By Daphne Xu

The U.S.S. ACCELERATOR has been accelerating at one gee for 45 days 7 hours, and 13 minutes -- 3.914 * 10⁶ seconds -- since its departure from the Inner Solar System.

CAPTAIN: Lefty! Do we have the latest measurements? How close are we now to the speed of light?

LIEUTENANT: Sir! We're still as far from the speed of light as ever, sir.

CAPTAIN: But how can that be possible? By my own calculations, we should be up to 13% of the speed of light by now.

LIEUTENANT: 12.94% of the speed of light, to be precise, sir. But the measurements are unambiguous. We are still 2.998 hundred thousand kilometers per second away from the speed of light.

CAPTAIN: Okay, so we've gained 200 kilometers per second on the speed of light, then?

LIEUTENANT: No sir, it's always been 2.998 hundred thousand kilometers per second. Three hundred thousand kilometers per second is only the three-figure approximation. And just to be clear, sir, 2.998 is the four-figure approximation.

CAPTAIN: I can't take this! How the hay are we to surpass the speed of light if we can't even flipping approach it? Increase acceleration to five gee! Commence the increase within the hour!

LIEUTENANT: Yes sir. [LIEUTENANT saluted and departed.]

Five minutes later, INTERCOM: Prepare for the Elephant! Five-gee acceleration to commence in fifty minutes. It's expected to be an extended period of high-gee acceleration.

CAPTAIN grumbled to himself, even as he followed the preparation protocol for the extended period of horizontal immobility, intravenous feeding, and the robotic compression-relaxation substitute for actual physical exercise. "The Elephant" was the code-word for how it would feel when accelerating at high gee.

It had been 50 days of extreme discomfort, delirium, lying motionless with the elephant on top of him, resistant to all pleas to end the acceleration until now. CAPTAIN was determined to make sure he got closer to the speed of light, even if it killed him. But finally, he tapped his robots to gradually decrease the acceleration to one gee. It took another few hours before he could contact Lefty about how fast they were flying, and -- more to the point -- how much closer they were to the speed of light.

LIEUTENANT had recovered faster and better from the ordeal than CAPTAIN had, and was able to speak without computational aid.

LIEUTENANT: Sir, we are now traveling 66.35% of the speed of light.

CAPTAIN didn't have it in him to work it through himself. "But what about the speed of light? How much closer are we?"

LIEUTENANT: Sir, I hate to break it to you, but we are no closer to the speed of light. Still 2.998 hundred thousand kilometers per second away.

CAPTAIN looked Lefty over, but Lefty seemed honest and above-board. His lieutenant didn't seemed surprised in the least. "You're not surprised," CAPTAIN said.

LIEUTENANT: No, sir.

CAPTAIN: You expected this to happen.

LIEUTENANT: Yes sir.

CAPTAIN: But you never told me.

LIEUTENANT: Sir, you needed to learn it for yourself. It doesn't matter who measures the speed of light, or how fast he's going. He will always get the same quantity, c = 2.998 hundred thousand kilometers per second. In general, sir, someone already skeptical or dismissive of the notion that one can't surpass the speed of light will dismiss outright the notion that the speed of light is the same in all frames.

CAPTAIN: How would they ever get that idea in the first place?

LIEUTENANT: Ultimately, sir, it's based on electrodynamics although there was the history of failed attempts to detect the earth's own motion by measuring different speeds for light depending on the direction. Electrodynamics led several scientists before Albert Einstein, to produce the Lorentz Transform. Woldemar Voigt gave us a version as far back as 1887, eighteen years before Einstein's 1905 paper.

CAPTAIN: Apparently, my course in electrodynamics skipped or glossed over its connection with special relativity. Lefty, I can tell you are itching to give a lecture on electrodynamics and relativity. I think that I'm up to standing in front of a white-board now, so let's go for it.

LIEUTENANT: Gladly, sir!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Lorentz_transformat...

299,792,458 m/s: It's not just a good idea, it's the law!

            The USS FTL0476

The USS FTL0476 flew out to 100 million miles beyond the orbit of Jupiter, making sure to remain well away from Jupiter and its moons and Lagrange points.

After going through the final checklist, the captain of FTL0476 broadcast signals in all directions. "T-60 seconds" ding -- "T-50 seconds" ding -- "T-40 seconds" ding -- "T-30 seconds" ding -- "T-20 seconds" ding -- "T-10 seconds -- 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go!" The final word was cut off as the spaceship instantly shot to Warp 2 -- twice the speed of light.

Space Traffic Control centers throughout the solar system -- the moon, orbiting Callisto, on Ceres, etc. -- received the countdown at different times. Except for different time lags due to different distances, they all received the countdown signals from FTL0476. The departure appeared abruptly as a visible star that died out within five minutes.

Three minutes after departure, Callisto STC received a faint signal. "FTL 1st at Warp 2, and all is well." Three minutes later, Callisto received, "FTL 2nd at Warp 2, and all is well." Three minutes later still, Callisto received the final signal. "FTL 3rd at Warp 2, and farewell for the next decade."

            The EtaCass Fnuxell

The Eta-Cassiopeia-registered sub-luminous freighter transport EtaCass Fnuxell had the unprecedented fortune of flying through the solar system between Jupiter and Saturn, in the same direction as FTL0476, at Warp 0.8, 4/5ths the speed of light, in its circuit through space regions 237, 892, 1895, and 3487. Except for routine chatter automatically decoded, recorded, and ignored, the Fnuxell and its crew had no indication of FTL0476's faster-than-light departure.

Not until a green alert signaled in the transportation control center, indicating something possibly interesting, probably harmless.

"I'm onto it, Captain," said 2nd Lieutenant Squiglant at his workstation, as the alert changed from green to yellow. He moved and tapped his pointing device, and typed into the workstation. "Sir, systems detected a gamma-ray burst of intensity 48 kW/m^2, followed by a burst of near-warp interstellar matter of intensity 107 kW/m^2. Source appears to be azimuth -1.32, 0.78 from fore. Radar detects nothing in that direction. Star charts show plenty of stars in that direction."

"Captain?" said 2nd Lieutenant Gnorthst.

"Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"No stars are capable of producing both gamma-ray bursts and particle bursts that would reach us with that kind of intensity. Anything of any reasonable distance would have to be directed specifically at us."

"We could send a request-for-information to the local STC. A response wouldn't come for hours, though," said Lt. Squiglant.

"I'll send the request," answered the Captain. "They should know about it, even if it's too late to do anything about it."

The Fnuxell remained at yellow-alert, but nothing further happened until 65 minutes later.

"Captain," said Lt. Squiglant. "We've detected a faint communication from directly aft. It's from a locally registered ship. `FTL 3rd at Warp 2, and farewell for the next decade.'"

"Any connection with the previous events?" asked the Captain.

"Quite possibly, if the ship is what it claims to be," answered Lt. Gnorthst. "I'm working through the calculations now."

Three minutes later, a second communication came: "FTL 2nd at Warp 2, and all is well." This was followed by another, three minutes later. "FTL 1st at Warp 2, and all is well."

A strong communication appeared beginning eighty seconds later. "It's the same voice, the captain of that ship." The systems voice said, "T-60 seconds" ding -- "T-50 seconds" ding -- "T-40 seconds" ding -- "T-30 seconds" ding -- "T-20 seconds" ding -- "T-10 seconds -- 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go!"

"A new star has appear directly aft," said Lt. Squiglant.

"I believe that I've figured out what has happened," said Lt. Gnorthst.

"Yes?" returned the captain.

"If my calculations are correct, their ship, the USS FTL0476, has apparently crashed into itself at twice the speed of light."

Aayla Farstrayer listened as the Master droned about an obscure ancient prophecy. According to the prophecy, "A chosen one would bring balance to the Force," the Master said. "It was thought that a young Jedi student, Anakin Skywalker, might be that chosen one. Instead, young Anakin was seduced by the Dark Side, became Sith Apprentice Darth Vader, and helped Sith Master Darth Sidious destroy the Jedi Order."

Another student raised his hand. "Master, what happened with the prophecy? Did it fail then?"

"We have never figured it out," replied the Master. "Prophecies do not fail. But sometimes, we misunderstand them. We don't know whether the prophecy is still to come in the future, whether it came true under the radar so-to-speak, or whether Anakin did in fact fulfill the prophecy. We still don't know."

Aayla's interest was sparked. After classes ended that afternoon, she visited the Academy Library to search out information on the prophecy. She found a few references to the prophecy, but nothing informative before she had to report for dinner. She returned to the library after dinner, and found an obscure reference to an ancient Jedi sacred text, apparently dating back to the origin of the Jedi Order.

Crouching at the bottom of a shelf, and reading the book, Aayla jumped at the touch on her left shoulder. "Scattered throughout the Galaxy these texts and translations thereof have been," said the small green librarian with the large green ears. "It is said that the late great Luke Skywalker a complete collection of the texts did assemble in the Great Tree on the water planet of Ahch-To."

"Gesundheit," said Aayla automatically.

"Ahch-To." The librarian glared at Aayla. "Where formed the original Jedi Order. For thousands of years a sacred locale. Until recently, lost from all of our star charts for hundreds of years, their system was."

Aayla's original plans were to spend summer vacation at home playing and relaxing. Instead, obsessed with the ancient prophecy and finding what it was all about, she took public spaceflight to the spaceport nearest Ahch-To's system. There, she hired a small private transport to Ahch-To. She had to provide the coordinates, as most official star charts still didn't have it.

"I really doubt it's there, young miss," said the skeptical and jaded pilot. "But you have the coordinates and the money, and I'll transport you anywhere."

Indeed, the planet was found when they arrived at the star. "Well, I'll be darned," said the pilot. "I will help you search for your particular island." Aayla had provided latitude and longitude coordinates for the island, so the pilot made short work of locating the island. As they approached, Aayla sensed a strong presence of the Force.

They landed, and Aayla, accompanied by the pilot, exited the spacecraft. "This is apparently the island of the tree, but no tree." Instead, two ghosts confronted them at the base of the stairs, one human and one apparently the same species as the librarian. Aayla resisted going for her light saber, and could sense the pilot resisting his blaster.

"Our greetings, Apprentice Aayla and Admiral Digblender," said the green ghost. "I am Yoda, and this young man is Luke Skywalker."

`Wait, what?!' thought Aayla. `The two famous ones?'

"The documents you seek, young Aayla--" began Luke, only to be interrupted by Yoda. "... are safely aboard the Millennium Falcon, currently piloted by Lando Calrissian and Rey Skywalker."

"Wait, what?!" Luke turned to Yoda. "You destroyed them all when you destroyed the tree!"

"Destroy them did I not," replied Yoda. "Safely aboard with Rey they were, before I destroyed the Tree."

"Let's go," said the pilot, and he and Aayla reentered their spacecraft, leaving the two ghosts to argue behind. "The Millennium Falcon is the most famous hunk-a-junk in the Galaxy."

It took them several more trips, both before and after meeting Rey and checking the books, but eventually they found the source of the Prophecy of the chosen one who would bring balance to the Force:

Forseth and Jedith, Secondary School Physics, 3829^th Ed., p. 174.

Problem 35: "Dotty wants to lift a 600-pound piano 90 feet. She chooses a five-pulley block and tackle system. What force must she exert to balance gravity? Is she able to exert the necessary force? If not, whom might she choose from her coworkers to balance the force and lift the piano for her?" A list of the workers and their weights was provided with the problem, along with an artist's drawing of the situation.

George McFly: "If not for him..."

Lorraine McFly: "... we would never have fallen in love."

George: "There was also that strange boy, he kept um, matchmaking us, pushing me so hard toward you."

Lorraine: "Oh yes! Would you believe it? Dad hit him with the car! He seemed so strong, so self-assured, so confident. So quick to brush off being hit by a car. And then so quick to stand up to Biff and the bullies for me--" Glances over at George. "Both of us, such a knight in shining armor! I just couldn't help falling hard for him."

George: "And then he disappeared. He promised -- guaranteed in fact -- that we would see him again. But we never have, and it's been thirty years and counting."

Lorraine: "I'm not so sure. You wouldn't by any chance know anything about this, would you, Marty?"

Marty: "Huh?"

Lorraine, with a cock-eyed glance and grin: "Or should I say, Calvin Klein?"

Marty flushed and froze in embarrassment, unable to articulate for a moment. He finally said, "Mom! You knew?"

Lorraine, smiling: "Of course I knew. I am your mom." She turned serious. "My only question was when would it happen for you. First thing now, we take you to the hospital and check you out for internal injuries."

Marty played along on the guitar, softly strumming the background cords to the song "Earth Angel", a quarter-eye on the photograph, an occasional glance at George McFly and Lorraine Baines slowly dancing with the crowd. He became conscious of a feeling of weakness and difficulty standing upright, somehow going off rhythm and cords.

"Hey, you all right, boy?" asked the pianist, as Marty struggled to stay standing, seeing his body becoming transparent.

"Keep playing, please!" Marty couldn't talk above a distant whisper now, barely conveying his utter despair. His dematerialization sounded hauntingly loud to his ears.

The haunting vanished. The siblings in the picture returned. Marti straightened up, whole and healthy again, able to play the guitar accompaniment. She glanced over to see George and Lorraine kissing their hearts out to the final chords.

Marti felt proud and honored to have performed accompaniment with that hot all-black expert music group. The honor and pride shot sky-high when their lead singer and guitarist, Marvin Berry, said, "Let's play another, Miss. Let's give them something that really cooks!" This was her golden opportunity, and she had the perfect song...

Bryce Mansfield put the finishing touches of make-up on his face. There, thought the six-foot-two, 22-year-old, 170-pound engineering senior. He should pass adequately as a twelve-year-old Chinese-American girl.

He'd attempted to dress up as a twelve-year-old Chinese-American girl during many classless afternoons the past half-year. Although his initial attempts were utter failures, he got obsessed with the goal, and kept at it. He'd even stayed at school over Christmas vacation to continue the effort. He sometimes skipped several days, when the fear of exposure got too great, but the sense of naughty, thrilling excitement always seemed to drag him back to the attempt.

There came a point when he sensed that he made a plausible young lady in her twenties. The next milestone was ordering pizzas and other food delivered to his room. That went well the first time, and he continued to order meals, especially during weekends when the dorm didn't serve meals.

At one point, he even went downstairs for dinner with the dorm. Unfortunately, during the meal, a boy greeted him by name, as if seeing nothing amiss. Bryce replied in his female voice. Even though that turned out okay, he never tried it again.

It took ever more work, research, and experimentation, but eventually he managed, he thought, to pass as the little girl. Perhaps it helped that he had to undo a good part of his work in time for dinner, and redo it afterwords. Ever since, he remained in his room except for nerve-wracking treks out to the bathroom. He read, wrote random things, did homework, and so forth. At present, he was caught up in a sci-fi novel about a man in a covert-action squad fighting a major terrorist organization.

The idea of excursions out, off campus to the local park and various other places kept pestering him, and several times, he prepared to go, only to chicken out at the last minute.

Dared he actually go out this Friday afternoon? He was wearing a baby-blue T-shirt inscribed with "BFF 4 Life" down the front in flowery pink script, embedded in embroidered hearts, stars, flowers, a cat, and other cutesy decorations. Matching that was a blue flared skirt extending almost to his knees. Wrapping up the outfit were knee-high navy socks, blue sneakers, and a powder-blue gaff-panty. His gaff-panty held his carefully-tucked-up male privates, and his skirt concealed any possible residual bulge.

He had accumulated a whole collection of gaff-panties, of all sorts of colors and fabrics, resembling ordinary panties. Of necessity, of course, they were stronger and tighter, the better to contain and conceal his privates.

He had shaved his arms, legs, and face as much as absolutely possible. Any hair visible outside the bikini panties had to go.

So back to the question at hand. It was around three Friday afternoon, and the weekend had begun for him. His final class had ended just before lunch Friday morning, and after lunch, he had taken a couple hours to make himself up as the preteen Chinese girl. Dared he venture out?

He could, instead, spend the rest of the afternoon in his room immersed in his sci-fi novel. He got the book, sat on the floor with his back to the wall, one leg straight forward, and the other bent and pulled up toward his chest. The story was at the point where the protagonist, Tagrey Xandu and his Central Security Foreign Rangers Squad had attained a critical victory: apprehending Lady ZogMyrf, high-ranking commander in a shadowy rebel terrorist organization that was spreading its tentacles throughout the Northern Lands. Lady ZogMyrf was now rendered harmless, hooked up inside a dream cylinder.

Bryce agreed when Xandu wondered, `Why didn't they simply shoot her?'

"Let's do it!" he said out loud, reinserting the marker and setting the book down. The book could wait, while this might be the only time he would ever work up the nerve to go outside en femme as a little girl. He'd go to the park and play for a couple of hours, until dinner time.

He opened the door, and peeked down the hallway. Seeing nobody, he timidly went out. The way was clear down the stairs, but as he turned the corner toward the exit, he met another resident entering the dorm, Steve.

"Hello!" said Steve, clearly startled at her sudden appearance.

'Uh-oh, caught,' flashed through Bryce's mind, although as Steve scanned him up and down, Bryce realized that Steve saw him as a cute girl, not a man in drag. Funny, he'd never realized how both attractive and subtly menacing Steve was -- nor, for that matter, how tall the man was.

"Hi." Bryce caught himself just in time to avoid greeting Steve by name. That might have been troublesome.

"I'm Steve. I can't quite remember seeing you around before, very sorry. What's your name?"

"Rarity." Bryce said the first name to come to mind, then cringed. Well, too late to do anything about it now. "Rarity Kao." That was the first Chinese last name to come to mind, the name of one of his huge crushes.

"Hi, Rarity." He smiled at her.

"I'm going off to the park for the afternoon."

"Heh, sounds fun. If I didn't have so much to do, I'd join you. Maybe another time. Have a good afternoon." Steve went on his way.

When Rarity's heart returned to normal, she continued on, repeatedly reminding herself to act normally, as if she were perfectly normal and had every right to be there. Once outside, she skipped lightly in nervous giddiness down the walkway to the sidewalk. Another student appeared along the way. They simply smiled and greeted each other with "Hi" before continuing on.

Once she reached the sidewalk, she jogged and skipped toward the park. The air felt fresh and cool on her bare legs and up her skirt. The wind occasionally lifted her skirt, but not enough to matter; it felt light and liberating. If she'd known how nice it would feel, she would have ventured out long ago.

It didn't take long to reach the park. Once there, she jogged along a black hardtop path winding through the park until she spotted a set of swings, along with slides and monkey bars. "Yeah!" she squealed, dashing to a swing. She swung herself up, higher and higher, until she almost reached the height of the swing itself.

"Whee!" She let herself fly. Her skirt flew up, and she squealed as she instinctively pushed it down -- leaving herself unprepared for her landing. Her legs spread wide, and she fell onto her stomach between her outstretched legs. "Ow!"

"Oooo! Ahhhh!" She struggled clumsily and futilely to get her legs together, sit up, shift to a less contorted position, while making a general mess of things. "Aieeee!"

"Hold still and let me help." A girl leaning over her helped to shift her into a more comfortable Indian-style sitting position. "Are you okay now?"

"Thanks," breathed Rarity, feeling light-headed and catching her breath. "I think I'm okay but, oh, such a pain in the Wrong Place." She shook herself out, and realized she was showing her panties to anyone looking in her direction. She tucked her legs into a crouch and stood up, groaning at how she smarted.

The other girl stuck out her hand. "I'm Addison Bailey." She was wearing a sleeveless leotard, along with sneakers and socks.

Rarity shook her hand, and replied, "I'm Rarity Kao."

"Wanna play with us?" asked Addison. "That's my sister Madison over there, and Leah. She's our friend."

Rarity looked over at the two girls, at the moment standing about twenty yards away and watching. Unlike Addison, they were both in shorts and T-shirts. Rarity wondered why Addison was out playing in a leotard. Perhaps to start spring break as soon as possible? She decided not to worry about it. "Sure!"

Addison ran back to her pals, and Rarity followed, still a bit wobbly.

Rarity recovered from her fall, and the four played around, throwing and catching frisbees, and doing various cartwheels, round-offs, somersaults, and other skills. Rarity demonstrated a couple Tai-Kwondo kicks.

She jumped out of her skin at the male applause from behind, after demonstrating a high roundhouse kick. Three boys were applauding her kick.

"Bravo!" said one.

"Nice kick!" said the second.

"Nice panties!" added the third, the tallest of the three. He towered over Rarity.

"Ryan!" exclaimed Addison. "That's so not nice!"

"You want naughty? I'll give you naughty!" Ryan shot a hand out and down at her.

"Ah!" Addison whipped her hands down there, shielding herself. "Not here, not outside, where anyone can see!"

Ryan snickered, straightening up and pulling his hand back to himself. "How can I resist such captivating legs and leotard?"

"Oh poof!" said Addison.

Rarity tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Her entire body aroused in shocked excitement at Ryan's attempt, and she felt her compressed, hidden male member trying to assert itself and harden.

"Addi, you really must introduce your cute little kicker friend with the panties." Ryan gestured toward Rarity.

"Okay, that's Rarity Kao. She's--" she paused and turned to Rarity. "How old?"

"Twelve," Rarity replied.

"Not!" said Ryan. "Absolutely no way whatsoever she's twelve. She can't be more than eight or nine -- ten, tops."

"Hmph!" replied Rarity at such off-hand dismissal. True, the other girls were a lot taller than her, and all were sporting breasts while Rarity was flat as a boy, and was only wearing a bra to make herself feel more feminine.

"And these naughty boys--" began Addison.

"Hey!" interrupted the other two boys. Ryan only snickered, and Leah giggled.

Addison continued, "These boys are Jim, Bert, and, of course, Ryan. They're all fourteen, and they're actually real nice."

"Both naughty and nice then," said Rarity, giggling.

"Exactly!" answered Leah, continuing to laugh.

"So Rarity, do you like to be flipped?" asked Ryan out of the blue.

"Huh?" said Rarity dumbly.

"I'll show you." Addison walked up to Ryan as he shifted a leg back and stood in a lunge. Addison removed her shoes and socks, stood up on Ryan's front leg, grabbed his right hand, and leaned back with her legs, waist, and back straight, apparently trusting Ryan not to let her fall. Ryan reached for her ankles with his left hand, and flipped her up and over in one fast motion. Addison tucked her legs in and flipped over, landing on her feet with bent knees.

"It's really fun," she said. "Madison? Leah?"

"No thanks," said Madison. "Addison's the gymnast; I'm not." Leah declined as well.

"So, Rarity?" asked Ryan.

In a dress? Why not? Rarity had already exposed her panties numerous times for all to see. Imitating Addison, she removed her shoes and socks, and stepped onto Ryan's knee, grabbing Ryan's hand. She leaned back and waited.

The flip came unexpectedly, and Rarity shrieked as she found herself falling, and the world spinning around her. She sensed herself about to land badly, but instead hands caught her arm and thigh in a vice and jerked her to a stop. As the hands gently let her down, she relaxed and almost fainted, realizing that Ryan had caught her in time.

"Perhaps you shouldn't try that again," said Addison standing over her next to Ryan. "At least not until you've learned with a proper coach."

The entire group sat down and relaxed, after the scare and potential tragedy. Madison asked Rarity, "So what's your family like?"

"Oh, nothing much out of the ordinary." Rarity had to make something up fast; she hadn't thought about it beforehand. "I have an older sister, Celestia." Having named herself Rarity, that seemed the most natural -- she couldn't have a sister named Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie.

"Celestia Kao? I know her! She's in my German class." Leah was bouncing and bubbling all over. "Wow! You're her little sister? I never would have guessed!"

Whoa, wondered Rarity. What the heck was going on? Okay, in for a lamb, in for a sheep. "I also have a little brother, Derpy. He's still in Kindergarten. Both of my parents work, but they're taking off next week. Tomorrow, we leave early to visit Grandma and Grandpa."

"Celestia mentioned that," said Leah. "'Twas a pity. I was hoping to invite her to the ice-skating party next Wednesday."

"It's gonna be an all-nighter!" said Madison.

That's right, Rarity remembered. They would be on Spring Break all next week. They wouldn't have school in the morning, and could stay up all night and have fun. For Bryce, an all-nighter meant toiling his brains out on some accursed problem set, or spending it on his senior engineering project.

"Too bad. We'd invite you along with Celestia if you were gonna stay in town."

Ryan grinned, and his eyes gleamed. "We don't have to go without at least one fun night, you know."

"What do you mean?" asked Addison.

"Suppose we return here tonight, shortly after dark, around nine-thirty, and play around some more. We could play and have fun until tomorrow morning."

With a lot of giggling, talk, and excitement, everyone finally agreed to sneak out that night, and meet at the swings nearby. Rarity couldn't help giggling in nervous excitement along with the others, even though she realized that students left the dorms at all times so sneaking wouldn't normally be necessary.

Rarity was jogging down the sidewalk back to the house. In the distance, she saw Steve walking with another student, York. No longer concerned about being detected, she continued jogging, catching up with and passing the boys.

She smiled. "Hey, guys!" Both boys were extraordinarily tall, and buff for sure. Why hadn't she noticed before?

"Hi, Rarity," replied Steve.

"That's your young freshman?" asked York as Rarity continued to jog ahead of them. "You need glasses, Steve. She can't be more than ten or..." The boys' voices trailed off in the distance as Rarity turned around the corner of a building. Rarity realized that she just might have to sneak around, if everyone saw her as a little girl who didn't belong on campus, especially at night.

Back in Bryce's room, Rarity took off her clothes, and dumped them in the hamper, having decided that she would wear something different out that night. As his gaff-panty finally came off, Bryce sighed with relief at the cool air and newfound freedom for his privates. His body had tried to bone-up several times down there, rather painfully.

He noticed a red stain at the crotch of his panties. Was he bleeding down there? He felt all over his crotch, but nothing appeared amiss. "If I didn't know better," he said out loud to himself, "I'd say my cherry broke when I landed badly from the swing." He laughed at the crazy notion, and wondered for a moment why nobody at the park had mentioned the bloody spot. He realized that they must not have wanted to remind him that he was showing his panties.

It was approaching dinner time, so Bryce showered, removing his Rarity makeup and objects, and dressed in ordinary shorts and T-shirt. Downstairs, only half the students were in the dining room, as it was a Friday evening. The other half were out doing their own things with the start of the weekend. At one point as he ate, he glanced over at Steve at another table. He wondered for a moment why he had ever found Steve and the other boys attractive. He put the issue aside, and focused on eating dinner and looking forward to the exciting prospect of tonight's outing with the youngsters.

Bryce thought it would be quite an interesting experience to "sneak out" that evening. The sneaking on his part would be avoiding detection, or at least capture, as a trespassing little girl.

But first he had to apply the proper make-up, pads, corset, wig, and other essentials to disguise himself properly as Rarity. Excited as he was, the two hours needed to do the job zoomed by, and he was finally outfitted as Rarity in a clean powder-blue gaff-panty. He slipped on a sky-blue short-sleeved dress extending about a third of the way down her thighs, and slipped her feet into a pair of pale-blue flip-flops. She went bra-less this time, because her breast was as flat as a boy's, and she wanted to feel young and cute for the older boys. The nights were nice and warm, and the outfit was just the thing for the evening's excursion. She giggled at the idea.

Rarity had to do a few final tasks before she was ready to depart. She needed her house and room key, but didn't have pockets or any other place to secure carry it. Some girls, she knew, stored things in their bras, but that was out. She realized she didn't have any safety pins, to pin her key to her dress. She decided to slip her key down into her gaff-panty, as she went to the bathroom one last time before departing.

Rarity encountered no other students on her journey out, and it was a nice warm evening, the perfect evening for a night-time excursion. The sun had set, but an exceedingly bright full moon about one-third of the way up lit the way. Rarity removed her flip-flops and carried them, as she jogged to the park entrance.

The key was irritating her by the the time she reached the park entrance. A large tree off to the side looked as if it could provide some privacy, so she dashed behind it, squatted down, and slipped her hand underneath her dress. She slid her fingers over her gaff-panty, attempting to maneuver the key into a more comfortable position.

"Hey, Rarity!" Rarity jumped with a shriek.

"Ryan! I was doing something private!" Rarity took in his tall, buff, muscular, form in tight tank-top and short-short cut-offs that emphasized his abs, thighs, biceps, and crotch. Embarrassed as she was, she couldn't help the jittery excitement at being caught in a compromising position.

"I could tell." His eyes gleamed. "I could help you with that."

"No-no-no-no!" she sputtered anxiously. His offer was excitedly, dangerously, tempting. The bulge in his cut-offs pulsed tantalizingly.

"Too bad. I'll help you this way instead." He grabbed her by the waist and tossed her up. She shrieked and laughed in excitement and grabbed his bare shoulders as she came down. Her dress had flown up, and he caught her panty-covered hips under her dress.

He held her out at half-arms length, as she kept her hands on his shoulders. She looked him up and down, liking what she saw, even as he looked her up and down. "You look simply wonderful, Rarity. Sexy!" He pulled her in and kissed her cheek. Rarity wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders, and her legs around his waist, as he carried her the rest the way to the swings.

He set her down, and they took adjacent swings, and swung lightly. Rarity couldn't keep her eyes off Ryan's buff physique, as they awaited the other guys.

During all of this mayhem, her key in her panties had somehow shifted itself into exactly the right spot in her crotch.

Addison and Leah arrived shortly. Rarity gasped when she saw them. Leah wore a yellow tank-top with horizontal white stripes, plain bright green short-shorts, and white socks and sneakers like she'd worn that afternoon. Addison, on the other hand, was wearing an Elsa-themed string-bikini-flip-flop combination.

In her sudden fear of having forgotten, Rarity asked, "Are we supposed to go swimming tonight?"

"Nah," she answered, tossing a smile at Ryan. "I just thought this would be nice for a night-time sneak-out with the boys. After all, it is a nice and warm evening. Hey Ryan, how about a toss?"

Ryan smiled. "You want a toss? Okay, then." He grabbed her bare waist, lifted her up, and tossed her into the air before catching her on her butt and letting her down. She shrieked and laughed in excitement, just as Rarity had earlier.

"Addison, where's Madison?" Rarity asked.

"Oh, she chickened out," said Addison. "She's too scared of getting caught."

"She won't tell on you, or us, will she?" asked Rarity with trepidation.

"No, she promised she wouldn't," answered Addison.

Jim arrived shortly, followed by Bert.

"Looks like we're all here," said Ryan. "Shall we go for a walk?"

Addison claimed Ryan, putting her arm around his waist. Not to be outdone, and feeling a twinge of jealousy, Rarity went to Ryan's other side and claimed his waist just under Addison's arm. Ryan put his arms around both girls' shoulders.

They started off, with Jim, Bert, and Leah behind them. They walked along the blacktop walkway for a while, chatting. Ryan slid his hand down Rarity's back, and lightly rubbed his hand around in circles, making Rarity shiver in delight. She sighed in perfection, her jaw loosely dropped.

"Ryan!" shrieked Addison, giggling.

"That was naughty, Ryan," said Leah from behind them, laughing with the others. Rarity looked around, and saw by everyone's expressions that Ryan had done something, but no one let her in on the secret.

"Indeed. Very naughty," Ryan gleefully agreed.

Ryan led them off the blacktop walkway, and through the park, finally stopping at an idyllic moon-lit clearing. "Everyone, have a seat," said Ryan, as he sat down on the grass. He took out a pack of cards and pencil and paper, and said, "Let's play a game."

"What game?" asked Bert.

"Poker, of course. Strip Poker."

"What?!" Rarity wondered if she should have come this evening.

"Hey, it'll be fun and even exciting!" said Leah.

"But that wouldn't be fair to Addison," said Jim. "She has only four items, and Rarity doesn't look much better. Nor does Bert." Unlike Leah and the other two boys, Bert wasn't wearing socks.

"I'm game," said Bert, "if they are."

"I'm good," giggled Addison in her bikini.

Rarity wanted to prove that she could be as grown-up as the rest of them, and certainly didn't want to be a spoil-sport. "I'll play." She kept telling herself that she should be horrified at the prospect of her exposure should she have to remove her gaff-panty. But she couldn't work up the emotion.

The six of them sat in a circle alternating girl-boy, girl-boy: Ryan, Addison, Jim, Leah, Bert, and finally Rarity on Ryan's right. "First ace deals first," said Ryan, shuffling the deck and handing cards face up around to everyone. "Lowest hand removes a piece of clothing -- each sock, each shoe, each flip-flop counts. Jewelry, earrings, and watches don't."

Leah was wearing a ring in each ear. She said, "Darn."

"And these are the card combinations, and what beats what." He placed a sheet of paper down in the circle.

"You certainly came prepared," said Jim. Ryan chuckled.

The first ace turned up with Addison, and Ryan gave her the cards. "Shuffle and deal five cards to each, Addi." She shuffled and dealt like a pro, and Rarity shortly had five cards in front of her. Along with everyone else,
she picked up her cards.

"You may exchange up to three cards. Jim, you first."

"Gee, I don't know," he said, then placed two cards face-down in the middle. Addison handed him two more cards from the deck.

The exchange went around the circle as Rarity pondered her own cards: ace, ten, two sevens, and a three. She realized that with a pair, her chances of losing were remote, whatever she did. Definitely keep the ace. She wondered, should she toss in one card (the three) for one of six possible matches? Or toss in two cards, for two chances of getting one of the other three aces?

Bryce had never worked through the poker odds, and Rarity certainly wasn't up to it now, in real time. The possibility, small she realized, of drawing a pair, decided for her: she tossed in the ten and the three, and Addison gave her two new cards: another three and an eight. She sighed, wishing she'd kept the three, while realizing the lack of basis for such a decision..

Ryan was the last to trade, and traded three cards. Everyone exposed their hands: Addison, Bert, and Ryan had no combinations, to Rarity's relief. Addison's highest card, a nine, was lower than Bert's jack and Ryan's king. "You lost, Addi."

"Figures," replied Addison as she kicked off one of her flip-flops. "I'd deal myself a loser." She was down to one flip-flop and her bikini, and Rarity worried for her.

Jim dealt next. This time, Rarity wasn't dealt a combination: queen, ten, seven, five, and two. She probably wouldn't lose with a queen, but she was nervous with only two flip-flops between her and exposure. Following Ryan's example from the previous hand, she tossed in her three lowest cards in exchange for three more. Nothing helped, except that an eight replaced the seven as the third-highest card.

"Queen high," said Ryan after everyone traded in their cards.

"Same," said Rarity.

Jim was ace-high, while the other three had pairs. "Looks like your top card has tied with mine," said Ryan. "What about your second highest?" Mine was a ten; Ryan's was a nine, thank goodness. "Looks like I lose just barely." Ryan untied and took off a shoe, but to Rarity's surprise, removed his sock and put his shoe back on. "I don't Like being in socks outside on the grass like this," he explained. "Either shoes or barefoot."

Leah lost next, a surprise loss with a pair of deuces. Everyone else had at least a pair, and one person wound up with the extremely rare four-of-a-kind. "I dealt myself a loser as well, Addison," said Leah with a sigh. "If it's any consolation."

"At least you began with -- how many? Seven? Eight things?" replied Addison. "I began with four."

"Eight. It could have been worse for you. You might have worn your leotard instead."

"True."

Bert dealt the next hand -- and lost as well. He removed one shoe, leaving a bare foot.

The play went on, with the deal progressing around to the left. It occurred to Rarity that up to 48 cards could be played in a deal, with six players. There wouldn't have been enough cards for seven players. Not unless only four cards were dealt out, or players were limited to exchanging two cards.

Rarity and Addison didn't lose during the next many deals. Ryan and Jim lost once, and Leah and Bert lost the rest of the time. Finally came a deal where Bert lost his shirt, leaving himself only in his cut-offs. Rarity couldn't help checking out shirtless Bert, agonizingly handsome and unnaturally white in the moonlight. She couldn't help repeatedly looking him up and down, occasionally even sliding her fingertips lightly up and down his arm or his back. Once, he even laughed and twisted away, lightly slapping at her hand. "That tickles!" He also kept trying to conceal a clear bulge in his cut-offs.

Addison lost her other flip-flop a little later, and was solely in her bikini. Leah lost the following deal. This was how things stood:

Addison was down to her bikini, and Bert to his shorts. Leah was barefoot, but still in her clothes. Jim had lost one shoe, and Ryan one shoe and sock. Rarity, to her surprise, hadn't lost yet. She was still in her dress, panties, and flip-flops.

Rarity was solidly in the middle now, tied with Leah.

Things began to get interesting. Addison dealt herself her third loss. She giggled and blushed, and the boys hooted, whistled, and cheered, as she removed her bikini top. Leah and Rarity cheered as well. Addison had lovely small, firm, pert breasts. They were a little more pointed than Rarity expected, but otherwise they were perfect. Her nipples were hard. Rarity could only hope to have breasts like those, when she was old enough.

The next couple of deals gave Rarity her first loss. She giggled as she kicked off her left flip-flop. Only a couple more losses, and she'd be removing her dress, leaving herself in panties.

Bert lost next. Futilely attempting to conceal his large bulge, he cleared his throat, blushed, and stammered, "Actually, um, I'm not wearing underwear."

"Oh, come on!" said Leah. "That's the whole point of Strip Poker."

"Yeah, you know," added Addison. "Getting naked."

"You lost fair and square," said Jim. "So lose the shorts."

Everyone by then was speaking out in agreement, saying how unfair it would be to renege on the game. Everyone but Ryan.

Ryan then waved his hands, "Ladies, gents, boys, and girls! How about this?" His smile turned devious. "When you're down to your last piece of clothing, you can do a penalty instead." Silence; everyone was curious. "Bert, hands behind your head."

Bert complied, blushing as he exposed the bulge in his cut-offs.

"Okay," continued Ryan. "Leah and Rarity, when I tell you, tickle under his arms." The two girls were on either side of Bert.

"Now, wait a minute!" said Bert.

"Just a short, quick grope, mind you," continued Ryan as if Bert hadn't spoken. "Ready? Set?" Rarity shifted to face Bert. "Go!" Rarity shot out her hand, groped his armpit, and jerked back. Bert shrieked and followed up with deep breaths.

"The next one," pronounced Ryan, "will be sixty seconds of tickling." He got out his pencil and paper. "We need to keep track, of course."

Bert lost again several hands later.

"It's now sixty seconds of tickling," said Ryan. Rarity couldn't help giggling uncontrollably at the prospect tickling a half-naked hunk for a whole minute. Ryan paused with a tolerant smile, then continued. "Rarity and Leah will be doing the honors, of course, since they're on either side of Bert.

"But first, we have to set up Bert properly." He sat behind Bert, one leg on each side. "Hold your arms straight up over your head, and link your hands together." Ryan held Bert's elbows together. "Addi, come sit in front of me."

Bert whined, "Is all this really necessary?"

"No, not really," replied Ryan. "You do have the option of ditching your shorts."

"Okay, okay," said Bert, as he grit his teeth, and held his arms overhead together. "Go ahead."

"Addi?" said Ryan. Addison squeezed in between Ryan and Bert. "Kneel, knees on both sides, and arms around him. Hold him tight; you have to help me hold him still. Excellent! Keep tight a-hold of him."

Rarity was jealous of Addison, sandwiched cozily between two hot guys. At the same time, she gleefully realized that she got to tickle one of those hot guys to death. Maybe she'd have the opportunity later on to tickle Ryan to death as well.

It certainly seemed to Rarity that Ryan had Bert well imprisoned, but Ryan wasn't finished. "Jim, come and kneel on his legs. Hold him down. We want him securely immobile."

"Oh my God!" mumbled Bert.

Ryan laughed lightly. "Okay, Leah and Rarity, ready?" Rarity, excited and ready for action, shifted onto her knees, facing Bert's armpit. "Set?" "Now!"

Rarity pounced on Bert's armpit with her left hand, her right hand going just below. Leah similarly attacked her side.

"Ahhh!" Bert shrieked, followed by convulsive laughter. He twisted and squirmed, the minimum allowed, and kept gasping out, "Plea--", "Stop--", and other words, only to interrupt himself with gasps, more laughter, and shrieks. Rarity herself was flushed with arousal, breath rasping. Her key burned fiercely down in her panties.

Rarity must have been unaware of the passage of time, because before she knew it, Ryan called, "Time!" Rarity sighed as she regretfully stopped tickling. One last idea came to her: she wrapped her arms around Bert and squeezed, and kissed his shoulder, before pulling away and settling back down.

Jim backed off Bert's legs, exclaiming, "Phew!" Only then did Rarity consciously notice the odor, a variation on the smell she recognized from Bryce's own masturbation and wet dreams: cum. She told herself that she should be revolted as well. But Rarity was having none of that: Bert's smell was peculiar yet attractive and invigorating, even almost intoxicating. She inhaled deeply, and sighed in pleasure.

Meanwhile, Bert lay on his side, and curled up in a fetal position. Rarity could see he was about to cry, so she spooned up against his back, and wrapped an arm around him. Leah on his other side hugged him as well. Addison, having returned to her position across from him, looked as if she wanted to do or say something, but in the end, didn't.

"Um, shall we continue?" asked Ryan.

The deals continued. Jim lost his shirt, and Leah unexpectedly removed her shorts instead of her shirt. Her tank-top bared an inch of midriff above her white bikini-style panties decorated with red strawberries resembling various heads and faces, and pink lacy elastic bands.

Ryan whistled, Jim exclaimed, "Wow!" and Bert said, "You really do look lovely, Leah."

Addison lost next, in only her bikini bottoms. Ryan ominously proclaimed, "Big decision now, Addi."

"The tickling's short, right?" she asked uneasily.

"Yeah. Just a quick sic, and it's over. This time."

"Okay." Addison visibly shuddered as she raised her arms up, and interleaved her fingers behind her head, exposing her underarms.

"Got that, Jim?" asked Ryan.

Jim nodded, his hands advancing toward her armpit. Her eyes turned to their corners, squarely on his approaching hands, Addison emitted a low-volume, high-pitched, "Ahhhhhhh!"

"Now!" Ryan and Jim snapped two fingers into her armpit, promptly jerking back out. Addison's shriek trailed off into giggling, gasps, and deep breaths.

Ryan chuckled. "Next time..."

The game continued. "I'm through with tickling," said Bert after his next loss, as he slid his cutoffs down and off. "Ick!" He dangled his partially-dry cum-soaked pants, holding them as far away as possible. "These get tossed." He dashed to a nearby trash barrel, and tossed them in.

Rarity, meanwhile, hadn't been able to keep her eyes off his penis -- not until he ran off. Wanting to care for it properly, she grabbed a couple washcloths and ran to a nearby water fountain. She returned with the cloths soaked with water, just as Bert returned and sat, totally naked but with a soft penis.

"Here, let's clean you off," said Rarity, taking a wet washcloth to his crotch and wiping him off all around. "This is so nice and cuddly," she commented, cupping his soft penis in both hands. It grew and hardened gradually as she wiped him off and dried him with a dry washcloth.

"Now, your nice and clean," she flirtatiously told his now-hard penis, tapping its tip a couple times then leaning forward and kissing it. It jerked in response.

"Okay, you totally so did not just do that!" exclaimed Leah, eyes bulging.

After a moment of dead silence, Ryan said, "Um, your deal, Jim?"

Bert sat Indian style as Jim dealt, and nobody commented when Jim included Bert in the deal. Rarity couldn't help looking up and down at Jim: his crotch, chest, abs, face, and even legs and feet. She pressed her crossed thighs together ever harder, to relieve an itchy ache, even hooking a foot behind her ankle. She had trouble catching her breath; her breathing turned raspy. And she couldn't concentrate on her cards as she picked them up.

Consequently, Rarity lost the deal. She wondered why; she thought she had a pair of eights, but then she remembered. Why the heck had she thrown in one of her eights? Kicking her flip-flop off, she realized that she'd just lost a precious tempo: her next loss would mean her dress, not just a flip-flop. She'd be visible to all in nothing but panties.

Leah dealt, and Addison lost. "So which shall it be?" asked Ryan. "Sixty seconds of tickling? Or do we get to untie your bikini bottom?"

"Sixty seconds?" quivered Addison. "Okay, I'll take the tickling."

Bert, who sat opposite Addison in the circle, moved into position behind her. "It's not so bad, being naked. You may wanna change your mind."

Addison glanced back at him, leaned back, and raised her arms above her head, interleaving her fingers. He held her elbows together with one hand, and her wrists with the other. He also squeezed her thighs together with his legs.

"You're digging into my back," said Addison.

"Makes things all the more interesting," replied Bert.

"Leah, Rarity," said Ryan. "Get on her legs and hold them firmly down."

Leah saluted enthusiastically. "Yes sir!" Both moved into position, and held down Addison's legs. Addison whined softly a couple times.

This time, it was Bert who said, "Ready? Set? Go!"

Addison began laughing uncontrollably even before Ryan and Jim's fingertips reached her armpits. Her uncontrollable laughter was punctuated with gasps, high-pitched "Ah!" sounds, and shrieks. Her movement to avoid the tickling was strictly limited: she could only twist her torso a little, and buckle her torso forward, and releasing it. She slipped an "Oh God!" in the middle, and her shrieks became ever more dominant.

She ended with one extended high-pitched piercing scream, continuing long after Ryan and Jim stopped their tickling, and even after Leah and Rarity released her and backed away.

In a sudden mood shift, Addison turned and faced Bert. "You soaked my back and bottom." She reached around back and held her fingertips to her nose. "It smells strange." She put her finger in her mouth and sucked on it. "Tastes strange, too. We're soaked." She leaped to her feet. "Let's go clean up." She helped Bert up, and both ran off.

"No hanky-panky, now!" shouted Ryan. "We have a game to finish!"

"Are they gonna come back?" asked Leah.

"Let's wait a few minutes," said Jim.

"Yeah. If they're not back, we'll continue on without them."

Bert and Addison did return, both of them wet. "Good thing it's a warm night," said Bert.

"Yeah," agreed Addison. "Whose deal now?"

Bert dealt, and Leah removed her tank-top. She didn't seem fazed to be exposed in matching bra and panties.

Rarity dealt Bert a loss. He asked, "So what happens now? I'm already naked."

"Nothing, really," answered Ryan.

"How about this?" suggested Leah. "Bert has to sit spread-legged."

"Yeah," continued Addison. "He hooks his legs behind you and Rarity."

"That sound fine?" asked Ryan.

"It's as good as anything," said Bert, lifting himself up and shifting his legs behind Rarity and Leah. "Mind you, I can't do the splits. Not even close."

Leah giggled. "Having him do the splits sounds like a nice penalty."

"No-no-no-no!" said Addison, the gymnast. "It takes a long time and a gentle push, to get all the way down. It hurts to be shoved down. It can pull a muscle, and it's all the worse for boys."

"I landed in a split from the swing this afternoon," Rarity added. "It really hurt."

As Ryan dealt, Rarity couldn't help her obsession over Bert's naked body. She lightly slid a fingertip up his thigh, to a taught tendon next to his privates.

"That feels real good." Bert's privates hardened and protruded forward. "But it's distracting me from this game, and I'm close to blowing again." He finished with a tremor.

Rarity tried to focus on the game, but she couldn't keep from turning and peeking at his privates. She had no idea whether her distraction contributed to her loss this hand, but she did lose.

Should she remove her panties, leaving her dress on? She realized that, because of her dress's short shoulders, this might rule out the tickling option. Then she realized to her horror how she had forgotten that her panties doubled as Bryce's gaff. Taking them off would expose her as a big boy in disguise.

She removed her dress, leaving herself in her pastel-blue panties. She vowed to herself that she'd go through whatever penalty was imposed, before removing her panties.

Addison dealt next, and Leah removed her bra. All three girls were now topless in panties or bikini bottom. Of the boys, Bert was naked, Jim in shorts, and Ryan in shorts plus tank-top. Those two boys didn't seem to be losing.

Jim dealt Bert another loss. There was no penalty, except that Rarity surreptitiously slipped her index fingernail up his penis, all the way to the hood. "Ahhhhhhh!" Bert's penis yanked aside, as it pulsated and shot out bursts of pale misty thick fluid.

"Watch where you're aiming that thing!" exclaimed Leah. "You almost hit me! The stuff's disgusting."

"I couldn't control it. Rarity caught me!"

Rarity snickered naughtily, meeting Leah's eyes. Addison had at that moment apparently decided to spread her legs out wide, and stretch along them, laying her stomach and cleavage on one leg, then turning and lying on her other leg.

Leah lost again, and stuck her tongue out at Ryan's inquiry. "Tickle time, of course." She interlaced her fingers behind her head. "Jim, Bert?" Leah called on the boys on either side of her, preempting Ryan's usual role.

The snap attack on her armpits, and she looked skyward and sighed.

"Well, so much for that," snarked Jim.

Bert dealt the next hand, and Rarity lost. "Tickle," she said wavering, before Ryan could ask. She interlaced her fingers behind her head, and looked to her left and right. "Ryan, Bert?"

They attacked, and she shrieked, slamming her elbows down.

Leah lost next, and Ryan went around to sit behind her. "It's sixty seconds this time, so we do the ritual set-up." Bert had to remove his leg from behind the girls. Leah raised her arms straight above her head, fingers interwoven, and leaned back against Ryan. Ryan held her elbows together, and Leah and Rarity held down Leah's thighs and calves. Jim and Bert knelt on either side of Leah, ready for her armpits.

"Jim, Bert," said Ryan. Ryan whispered to each of them, and they nodded and smiled.

"Everyone all set, now?" asked Leah. "Ready? Set? Go!"

Both boys started off with slow, ethereal strokes on her armpits. Leah giggled softly, and leaned back against Ryan, sighing in bliss. Her eyes and face went vacant, her face with a jaw-dropped smile. Everyone kept silent, and Rarity watched, spell-bound.

It was probably around sixty seconds after, when Ryan silently gestured a stop to the boys. They sat up and pulled their hands away. Leah remained motionless, leaning back against Ryan, and Rarity wondered if she was asleep or perhaps hypnotized. Rarity crawled up to Leah's ear, and whispered, "Next time you lose, remove your panties and sit with one leg behind your shoulders. Stay that way for the rest of the game." Leah didn't react, so Rarity whispered, "Wake up in ten seconds." She winked at Ryan and backed off to her spot in the circle.

Leah shortly came to. "What happened? Did I fall asleep or something?" She lowered her arms and rubbed her eyes. Her body seemed boneless, and it took her three attempts to raise herself from Ryan.

Ryan returned to his spot, and dealt the next deal. Bert lost, and nothing was required of him, being already naked.

Addison dealt, and Bert lost again. Rarity wondered for a moment whether he was trying to lose. She thought he might have been, because he nothing to lose when he lost.

Jim dealt, and Addison lost. "Wh-wh-what now?" she asked, as she reached for her bikini bottoms.

"How about this, guys?" said Ryan. "We hold you down, and tickle your toes and soles of your feet for sixty seconds."

"Sounds good to me," said Bert.

Addison blushed and dropped her jaw, as everyone else agreed with sadistic laughter to make that the third tickling option. Rarity squealed with glee over Addison's prospective tickle torture.

"And 120 seconds as the fourth?" added Bert.

"How about 150? Two and a half minutes," said Rarity with giggles, to the confirming laughter of the others except Addison.

"Well, Addi? Tickle-toe time? Or lose the bikini," said Ryan.

"Um." She blushed further. "Let me think about it." After a pause, she said, "Okay, tickle me." She didn't seem the least happy about it, but Rarity knew she'd soon be laughing her ass off as well as her head.

Everyone took their time, setting themselves up to confine Addison. The setup was identical to before, except when Ryan told Rarity and Leah, "Sit on her thighs, and hold her knees down."

Rarity sat on Addison's right thigh, her legs straight in front on either side of Addison's right leg. She leaned forward, putting her hand on Addison's knee, weighing down on it.

"Rarity, that tickles!"

"Well, you're supposed to be tickled, aren't you?" she replied.

"But--"

"No buts--"

"NOT ON MY KNEES! AND NOT YET!" shrieked Addison, obviously furious at the conjunction interruption.

"Okay, okay." Rarity slid her hands down to Addison's calves, and leaned her weight on them.

"That's better," said Addison.

Meanwhile, Leah was crouched over Addison's other leg, holding it firm.

Ryan and Jim lay in front of Addison's feet. "Move to the side just a bit, girls. I want her to see us and her feet. Ready, Addi?" Ryan grinned and twiddled his fingers above her feet.

"Ah!" shrieked Addison as she laughed uncontrollably.

"You realize this doesn't count," Ryan declared. "Just tell me when you're ready." He continued twiddling his fingers over her toes, and Addison continued laughing uncontrollably. "I'm willing to wait as long as necessary," he continued mercilessly.

"Ok-- ok-- ok--" Her gasp and laughter kept interrupting her, preventing her from getting the words out. "I'm--[gasp] I'm--[gasp] I'm--[gasp] read--[gasp] read--[gasp] read--[gasp] read--[gasp] ready!"

Addison's laughter jumped an octave into shrieking when Ryan and Jim began tickling the toes and soles of her feet. Rarity could feel Addison's leg under her trying to twist and buckle. Her feet were trying to twist and turn, rock to and fro, with highly restricted success.

It ended rather soon, it seemed to Rarity, although she suspected it seemed forever for Addison. Addison's laughter continued sporadically well after Jim and Ryan were finished with her toes, punctuated with high-pitched "hah!" sounds. Rarity climbed off of Addison, and returned to her place in the circle.

Leah dealt the next hand, and lost. Even as Ryan began, "Which will it...", Leah had already lifted her butt and was sliding her panties down and off her legs. Rarity couldn't help staring, and boys were staring as well, eyes bulging. But Leah didn't stop there. She leaned way forward and lifted her right foot toward her face, pulling as hard as possible.

"I'm gonna need help, someone, please."

Even as Bert moved to help, Ryan asked, "What are you doing?"

Leah grunted. "I have to put my leg behind my shoulders."

"But why?" asked Ryan, as his eyes went from her face to her privates and back. "It was never part of the rules." Nevertheless, his front bulged. Rarity herself was quite shocked and aroused at the turn of events, especially as she had suggested this herself.

"Bert, pull my foot behind my neck." She shrieked as Bert complied. "Oh God, that hurts!" She took deep breaths. "I simply [puff] have to [puff] do it, [puff] Ryan." Leah twisted and worked her arm in front of her leg.

"But..." Ryan trailed off.

Leah turned to Bert. "Next, get ready to shove my knee behind my shoulder. But wait until I'm ready."

Bert reached his left hand around to her far shoulder, putting his right hand on her knee, and tensed preparing to push. After a moment, he asked, "Are you ready?"

Leah took another moment, breathing in and out, then said, "Okay, I'm ready." Her voice trembled.

Bert's muscles bulged as he pushed, hard. Leah screamed again, tears in her eyes. Her knee was still a few inches from her shoulder, and her foot was now behind the small of her back.

"It feels so awkward and hurts so much," said Leah, massaging her upper thigh. "But I have to do this."

Rarity was now all shock and guilt, her arousal having gone the wayside. Had she actually compelled Leah to do this? "No, Leah. You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do," she countered.

"Just because I said so? No way!" Rarity said, truly disturbed at how her command worked.

Leah just sighed, and said to Bert, "I can't feel it right, but I think my foot's too low. Could you pull it up for me?"

Bert shifted behind her, and pushed up on her heel. It refused to budge. "This is hard." He pushed ever harder, until her muscles released and he shot her foot up aside her neck. Leah raspingly gasped, but didn't scream or shriek this time.

"One more shove should do it, I think," she said, breathing heavily. "Yeah, I'm ready," she said a moment later, fear on her face.

Another shove, another shriek, and her leg was properly behind her shoulders, knee and toes protruding from either side. She'd bent far forward, at both her back and her waist.

"I've never done this before, and God, this hurts like hell! Let's get on with the game, please."

Bert was the next dealer, and as he shuffled the cards, Jim asked, "But why? Did someone say you must put your leg behind your back whenever you lost at strip poker?"

"No, nobody said it." Leah had apparently forgotten what Rarity said earlier. Had everyone forgotten? Rarity was guiltily considering admitting her command, when Leah continued, "I just knew, when I woke up, that I absolutely had to get naked and put my leg behind my head when I lost. So, Bert, your deal."

Bert dealt. Despite having a pair of twos, Rarity lost to her surprise. Everyone had a pair but one with a straight.

"So which shall it be, little Rarity?" asked Ryan. "Bare your all, or have your underarms tickled for sixty seconds?"

Rarity was in a major bind -- remove her gaff-panty and expose her male privates? Or being driven crazy through tickling.

"Okay, I'll take the tickling," Rarity said with trepidation. "Go ahead."

"We have to set everyone up first. It's part of the ritual." Ryan, along with Bert, sitting on either side of her, shifted to face her. Jim sat behind her, and lifted her arms way above her head. She momentarily resisted, before relaxing her arms. He held her hands together and her elbows together. His raised knees held her waist in place. Addison came and sat on her left thigh, while Leah shifted in awkwardly with her hands to sit on her right thigh.

Rarity was stuck tight. She was reminded of a magic trick, where someone was firmly held immobile, prepared to be sawed in half.

"Ready?" asked Ryan.

Rarity hesitated in trepidation before saying, "Yes, I'm ready."

Ryan pronounced, "Ready? Set? Go!" He and Bert pounced on her exposed armpits.

Rarity shrieked, laughed, shrieked, tried to yell "Stop it!", and laughed and shrieked some more, as they continued tickling her. The tickling seemed to go on forever... and ever... and ever... until it ended. Rarity was in tears by then. Next time, she told herself, she would remove her panties, damn the consequences.

It took her a long time to recover, but then it was her turn to deal. She was shuffling the deck, when an adult man's voice rang out, "What the hell is going on here!"

"Dad!" shrieked Addison in terror.

Rarity turned in sudden fright, to see two men and two women descending on them. She it took her a few seconds to recognize her Asian parents, Mama and Baba.

"Addison Joan Bailey," said Addison's mom, pulling Addison to her feet.

Rarity couldn't follow what was happening to the others, although it seemed that Addison's parents were dragging both Addison and Leah home, not letting them get dressed. Addison's father was carrying Leah off, not even letting her untangle herself.

Rarity was grabbed, yanked to her feet, and the monstrously tall forms of both parents were shouting down from so high that she had to crank her neck to look up at them, embarrassed and ashamed to be seen in only a pair of panties.

And even those were removed in short order, followed by the lash of a belt that stung so much Rarity couldn't even scream out. The first lash accompanied, "Visiting Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow!" The second lash came with, "Shame the family!"

The lashes halted, and Rarity was dropped like a rock. Rarity could only watch: Ryan and Bert had attacked Baba. Unfortunately, Baba made short work of Bert right off the bat, and when Jim tried to enter the fray, Mama jumped at him. He was no luckier with Mama. Meanwhile, Baba quickly defeated Ryan.

Rarity felt as if she could barely move with the agony in her butt and thighs, but she managed to work herself to her feet by the time her parents turned back to her. She managed a weak side-kick toward Baba's leg, but Baba snatched her ankle and dangled her all the way to the car.

He tossed her into the back seat. "Your real punishment will happen when we get home. You are forever defiled! Holding your key in your bi, of all places?!" Baba dangled her key in front of her eyes.

Rarity sat pressed against the opposite back door as far away from Baba as possible, as he drove home. Preoccupied with the pain she was in, and fearing further pain, she mentally cursed out her parents. She vowed that as Bryce, he would retaliate somehow or other. It occurred to her that she was naked, her gaff-panty was gone, and so were her male privates.

`I'm Bryce, dammit!' she thought to herself, trying to remove the artificial attachments that made him Rarity. But there was nothing to remove. Rarity was in her own body, and Bryce was stuck in Rarity's body. Maybe if she got away from her "parents", or got back to the dorm, she might recover her form. She recognized where they were: a little farther from the college than the park was, and in a bright small-business part of the city. She was on the opposite side of the college from the dorm, though. The distance home would be considerable.

At a stop sign, Rarity stood up and reached forward and flicked the locks on the driver's door. With her other hand, she opened the door and jumped from the car and ran back the way the car came from.

She turned toward the college a block later, and continued running as fast as she could, turning at every block hoping to lose her "parents". She kept thinking to herself, as if that would fix her body, `I'm Bryce. I'm Bryce.'

She entered the college, and made her way across the campus sneaking carefully, and avoiding encounters. The campus was mostly deserted; it was early the next morning. But she wondered fearfully what would be more dangerous: being caught as a naked little girl, or being caught as a naked student on campus?

She was almost at the dorm, and in high hopes. Nothing would stop her from reaching her dorm.

"Rarity!" Her hopes went crashing upon hearing the thunderous shout and footsteps running toward her. Unfortunately, the footsteps were between her and the dorm, and the voice wasn't any student's voice; it's was Baba's!

She swerved into a side walkway, intending to go around a building to another entrance to the dorm. She wondered how the heck Baba knew to find her here at the college. Did he somehow know she was Bryce or something?

"Rarity, come back! Now!"

Fatigued as she was from all the running, Baba caught her up and tucked her under her arm. Damn, thought Rarity as Baba exclaimed, "You're in real trouble now, young lady!"

Rarity struggled and kicked uselessly. One karate-chop made contact with his neck, but he just adjusted her, squeezing her arms, and preventing any further successful attack. They walked only a short distance to the car, parked next to her dorm. Rarity wondered again, how the heck did Mama and Baba know that Rarity would be at Bryce's dorm? What in the world was going on?

Mama was waiting at the car, and she opened the back door. Baba threw Rarity into the back seat, and got in after her. As Mama drove home, Baba pulled Rarity onto his knees, pulled out a hairbrush, and slammed her suffering butt all the way home.

Back at home, Baba lashed her five more times, before having Mama carry her upstairs and tuck her into bed, the bed she shared with her big sister, Celestia. Mama smothered lotion all over her butt, before tucking her in. "You really shouldn't have been so naughty and disobedient," she said softly.

After Mama left, Celestia, who had apparently awoken, said, "What were you thinking of, sneaking out like that, tonight of all nights when we had to get up early to leave for Grandma and Grandpa's?"

"Shut the fuck up, Jiejie," replied Rarity. "I'm going to kill them both." She was about to get up and sneak down to the kitchen for a huge knife, when sleep washed over her despite her agony.

Consciousness gradually appeared, and with it Bryce's memory of the beatings he'd received as Rarity. Funny, he didn't feel any pain; it was all memory. His next thought was to wonder whether to escape back to the college before being forced to fly out to visit Rarity's grandparents, or to kill Mama and Baba instead. But then...

Professor MacCraven realized, coming to full consciousness in the unfamiliar twin bed, that the twelve-hour Virtual-Reality vacation as a 22-year-old college engineering senior had completed.

As part of the post-vacation routine, the professor left furious feedback. The vacation was supposed to be the day in the life of a college senior engineering major. It was not supposed to be a day in which the young man lived out perverted fantasies of naughty Chinese-American girls playing naughty games with naughty older boys and girls! Selecting the young man's girl name and the siblings' names from the television cartoon "My Little Pony" was further insult. And with the lashings and hairbrushings at the end, Professor MacCraven was definitely going to sue.

But for now there was the flight back to Rochester, MN, and the return to the grindstone as a run-down professor of mathematics at Rochester Community College. There were oh so many calculus problem sets and tests to grade. The students had passed college algebra? Hah! They needed remedial high-school algebra.

"How are things going with Lady ZogMyrf?" Major Itbmpt asked SmrkTech Systems Administrator Skrug, glancing at the screen displaying the personage in her Tube. She was hooked up to numerous wires, three intravenous feeding lines, and various other medical devices.

"Smoothly, sir," answered Skrug. "Lady ZogMyrf is dreaming that she has just completed her Virtual-Reality vacation, and is about to return to the doldrums as a middle-aged mathematics instructor."

"Her life-support system is intact?" asked Major Itbmpt.

"Functioning at or above 99.994%," replied Skrug with a shrug. "We could keep her in VR until she died of old age, if necessary."

"We just might have to do that," said the Major. "She was a serious threat to the country, and even the entire world." He wondered if Ranger Xandu was right, and they should have simply shot her.

"Hi Lucy." We were shopping. A kid, perhaps a year younger than my little brother Billy, came up and greeted him. The kid turned to Mom. "His name's Lucy, right?" What the hay?!

"No." Mom looked down at the kid. "His name is Bill."

"Oh... Hi Bill."

Billy stood frozen through the exchange, and I could see his embarrassment. I couldn't help glancing at him through the rest of our shopping trip. I understood perfectly. A seven-year-old boy called a girl's name... and in front of Mom, that could only have been arsenic on the cake.

Back home, Billy went straight to his room. I knocked on the door. "Billy? May I come in?"

"Okay..." He sounded unenthusiastic.

I entered, and for a moment there, it seemed as if neither of us could think of anything to say. I finally said it straight out. "That kid really thought your name was Lucy."

"It's Charlie's fault!" he shouted. I suppressed my instinct to ask who Charlie was, but he answered the unstated question anyway. "He's a big kid in third grade, and he got everyone to shout at me and call me `LUcy GOO-SEE'!"

I said nothing, but let him bury his face in my chest and cry.

He stopped crying and pulled away. "I'm gonna zap them all!" He paused a moment. I kept silent, waiting for him to continue. "Lightning! They did it in `Hocus Pocus'. They did it in `Star Wars'. And that giant in the sky did it in `Fantasia'! I'm gonna learn all about lightning. Then they won't pick on me any more!"

Something occurred to me. "BigSis's books might have information." BigSis and several friends were involved in Wicca, much to Mom and Dad's consternation. She had a few books, and always borrowed more from the library. Sometimes I overheard her talking on the phone about magic spells and rituals. "But please be careful. Don't hurt yourself."

The following days, I never saw Billy with any of BigSis's books on Wiccan magick, even though it seemed to me that they might have the best information on the subject. Maybe they were too advanced for a kid like him. I once tried reading a couple myself, but couldn't understand them. But the books I saw Billy with, they didn't look any easier.

"It's really interesting," Billy said. "Voltage... charge... current..." I just shook my head. I hadn't the foggiest.

Later, I saw Billy carrying something. "What is that?"

"It's called a Leyden Jar." He held it up. It was made of mostly glass, with metal attached, filled with -- what? Water? "It stores the charge needed for the zapping." Whatever.

I heard nothing further for a couple weeks, until I asked him how he was coming with the project.

"I couldn't aim it. I always zapped myself. I finally understood that it's impossible to aim."

"Does it hurt?"

"Yeah, but a really good hurt. It feels really really really good!" He held the jar in one hand, then touched something metal on the jar with his other index finger. I heard a zap and saw sparks, as his hair raised and he went taught, lips tight between his teeth, muffling a high-pitched squeal.

Wait a minute! Was that the Big O?

Synopsis: A criminal prosecution of a boyfriend for the rape and murder of his girlfriend is abandoned, leading to community outrage. Someone takes vengeance against the boyfriend and those who aided his freedom.

This would normally be a solo, single-file story. It was divided into three parts, with the middle part consisting of the actual sexual assault, so that readers could skip over that scene.