Alexander

Alexander picked at his tight black suit, hating the feeling of the special fabric. He should be used to it by now, but even after a year of wearing the custom made outfit, it didn't feel right. Crossing his legs to hide the bulge at his crotch, he was grateful that he was physically fit, if he'd been obese, he'd have looked ridiculous in the skin tight outfit. Trying to ignore the discomfort he turned his attention to Andrea, his therapist, who was looking over the notes from their last session. He'd thought he was making good progress, but from the slight tightening of her lips and narrowing of the eyes, it looked like he was still having problems.

A voice spoke to him. 'She's not happy with you. Maybe if you did what she asked, she'd smile more.'

'Shut up Dela,' he thought back, running a hand through his short blonde hair.

“How is the new medication working, Alexander?” Andrea asked.

“No real change,” he said. “I think I need something stronger.”

'LIAR! It made me really sleepy!'

'Not sleepy enough,' he thought back.

“Have you been talking to Dela like we discussed?”

“I've tried. She isn't being cooperative.”

'Liar! Liar! Pants on fire! I asked really nicely to watch Fire Heart yesterday and you just went to bed. You weren't even tired.'

He fought the urge to scowl at the disembodied voice, it wouldn't do any good. “She's mostly been shouting at me for the last week.”

“Can I talk to Dela?” the therapist asked.

“I'd really rather not,” he said.

'I want to talk to her!'

'You're not even real, and this is my body,' he thought. He wished he could still push the parasite down with his thoughts like he'd been able to as a child. Unfortunately, since puberty, Dela had been getting more powerful.

'HEY!' she shouted, he could almost feel her stomping her foot. 'You might have been here first, but I'm still real! I just want to help you out, and heaven forbid, maybe have some fun.'

Andrea leaned forward, smiling sympathetically. “I know you don't like this, but it seems like Dela really wants to say something. The only way I can help is by listening to both you and Dela.”

“The last time she came out, she spent all of my money on clothes for her,” he said, struggling to keep from growling. He'd been saving that money for a car, and now he had a closet full of glittery t-shirts, crop tops, short shorts, skirts and skin tight jeans that left nothing to the imagination.

'Maybe if you let me buy a few things once in a while for me, I wouldn't have to do a huge shopping spree,' Dela said, although she did sound a little guilty.

“What did you do while she was doing that?” Andrea asked.

“I was yelling at her to stop. She just laughed at me,” he replied.

'Now you know what it feels like. NYAH!'

He placed his hands on the wooden arms of the chair, trying to control his temper, while he pictured Dela giving him a raspberry. There was a loud crack and his therapist winced. Looking at his hands, he realized he hadn't controlled his strength and the hardwood was now just splinters and saw dust. “Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to do that,” he said, blushing in embarrassment, as he moved to the couch.

“That's fine,” Andrea said. “We buy those chairs in bulk for just this situation. It seems your relationship with Dela is getting worse. I really would like to talk to her, it will help us come up with a strategy to get the two of you working together.”

He sighed in disgust, this was one fight he wasn't going to win. “Don't let her leave without handing control back to me. I want to have some money left.”

Leaning back he let his mind relax, almost like he was going to sleep. His body began to tingle.

'YAY! MY TURN!'

**
DELA

As soon as the tingling stopped Dela jumped up from the couch, laughing with delight at being free. Looking down at her body, she admired how the black suit molded itself to her body, emphasizing her small breasts and butt. Shaking her head, she laughed again as her shoulder length black hair tickled her neck and face. Having a body was fantastic!

“Hello Dela,” the therapist said.

“Hi Andrea! Thanks for letting me out, I've got so much to say,” she said.

“I'm sure you do. Can you take a seat?”

'And stop checking out your ass,' Alexander said in her mind. She could picture him rolling his eyes.

'You're just jealous you're all flat and blocky,' she thought back.

“One sec, I really want to try something,” she said. Going to the door, she turned to face the couch, raised her hands above her head, and leapt forward, flipping in the air, she landed on her hands and pushed herself up into a high arc, almost touching the ceiling. With inhuman skill, she curled into a ball and spun three times before landing silently on her toes at the foot of the couch. Grabbing the arm of the couch, she hopped up into a handstand, and fell backwards onto the cushions.

“TA-DA! Pretty good, right?” she said, grinning broadly.

'Show off.'

“Very impressive, but I will ask you not to use your powers without being asked,” Andrea said.

She pouted. “So Alexander can break a chair, and he's told its all right, but I do a little bit of gymnastics, not breaking anything, and it's bad? That's not fair!”

“Alexander didn't mean to use his superstrength, you were deliberately showing off which you know is against the rules.”

'This is why I don't let you out. You don't think things through.'

She snorted in annoyance. “Well, if he let me out more often, I wouldn't need to show off when I finally get a chance to stretch my legs. And he lied to you about pretty much everything. The new medicine made me sleepy. He hasn't been talking to me, just bossing me around. And he wouldn't let me watch a movie when I tried to make a deal with him like you told me.”

'Snitch,” Alexander said. She could almost feel the heat of his glare behind her eyes.

“All right, I'll talk with Alexander about that when we switch. For now, I'd like to know about using his saved money to buy clothes,” Andrea said.

“I barely have any clothes! His parents are nice enough, but they've only bought me like five sets of clothes, and one of them is a really boring tracksuit. How am I supposed to be fashionable and cool with that?” she demanded.

'You only go out once a week. You don't need much,' Alexander said.

Andrea nodded, possibly in understanding. “What did his mother say when you were shopping?”

Dela bit her lip and looked away. “Well... she was kind of, sort of, maybe... locked in the basement, and I ran away for the day.”

“Dela, you realize we're trying to build up trust through these exercises right?”

Rolling into a seated position, she brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. “Yeah.”

“What do you think locking Alexander's mother in the basement will mean for the future?”

“She was pretty angry,” she admitted. “She was even angrier when she saw what I'd bought and that I'd thrown out all the receipts so they couldn't return the clothes.”

Andrea almost rubbed her forehead, Dela watched the hand start to go up, only to go back down to the pad. From long experience, she knew that the therapist was upset and trying to hide it. Usually she was the one who made Andrea angry, but lately Alexander had been annoying her as well. “What had been the plan for the day?”

“She was going to take me to the pool.”

“That sounds like fun, why didn't you want to go?”

She shrugged. “I don't know, just wanted to go and do something by myself for a change. I hate feeling like I can't be trusted to do anything on my own.”

'We can't trust you!'

“Dela,” Andrea said softly, “you've only be able to form a body in the last year. I know you have watched through Alexander's eyes your whole life and even controlled his body sometimes, but you need to take things slowly. Physically you're a sixteen-year-old girl, socially, you're much younger and have learned most of your social cues from TV and Alexander. Going to a pool with an adult to help guide you a little, and keep you from getting in over your head would not only be fun, but a very good learning experience.”

“I know,” she muttered, staring at her toes.

“Now let's talk about some things you can do with Alexander's parents that will be enjoyable and help improve your relationship with them.”

**

Alexander

Alexander flipped his hood up as they stepped outside, thankful to have some proper clothes on. He was still wearing the suit that let Dela and him shift bodies without having to be naked or wearing clothes that didn't fit, but it was hidden under his pants and hoodie. He was still angry at losing his money, and being told off by Andrea about not telling the truth about the medication and not working with Dela. She hadn't raised her voice or even told him he was bad, she was far too professional for that, he'd have preferred being yelled at.

'Do you think your Mom will really want to cook with me? Making a chocolate cake or something sounds kind of fun, and it will be really yummy!' Dela asked. 'And would your Dad trust me in the garden? I did kind of destroy his flower garden to make that flower dress.'

'I don't think Mom or Dad want anything to do with you right now, and neither do I.'

There was a vague sensation of Dela crossing her non-existent arms. 'I said I was sorry, and I'll help you sell most of my clothes on the net. That will help make back a lot of the money I owe you.'

“I don't want some of my money back, I want all of it. I worked hard for it,” he said, thinking about all the chores he'd done not only for his parents but neighbours, family friends and family, to make a thousand dollars.

'If you let me out more often, I could do some of your chores and jobs. I could even babysit! I've heard that makes good money, and little kids are so cute. Why don't you have a little brother or sister?'

“Because of you,” he said, practically spitting the words.

There was a moment of blessed silence. When Dela spoke again her voice was quavering like she was about to cry. 'Andrea said that I can't be blamed for how I was created, I didn't ask to be made. And if I'd had any choice, I wouldn't have asked to be put into a boy who doesn't know how to have any fun and only wants to spend time alone, moping and sulking.'

“Maybe I want to be alone so much because I can't get an annoying voice out of my head for ten fucking seconds. I can't even jerk off without you going 'ewww gross'.”

'I don't say it that loud, anymore. And at least you can jerk off, thirty second boy, I've never had a chance to try anything, because having you watch would be icky and I can't get any real alone time from your parents.'

He resisted the urge to kick a rock on the sidewalk, not wanting to risk sending it flying hard enough to break something or someone. “You know what. I'm just going to ignore you. I won't talk to you, I won't think about you, I won't let you out. You're a figment of my imagination, so I'm going to treat you like it.”

'You've tried it before, dumbass,' Dela snapped. 'Do you want me to start singing pop songs again? I can do it all night.'

“I've got sleeping pills and good earbuds, bitch” he said, taking out his phone.

Alexander didn't see what happened next.

One second he was walking towards the bus stop, surrounded by restaurants and small shops, a few pedestrians made their way along the sidewalk, and a steady stream of cars were on the street, a beautiful blue sky was above him, the next it was as if the ground opened up beneath him. He landed on his back staring up at a sullen grey sky.

Getting to his feet, he looked around. The street was completely different, the buildings were dilapidated, several of them had massive holes in the walls like someone had fired a rocket at them. The sidewalk was shattered, just like the road, where a rusted hulk of an overturned car blocked both lanes. There wasn't a soul in sight.

'What was that?' Dela asked.

“I don't know. HELLO! Is anyone here?!” he shouted, spinning around hoping to see someone.

'Oh god!'

“What?”

'The building across the street, look at the graffiti,' Dela said.

Alexander turned to look, actually reading the words this time. He felt the blood drain from his face and fell to his knees. The graffiti read, 'Welcome to the Oubliette. This is Grenadiers territory. Your ass is mine.'

“We're in supervillain prison,” he whispered. In his mind, Dela began sobbing.

___
Authors Notes

This story, along with Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every two weeks without fail.

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