said. That was the full extent of my makeup expertise.

My own choice in clothing wound back up to my first outfit, the sports tights and that billowy black blouse. I really had to get out and purchase a few more things. I was tired of the dull colors and even as a guy I had more clothes than this.

Maybe a weekend shopping with Lyshaa wouldn’t be that bad. I still had to return all the things that didn’t fit which would expand my wardrobe considerably. Mostly it was the jeans and a few shoes where the heel was too high. That should keep me busy enough to where she could shop and I’d be finished by the time she was.

“What are you thinking about?” Lyshaa asked.

“Hmm, oh…” I wasn’t going to let her know about clothes and shopping. She’d have thought that I’d finally given in. “Just trying to organize things in my head for this week.”

~O~

Eric was waiting for us when we got to school. This time, Lyshaa was coming with me. I could tell from her body language that she was a tad shy, probably a holdover from her days as an emo boy. It was warring with her newer outgoing side.

They introduced themselves and Eric couldn’t keep the smile off his face. Truthfully, I was feeling a little sick from Lyshaa playing coy and her new interest trying to hold himself back from jumping her in a testosterone fueled caveman flashback.

He didn’t have my ability to keep my head clear when Lyshaa’s pheromones started seeping into the air.

I hooked my hand at her elbow and pulled. “We have to get you to the office.

She protested then waved at her future date. “Bye Eric. I’ll call you after school, ‘kay?”

I rolled my eyes.

“He’s cute… and big.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said.

“I would. I had gym with him last year.”

Squeezing my eyes shut at that visual, I opened them again. “You’re really taking to this girl thing with a vengeance.”

She giggled. “Are you kidding? Being a girl is the best. You should enjoy it.”

With a shrug I opened the door and steered her inside with my hand at her lower back. “I much prefer being a guy, thanks.”

“Why? I can’t imagine anyone wanting that.”

Holding my hand out, I nodded once. “There you go. Neither of us can imagine why someone would want the other.”

We’d gotten two steps inside when I spotted a few suits standing by the main office. Their eyes were on us. Two of them were pretty big and bulky and the third look to be rather nerdy looking.

“Something’s up,” I said.

Lyshaa came to a stop in her shiny Mary Jane heels. “They don’t look nice.”

Stepping in front of her I held my hand low. “Stay behind me, but not too close.”

When we approached, the nerdy guy reached into his jacket and withdrew a small wallet. I didn’t bother acting like I didn’t know they were here for me, Lyshaa, or both of us.

When he held the ID up, I stopped, which brought us about four feet away from each other.

“Miss Walker. I’m Doctor Victor Doomah, with the Department of Defense.”

He was Caucasian, but his features spoke of a recent European lineage.
Taking a moment, with that information in mind, I noted the bulges at the larger guys’ hips. When my attention was brought back to the doctor, I narrowed my eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“Perhaps we could go somewhere we won’t be disturbed,” he said.

“Aayla?”

I pursed my lips and looked back at Lyshaa. “It’s okay. I’ve kinda been expecting them, just not so soon. Go on to the counselor. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“You sure?”

I nodded.

The doctor stepped aside as Lyshaa passed and then brought his full attention back to me.

“Are we going on a trip?”

He smiled gracefully. “You could say that.”

~O~

My backpack was liberated from me and searched until my notebook was found that had the schematics of various things I thought would be useful. Without knowing a lot of the details that went into making these items, it was so much… what do they call it, techno art I think. That was handed to the doctor.

The trip took about forty-five minutes. When we rolled up to Ellington Air Force base I knew where we were.

It had been closed since the late seventies when the government was shutting down as many military bases as humanly possible and still have a functioning defense. I knew it was still active in certain areas, but over all, it was deserted.

It was rumored that the local superhero crowd had their headquarters there, but since the airspace was restricted it was hard to prove.

I kept my mouth shut until we pulled up to a building that could have had anything inside. Overall it looked very secure.

My escorts pinned official looking badges on their suit pockets and I was checked in with a visitor’s pass, which got hung on my blouse.

“I’m curious,” said the doctor. “You haven’t asked what this is all about.”

The hallways were Spartan and clean. Obviously the building was in good use. That meant they’d been there a while.

“I figured you tell me when you got around to it.”

He eyed me as we walked. “You’re surprisingly mature for your age.”

I almost snorted. “Being turned into an alien and a girl has an effect on a guy.”

“I’m sure it does.”

An elevator took us down three levels below ground. That’s when I started to get a little antsy. Getting out might prove a little harder than I thought, if it came to that I mean. My breathing was kept even and I concentrated on what meditations I could, given the circumstance.

We wound up in what looked to be a military style boardroom. It wasn’t very fancy with its long table and utilitarian chairs, but in front of each chair was a monitor and spaced throughout were carafes of water and several glasses.

“Have a seat, Miss Walker. I need to let the others know we’re here so we may begin.”

TBC...

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