Safink de vorld again, Never vanted to. Vhat am I to do? Can't help it!

Chapter 14
Saving the World, Again

By Jesse Rabbit
Edited by Erin Halfelven of bigcloset.ateros.com for display on BigCloset and Sapphire's Place

Sorry for the delay, My life was busy. I graduated from University and now have my BS, so I'm totally qualified to write fiction for a living right? I hope my absence has only made you long for the story even more. Thanks loads and keep on dancing.

Chapter 14 - Saving the World, Again.

There was no Chapter 13, it got classifed by NSA, No Such Agency.

There I was, finger on the trigger, looking down the barrel of the sniper rifle, one round of ammunition left, poised at a moment of indecision. I felt the razor blade of time, shaving each tiniest sliver off, and I knew I had only one chance. This was it, rush things and fire too soon, Tragedy. Hesitate even a second too long, Tragedy. Get it just right, and I was a hero, victory would be mine. I strengthened my resolve, screwed down my focus, and waited, letting time wash over me, bringing me to the very crux of the matter. My target shifted and without even thinking I pulled the trigger. The invader warlord's head exploded and Karen tackled me, crowing with triumph.

"That was soo cool! I can't believe you finally did it." Karen bubbled as she hugged me.

The credits were rolling now and I poked at her, "Hey, leggo. I finally did it, I want to see the secret ending." Millennium Agent was one of my favorite games and after having played through it about two dozen times I had finally achieved the ultimate victory, the almost impossible task of completing the game without resupplying once, without being healed, without saving, and without getting hurt. The secret ending played, but I'm not gonna tell you what it was, cause that would spoil it and it's a secret! But I will tell you that I got to register my victory on the Millennium Agent net node, and that I was only the 14th person in the world to do it.

When I powered down the PS5 I heard some applause and looked over at Karen, but it wasn't her, so I turned around to find Sam and Mom standing behind me, clapping and smiling. I flushed but bowed.

"Very Impressive, but did you finish your homework first, young man?" my mother asked.

"And, what's with the ninja get up?" my always fashion conscious sister added.

"It's just a black jumpsuit. It's comfortable. It's easier to move in than my school uniform. And it's got this neat harness and all these pockets, so I can attach a drink bag to it and store snacks in the pocket" I replied, trying to dodge the homework question, but one look at my mother's face told me it wasn't going to work. "We're gonna do it after dinner. I promise."

"You'd better, or no games for a week. Now go wash up, Miss Wei's almost got dinner ready."

So Karen and I scampered, and that night at dinner I wore Karen's ost recent Halloween costume, which was Maid Marion (Mine had been Robin Hood, of course). Pig threw another hissy fit and got sent to her room and dad told me to stop antagonizing my sister and to stop calling her the family pet.

***

Karen had to go home after we finished our homework and I was just getting ready for some tinkering in my lab when my door buzzed and the yellow door light flashed. I had installed the light because sometimes, when I am wearing headphones I can't hear the buzzer and also, some power tools can be very loud. I put down what I was working on and keyed the intercom set into my work bench, "Yellow? Is that you Pig? Cause if it is, go away."

When I released the button the intercom went bzzzt! for a second and then Sam's voice came through it, "Lil Bro. Let me in."

"Whatcha want? I'm busy."

"Let me in you twerp, we need to talk." I could just imagine her standing outside my door, hands on her hips, glaring at the intercom box.

"Talk about what?" It's not that I don't like Sam, really I do. It's just that she's annoying. She seems to think that being the oldest sib still living at home that she can boss me around and that it is her duty to give me grief about almost everything I do that is even slightly out of line.

"Elan, just open the door and stop being a little shit, okay. I'm serious! We need to talk."

I'd had enough of this, "Don't wanna. Dad already told me to stop with Pig and I will, at least for a while, so I don't need to hear it from you too, okay?"

The intercom went bzzt! for twice as long this time and then she said, in a much softer voice, "Please Elan. Let me in, I promise it's nothing to do with you annoying Michelle. I really want to talk to you, Please. You can keep the jacket once it's back from the cleaners if you let me in."

Knowing I was going to regret this, but also knowing that at the very least I would get a cool jacket out of it I sighed and let her in. "Okay, but when I say get out, you promise to get out?"

She sighed and ruffled my hair, which I think ought to be against the law or something, and flopped down into one of my game chairs--and by my game chairs I mean the ones I had designed, with vibration and sound systems laced through them, hydraulic controls to make them tilt like vehicles did, and controller pads built into the armrests, plus they were way comfy. She gave me a smile and, crossing her legs under her, said, "Close the door kiddo, and let's talk."

Once I had complied and taken a seat in the other game chair I said, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, sis?"

Looking down at her lap and taking a deep breath she began, "I'm just worried about you, kiddo. Ever since we got back from NYC and the... incident... you've been acting kinda odd. I mean, you've been dressing up like a girl at dinner, you've been walking a little different, I know no one else has noticed but you've gotten your ears pierced, and since the holes are already healed you must have had it professionally done and not at some mall kiosk. Elan, what's going on?"

It's a good thing she wasn't looking right at me because I had gone completely rigid when she mentioned how I was walking and then started twitching when she got to the issue of my ears. I tried to control the surge of panic that was trying to rise up and take control and force myself to relax physically so that when she did look up she would see me looking innocent, or confused, or, or, or anything other than TOTALLY PANICKED!

In a voice that was at least an octave higher than it should have been and trembling to boot, I managed to get out a totally unconvincing, "Wh...what are you talking about? I... I'm fine... Really!"

"Elan, do you remember the date I had last month without asking mum and dad for permission?"

That non-sequitur nearly snapped me out of my panic, but I did manage to get out a confused "Huh?"

"Did you know that they assigned me to two months laundry detail as punishment?"

I shook my head, mostly to indicate that I didn't know but also in a vain attempt to clear my befuddled brain.

She looked up at me, "Elan, are you wearing panties?"

I twitched violently and shook my head, "N... n... no... no... of course not.... No. Why would.... Why do you.... Ummm.... What?" I managed to get out.

She smiled ruefully. "The last three days there have been no dirty underwear in your laundry hamper. Well, there was the pair you wore to school--ewww by the way--but none with any blood on them, and you were covered in it. The next day your clothes were spotless, completely clean. Elan they still had those little lines they get from being folded and compressed. And when I collected your clothes about ten minutes ago, there were no underwear period. Just your school shirt and pants. So I put two and two together and got five 'cause I was clearly missing something. The only thing I could think of was that you were hiding your underwear, and I couldn't figure out why until...well until I figured out that you've been dressing like a girl, wearing your hair kinda feminine, and generally acting kinda girlish. Not a lot, but more than normal."

She regarded me coolly, but with a little touch of fear at the corners of her eyes. I could tell that she was worried that she might have upset me or made me mad at her and that convinced me that I'd have to tell her something--maybe not the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me todd, but something. I slumped back into my chair, the panic draining out of me and I nodded. "You won't tell mum and dad will you?"

She shook her head and gave me a faint smile, "No way. I promise kiddo. But why? I mean, are you a transvestite now? Are you gay, 'cause that's okay if you are, but...."

I laughed and shook my head. "No, it's nothing like that... I... I... I am a girl."

She blinked at me and went, "Heh?

"I'm a girl."

"As in a girl trapped in a boy's body?"

"No, as in a girl in a girl's body." I tried not to smile, this was actually fun. Now all I had to do was tell her enough of the truth that she would believe me, but keep the fact that this wasn't my idea and that grandpa was a complete and total nutter who was, FYI, still among the living, to myself. I also had to convince her that I had no idea how it had been done and no idea that the watch was involved in any way, shape or form. Good thing I'm so damn smart, eh?

"Elan," she said, looking cross, "This isn't funny. I changed your diapers when you were a baby. You are a boy. I know. You used to run naked through the house yelling that you were a fire truck and waving your winky around claiming it was a fire hose. It's a good thing you didn't piddle on everything or mom would have sold you to the tech-gypsies."

"I was a boy, yep you betcha, but not anymore." And with that I hopped to my feet and pulled down the bottoms of my PJ's. "See?" I said, stifling a giggle as her eyes went wide and then rolled back into her head. She slumped in the chair which, having been designed with gamers in mind, reconfigured itself when she went limp to keep her from slumping to the floor. The chair slowly unfolded into a cot so that she was lying comfortably and flat.

I grinned and, pulling up my Pj's bottoms, went into the bathroom to get a wet washcloth. As I went I opened the watch and hissed, "Got any bright ideas grandpa?" although I wasn't sure if he could hear me.

Twenty seconds later the voice of the not so late Horace Winter said in my inner ear, "Oh! So you've let the cat out of the bag have you? And it's up to me to put things right?"

I hissed as softly as I could, "This is all your fault in the first place, you loon! Help me keep this under control." I softly draped the damp cool cloth over Sam's forehead and went into my workshop to hiss at my watch some more.

"Well, never let it be said that a good contingency plan is not vital in all things. If you look under your bed, on the left hand side near the foot, up in the frame, you will find something I left for you. And tell Sam not to worry so much, it will give her wrinkles." And with that he disconnected and I heard Sam stirring in the other room.

As quick as I could I dashed over to my bed and felt around where I had been told to. My hand felt something cold and smooth which I wriggled a bit and it came free in my hand. I pulled it out and was astounded to see a canister of medical grade nano-reconstructors. A disk fell to the floor from under my bed and I picked it up. Its label was in my hand writing and read, "Project #617: Gender Reversal by Means of Nano-Machines."

I giggled, that had been my science fair project the previous year. One for which I had won a national award, and also a visit from the NMRC (Nano-Machine Regulatory Council) who wanted to know where I had gotten Medical Grade Nano-Machines. In case you don't know what Nano-Machines are, they are tiny, like sub-microscopic, machines that are designed to perform tasks too delicate or small for humans to do them. Nano-Reconstructors are Nano-Machines that work inside living bodies. They are usually used to hunt down and kill cancer cells and viruses. They are kinda dangerous. I had, of course, gotten mine from my father, the Robotics engineer, and had used them to perform experiments on mice and rats. The process had taken about a week and had had to be closely monitored of course. My work had been so successful that the AMA (American Medical Association) had given me a special award and then licensed my work so they could develop it for humans, although Grandpa's Watch made that technology useless now. But it was the perfect cover story.

As I straightened up from where I had knelt next to my bed I heard a groan. I quickly slipped back towards the chairs. She was sitting up now and I flopped into my chair facing her. "Heya sis, have a good nap?" She shook her head to clear it and I tossed the canister into her lap. "That explain things?"

Picking up the canister and looking at it in a confused manner she gasped and looked up at me. "You used these on yourself? Elan! That was really stupid! You know mum and dad don't allow experimentation on humans! Especially not on yourself...or your siblings!" she added as an afterthought.

I laughed, "No, no, no. Grandpa made those for me. Before he died. Right before he died as it turns out. He took my work and improved on it, did all the testing and stuff. He said it was safe to use. And don't worry. I just wanna see what being a girl is like. I figure it will be an experiment. But you gotta promise not to tell anyone, okay?"

"Well...do you swear you didn't do this to yourself?"

I nodded.

"Okay. Then I won't tell." She gave me a hard look, "But I'm not gonna lie if mum or dad figure anything out. So how long am I going to have two sisters for?"

With a shrug I said, trying to seem casual, "Oh, about a year, maybe less if the secret gets out. I think that will be long enough. Then I'll decide if I wanna change back or not."

"I suppose Karen was in on this?"

I grinned, "Karen and I share a brain, didn't you know that?" I grinned, "Wanna see my new wardrobe?"

Sam blinked and then smiled, "Sure!"

Isn't it great belonging to a family insane enough to just nod and smile when you say, "Oh, by the way, I've switched genders for a year as part of a scientific experiment, don't mind me."

***

School the next day, which was Thursday, was pretty laid back...until lunch time. The Trio grabbed Karen and I just as we got out of the lunch line and dragged us off to their lair. Sports Heaven was significantly more crowded than it had been the last time I had been inside. Tyrone wrapped an arm round my shoulder and walked me over to a group of about nine girls, one of whom was Agnes Watson, the Cheer Second, whom I had met the previous day at my uniform fitting. Ty introduced me around, giving my shoulder a soft squeeze from time to time. I met Andrea Meechum, a swimmer and Cheerleader; Vicky Meechum, Andrea's sister, track star, and Cheerleader; Diana Gusman and Jill Tores, who played soccer and were Cheerleaders; and Maxi Maxime, Lu Wong, and Jill Linsner who played basketball and who claimed that Cheerleaders were all airheads, but I don't think they were being too serious as everyone giggled and all the cheerleaders started acting like total blondes. I did notice that Lu Wong was wearing a varsity jacket that had the name Jim Golwar sewn into it and that Diana and Vicky were holding hands. They seemed like a nice bunch of girls.

Then Karen and I were introduced to the boys, all of whom seemed to play soccer, basketball, softball, or run track, although if I had to guess I'd say that was cause the boy's swim team always met right before lunch and 'cause our school didn't have a football or baseball team. I did get to meet the two male cheerleaders, Harold Jurgens and Ernesto Gusman who was Diana's twin. They seemed nice enough too, although it was clear that Harold didn't like Ty one bit if the cold looks that passed between them were any indication.

Then the boys, or at least Davis and Tyrone guided us to a couch which was miraculously uncluttered with chatting athletes or book bags. As we sat eating, Karen and I nestled in between Davis and Ty, I watched Jim saunter up to Lu Wong and flop next to her, much to the irritation of several of the other girls. I turned to Tyrone, opening my mouth to say something along the lines of "Is he always that big a putz?" but the words never made it out of my mouth.

Tyrone was looking down at me, a kinda quirky smile making his face a little lopsided, his eyes a deep, almost bottomless black. I felt my heart skip a beat, and felt suddenly like I had vertigo. They seemed to loom towards me and I shivered. Suddenly I realized that they were getting nearer but before I could do more than understand my grievous error--that I had turned my head up to a boy who had already kissed me three times with my mouth slightly ajar.

Of course that's when he kissed me, again. The kiss went on and on and on and on and somewhere in the middle of it I felt his tongue touch mine and his arms wrap around me and my brain went totally numb. When the kiss ended, after who knows how long, he gently released me and gave me another one of those quirky smiles. "Mmmm," he said, "Cherry lip balm, my favorite."

And then he went back to eating his lunch, while I sat there totally stunned until Karen leant over and whispered in my ear, "You gotta boyfriend, you gotta boyfriend, you gotta..." until I elbowed her, blushing furiously, convinced that everyone was looking at me.

But when I looked around, no one was, Jim and Lu were making out, as were two of the boys on the softball team, but everyone seemed to be ignoring them.

When the bell ending lunch finally rang, Ty helped me and Karen up while Davis tossed out our trash and said "Later Guys, Girls, Mascot, Mascot's sexy friend." And with that he left.

I giggled and Karen shot me an evil look then humphed, "See you in Poly-Civ then?" and without waiting for an answer flounced off, which she only does when she's trying to act angry and put out, so I didn't take it too hard.

I was just about to leave when Tyrone said, "Wait a sec, Elayne, I got some stuff for you." And with that he handed me a sack with five CVD's (crystal video disks) inside and a small binder.

I looked at the stuff without taking it and then up into those astounding eyes which made me shiver all over and remembered the kiss and the falling sensation. I blinked and tilted my head, "What's these?"

He smiled, "Just some vids of past track meets, so you can see the kinda stuff mascots do. It's mostly just bringing us Gatorade or towels, watching our stuff, and cheering and acting happy and stuff when we win and perking us up when we don't." He grinned, "But don't worry darlin'" and patted my shoulder with his free hand, "The Primo Trio never loses!"

I giggled politely although inside I was blushing furiously 'cause he had called me "darlin'". "What's the binder?" I said, pointing to it.

Holding it out so I could see the cover he said, "It's the code of conduct for cheerleaders and mascots. It says what you are allowed to do and not allowed to do. It says what we are allowed to ask of you and what we are not allowed to ask of you. It says what the staff will expect and will demand of you. It's got this affidavit at the back. That's this kinda note thing you sign that says you read everything and agree with it. You gotta get that back to Miss Vasquez by the start of school tomorrow, and no later, okay? And make sure you watch those disks tonight."

I nodded, "Sure, but what's the rush?" as I took the bundle and followed Tyrone down the corridor.

Ty gave me a one-armed hug and laughed, "You're kidding, right?"

I shook my head, "No! Really, what's up?"

Ty guestured towards the wall of the corridor with his free hand. "Layne, you gotta pay attention more." I looked where he was gesturing as he continued. "Babygirl, this Saturday is the regional track meet!" And lo! There were posters and flyers for the meet on every wall!

I stiffened and gasped, "You mean...?"

He looked down at me with those eyes again and said, "Yep. On Saturday we, and you, get to strut your stuff in front of twenty thousand junior high school parents, siblings, faculty, and students!"

And then I felt that falling sensation again, only this time it wasn't because of his eyes.

To be continued in part 15 - Let the Little Girl Dance

For all you Star Wars Buffs out there, Here are a few choice details about the last Star Wars Trilogy.

Episode VII: Revenge of the Sith, featured Darth Holzt. The Heroes Tyra Solo, a Grey Jedi, and great granddaughter of Han and Leah, and Rebel Calrisian, charismatic young leader of the Freedom Party, a right wing party which feels the Senate is becoming to totalitarian, must save the restored republic from Sith Dreadnoughts, mindless biological killing machines that kill anyone with even the slightest trace of the power of the force. In the end it is revealed that Darth Holzt takes his orders from an even more powerful Sith Master, the nefarious Darth Grell, who appears only at the very end of the movie to take mental control of the Senate using Sith Sorcery. In the end Darth Holzt renounces the Dark side and joins with the heroes as they escape into the labyrinth that is Coruscant.

Episode VIII: The Darkest Hour, features Darth Grell. It marks the appearance of Yoda-D2 a hybrid astromech droid with the power to wield the force and the spirit of the Grand Jedi Master Yoda within it. The Heroes are Tyra Solo, Rebel Calrisian, and Enock Palpatine who used to be Darth Holzt. Darth Grell, having taken control of the entire senate, now declares that all Jedi and their allies are the reason behind all the wars and bloodshed. He orders the military to wipe out the Jedi, killing them on sight. He also mandates public testing of all citizens to root out and neutralize the threat of those who can wield the force. As the Jedi and their allies battle the military, Our heroes make their way into Darth Grell's floating fortress and confront him. He laughs and challenges Tyra and Enock, fighting both at once. Finally Rebel shoots Darth Grell through the chest as he leaves himself open, making a snide comment about chivalry and honor. Grell, with the last of his energy, triggers a detonator and the huge floating fortress blasts the Senate into atomic dust, along with much of the surface of Coruscant. With his physical body defeated, Grell tries to jump to another clone body, but Tyra is able to become a spirit as well and she battles him while her body slumps into Enock's arms. As she defeats Grell the second time he gasps, "It doesn't matter, She's awake. She's awake and she will come for you all." And then he disolves into spiritual nothingness. When she opens her eyes she smiles up at Enock, "You know," she says, "You aren't half bad for the grandson of a genocidal madman. In fact, you've got this cute glower thing going for you."

Episode IX: The Balance of the Force, comes out for Thanksgiving. No one knows who the Grandmaster of the Sith is, but she looks really scary on the posters and vids.

Elan, his family, friends, and Story are copyright 2002 Jesse Rabbit, who may be reached at [email protected]. Feel free to distribute as long as you do it for free. Anyone who wants to adapt this into any other medium (Like a movie, hint hint) should leave me a comment with an email addy. :P Thanks and enjoy.