After David is caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, his entire life changes in ways he never could have expected. This is a fan fiction taking place in the Whateley Universe.

--------------------

I woke up in Jackie’s guest bedroom for the second time, though this time I’d actually stayed the night there rather than just napping for a few hours. I was still trying to wrap my head around the idea that I was staying as the guest of a mutant super villain, and that instead of some kind of secret lair, she had a very nice house in the suburbs.

Emotionally, I was a bit of a mess. I alternated between feeling numb, confused and scared, about being a mutant, about what my own Mom had done to me, and about what kind of future I could possibly have. In the blink of an eye, everything had changed and I didn’t even know who I was anymore.

I tried not to think about any of that stuff as I went to the bathroom to relieve myself. However, when I went to take a piss, I was suddenly confronted with the other thing I’d been trying very hard not to think about…my physical changes.

“No,” I cried out, grabbing hold of Little David, though there wasn’t much to grab anymore. My equipment had shrunk yesterday but now it was even smaller. There was just a small nub left of my once proud penis. “I’m the size of a toddler…”

For several minutes, I just stood there with my hand on my junk, feeling as though I was about to start hyperventilating at any moment. And my penis wasn’t the only thing that had changed down there. My testicles felt…empty, like all I had was an empty sack of skin with nothing left inside.

“No freaking way,” I snarled, using anger to push my fear and confusion back a little. “I thought exemplars were supposed to be better looking…”

I finished peeing as fast as I could, though I couldn’t really aim very well and ended up spraying a little off to the side. I used a wad of toilet paper to clean it up, muttering a few profanities as I did so. This whole mutant thing was getting worse and worse.

“What next?” I demanded to whatever god was messing with me. “Am I going to go bald and get a pot belly too?”

However, I realized the irony of that since my changes seemed to be going in the opposite direction. If anything, my hair had grown a few more inches during the night, and my waist, which had always been thin, was still flat but seemed to have become more firm and toned.

Then I turned to wash my hands in the sink but froze to gape at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes went wide at the sight of a girl staring back at me. A girl with red hair and golden eyes.

“No way,” I gasped, grabbing hold of the edges of the counter to keep from falling over.

Yesterday, I’d noticed my face was changing and I’d even though I was starting to look a bit girlie, though I’d tried very hard not to think about that afterwards. Denial and avoidance were powerful tools when it came to dealing with something that was both frightening and confusing. Unfortunately, they were tools that could only work for so long before I was forced to confront the truth.

“I’m turning into a girl,” I said, my voice shaking and sounding odd to my own ears.

There was even less of my own face present than before, and then I had to really look for it. Instead, I looked like a pretty girl who was only a tiny bit boyish.

My chest was now swollen with soft tissue pushing out a bit on both sides. Now that I knew what to look for, it was obvious that I actually had a small pair of breasts, maybe A cups. Even my nipples looked bigger.

“No,” I whispered as I looked myself over, realizing that all of the changes in my body were now pointing to the same thing. I was looking softer and more feminine, developing the curves and body shape of a girl. Even my skin had gotten into the act, becoming soft and smooth. “I can’t be turning into a girl…”

I staggered out of the bathroom and plopped back down on the bed, feeling badly shaken by the realization of how I was changing. Before I’d even realized it, I’d curled up into a ball and was crying.

A few minutes later, the bedroom door opened and Jackie came in, announcing, “Good morning…” Then she froze at the door and abruptly called out, “Emily…”

“What is it?” Emily asked as she came into the room. Then she took one look at me and gasped, “Oh…”

Suddenly, all that fear and confusion faded away and I found myself feeling calm and relaxed instead. I slowly sat up and looked at Emily, who was obviously using her power on me.

Once again, I felt that faint pressure in my head, the same one I felt every time I got close to Emily. In fact, ever since the bank, I felt that pressure anytime I got close to any mutant, except for Jackie. But now that I was thinking about it, I realized that I did feel something similar when I was near Jackie, but it was much fainter.

“Are you okay, kid?” Jackie asked me, looking a little worried. “David.”

“No,” I responded after a moment, finding it odd to feel so calm when I knew I should be in the middle of freaking out. “I’m turning into a girl…”

Jackie and Emily shared a look that suggested they already knew this. Of course, they must have recognized the signs yesterday, well before I had. That would certainly explain why Jackie had been so evasive when I’d asked if I was turning into some kind of Adonis.

My sense of calm vanished and my other emotions quickly returned, but that short break from them had snapped me out of the funk I was in for the moment. I was scared and confused, but I wasn’t freaking out anymore, at least not too badly.

“You knew,” I accused them, my voice shaking and sounding odd to my ears. In fact, my voice sounded almost like a girl’s voice.

“I suspected,” Jackie admitted after a moment, giving me a sympathetic look. “I’ve seen the process before…of an exemplar turning from a guy to a girl, though that time it took a couple months to change this much.”

“Was that…you?” I asked curiously.

Jackie chuckled at that, then told me, “No, I’ve always been female. But before my mutation manifested, I was short, fat, had heavy freckles, and curly orange hair I couldn’t do anything with.”

“You’re a changeling,” Emily said, giving me a sympathetic look. “We had a couple changelings in our dormitory back when we were going to school.”

I stared at Jackie, trying to imagine her looking like she described but failing. I couldn’t imagine her looking any different than she did now.

“You said that most exemplars become idealized versions of themselves,” I pointed out, feeling as though she lied to me.

“A lot of exemplars do,” Jackie said with a sigh. “But not all. Are you sure you aren’t a transsexual?” At my glare, she shrugged. “No one understands it completely, but a lot of exemplars seem to create their BIT off some subconscious ideal, but sometimes your BIT makes no sense at all.”

“How do I stop this?” I demanded, anger and fear creeping into my voice. “How do I turn this exemplar thing off and change back?”

“You can’t,” Emily said quietly. “If anyone knew how to do that, a lot of mutants with GSD would be lining up for the cure.”

I didn’t bother asking what GSD was, nor did I fully believe her answer. Still, Jackie was nodding agreement so the two of them both seemed to think that there was no way of undoing this. I wasn’t accepting that yet and was going to have to ask an expert, if I could find one. The truth was, I had absolutely no idea where I could find a doctor who knew about mutants.

“I know you don’t want to hear this,” Jackie told me, “but you’ll probably finish changing in just a day or two. Most exemplars wouldn’t change this fast, not unless they’re a high level exemplar or have regeneration to speed the process.”

“Lucky me,” I responded bitterly, feeling the tears come again.

“For now,” Emily said carefully. “I suggest we get something to eat, and then we can talk about what comes next.”

“And maybe afterwards, we can try figuring out your powers a little more,” Jackie added thoughtfully, giving me an odd look. “That force field you threw up has me curious.”

Breakfast was much like dinner had been last night, with Jackie eating an enormous amount of food. All I could do was watch in amazement as she consumed almost twice what my entire family would in one meal. And as with last night, my own appetite surprised me as well.

“I’m an energizer,” Jackie told me when she noticed me watching her pile up a third plate of food. “And from what I saw yesterday, you might be too.”

“Needless to say, we have a VERY large food bill,” Emily pointed out, sticking her tongue out at Jackie. Jackie just grinned, stuck her own tongue out back, then went back to eating.

“Is that…is that why you rob banks?” I asked Jackie quietly.

Jackie was silent for a moment, her expression turning grim. “One reason,” Jackie answered carefully. “I do have a lot of expenses and I can’t earn the money to pay them legally. If it helps, I’m not a killer and I always try to avoid hurting anyone.”

“I usually avoid getting involved in her work,” Emily said with a faint smile. “But occasionally I will, just to minimize the chance of anyone getting hurt by accident.”

“I’m certainly no saint,” Jackie continued, “but I usually only hit people who deserve it.”

“The bank deserved it?” I asked, more than a little skeptical of that. I snorted my clear doubt.

“The people who work there probably didn’t,” Jackie admitted, “but the bank is owned by the Goodkind family. They’re notorious mutant haters and huge supporters of the MCO. I don’t feel the least bit guilty for going after their money and reputation.”

I just nodded at that, still feeling pretty skeptical. It was obvious that Jackie was using my recent experience with the MCO to try coloring my vision about her activities, but maybe she did have a point anyway. I used to think the MCO were the good guys, but now I wasn’t so sure. Maybe the guys who took me weren’t following the rules. Maybe the rest of the MCO really was like that TV show and these guys had just been exceptions…the bad apples that make everyone else look bad. The truth was, I wasn’t really sure what to think anymore.

“If you’re up for it,” Jackie said, “I think we should try testing your powers so we get a better idea of what you can do. Of course, you’re going to need some real power testing soon, but it helps to go into it with at least some idea of where to start.”

I nodded again, feeling a little overwhelmed with everything that was going on, though I was trying not to show it. I was especially trying hard not to think about how my body was changing and how freaked out it made me.

“I do have something that might count,” I said carefully, getting Jackie and Emily’s full attention. “I have a special sense that most people don’t…”

“Really?” Emily asked curiously. “If you have some form of psychic ability as well, then I might be able to help you with that.”

I leaned forward, and in a conspiratorial voice, I half whispered, “It’s called common sense. Most people just don’t have that ability…”

Emily stared at me with a blank look for a moment while Jackie burst out laughing. “You’re right,” she said a moment later. “Most people don’t have it.” Emily began snickering as well.

“And right now,” I pointed out, “my common sense is telling me that it might not be very safe hanging around with a bank robber.”

I immediately felt guilty for saying that since Jackie had been nothing but nice to me. She’d gotten me out of the bank when she could have left me behind to take the blame as her accomplice. She could have left me to the MCO instead of coming in to rescue me, and apparently paying Highwayman for his help in doing so. She’d brought me to her own house, put me in her own guest room, and she’d been doing everything she could to help me.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

“You’re right,” Jackie admitted with a sad smile. “Hanging out with me isn’t completely safe, but at the moment, you don’t have many other options. You can’t go home because the MCO will probably be watching your family for that. And at least here, no one knows where you are and I can protect you.”

I was beginning to tear up again at the reminder that I couldn’t go home, though I was pretty sure Jackie wasn’t trying to rub it in or hurt me. She was just laying the situation out like it was, and she was completely right.

“I know you’re right,” I told her with a weak smile. “And I do appreciate everything you’ve been doing for me...”

“Whateley,” Emily abruptly said.

“What?” I asked.

“Whateley Academy,” Jackie said with a thoughtful look. “It’s a school for mutants…” She looked at Emily and added, “You’re right…she would be safe there.”

“Wait a moment,” I exclaimed, bothered by the fact that she’d referred to me as ‘she’ but trying to stay focused. “You mean there’s a school for super villains?”

“It’s a school for mutants,” Emily explained with a faint smile. “They don’t really care what you do after you graduate, though they try teaching you how to survive doing it. Admittedly, some graduates do turn to a life of crime…” She gave Jackie a flat look. “Some become heroes, and others like me just try to stay below the radar and live as normal a life as possible. Whateley is pretty well known among the mutant population, but we try to keep its existence quiet so anti-mutant groups don’t show up at the front gates.”

“Considering the fact that you’re a changeling,” Jackie mused, staring at me with a thoughtful look. “You’d probably end up in Poe. That’s the dormitory where Emily and I first met when we were roommates.”

“We’ll have to keep Whateley in mind as a possibility,” Emily said. “But for now, I think we have more immediate issues to deal with.”

“Like getting a handle on your powers so you don’t accidentally hurt yourself or anyone else,” Jackie told me. “We’ll do some testing ourselves today and see about getting you an appointment for some real powers testing later. And though you probably don’t want to deal with it right now…” She paused and gave me a sympathetic look before adding, “Your new body is going to require some dealing with, which means new clothes among other things.”

I winced at that, wishing I could scream and lash out about this, but I didn’t dare act like that in front of Jackie and Emily. I was embarrassed enough at the way they’d caught me freaking out earlier and I didn’t want them to think I was some kind of wimp or little kid, so I did my best to act tough and pretend that it didn’t bother me. Then, I noticed that Emily was staring at me with a strange expression, though she quickly looked away. I knew she could make other people feel whatever emotion she wanted, but I wondered if she could feel theirs as well.

After breakfast, I helped clean up the mess in the kitchen, figuring that it was only fair since they did all the cooking. And it wasn’t like I didn’t already have a lot of experience washing dishes. But as I washed dishes, I began to notice the way my nipples were rubbing against the fabric of my borrowed sweater, making them feel…weird. I grimaced at that and did my best to ignore the odd sensations and focus on my work.

As soon as dishes were done, Jackie told me, “Come on. I don’t want to risk testing your powers here in my house. I don’t think my insurance would cover any damage.” She chuckled at that, making me smile as well.

To my surprise, instead of pulling up her hamster ball force field, Jackie led me to her garage and a dark blue SUV instead. I was a little startled that she’d drive such a normal car, but then again I shouldn’t have been. After all, she lived in a very normal looking house, and when she wasn’t in costume, she actually seemed pretty normal as well, or at least as normal as she could be while looking as hot as she did.

“I’m very careful not to be seen in costume or using my powers around here,” Jackie explained to me as we drove away from her house. “I REALLY don’t want to have to move and leave everything behind again. As the saying goes, don’t shit in your own backyard. That’s an important lesson, whether you’re a hero, criminal, or just trying to avoid unwanted attention.”

“You aren’t what I thought a super villain would be like,” I admitted to her, frowning as I remembered too late that she really didn’t like being called a villain.

Jackie smiled at that, then asked, “Do you want to hear my evil villain laugh?” Before I could answer, she exclaimed, “Bwa ha ha ha ha!”

I snickered at that, then told her, “I think I could do better than that…” But when I tried, my voice cracked and I couldn’t finish.

“Your voice is changing,” Jackie told me gently. “Along with everything else. You look and sound more like a girl now than you do a boy.”

“Please don’t remind me,” I said quietly, trying to fight back the tears.

Without saying a word, Jackie reached out and a hand on mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Everything is going to be fine,” she told me gently. “I know you’re scared and confused right now, but you’ll get past it.”

“Why do you keep being so nice to me?” I asked her suspiciously. “You aren’t trying to make me into your sidekick or something, are you?”

Jackie laughed at that. “Heroes have sidekicks,” she told me in an amused tone. “Criminals have henchmen. And no, that isn’t it at all. Honestly, you remind me a little bit of my kid brother. I haven’t seen him or any of my family in years, not since shortly after I started my…career.” She let out a sigh, looking sad. “Contact with them wouldn’t be safe, for them or me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly, suddenly feeling like I understood her just a little better. Even after Mom had turned me over to the MCO, I still wanted to go home and see her again. “I have a little sister and I’m worried I might not be able to see her again…”

“I’m sorry,” Jackie told me with a sympathetic look. Then she abruptly changed the topic and said, “I know the idea of being a mutant must be pretty strange to you. I’m probably the first mutant you’ve ever actually met, or at least the first who was honest about it.”

“My neighbor was a mutant,” I said with a sigh. Mr. Harris had always been grumpy and a bit paranoid so no one in the apartment had really liked him, though now I understood that he had good reasons for being that way. “But I didn’t know he was until the MCO came for me…” I closed my eyes, remembering the look on his face as the bullets ripped through his body. “They killed him.”

We were both silent for the next few minutes before I finally said, “There was a girl at school… She was a mutant, but no one knew…”

I’d never told this to Mom and Dad since I knew their views on mutants and knew what they would have said. But Amanda Conner had been very pretty and I’d really liked her. We’d actually been friends, but I’d wanted to go further and had asked her to go out on a date with me. She’d turned me down and had then begun to avoid me after that, as though I made her uncomfortable. At the time, I’d been confused and hurt by her reaction, but now I understood it better.

“I guess she was afraid of anyone finding out,” I continued sadly. “Then one day, she and her best friend got into an argument and then her friend blurted out that she was a mutant in front of the whole class. Amanda started to freak out and her eyes started glowing, then the fire sprinklers all started going off. Amanda ran out of there as fast as she could and never came back. I found out later, her entire family had picked up and moved away that night.”

I frowned, remembering the look of fear and betrayal on Amanda’s face when Kimberly had blurted out her secret. I imagined that it was a great deal like the look on my own face when Mom had turned me over to the MCO. At the time, I’d been shocked at finding out that Amanda was a mutant, and I even felt a little betrayed since she’d lied to me and everyone else about it. But later on, all I could think about was how nice Amanda had always been to everyone else…and how much I missed her. I’d decided that in spite of what my parents always said, if Amanda was a mutant, then mutants couldn’t be that bad.

“Being outed as a mutant is never easy,” Jackie said grimly. “And it’s even worse when it’s done to you by someone you trust.”

I stared at Jackie for a moment, realizing that there was some kind of story there. However, I didn’t know her well enough to ask about what was obviously a personal issue. Instead, I remained quiet and the two of us continued our trip in near silence.

After driving for over half an hour, we arrived at an industrial area with several old warehouses. Most of the ones I saw seemed to be empty and in severe disrepair. Jackie seemed to know exactly where we were going because she drove up to one warehouse and got out.

“The company that owns these warehouses went bankrupt several years ago,” Jackie explained. “All the property got caught up in a legal dispute that doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon, so I’ve made use of this one to store a couple things I might need in the future.”

With that, Jackie removed a padlock from a side door and let us inside. She flipped a switch and the lights came on, surprising me since I would have thought that abandoned property like this would have had the power disconnected.

Jackie seemed to guess what I was thinking because she commented, “I have a generator and some batteries hooked up to supply power. This place wouldn’t do me much good if I couldn’t even see in here. Just don’t expect cable TV or running water.”

I looked around the inside of the warehouse, which was mostly empty. In one corner, there were several stacks of boxes as well as a few things that were covered with tarps, one of which was in the shape of a car.

“In my line of work,” Jackie explained, gesturing to the stuff in the corner, “It pays to have a safe house you can go to in an emergency, not to mention a place to store emergency supplies. An apartment or rental storage unit would probably work, but this is cheaper and more private.”

“So this is your evil lair,” I joked as I looked around. “I was expecting something a little more impressive…”

Jackie gave me a look of amusement and said, “I’m afraid all the henchmen are out on strike and my order of sharks with laser beams on their heads got caught up in customs.”

I snickered at that, then asked, “So, what do you call this place? The Pinball Machine?”

“I’ll have to remember that one,” Jackie responded with a chuckle. Then she gestured to the far end of the warehouse, the opposite end from where her stuff was stored. “We’ll work with your powers over there…where we can’t accidentally damage my emergency supplies. Go on, I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

I went to the far end of the warehouse, which was empty except for all spider webs in the corners and the dirt on the floor. Jackie went to the corner with all her stuff and joined me a few minutes later, now dressed up in her costume.

“It feels more appropriate to do this while dressed properly,” Jackie…Pinball told me.

“So what now?” I asked nervously.

A large part of me really didn’t want anything to do with these powers I supposedly had and seemed to think that ignoring them might make them go away. This same part of me also had the same strategy for dealing with my physical changes. However, at the same time, I also wondered at what I might be able to do. That part was slowly getting stronger.

“We’ve already seen your regen in action,” Pinball told me, “and I don’t think there’s any reason to test it further. At least not here.”

“That’s good to hear,” I said, pretty sure that there was no good way to test how fast I’d heal from an injury.

“What I really wanted to focus on was that force field you called up yesterday,” Pinball said. “I want you to try calling it up again.”

“Okay,” I agreed, then paused before asking, “But how?”

Pinball stood back and said, “Watch me…” Suddenly, the air around her shimmered and formed into her transparent force field bubble. She rolled back and forth across the warehouse floor, which was odd to watch since her feet weren’t moving at all. After doing this for about ten seconds, her force field vanished. “Now you try.”

“I’ll try,” I said without much confidence, still having no idea of what to do.

When nothing happened, Pinball mused, “I’ve noticed that you tend to glow a little when stressed…like you’re on the verge of activating your power. I have an idea.”

With that, Pinball slowly walked away from me, then she abruptly turned around and started running right at me with a loud yell and her fist raised as if to punch me. I yelped in surprise and even a little fear, then right before she reached me, everything around me had a golden haze. The golden force field bubble that had saved me from being shot a second time had reappeared.

Pinball stopped and grinned. “I thought that might do it.”

“I did this?” I asked in amazement.

The bubble around me looked much like the one Pinball had, but where hers was clear but with a faint sheen, mine was transparent but with a golden color. As I relaxed, the bubble vanished again.

“Now try that again,” Pinball instructed. “Preferably without my having to scare you into it.”

I nodded and thought about the strange feeling I had in my body when the force field had formed around me, then I tried to will that feeling to return. It was surprisingly easy this time and the bubble reappeared around me, much to my delight.

“I did it,” I exclaimed excitedly.

“Now try to keep it up,” Pinball urged.

I did as Pinball asked and tried to keep the bubble from vanishing this time. It took a little concentration, but I was able to do it. After I’d had it up for a full minute, I was starting to feel confident in my ability to control it. That was when Pinball decided to step up the game.

Pinball gave me an almost evil grin, then she abruptly punched my bubble. I felt a little pressure from where she hit the bubble, but I didn’t lose control over it so it stayed up. I stuck my tongue out at her so she punched it a few more times until I finally lost control and the bubble vanished.

“You’ll get better at holding it with practice,” Pinball told me, looking rather pleased. “I just can’t believe how similar your powers are to my own. Let’s try it again and see if you can move your bubble…”

Once again, I willed the force field bubble to appear around me. Now that I knew what to do, it was getting easier to summon it each time. After it was in place, I tried getting it to move the way Pinball did hers. It took more than a minute of trying before I finally got it to move forward.

“I did it,” I exclaimed again.

I spent the next half hour rolling back and forth across the warehouse while Pinball advised and directed me. She seemed just as excited by my being able to do this as I was.

“You have better control than I did at your age,” she admitted to me with a grin. “When I first got my powers, once I got moving I had a hard time stopping, and if I went too fast, I tended to bounce off things uncontrollably. Then again, you’ve been moving fairly slow here so it might not be as easy for you once you get a chance to cut loose.”

“This is pretty cool,” I admitted, hardly able to believe that I was actually able to do the same thing she could. After seeing what she could do with her force field bubble while escaping the bank, I’d developed a healthy respect for her power.

“Let’s play a little bumper cars,” Pinball suggested, forming her own force field.

The two of us rolled around the warehouse, playing an odd game of tag as we tried to ram into each other. Neither of us went too fast, but Pinball definitely had the advantage of speed and control over along with her much greater experience.

Pinball got well away from me, then as I was trying to maneuver enough to go after her, she abruptly changed direction and came straight at me at a much faster speed than what we’d been practicing at. Her sphere hit mine and suddenly I was thrown back. I was so startled that my force field dropped and I was without any protection when I slammed into the warehouse wall.

The impact was hard enough that the wind was immediately knocked out of me. My whole body hurt and I collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath and sure that I must have broken half the bones in my body.

“David,” Pinball exclaimed, running to my side. “Are you okay, kid?”

I groaned, suddenly wondering what the hell I’d been thinking to play that kind of game with Pinball. After all, she was a super villain with who knew how much experience controlling her force field. But when she bent over me, I didn’t see a villain…I saw a friend who looked worried.

“I don’t know,” I answered after a moment. I took several deep breaths and sat up with her help. Now that I’d caught my breath, I didn’t think that I’d actually broken anything, though I’d probably be bruised over half my body. Then I grinned faintly and said, “I want a rematch…”

“Yeah, you’re definitely an exemplar,” Pinball commented with a chuckle. “And trust me, you’re going to be very thankful for that regeneration.”

After I’d rested for a few minutes, I brought my force field bubble up again and began another round of bumper car tag with Pinball. This time, she moved more quickly, apparently deciding not to hold back as much as she had been. She lunged at me time and time again, bumping me a few times and generally directing me towards one of the corners.

“I’ve got you now,” Pinball called out, coming straight at me while I had nowhere to escape to.

Then on a sudden impulse, I tried to escape, not going left or right where she’d be able to intercept me, but straight up. My sphere quickly rose into the air while she passed right through where I’d been, then abruptly stopped.

“Holy shit,” I blurted out, realizing that I was actually floating in the air, held aloft by my force field.

“Holy shit,” Pinball exclaimed, dropping her force field and staring up at me with a look of surprise. “I can’t do that.”

I was startled by what I’d done and lost control, letting my force field vanish so I fell back to the ground where I hit painfully hard. If I hadn’t bruised every inch of my body earlier, that was sure to take care of the rest.

“That was…,” Pinball said, still looking surprised. “I can make jumps in my force field, but I can’t levitate it like that.”

“Should I try that again?” I asked her, wincing from all the bruises.

Pinball hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I think we’re done for the day. I don’t want to push you too far and trigger a burnout.”

I felt a little relieved that we were done since I was hurting pretty badly and just wanted to rest for a bit and recover. But on the other hand, actually having super powers like that was unbelievably exciting and I wanted to try them out some more.

“Come on,” Pinball said, putting her arm around my shoulder and grinning. “Let’s go get something to eat. I’m starving.”

My stomach grumbled full agreement and I realized that I was really hungry as well. I remembered Pinball’s eating habits and joked, “Do you know any good all you can eat places?”

“Of course,” she responded cheerfully. “And since you seem to be an energizer too, you’re probably going to be getting very familiar with some as well.”